20 October 2012

Pope Benedict’s Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei (Door of Faith) (9, continued)

To honor the fiftieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council and the twentieth anniversary of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI has announced a “Year of Faith,” which started on 11 October and will end 24 November 2013, to strengthen the faith of Catholics and draw the world to faith by their example.

In October 2011, Pope Benedict issued an apostolic letter, “Porta Fidei” (“Door of Faith”), to proclaim this year. This apostolic letter continues as follows:

“9. . . . Not without reason, Christians in the early centuries were required to learn the creed from memory. It served them as a daily prayer not to forget the commitment they had undertaken in baptism. With words rich in meaning, Saint Augustine speaks of this in a homily on the redditio symboli, the handing over of the creed: ‘the symbol of the holy mystery that you have all received together and that today you have recited one by one, are the words on which the faith of Mother Church is firmly built above the stable foundation that is Christ the Lord. You have received it and recited it, but in your minds and hearts you must keep it ever present, you must repeat it in your beds, recall it in the public squares and not forget it during meals: even when your body is asleep, you must watch over it with your hearts.’[16]”

[16] Sermo 215:1.

 

To access Pope Benedict’s complete apostolic letter, please visit:

Pope Benedict XVI: Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei (Door of Faith), for the Indiction of the Year of Faith (11 OCT 11)

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