Blogs

Features for this week.

Candlemas Poetry:

The Presentation of the Lord 

To be the mother of her Lord-
What means it? This, a bleeding heart!
The pang that woke at Simeon's word
Worked inward, never to depart.

The dreadful might of sin she knew
As innocence alone can know:
O'er her its deadliest gloom it threw
As shades lie darkest on the snow.
Yet o'er her sorrow's depth no storm
of earth's rebellious passion rolled:
So sleeps some lake no gusts deform
High on the dark hills' craggy fold.

In that still glass the unmeasured cliff,
With all its scars and clouds is shown:
And, mellowed in that Mother's grief,
At times, O Christ, we catch Thine own.
Aubrey De Vere

Taking Mary Into Our Homes

How do you take Mary from the big church and bring her into the domestic church which is the family, the small group of friends and devotees, but also the heart of each one of us?

The following contributions made at the 2013 Summer Symposium will answer these questions. Ms. Maria Enriqueta Garcia goes back to the biblical root text for this question in John 19:25-27. Sr. Celia Chua attempts to develop a veritable spirituality of the home with Mary, and Dr. A. Cañadas shares his own practical experience, and that of his family, on how to take Mary into the home.

At the Foot of the Cross – Maria E. Garcia
Taking Mary Into Our Homes – S. Celia Chua, MIC
Marian Spirituality at Home – Alejandro Cañadas, PhD

A Marian Prayer for the Elderly

Now at the end of life,
O Holy Mother of the Redeemer,
we, the elderly of San Antonio,
come to you with hope.

Be our walking staff when we stumble.
Be our eyes when we no longer see.
Give us your hand, O sure, unfailing guide,
as now the light here fades.

Singing, we will journey together.
and on our cross joined to you,
we will go together with you
to heaven, there where youth is eternal.

Translator: William M. Fackovec, S.M.

In honor of Pope Francis' recent visit to the Philippines:

Philippine National Patronages

January Commemoration Days