July 31, 2023
Dear Friends,
If you are interested in a Catholic Holy Land Pilgrimage, please let me know (see contact information below). We are actively registering for our November 28-December 12, 2023 pilgrimage.
This month of August is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, so it is fitting to celebrate First Saturday this week on Saturday, August 5. Before that, we will celebrate First Wednesday (Aug. 2) to honor St. Joseph and First Friday (Aug. 4) to honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
What Franciscans call the “Portiuncula Indulgence” (or “The Pardon of the Portiuncula”) falls on August 2—Wednesday. (An “indulgence” is the remission of the temporal punishment for sin—assuming all the conditions are met.) The Portiuncula (in Latin, “little portion [of earth]” is the little chapel in the marshy plain of Assisi dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels. (I sometimes call our St. Joseph Chapel the “Pontiac Portiuncula” because of its size and even its Franciscan associations.) It is where St. Francis began the Franciscan Order and where he died. At St. Francis’s request, the Pope granted Catholics who devoutly visited it—instead of having to go on the Crusades—a Plenary Indulgence. Today, a person can visit ANY church (not just a Franciscan one or the Portiuncula in Assisi) to obtain this indulgence, as long as the normal conditions are met:
- Visit a church between August 1, noon to August 2, midnight
- Pray an Our Father, the Creed and a prayer of one’s choice at the church
- Holy Communion (Mass).
- Confession (within a week of Holy Communion)
- Pray for the pope (Our Father, Hail Mary) within several days of the visit
This is a Marian Franciscan feast in honor of Our Lady of the Angels. St. Francis said the angels frequented the Portiuncula more than other places. Perhaps that is true too of our “Portiuncula”?
To communicate with me, please email me directly at [email protected] or call/text me at (313) 727-9784. Our Lady of the Angels, pray for us!
In Jesus, Mary & Joseph,
Fr. Alex Kratz, OFM
Spiritual Director of Terra Sancta Ministries