CIRCULAR TO THE CLERGY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF WELLINGTON

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 34, 25 August 1904, Page 5

CIRCULAR TO THE CLERGY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF WELLINGTON

The following circular has been issued to the clesgy of the Archdiocese of Wellington :— Rev. and Dear Father,—

His Grace the Archbishop in his Pastoral Letter of last February addressed you on the manner of celebrating the Golden Jubilee of the Proclamation of the Pogma oE the Immaculate Conception. In concluding his Pastoral, he says •— Let us, therefore, lift our eyes in confidence to Maiy Immaculate and endeavor to nobly solemnise the Golden Jubilee of the Dogmatic Definition of her Immaculate Conception, paying a timely tribute to her powerful intercession for past and present and future favors-, sending up to her from the Catholic world an unanimous hymn of glory and gratitude, and invoking her salutary aid in the coming trials and dangers. Let m associate ourselves heartily and practically with our Catholic biethren throughout the wide world in these splendid celebrations. Accordingly, we enjoin the clergy and laity of our archdiocese to carry out the following regulations :—

1. On the Bth day of each month, after the receipt of this Pastoral until the Bth of next December, all the priests of the archdiocese, who celebrate Holy Mass, shall say, if the Rubucs allow it, the Mass of the Immaculate Conception.

2. In the evenings of these eighth days, in all Ihe parfch churches, five decades of the Rosary shall he recited in common, preceded and followed by the thrice repeated invocation : ' Mary, conceived without sin,

pray for us wih'o have recourse to thee.' This exercise shall be followed by the Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

,3. On the Bth of next December, the fiftieth anniversary of the Dogmatic Definition of the Immaculate Conception, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, luiough not a day of obligation, shall be kept with all possible solemnity, by the celebration of High Mass, or Missa Cantata, followed by the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament ; and by tihe recitation of the Rosary in the evening, followed by t'hc Benediction of tine Blessed Sacrament

4. We exhort our clergy to prepare tjhc faithful for this ceremony by a triduum of preaching and devotions in honor of Mary Immaculate.

5, The Convmilssion of Cardinals, apppiwted by the Sovereign Pontiff to draw up and carry out in Rome this programme of celebrations on the occasion of this Jubilee, desire that a pecuniary offering should be presented to his Holiness. Accordingly, a collection for tthis purpose shall be held in all the parishes of the ArchJdiocesc, in which the clergy shall exhort the faithful to devoutly contribute their donations, however small, to swell the offerings of the whole Catholic world to his Holiness at the anniversary celebrations- in Rome. —

Extraordinary Jubilee Indulgence

Since his Grace addressed to you the above instructions", our Holy Father, Pope Pius X., has issued an Encyclical Letrtcr and promulgated an Extraordinary Ju- 1 bilee Indulgence in honor of the Immaculate Conception. I forward you a copy of this very beautiful Encyclical, whidh you may read to your people. In connection w it'll the Jubilee Indulgence proclaimed by our Holy Father, it may be useful to note the following :—: — 1. The time appointed for gaining the Jubilee Indul-* gence in the Anihdioeese of Wellington is from the Bth September to the Bth December, 11)04. All the prescribed works must be accomplished before the Bth December.

2. Three visits are to be made to the parish church, or principal church in the place ; they may be made in the same church, or in different churches, or in a different diocese, provided the Jubilee is still open there. All the visits may be made on the same day, or on different days ; processionally or individually. As the Cathedral is not yet rebuilt, the churches in the city, of Wellington to be visited are the Church of the S. Heart, Hill street ; or St. Joseph's, Buckle street; or St. Anne's, Wellington South.

3. Vocal prayers are to be said at each visit for the following intentions, viz., for the liberty and exaltation of the Catholic CXhurch and the Apostolic See, for the extirpation of heresies, for the conversion of all who are in error, for the concord of Christian princes, for the peace and unity of all the faithful, and according to the intention of our Holy Father the Pope.

No special form of prayer is prescribed, hut the Pater and Aye repeated five times for the above intentions m geSieral, will certainly suffice.

4 A strict Past on one day is prescribed, i.e., a fast on one meal and a collation, at which flesh meat, milk, butter, cheese, and eggs are piohibited. Friday may be chosen for the fast day. Those who are dispensed from fa&ting on account of age, infirmity, hard labor, or other cause, must have the fast commuted by their confessor into some other good work.

5. The reception of the Sacraments of Penance and Holy Communion is also prescribed. All persons, religious as well as secular, have the right to select any approved priest of the Archdiocese as cqnfessor for the Jubilee Confession . Children who have not received their First Communion may be dispensed by their coaifessors from receiving this sacrament.

6. For the purpose of gaining the Jubilee Indulgence confessors approved for the Archdiocese have the power, ■\\ hen necessary or available, to change the prescribed works into other acts of penance or prayers suitable to the circumstances of each person.

7. Cojifessors have the power of absolving penitents, at their Jubilee Confession, from all sins and irregularities except the rare cases 1 specially mentioned in Hie Pope's Encyclical.

8. Confessors also possess the faculty of commuting vows into some ofher obligation, but this faculty does not extend to (a) the vow of perpetual chastity ; (b) the vow of entering a religious community in which solemn vows arc takeli ; (c) the vows implying a compact made between two parties a/nd accepted by a third, such as i^je religious vows whether perpetual or temporary of poverty, chastity, and obedience in a regular community.

9. The present Jubilee Indulgence can be gained only once and is applicable to the souls in purgatory. Other

indulgences are not suspended during the time o[ the present Jubilee.

10. Special facilities are allowed to travellers. They can gain the Jubilee on their retiurn home, by performing the prescribed works, although the ordinal y time for the Jubilee may have expired.

Hoping. Rev and dear Father, that you and all those entrusted to your spiritual charge may gain the full benefit of the great grace of the Jubilee Indulgence together with an increased devotion and love towards the Immaculate Mother of God. I iem dill, Deai Rev. Father, ■ ? Yours faithfully in Chnst, W. J. LEWIS, S.M., Adm.