Br JR, I don’t know what the rules are for religious order Masses, so can’t multiple collects (as well as secrets, and postcommunion prayers) be said on those days where you have an overlap of propers? Just asking.
I don’t know about other orders. Those orders that have their own missal also have their own rubrics. In our rubrics you can only use the one allowed by the Franciscan Council of Ministers General. They put together the calendar and the ordo missae for all of the Franciscan orders. Of course, it was approved by the Holy See.
I’m an adult. I form my own opinions based on experienceand good catechesis. Fisheaters, although I steer clear of the forum, is an excellent resource for information.
It isn’t necessarily the previous Pope himself I have issues with, rather the false ecumenism and devestated doctrines which resulted from the Council. See my first post at the top of page three if you would like further clarification.
To be a saint the criteria are very simple. One must have exercised extraordinary faith and charity. One’s life of prayer has to be exemplary. The individual must have shown remorse and contrition for his or her sins. The perosn’s life of virtue must be extraordinary, even if it’s on a continuum, which is the case with most saints. The individual must be in full communion with the Church.
The fact that there has been a miracle confirms what we had believed about John Paul, which is that he is in heaven. The Church does not beatify on a whim, nor does she beatify someone whom she doubts is in heaven. The difference between a beatification and a canonization is that the latter is an Ex Cathedra statement that the person is in heaven and the former is a statement by the Ordinary Magisterium.
As I explained before, a beatification and miracle are canonical requirements. Canonical requirements do not apply to popes. They are included in law so that everyone else knows what the pope does or does not do in certain situations, such as these. But they do not bind him.
John Paul’s sanctity is not affected by the Assisi gathering, whether it was a great success or a major catastrophe. Regardless of the Assisi gathering, the Holy Father was always in communion with the Church.
Let’s face it, John Paul was an “equal opportunity offender”.
The women’s movement disapproves of this beatification because of his decree on women’s ordination and abortion. The gay movement has its complaints. Politicians have their own. He blasted Socialism and called the move to invade Iraq the most immoral act that the USA had ever committed. We have not heard from that side on these fora.
None of this add or delete from his extraordinary practice of virtue. It would be highly inappropriate for Pope Benedict to withhold the beatification, when there is a miracle that confrims that he is in heaven. Unless a grave harm would be done by making such a thing public, there is no other reason to keep this a secret. Then there is his personal knowledge of the man. They were very close. It’s impossible for Pope Benedict not to know many things about John Paul’s sanctity.
I pointed out that Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis of Assisi and Anthony of Padua without any formal inquiry, solely on his knowledge of them, because he had been their close friend for about 20-years. Alexander IV canonized Clare in the same manner. He stated that he had been her protector in life and had seen her sanctity with his own eyes. Both men said that everything that people were saying about these saints was true and did not need to be examined further. They knew it was true.
The case can be made here that Pope Benedict knows what is true about the sanctity of John Paul. He and John Paul’s secretary worked more closely with him than anyone else during the quarter century that he was pope. They had also worked together during the Council. This is not a historical figure to Pope Benedict. This is a familar person.
That’s what we have to see here. John Paul’s sanctity is not defined by his work, but by his life and the current pope does not need to read John Paul’s resume to know about his sanctity. In this case, the whole process of studies and miracles is almost a formality, given the relationship and the personal knowledge that the current pope has about the candidate. That would explain why Pope Benedict allowed the process to begin before the fifth-year after his death. Pope Benedict knew the outcome, not through some mystical revelation (which is possible), but more than likely through reason and experience of the man.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
