Laetare Sunday 2015
Penance has a variety of meanings. It refers to the infused virtue that inclines a person to hate his faults, the sacrament of penance, and the works we perform to make up for our sins. Mortification refers to works which put to death evil inclinations. Propitiation is an act by which someone who has been offended is now appeased. The Mass and our prayers are great works of propitiation. When we make satisfaction, we punish ourselves for our sins. Our sufferings may be offered to God as a form of satisfaction. Atonement refers to the union with God which is achieved when our sins are expiated or wiped away. This is the Sunday of the Golden Rose, on which the pope would take a golden rose and give it to a privileged monarch, who was favored by the pope. The rose is seen as a foretaste of the happiness of Heaven.
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