MANILA, Philippines–Catholics should practice the sacraments more than popular devotions.
Msgr. Alejandro Esperancilla, special assistant for liturgical affairs of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles in Jaro, Iloilo, criticized some devotees’ practices that bordered on idolatry and folk superstition.
He said these popular devotions tended to “degenerate to magical and superstitious practices or even idolatry.”
Esperancilla pointed out defects inherent in the practice of popular devotions, which he believed could endanger spiritual lives if left unchecked.
He cited the “dangers” that popular devotions in general and Marian devotions in particular could expose Catholics to.
Popular devotions
“Popular devotions can end up becoming more important than the liturgy. We have seen people attach greater importance to devotions like novenas and processions at the expense of the sacraments,” Esperancilla said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) website.
Some people, he said, preferred going to Mass on Wednesday for the Perpetual Help novena rather than attending Mass on Sunday. Or they attend processions and novenas but fail to give importance to the Eucharist.
Popular devotions “can cause people to develop false priorities and values in their spiritual life,” he noted.
Esperancilla also criticized the faithful who used scapulars as “anting-anting” or amulets.
“Does my wearing of a scapular mean that my salvation is assured? If I fulfill the nine-day novena, does that mean that God is duty-bound to give what I ask of Him? This feeling of a false sense of security can do more harm than good,” he said.
According to Esperancilla, popular devotions “can give practitioners a false sense of security in the presence of the living God because the promises attached to devotions are explained in a simplistic manner.”
Religious statues
He also pointed to the religious statues placed in jeepneys, business establishments and malls and the questionable motive for placing them there.
“We have seen the rich and powerful build shrines and donate money for the propagation of devotions to Mary and the saints, but neglect the works of justice, good government and charity to the less fortunate, let alone their own workers,” he said.
The real aim of these devotions, Esperancilla said, should be life transformation.
“It is unfortunate that though we are a religious people, our faith remains infantile and lacking when it comes to morality in politics, in our involvement in society and other Christian values by which we are called to transform our lives and the life of our society,” he said.
“If devotions do not transform our lives then there must be something wrong with them or with the people practicing them,” he said.