Diocese of Innsbruck invites you to take part in Matura blessings and confirmation pilgrimages
On Monday, May 2nd, the Matura exams start across Austria – special moments on the path of life, which the Catholic Church supports with blessing celebrations. The Innsbruck diocesan youth pastor Fr. Peter Rinderer remembered in one broadcast (Friday) back to his own high school diploma: “Even though I’ve learned a lot, I still have the queasy feeling of whether I’ve had enough and whether I’ll think of everything at the right moment. Every blessing is a special promise from God: I’m by your side!” That is why the Salesian Don Boscos offers the Matura blessing, but also pilgrimages for confirmands, for example to Maria Locherboden.
“When I got my high school diploma last year, I got the feedback: It was really good. The blessing gave me inner peace.” The youth pastoral care of the Innsbruck Diocese has a special form of strengthening for this: On Sunday, May 1st, a Matura blessing will be offered in the Innsbruck hospital church at 8 p.m. The youth choir d’accordo from Schwaz accompanies the celebration. As an alternative, Fr. Rinderer suggests own blessing celebrations in schools or parishes. A model for the course of a blessing service becomes on the Website of the diocesan school ministry offered.
As a further offer for young people, there are also events for confirmands in numerous dioceses these days and weeks. The diocese of Innsbruck is planning three national pilgrimages: on Friday, April 29, from 5 p.m. in Locherboden, on Saturday, April 30, from 5 p.m. in Lienz, and on Friday, May 13, from 6 p.m. in Georgenberg . This is the first such offer after the confirmation pilgrimages were canceled completely in 2020 and there was an alternative offer in 2021, from which a concept was developed for 2022 that, in addition to the new national pilgrimages, also enables individual and regional pilgrimages with an accompanying booklet.
A pilgrimage is a good way of preparing for Fr. Rinderer: “Doing a pilgrimage on foot means being on the road together and having good conversations. On the way there are several impulse stations on the subject of confirmation.” With this year’s main topic – “full of life” – the participants should think about what is important for a happy and beautiful life. What is special about pilgrimages is the experience of the “big community”, when hundreds of young people from particularly different regions and parishes come together and pray together several times. Rinderer also mentioned the feeling of being “part of something bigger”.
Along with baptism and first communion, confirmation is one of the three sacraments of initiation in the Catholic Church. Confirmation candidates must be at least 12 years old; confirmation is recommended from the age of 14. In general, the bishop or those commissioned by him, such as abbots, general and episcopal vicars, deans and commissioned priests, administer the sacrament. As the diocese of Innsbruck reported, the development in the number of confirmed children shows a “strong upward trend”: 4,173 young people were confirmed last year, after only 3,828 in 2018 and only 3,135 in 2019. In the first year of the 2020 pandemic, a low was reached with 1,450 young people. (Information: https://jugend.dibk.at/angebote/firmlingswallfahrt).
“Night of Fire” in the Diocese of St. Pölten
The diocesan offerings on the way to preparing for Confirmation may vary. For example, there is a “Night of Fire” in the diocese of St. Pölten, which has already taken place in Göttweig, Seitenstetten and St. Pölten in the past few weeks, while other such events are still pending in Langegg-Amaliendorf and Altenburg Abbey it in an announcement on the diocesan website (Friday). The events are organized by the Schacherhof youth centers, the K-Haus in Eggenburg and the Göttweig monastery youth center in cooperation with the respective foundations and the Catholic youth of the Sankt Pölten diocese.
The “Night of Fire” and other confirmation preparations aim to strengthen the young people as responsible church members for their upcoming life decisions. The thematic focus is the Holy Spirit as the connection between God and the person who receives this sacrament. Through confirmation, the respective confirmee should cover up the gifts of the Holy Spirit in his life and thus live his faith well. “Being confirmed is a groundbreaking decision for young people. Because confirmation is a conscious and responsible ‘yes’ to faith,” Ilse Kappelmüller, who is responsible for the confirmation of the Catholic youth, quoted in the diocesan statement.
In addition to the diocesan initiatives, preparation for Confirmation takes place primarily in the respective parishes, which, in addition to regular Confirmation classes, usually also offer a wide range of offers such as Confirmation weekends, godparents’ days, pilgrimages and youth services to prepare for Confirmation. “One goal of the confirmation preparations and the night of the fire is to make the young people aware of their uniqueness and to show them that they are not alone, but form a large community together with many others,” explained Paul Grüneis, youth leader of the Diocese of St Pölten .
Source: Kathpress