Catholic Identity

I have a small range of penances I give to penitents and it is getting smaller. I found a lady looking through books at the back of church trying to find the "Hail Holy Queen" when a visiting priest was in "the box". Another woman told me she doesn't go to confession because she is "embarrassed", not just by her sins but also her inability to remember the correct prayers.

In parishes that don't have the Hail Mary during the Intercessions it isn't just children who can't remember the "Hail Mary", adults forget it too - bye the way, does anyone have any clear details about the Heenan CDW indult for its use during the Intercessions in England - like a protocol number? Apparently it was in the draft of the Papal Liturgies during the visit but removed by Office for Papal  Liturgies, presumably to stop setting a universal precedent.

The repertoire of  recited prayers of your average English Catholics is diminishing. Except for those under the the spell of Medge, younger people tend not to learn either the Rosary or its prayers. In our schools prayer seems to be "Charismatic" spontaneity rather than the ancient prayers of the Church. It is about Catholic identity as much as abstaining fro meat on Friday.

Part of catechesis should be teaching prayer, when the disciple ask the Lord to teach them to pray he gives them a text to learn.