Pope Francis today in the Angelus address referred to an annual feast celebrated each Aug. 2 in Assisi, the Feast of Pardon, and exhorted the faithful to approach the Sacrament of Reconciliation and receive Communion.
The Feast of Pardon attracts thousands to Assisi each Aug. 2. The feast originates with the account of St. Francis of Assisi persuading Pope Honorius III to grant a plenary indulgence to all those who visit the Portiuncula on Aug. 2 and confess their sins.
The feast “is a strong call to draw close to the Lord in the sacrament of mercy and also to receive Communion,” the Pope said.
The Holy Father went on to acknowledge that there are people “who are afraid of approaching confession.”
He said this is because they forget that there, “we do not find a severe judge, but rather the immensely merciful Father.”
“It’s true that when we go to the confessional,” the Pontiff said, “we feel a bit of embarrassment, and that happens to everyone, to all of us, but we have to recall that this shame is also a grace that prepares us for the embrace of the Father, who always forgives and always forgives everything.”
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/angelus-on-the-bread-of-life
