AN ESTIMATED one hundred priests administered the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the “Kumpisalang Bayan sa Pamantasan” last Jan. 27, allowing Thomasians to obtain spiritual favors bestowed by the Church on the last day of the year-long Quadricentennial festivities.
Priests heard confessions at the P. Noval Court and the open field an hour before the Neo-centennial Eucharistic celebration, which was to be offered in thanksgiving for UST’s 400th year and the dawn of its new century. Simultaneously held at the Grandstand was the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the “Holy Hour,”to prepare participants for confession and the Mass.
“The confession [was approved by the liturgy committee] for the Thomasian community to have an opportunity to receive the plenary indulgence before it expires,” Vice Rector for Religious Affairs Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P., said in an interview.
Ahead of the Quadricentennial celebrations, the Vatican declared a jubilee year from January 2011 to January 2012 and allowed the grant of plenary indulgence to all participants of Quadricentennial religious activities as well as pious visitors of the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church, which was declared a pilgrimage or jubilee church. The Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary also allowed then Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales to bestow a papal blessing carrying a plenary indulgence following the Jubilee Mass last Jan. 24, 2011.
Under Church teaching, plenary indulgence removes all temporal punishments or consequences due to sin by the merits of Christ who died on the cross to save mankind, the Blessed Virgin, and the saints. The Church teaches that while sin is pardoned in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the consequences remain attached, which sinners must repair through acts of penance on earth or in purgatory—the place of purification.
Because the Church believes in the Communion of Saints, the super-abundant merits of Christ, Mary, and the saints may wipe out these attachments through indulgences, which can be partial or plenary. The Church usually grants plenary indulgences under its binding and loosing powers (Matthew 16:18) during jubilee years.
In a decree dated Dec. 21, 2010, the head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli, reiterated the three conditions necessary to receive plenary indulgence: one must go to confession, attend Mass and receive Holy Communion, and pray for the intentions of the Pope.
“When we go to confession, our sins are remitted, but the punishments to some of these sins are still attached. [Plenary indulgence] remits these punishments before we go to heaven,” Faculty of Sacred Theology Dean Fr. Rodel Aligan, O.P. told the Varsitarian in an interview during last year’s Quadircentennial week.
For Paul Obispo, a freshman at the UST Alfredo M. Velayo-College of Accountancy, the experience of the Sacrament of Reconciliation lightens up the burden of one’s soul. “This is like a mark of starting a new life, a mark of being a new person,” he said.
Herra Ramos, a junior at the College of Education, said Christians should acknowledge their sins and not let such opportunities for confession pass by.
Accountancy freshman Benjie Rodil believed confession takes away the heavy load carried by man’s spirit. “[Confessing] is a very good way to start the year, especially because it cleanses the conscience,” Rodil said.
Fr. Simon Catalista, a priest from the Marian Missionaries of the Holy Cross, said the event helped revive the essence of the sacraments, which are points of contact with God.
“This is the first time that it (Kumpisalang Bayan) happened in UST,” he said. “This is an invitation of the Church to all faithful. By this, everyone, specifically the youth, should realize the importance [of the Sacrament of Reconciliation] in their lives.”
Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., Rector of UST, said he was surprised at the turnout for confession. “Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to hold the event because of the Eucharistic celebration at 4:30 in the afternoon,” he said.
Cabading agreed that one hour was not enough. “But during the opening procession of the Mass, we saw some priests that were just leaving the [P. Noval] court [because] they were still hearing confessions minutes before the Mass,” he said.
De la Rosa said the essence of the Sacrament of Reconciliation is related to the University’s four centuries of “unending grace.”
“This University has been blessed by God not only with the grace of continuing existence, but also with the grace of renewed life. The University did not die out, despite every difficulty, because [its grace] is always renewed,” he said. “The Sacrament of Reconciliation is actually a sacrament of renewal. So we are also inculcating it to the youth [so they will be] continually renewed and have a blessed life.” Nigel Bryant B. Evangelista and Lorenzo Luigi T. Gayya
