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Reparation is a Christiantheological concept closely connected with those ofatonement andsatisfaction. In ascetical theology, reparation is the making of amends for insults given to God throughsin, either one's own or another's. The response of man is to be reparation through adoration, prayer, and sacrifice. InRoman Catholic tradition, anact of reparation is a prayer or devotion with the intent to expiate the "sins of others", e.g. for the repair of the sin ofblasphemy, the sufferings ofJesus Christ or asActs of Reparation to the Virgin Mary.
According to Thomas Slater, writing in theCatholic Encyclopedia, reparation is a theological concept closely connected with the concepts ofatonement andsatisfaction. Although God could have chosen to condone the sins of humanity, indivine providence, he instead judged it better to demand satisfaction through reparation and penance for sins of humanity. In Catholic teaching, it is better for the education of man that wrongdoing on humanity's part should entail the necessity of making satisfaction; this satisfaction was made adequately to God by the suffering,passion anddeath of Jesus Christ. By voluntarily submitting to his passion and death on the cross, Jesus thus atoned for man's disobedience and sin, and made reparation to God for the offenses of humanity.[1]
In Catholic teaching, through the merits obtained by the death of Jesus, mankind is restored to grace, which enables humanity to add prayers, works and trials to those of Jesus "and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church" (Colossians 1:24).[2] Mankind thus makes reparation to the justice of God for their sins, and by virtue of theCommunion of the Saints, the oneness and solidarity of the mysticalBody of Christ, can also make satisfaction and reparation for the sins of others.[1]
In hisencyclical letterMiserentissimus RedemptorPope Pius XI said:
The creature's love should be given in return for the love of the Creator, another thing follows from this at once, namely that to the same uncreated Love, if so be it has been neglected by forgetfulness or violated by offense, some sort of compensation must be rendered for the injury, and this debt is commonly called by the name of reparation.[3]
Pope Francis, adopting teachings fromPope John Paul II, outlines and explains the "proper meaning" of the term "reparation" in his encyclical letterDilexit nos (2024), referring to a mode of action which the Christian believer, with the help of grace, can "offer" to Christ the redeemer:
Francis extends this idea, proposing "that we develop this means of reparation, which is, in a word, to offer the heart of Christ a new possibility of spreading in this world the flames of his ardent and gracious love": in the acts of fraternal love through which believers heal the wounds of the Church and of the world, ... they offer new ways for the healing power of the heart of Christ to express itself.[4]: Paragraphs 200-201
In 1654Catherine de Bar founded theBenedictine Nuns of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Paris.[5]
TheDivine Praises were originally written in Italian by Luigi Felici, aJesuit priest, in 1797 for the purpose of making reparation after saying or hearing sacrilege or blasphemy.[6]
Some Catholic organizations whose focus was reparation included the Archconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday, founded by BishopPierre Louis Parisis in 1847; and the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face, founded byLeo Dupont in 1851.
TheMass, the re-presentation of the sacrifice ofCalvary, was according toThomas Aquinas specially suited to make reparation for sin.[1] The Mass of Reparation is a particular apostolate of theNorbertines. A confraternity to promote the devotion was founded by the Norbertine sister Rose of Bonlieu. Members promise to attend one extra Mass during the week in reparation for all those who neglect their Sunday obligation.[7] In 1886Pope Leo XIII raised the group to an Archconfraternity of the Mass of Reparation.[1]
The Prayerful Sodality founded byHildebrand Gregori in 1950 became theCongregation of the Benedictine Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face in 1977.[8]
Scriptural studies in Catholic theology after theSecond Vatican Council have developed aTrinitarian focus on "the self-offering of believers in union with Christ by which they share in his covenant relationship with the Father."[9]
SomeMarian apparitions[which?] have purportedly mentioned the need for reparation.
The Fatima prayer to theHoly Trinity is based on the purported 20th century apparitions ofOur Lady of Fatima, and is attributed to an angel who appeared to the visionaries. It is sometimes called the "Angel Prayer".
O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg the conversion of poor sinners.[10]
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Catholic tradition includes specific prayers and devotions asacts of reparation for insults and blasphemies againstJesus Christ.Pope John Paul II referred to reparation as the "unceasing effort to stand beside the endless crosses on which the Son of God continues to be crucified".[11]
PracticingEucharistic adoration before thetabernacle (especially made in front of the most forgotten and abandoned tabernacles) as part of thefirst Thursdays devotion is aCatholic devotion to offer reparation for theHoly Wounds of Christ.
The idea of reparation is an essential element in theRoman Catholic devotion to theSacred Heart of Jesus.[1] ReceivingHoly Communion as part of thefirst Fridays devotion is aCatholic devotion to offer reparations for sin. In thevisions of Christ reported byMargaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century, several promises were made to those people that practiced the first Friday devotions, one of which included final perseverance.
In many Catholic communities the practice of theHoly Hour of meditation during theexposition of the Blessed Sacrament during the First Fridays is encouraged.[12]
The "Golden Arrow prayer" is part of devotion to theHoly Name of Jesus first introduced in 1844 byMary of Saint Peter, aDiscalced Carmelite. She wrote that an act of sacrilege or blasphemy is like a "poisoned arrow", hence the name "Golden Arrow" for this reparatory prayer.[13]
TheRosary of the Holy Wounds is aRosary based prayer directed to the sufferings of Jesus and was first presented byMarie Martha Chambon, aVisitation nun who lived inChambéry, France and died in 1907.[14]
Specific Roman Catholic organizations exist for this purpose. TheArchconfraternity of Reparation for blasphemy and the neglect of Sunday was founded byPierre Louis Parisis in 1847 and theArchconfraternity of the Holy Face was founded in 1851 byLeo Dupont, the "Holy Man of Tours".[15] In 1950, the abbotHildebrand Gregori formed the organization "Prayerful Sodality" which in 1977 became thePontifical Congregation of the BenedictineSisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face.[16]
A number of prayers such as theAct of Reparation to the Virgin Mary appeared in theRaccolta, a collection of Catholic prayers and good works with attachedindulgences. TheRaccolta included a number of diverse prayers for reparation.[17] TheRaccolta was deprecated in 1968.[note 1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Slater, Thomas (1911). "Reparation". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company.