Section E - A Celebration of Faith

Sacred places - considered sacred if associated with a person or event or time of religious significance. Christian Pilgrimage - journey to a sacred place. Why do people go on pilgrimage? - to increase their faith, to ask or thank God for something, to journey closer to God, to go to the place where their religious leader or founder lived or to seek physical or spiritual healing. Knock Co. Mayo - in 1879, 15 people witnessed the appearance of Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John at the south gable of Knock Parish Church. Today, it is an internationally recognised Marian shrine and over one pilgrims visit each year. Pope John Paul II visited Knock in 1979 and Mother Teresa in 1993. Pilgrims at Knock: visit the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, walk in procession in procession around the chapel, go to confession, pray the stations of the cross, pray the mysteries of the cross and pray the Litany of the Blessed Virgin followed by the prayer to Our Lady of Knock. Other places of pilgrimage - Croagh Patrick and Fatima, Portugal. Worship - to worship is to show love, to honour, to give praise, to give worth and to communicate one's faith. E.g. prayer, religious music, pilgrimage, rituals such as mass, the Church. Sign & Symbol - a symbol is a sign with a deeper meaning, e.g. a wedding ring, whereas a sign has one straightforward meaning, e.g. a yield sign. Religious Symbols - the Pascal Candle is the symbol of Easter. It is lit at the Easter Vigil to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The cross represents the crucifixion, the brass markers around the cross represent the wounds on Jesus' body, the crown of thorns, the nails in his hands & feet and the spear that pierced his side, the letters Alpha and Omega represent Jesus as the beginning & end to all things and the date on the candle shows that Jesus is Lord of all time. Ritual - a ritual is a series of actions carried out the same way & dedicated to God. Mass is a ritual. Sacraments - a sacrament is a visible & effective sign of God's grace. Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Eucharist & Confirmation. Sacraments of Vocation: Marriage, Holy Orders. Sacraments of Healing: Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick. Baptism - 1. The family gather at the door. The priest blesses the child on the forehead and the parents are asked the name.                                                                                                                         2. Bible readings & sermon. Word of God, e.g. Jesus' baptism, Short sermon, e.g. meaning of baptism and Prayers of the Faithful.                                                                                                              3. Anointing.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Symbols: The oil of catechumens - anointed on the chest, symbolises the strength that God gives the child for the Christian journey.                                                                                                      The oil of chrism - anointed on the forehead, symbolises that he/she has been put aside for the Christian mission.                                                                                                                                            Water - symbolises the new life he/she receives in Jesus Christ.                                                                                                                                                                                                                               The Baptismal shawl - symbolises Jesus, the child is "wrapped up" in the love of Christ.                                                                                                                                                                                      The Baptismal candle - symbolise Christ & hope Prayer - (i) Types of Prayer - Thanks, praise, petition and penitence                                                                                                                                                                                                                        (ii) Ways to Pray - Vocal/ Silent, Formal/ Informal and Personal/ Communal                                                                                                                                                                                                           (iii) A person of prayer - St. Teresa of Avila. She was born in Avila, Spain in 1515. Her mother died when she was thirteen and she proved to be a difficult teenager. She joined the Carmelite Monastery of Incarnation in Avila when she was 20. She didn't agree with the lavish lifestyles that the nuns there led and it was not what she expected. She fell ill with malaria and she was paralysed for three years. During this time she developed a love for mental prayer. For the next fifteen years she went on with her life in the convent. When she was 40, she set up a reformed order of Carmelites, who became known as the 'Discalced Carmelites'. She then wrote an autobiography, in which she compared learning to pray with watering a garden. She believed there were four steps to contemplation. Bucket - hard work, like taking water from a well & watering a large garden with it. If you are disciplined and if you persevere, you will get the job done.                                                                   Water-wheel - this is easier and it provides more water. If you stick with the first step, prayer comes more easily.                                                                                                                                    Stream - if you really work hard at watering the garden, water will flow continuously through it but you need to direct the stream. At this stage, God is given full access to the soul which he works on to make us better people.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      - Rain - the final stage is when the garden is watered by rain. It comes naturally and so no work from people is required. This is when your soul rests with God. St. Teresa was given the title Teacher of Prayer and Pope John Paul VI made her a Doctor of the Church in 1970.                                                                                                                                                                                                           (iv) Challenges to a person trying to pray - distractions, time, peer pressure, family influence, rise in secularism/different world views & a tragic event in one's life or the world, e.g. 9/11 or the death of a loved one.

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