Monthly Archives: November 2023

Saints, Women's Communities

Brooklyn Visitation Inspires New CD of Hymns in Honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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From 2023-2025, Bishop Benoît Rivière of Auton, France, has decreed a Great Jubilee to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Heart of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary in Paray-leMonial, France. A fitting tribute to this Jubilee celebration is the release of a CD, composed by Michael Zabricki to promote devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He was inspired by the nuns of the Brooklyn Visitation Monastery for whom he created online video Masses for their nine-day Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

What follows is the press release; you can also listen to a sample of the CD below!

A Brooklyn NY parish musician is on a mission to revive devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.Michael Zabrocki, director of music ministries at Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Whitestone, NY, has produced a CD with original and traditional hymns, along with spoken word prayer tracks. The CD will be released on November 21, 2023.

Zabrocki said, “My devotion began in my heart during the COVID-19 lockdown when I was introduced to Sr. Susan Marie and the Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary at Brooklyn Visitation Monastery. I created online video Masses for their nine-day Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus with the Very Rev. Joseph R. Gibino.”“Their community’s history and devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus deeply moved me to learn more about Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque and the others whom Jesus used to bring this devotion to the world. Over time, it became the focus of my own spiritual life,” Zabrocki said.Zabrocki shares that many people associate the Sacred Heart of Jesus only with a painting hanging in their home. “It is much more than that!” he said.“I pray this collection of my new compositions and selected traditional hymns, along with prayers that have found a home in my heart, will help in some small way to spread this devotion again,” he said. “Thank you to Sr. Susan Marie, Sr. Mary Cecilia and all at Visitation Monastery for a gift I can never repay.”Delays, Death and Divine ProvidenceWhile Zabrocki wanted to begin making the album about two years ago, commitments kept cropping up causing delays. And then in April 2023, Michael formerly committed to having the album recorded and released by the Feast of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in October.Then the unthinkable happened. Michael’s twin brother and fellow musician Ron passed away in May. “Along with the emotional impact, Ron was also my producer, guitarist, arranger and much more. I lost my studio and production staff. I now had to go it alone for the first time after thirty years of recording Catholic music.”Zabrocki started a crowdfunding effort which resulted in 100% of production costs to be met in the first two months.  Then, Grammy-winning Christian music pioneer John Michael Talbot offered to play guitar on a few tracks. This was followed by Lenny Smith, composer of the beloved hymn “Our God Reigns,” offering Michael the opportunity to be the first to record a new version of the hymn, transforming the song to true worship.But God wasn’t finished with him and his mission to spread this devotion, Zabrocki recalled.  It was announced that Bishop Msgr. Benoît Rivière of Auton, France had decreed a Jubilee commemorating the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to Saint Marguerite-Marie (Margaret Mary) in Paray-le Monial beginning in December, 2023.Sr. Susan Marie shared the first review of the album: “These gentle flowing hymns of divine love, including original creations and traditional Catholic works, truly permeate the soul. Mr. Zabrocki’s new album evidences the deep touch of Divine Providence as its release corresponds to the 350th Anniversary Years of the Apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St Margaret Mary. Listen, and be transformed!”Zabrocki said that God used COVID to bring him to the sisters at the Visitation Monastery in Brooklyn.  Zabrocki echoes Talbot’s sentiments about that religious monastery’s being “the beating heart of the Church.”  “The heart of a monastery joined Michael’s heart with the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  May God be praised and may this devotion spread again throughout our Diocese and the world!” Zabrocki said.The title of the new album is “Consecration: Hymns and Prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus” and includes nine original and traditional hymns and five spoken word prayer tracks. The album will be published November 21, 2023, on all streaming platforms and wherever digital music is sold online.  Those wishing the physical CD can purchase it directly from Zabrocki’s website.

You may listen to the title track on YouTube, “Only You (Consecration)” or click the image above. 

Discernment, General interest, Vocations

“Souls in the Game” – Seminary Life through the Lens of Fraternity and Sportsmanship

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A very enjoyable and moving 30-minute documentary showing a group of seminarians, some without any real basketball experience, joining together to form a team in the truest sense of the word. From the Press Release and website:

Souls in the Game, a co-production of Saint John’s Seminary and the Archdiocese of Boston, is a heartwarming new 30-minute documentary that tells the story of seminary formation beyond theology and philosophy classes.  Released in time for National Vocation Awareness Week, the documentary offers a glimpse into seminary life through the lens of fraternity and sportsmanship, showing brothers supporting each other– on and off the court– as they grow to understand their own vocations.

Deacon Marcelo Ferrari, who is currently studying at Saint John’s Seminary, added, “We are excited to show a youthful church on fire with faith. By coming to the basketball tournament, you get to see this bright future of the Church. There’s a lot of young men living the joy of the Gospel and following Christ.”

Souls in the Game is available for free viewing at soulsinthegame.com or YouTube. Discussion questions
are also available making it appropriate for religious education curriculum or vocation awareness initiatives.

For more information and a complete press kit, visit https://www.soulsinthegame.com/press.

Women's Communities

Sisters of the Little Way – A New Private Association of the Faithful

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There is a new community of women being formed in the Archdiocese of Portland – the Sisters of the Little Way of Beauty, Truth, and Goodness.  They are currently a private association of the faithful “intending to become a religious institute, given a charism rooted profoundly in the authority of God who is Goodness, Truth, and Beauty.”

They have the unique mission “of listening, healing outreach, spiritual reparation, and solidarity with people who are despairing, doubting, and hopeless, people on the fringes or outside of the Church, especially those people who have been wounded, scandalized, or abused by members of the Church. God is calling many people right now to address the deep wounds in the Church.

When God called us to a mission of reaching out to those on the fringes of the Church, especially those people who have been abused, wounded, and scandalized by members of the Church, we felt small in the face of this immense mission. But we also know that we are not alone. We are dependent on one another. Renewal always involves the whole Body of Christ.”

More their website:

Whether we are practicing Catholics, on the edge of the pew, or have already left the Church, the following statistics tell us something we already know deep in our bones. The Church is bleeding members and she is bleeding from the wounds caused by her own members. 

In the U.S. the percentage of Catholics who belonged to a parish declined to 58% from 76% between 1998 and 2020—twice the rate of decline among Protestants (Gallup). 

37 percent of American Catholics in 2019 say news of reported sexual abuse by priests had them reexamining their religion, up from 22 percent in 2002 (Gallup). 

A 2021 survey found that 31% of adult U.S. Catholics said the abuse crisis has made them embarrassed to identify themselves as Catholic (CARA at Georgetown University).

These signs of darkness in the Church make clear the need for deep renewal and healing. This sorely needed, profound reform calls us to leave behind the status quo, take risks, reorganize our efforts, and embrace new ways of thinking rooted in the Gospel.

On September 22nd, the sisters professed private vows and were officially recognized as a private association by Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland. They can now be called sister and wear their habits. Here is a description of the habit:

An outward sign of the beauty of our vows, our habit is foundational to our life and mission; it includes a gray tunic, a black apron-scapular, a teal veil, and a rosary. Gray, the color of ashes, poverty, and renewal, reminds us to go to Christ for healing and to live in reparation for the sins of members of the Church. The black apron-scapular, a memento mori, symbolizes our obedient service to God’s beauty unto death. The embroidered crucifix on our apron depicts the moment of anguish when Christ cries out to the Father, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani” (Mt 27:46). The teal of our veil, like the blue sky meeting the green of the earth, represents the Blessed Mother’s intercession for God’s anawim. … In our struggle against principalities and powers (see Eph 6:12), we unite our prayer with Mary, Our Lady of Surrender—Protector of the Anawim by praying the Rosary in reparation for the sins of the Church’s members and for renewal.

If you would like to learn more or to help the sisters in this important mission in the Church, please visit their website: www.sistersofthelittleway.com.