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| Vatican City - New Year's Eve |
114. Popular piety has given rise to many pious exercises
connected with 31 December. In many parts of the Western world the end of the
civil year is celebrated on this day. This anniversary affords an opportunity
for the faithful to reflect on "the mystery of time", which passes quickly and
inexorably. Such should give rise to a dual feeling: of penance and sorrow for
the sins committed during the year and for the lost occasions of grace; and of
thanks to God for the graces and blessings He has given during the past
year.
These sentiments have given rise to two pious exercises: prolonged
exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, which afford an opportunity for the
faithful and many religious communities for silent prayer; and the singing of
the Te Deum as an act of community praise and thanksgiving to God for the
graces received from Him as the year draws to a close(126).
In some places, especially in monasteries and in associations of the faithful with a particular devotion to the Holy Eucharist, 31 December is marked by a vigil of prayer which concludes with the celebration of the Holy Mass. Such vigils are to be encouraged and should be celebrated in harmony with the liturgical content of the Christmas Octave, and not merely as a reaction to the thoughtless dissipation with which society celebrates the passage from one year to another, but as a vigil offering of the new year to the Lord.
