Blogs
In the News: July 14, 2017
By Michael Duricy
Read recent items about Mary in both Catholic and secular news. Also see International Marian Research Institute news and updates.
Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute Features
Updates
The proceedings [360 pages] of the Twentieth International Mariological Symposium [held in Rome October 6-9, 2015], Mary and the Sacred: Forms, Places, Contexts, is now available from Edizioni Marianum for 25 euros + shipping [though the cover price is 35 euros]. For further details, or to order copies, email marianum@marianum.it.
Mary in Media: Books, Films, Music, etc.
Now an e-book: How to Pray the Rosary
In this handy little guide, best-selling author Father Donald Calloway, MIC, teaches you how to pray the Rosary and addresses issues such as:
- Why pray the Rosary?
- How long should a well-prayed Rosary take?
- What are the graces attached to praying the Rosary?
Click here to order paperback copies of the book, here to order e-reader version, or here to order the Kindle version.
From the Marian Treasure Chest
Brother John Samaha, S.M., sent us the article below with the following comments: "This article about Brother Frank Spaeth in my community appeared in Vocations and Prayer, January - March 2017."
Only For God's Service and Glory: From Teaching Science to Making Rosaries by Brother John Samaha, S.M.
"What does a religious Brother do," is a frequently asked question. More correctly, one should inquire what a religious Brother is. Being is more important than doing. A Brother does whatever work is assigned to him. But why and how he does it makes the difference. A Brother lives and works only for the service and glory of God. In whatever he does, a Marianist Brother pursues his way of life by assisting the Blessed Virgin Mary in her mission to bring Jesus to others.
Such a person is Brother Frank T. Spaeth, S.M., an ex-Marine, ninety-four years old and sixty-eight years a Marianist. After years of teaching the physical sciences and advanced mathematics, he prepared himself for enjoying an active retirement. When considering various hobbies, he became interested in making rosaries because he likes to work with his hands and with tools. Now, in addition to helping others by driving them to appointments and by making minor repairs at the Marianist Center in Cupertino, California, Brother Frank pursues with pleasure the construction of various styles of rosaries. He assembles "weapons of mass construction."
About ten years ago he taught himself how to assemble a rosary from the various parts. With this backlog of experience he has become skilled in rosary-making, and enjoys the reputation of an adept craftsman. Each day he tries to spend an hour or so engaged in his hobby.
Brother Frank explains that it takes him about four hours to assemble a rosary. To date he has made several thousand rosaries, many of them by special request. Those not needed to fill a special request are quickly circulated and distributed to persons expressing a need for one.
Because he uses special wire and carefully chosen beads, his rosaries enjoy a reputation for being strong and durable. Parts--wire, chain, beads, crucifixes, and medals--are ordered from Our Lady's Rosary Makers (ORLM), a nonprofit organization managed by laity in Louisville, Kentucky. ORLM evolved from the work of a Xaverian Brother, a high school teacher, who began two generations ago to teach a group of adults and students in Louisville to make rosaries for missionaries.
For special beads Brother Frank searches in hobby shops. However, the most notable beads he uses are "Job's tears," a natural grass seed which he grows in the community garden. Job's tears are the size of a small pea and come in varying shades of gray.
Frequently people bring broken rosaries to him for repair, and he generously obliges.
Brother Frank asks only the cost of the materials used when someone orders a rosary. That amount and any additional amount offered to him goes into his rosary fund for the purchases of new materials.
For Brother Frank, it is a labor of love to assemble these "links of love."
TOPMarian Events
Theme: Mary and Mercy Retreat
Location: St. Joseph Catholic Church, 114 West Fay Street, Edinburg, Texas 78539
Date: July 21-27, 2017
Join the Marian Missionaries of Divine Mercy for an inspiring retreat featuring best-selling author and acclaimed speaker Father Michael Gaitley, MIC. Click here for more information and to register.
Mary in the Catholic Press
General Audience: "On Mary, Mother of Hope" (Zenit website) May 10, 2017
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!
In our itinerary of catecheses on Christian hope, today we look at Mary, Mother of hope. Mary went through more than one night in her path as Mother. From her first appearance in the history of the Gospels, her figure stands out as if she were the personage of a drama. It was not simple to answer the Angel's invitation with a "yes": yet she, a woman still in the flower of youth, answered courageously, despite not knowing anything of the destiny that awaited her. In that instant, Mary appears to us as one of the many mothers of our world, courageous to the end when it is about receiving in their womb the story of a new man that is born.
That "yes" is the first step of a long list of obedience--long list of obedience!--that will accompany her itinerary as mother. Thus, Mary appears in the Gospels as a silent woman, who often does not understand all that is happening around her, but who meditates every word and every event in her heart....
Click here to read the entire article.
Mary in the Secular Press
The director and editors of All About Mary under the auspices of the International Marian Research Institute do not necessarily endorse or agree with the events and ideas expressed in this feature. Our sole purpose is to report on items about Mary gleaned from a myriad of papers representing the secular press.
Religious Film Double Feature in the Batesville Deanery (Catholic Telegraph E-pistle Newsletter) July 12, 2017
The Batesville Deanery Resource Center in Batesville, Indiana will present a double feature of religious films, Finding Fatima and The Thirteenth Day, July 18 at the Gibson Theater in Batesville and July 25 at the Wolf Theaters in Greensburg. In each case, Finding Fatima will begin at 6:30 p.m. and The Thirteenth Day will begin at 8:15 p.m. after a fifteen-minute intermission. Both films are about the appearance of Our Lady at Fatima in 1917. The cost is a free-will donation. For tickets, call 812-932-0789.
Click here to read the entire article [then go to page 2].