Category Archives: Liturgical Year

Liturgical Year, News

Am I Not Here, Who Am Your Mother?

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Today, 12/12/12, is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas. The beautiful image of Our Lady on the tilma (cactus fiber cloak) that can be seen in Mexico City still resonates with people today, just as it did 500 or so years ago with the Aztecs and all the native peoples of South America. The conversions to Catholicism and belief in the Triune God were astounding. As was mentioned in our homily today, as the Reformation drew people out of the Church in Europe, Our Lady gathered them into the embrace of the Church in Mexico.

The image is on a rough fabric that should have deteriorated many centuries ago. The black sash around her waist indicated to the Aztecs that she was with child yet her hair was loose indicating that she was a maiden/virgin.  “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

Because she appeared as a pregnant young women, she has been adopted by the pro-life community as their patroness.

Her hands, as a newsletter from the Sisters Minor of Mary Immaculate says, are clasped in prayer indicating that “she was not God for she was praying to God.” The newsletter contains detailed descriptions of the images on the tilma and their symbolism for the Aztecs then and for us today.

There are many other signs and wonders in the tilma which are endlessly, and in  fascinating way, discussed on various websites. Here is one video talking about the miraculously aspects of the tilma.

May Our Lady of Guadalupe intercede for our country, especially for those who defend and protect the lives of innocent children in the womb.

 

Cloistered life, Liturgical Year, News, Women's Communities

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The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, in Gower, Missouri,  have recently released a new CD for Advent which is currently #4 on Billboard’s Classical Traditional Albums chart. According to Vatican Radio, “All of the music was conducted and arranged by the order’s prioress, Mother Cecilia, a professionally-trained musician who performed in the Columbus Symphony Orchestra of Ohio for three years before entering religious life. ”

According to Monica Fitzgibbons , co-founder of De Montfort Music along with her husband Kevin, the nuns “chose all the music, and in doing so they chose these beautiful pieces across the ages from different countries.” There are 16 songs on the album including an original piece composed by the sisters.

A good proportion of the proceeds go to the sisters themselves. It will allow them to pay down the debt of the guesthouse where they live and hopefully garner extra money to assist them on their way towards their goal – the building of a new, permanent monastery.

To order Advent at Ephesus, click here. The CD cost is $20.00 plus $2.00 shipping.

So many have even forgotten what Advent is! More importantly, however, we have seen the hand of God as using us, very poor instruments,
to make Him better known in this increasingly hostile and Godless culture. Please spread the word as best as you can, and better still, please pray for the success of this venture. The greatest benefit for our community will come through orders made directly through our website,
www.benedictinesofmary.org.

Cloistered life, Liturgical Year

Pro Orantibus Day

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On November 21, 2012, the Church will celebrate Pro Orantibus Day (“For Those Who Pray”). Catholics around the world are encouraged to honor the cloistered men and women religious who have devoted their whole lives, hidden in the world, to God. Blessed John Paul II established this worldwide day in 1997.

The faithful can honor these faithful servants by attending Mass and offering up special prayers for cloistered religious, by making visits to monasteries and cloistered convents, or by sending cards or letters to contemplative communities.

The IRL has free resources that can be used to prepare and celebrate this day including:

  • Press Release
  • Liturgy Planning Guide
  • Homily Notes
  • Prayer Cards
  • Intercessions
  • A Novena for the Feast of the Presentation of Mary
  • Clip Art
  • Photos
  • Bulletin Announcements

Pope Benedict XVI referred to cloistered, contemplative life as “the heart” which provides blood to the rest of the Body of Christ.  When the heart weakens, we all weaken!

We pray for all the consecrated men and women in convents and cloisters, monasteries and hermitages, that their silent prayer and hidden sacrifices might supply the grace needed to transform our world.

Liturgical Year

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Them O Lord

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Go forth, Christian soul, from this world
in the name of God the almighty Father,
who created you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,
who suffered for you,
in the name of the Holy Spirit,
who was poured out upon you.
Go forth, faithful Christian!

May you live in peace this day,
may your home be with God in Zion,
with Mary, the virgin Mother of God,
with Joseph, and all the angels and saints. . . .

May you return to your Creator
who formed you from the dust of the earth.
May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints
come to meet you as you go forth from this life. . . .
May you see your Redeemer face to face.

Liturgical Year, News

The Year of Faith

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Our Year of Faith got kicked off with a breathtaking sight as a sizeable group of people gathered together in downtown Libertyville, IL, to say the rosary and entrust the Year of Faith to our Blessed Mother. We had a bishop, local priests, sisters from the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate and the Daughters of the Immaculata, brothers from Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, schoolchildren, grandparents, young and older adults, babies in strollers and what looked like a few curious bystanders.

The hour of prayer concluded with the lift off a giant rosary made of yellow and blue balloons that had processed the mile from Marytown, down Highway 176, to the center of town. In a howling 30 mile per hour wind, it was a miracle the balloons arrived intact!

As the balloons lifted up, the cross snagged on a tree limb and the rosary stayed there, hanging over us but as we concluded the final hymn, it broke free and sailed so high it was soon lost to sight. You couldn’t help but be giddy and tearful and happy!

The Holy See also announced that a plenary indulgence may be obtained as follows:

“During the Year of Faith, which will last from 11 October 2012 to 24 November 2013, Plenary Indulgence for the temporal punishment of sins, imparted by the mercy of God and applicable also to the souls of deceased faithful, may be obtained by all faithful who, truly penitent, take Sacramental Confession and the Eucharist and pray in accordance with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff.

“(A) Each time they attend at least three sermons during the Holy Missions, or at least three lessons on the Acts of the Council or the articles of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in church or any other suitable location.

“(B) Each time they visit, in the course of a pilgrimage, a papal basilica, a Christian catacomb, a cathedral church or a holy site designated by the local ordinary for the Year of Faith (for example, minor basilicas and shrines dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Apostles or patron saints), and there participate in a sacred celebration, or at least remain for a congruous period of time in prayer and pious meditation, concluding with the recitation of the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form, and invocations to the Blessed Virgin Mary and, depending on the circumstances, to the Holy Apostles and patron saints.

“(C) Each time that, on the days designated by the local ordinary for the Year of Faith, … in any sacred place, they participate in a solemn celebration of the Eucharist or the Liturgy of the Hours, adding thereto the Profession of Faith in any legitimate form.

“(D) On any day they chose, during the Year of Faith, if they make a pious visit to the baptistery, or other place in which they received the Sacrament of Baptism, and there renew their baptismal promises in any legitimate form.

May we partake of all the graces available and may we grow in faith!

Liturgical Year, News

The Miracle of the Liquidation of the Blood of St. Januarius

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Today is the Feast of St. Januarius and the people of Naples, Italy, eagerly awaited the miracle when the dried blood of the the saint liquifies.

The miracle has occurred annually since 1389! If the blood does not liquify, then the people believe that a tragedy will befall the city. The last time this happened was in 1980 when an earthquake caused over 2500 deaths.

To see Father James Kubicki’s comments on the miracle, click here.

 

 

Liturgical Year, News

Carrying Mary Across the Finish Line

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When Meseret Defar won the gold medal in the 5000m race at the 2012 Olympic Games, she pulled out of her jersey an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary holdingthe baby Jesus.

I am reminded that when we cross our own finish  lines from this life into the next, I hope that we will have the Blessed Mother with us on the journey. I saw this prayer at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and jotted it down so I could think of it often.

There is no hound as fleet of foot,

nor young soul so quick to win the race,

nor horse to finish the course,

as the Mother of God to the death bed of one who needs her intercession.

Happy Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary!

 

Liturgical Year

Prayers for Priests on the Feast of the Sacred Heart

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The Congregation for Clergy has released this prayer in preparation for the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of the Clergy, held on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (this year, June 15).

PRAYER FOR THE HOLY CHURCH AND FOR PRIESTS

O my Jesus, I beg You on behalf of  the whole Church:

Grant it love and the light of Your Spirit,

and give power to the words of Priests

so that hardened hearts might be brought to repentance and return to You, O Lord.

Lord, give us holy Priests;

You yourself maintain them in holiness.

O Divine and Great High Priest,

may the power of Your mercy accompany them everywhere

and protect them from the devil’s traps and snares

which are continually being set for the soul of Priests.

May the power of Your mercy,

O Lord, shatter and bring to naught

all that might tarnish the sanctity of Priests,

for You can do all things.

My beloved Jesus,

I pray to you for the triumph of the Church,

that you may bless the Holy Father and all the clergy;

I beg you to grant the grace of conversion

to sinners whose hearts have been hardened by sin,

and a special blessing and light to priests,

to whom I shall confess for all of my life.

(Saint Faustina Kowalska)

Liturgical Year

The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Eucharist

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The IRL is consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Our founder, Servant of God, Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, wrote that it is a remarkable fact that “all of Christ’s appearances to St. Margaret Mary were when she knelt before the Eucharist. He would literally replace the Sacrament on the altar when He showed His physical heart to this devoted mystic, as much to say, ‘When you see the Eucharist, you see Me; and when you see Me, you behold My Sacred Heart.'”

Devotion to the Sacred Heart has waned in recent times eclipsed by devotion to Divine Mercy. However, Divine Mercy flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus as evidenced by the picture commissioned by St. Faustina. In any event, June which is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a good time to pray a novena to the Sacred Heart for some special intention. Click here for the novena that Padre Pio prayed every day for those who requested for his prayers.

Dear Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee.

Liturgical Year, News

Cor ad Cor Loquitur (Heart Speaks to Heart)

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In September, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI paid a special visit to a Pietà located in the shrine at Etzelsbach (Thuringia), Germany. Every year there is a traditional equestrian pilgrimage, which is held on the second Sunday after the feast of the Visitation. This commemorates the healing of horses who were cured when taken to the shrine during an equine epidemic.

The Holy Father obviously loves the pilgrimage site and has pondered deeply the miraculous image contained within. Located in East Germany, it survived most recently the Nazi reign of terror and the Communist takeover of the region. Here are excerpts of his relfections:

“In most representations of the Pietà, the dead Jesus is lying with his head facing left, so that the observer can see the wounded side of the Crucified Lord,” explained the Pontiff. “Here in Etzelsbach, however, the wounded side is concealed, because the body is facing the other way.”

It seems to the Holy Father that “the hearts of Jesus and his mother are turned to one another; they come close to each other. They exchange their love.”

“It is not self-fulfilment that truly enables people to flourish…. Rather it is an attitude of self-giving directed towards the heart of Mary and hence also towards the heart of the Redeemer.”

For a detailed history of the statue from a Zenit article, click here.  Or go to Fr. Z’s blog for an analysis of the Holy Father’s talk at the shrine.

Happy Feast of the Visitation!