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is indispensible and ought to be present in family life. It is important that the
husband and wife remain united in a stable manner for the welfare of the
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family and for the love of their children. The Knānāya family traditions
present parents’ love for their children as unique and indispensable. The
Song of Blessing expresses in a deep manner the love of a mother for her
daughter.

4.1.5.2 Transmit Faith

Magisterium Southist Family Custom
of Pope John Paul II
Familiaris Consortio 39, 55, Special Hymns (Ch. 3.6.1.1)
59, 60, 61, 62 Blessing at Death Bed (Ch. 3.8.1)
Ceremonies after the Death of a Family
Member (Ch. 3.8.2)

Pope John Paul II affirmed: “family life itself becomes an itinerary
of faith and in some way a Christian initiation and a school of following
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Christ”. All the Southist customs are in a special way a moral and spiritual
catechesis. They impart faith and basic moral principles to the new
generation. Pope John Paul II, in one of his messages to families affirmed
that the family, as a Domestic Church, participates in the mission of the
universal Church, particularly in transmitting the faith: “The Christian
family also has, in this regard, its own specific task. By virtue of its special
vocation and mission, it is called to transmit the faith in its own original

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Pope Benedict XVI also encouraged parents saying; “In this spirit I address you, dear
parents, to ask you first of all to remain firm for ever in your reciprocal love: this is the
first great gift your children need if they are to grow up serene, acquire self-confidence and
thus learn to be capable in turn of authentic and generous love. Further, your love for your
children must endow you with the style and courage of a true educator, with a consistent
witness of life and the necessary firmness to temper the character of the new generations,
helping them to distinguish clearly between good and evil so they in turn can form solid
rules of life that will sustain them in future trials.” BENEDICT XVI, Address of His
Holiness, Presentation To The Diocese Of Rome Of The "Letter On The Urgent Task Of
Education", St Peter's Square, 23 February, 2008. Accessed 15 November, 2013.
<http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2008/february/documents/hf_be
n-xvi_spe_20080223_diocesi-roma_en.html>
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Familiaris Consortio, no. 39.

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