Cardinal calls for recovery of traditional devotions
 Cardinal Murphy O'Connor leads Britain's 4.5 million Catholics |
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor has called for a revival of traditional Catholic practices.
The Archbishop of Westminster said he lamented the decline of acts of popular piety - such as fasting and abstinence, the Stations of the Cross, praying the rosary and praying before the Blessed Sacrament - because they were a "good means of deepening our faith".
Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor said such acts, as well as going to confession, a practice which is also in decline, were "truly part of Catholic tradition and devotion and are a nourishment to our faith, and I would encourage them".
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"There are many other ways in which you, my dear people, can develop those practices which are truly rooted in Catholic tradtion and bring you closer to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world," he said in a pastoral letter read out at every Mass in the Archdiocese of Westminster last Sunday.
"How many people pray before meals, or indeed, after them, recognising that all we have is a gift from God?", he asked.
"How many parents pray, not only for your children, but with your children as they grow up? How happy I am when so many children tell me they pray at home at night with their parents before going to bed."
He said "reading of Scripture and especially a reading of the four Gospels are things which are deeply significant for the nourishment of our faith".
The Cardinal advised Catholics to live in solidarity with the poor by embracing the liveSimply campaign of Cafod, the overseas aid and development agency of the Bishops' Confernece of England and Wales, whic urges people to live as "responsible consumers" who use the world's resources "carefully and gratefully".
By Simon Galdwell, The Catholic Herald, January 12 2007
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