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Mary in the News: Sept. 22, 2017

By Michael Duricy

Read recent items about Mary in both Catholic and secular news. Also see International Marian Research Institute news and updates.

ML/IMRI Features

Marian Events

Mary in the Catholic Press

Mary in the Secular Press

Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute Features

Updates
At the age of 99 years old, Father Rene Laurentin passed away on Sunday, September 10, 2011. He had been a professor for IMRI. Please remember him in your prayers. Thank you.
Click here for details in English, in French or in Italian.
Mary in Media: Books, Films, Music, etc.

Vatican Official Researches Miraculous Apparitions in Texas

Father Stefano Cecchin is a Vatican postulator who presents the case for the canonization or beatification of someone in the Catholic Church. This week, he  is touring the San Angelo Concho River in Texas, where tradition holds that an apparition of Maria de Jesus de Agreda--the Lady in Blue--appeared and converted the Jumano Indians in the 1600s....

During his time in San Angelo, Father Cecchin travels with a film crew. The crew is helping him document his research and produce a documentary on Mary of Jesus and her mission work with the Jumano Indians.

The history surrounding the life and death of Mary of Jesus is rich. Less than ten years after her death in 1665, Mary of Jesus was declared venerable by Pope Clement X. He declared that her life was one of "heroic virtue." Even though the process of beatification has been open since 1673, it has never been completed.

On the 400th anniversary of her birth in 2002, many groups petitioned for the Vatican to renew attempts to process her beatification. These included the Spanish Mariology Society, The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, and The Knights of Columbus....

Father Cecchin’s documentary will premiere in Spain, days after the park in San Angelo has a ribbon cutting ceremony to unveil the new statues. If Father Cechhin’s research proves the apparitions true, Mary of Jesus could be named the first female evangelist saint in the Americas.

Click here to read an article with more details.

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From the Marian Treasure Chest

The article below was sent by Brother John Samaha.

Marianist Martyrs of Madrid by Brother John Samaha, S.M.

Seven Marianist martyrs who were victims of religious persecution in the Spanish Civil War in 1936 have been beatified.   They were sought and martyred because of their faith and membership in a religious congregation, and for teaching in Marianist schools in Ciudad Real and in Madrid.

Three Marianist Brothers martyred at Ciudad Real were beatified in 1995 by Pope John Paul II. They are Blessed Carlos Erana, S.M., Blessed Jesus Hita, S.M., and Blessed Fidel Fuidio, S.M. These men were also exemplary Christian educators and apostles of Mary. September 18 is the day we honor them in the Church calendar. 

Four Marianists gave their lives in Madrid for the same cause and were beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007: Blessed Miguel Leibar, S.M.; Blessed Florencio Arnaiz, S.M.; Brother Joaquin Ochoa, S.M.; and Brother Sabino Ayastuy, S.M. Their feast day in the liturgical calendar is November 6.

Fifteen Marianists were martyred for their faith in 1936. Because of the anarchy of the times, it has been difficult to gather sufficiently detailed information to introduce the causes of the other eight Marianist martyrs.

None of these martyrs was involved in politics in any way, nor did they bear arms. These Marianists were simply religious educators standing staunchly for their Christian convictions.

A note on the severity and complexity of the Spanish Civil War may be helpful. Though civil war erupted in 1931, the worst upheaval in Spain lasted from July 17, 1936, to April 1, 1939, and was a brutal conflict in which the Nationalists overcame the Loyalists. 

The Church was a primary target of attack.

The death toll was high. Estimates of the number killed run as high as 500,000. Included in the many ruthless massacres were 12 bishops, 283 Sisters, 2,365 monks and Brothers, and 4,184 priests.

In the reconstruction following the bloody strife, Franco built a monumental basilica church hewn from a granite ridge in the Guadarama range as a huge cavern, and topped by the world’s tallest memorial cross. This memorial known as Valle de los Caidos, Valley of the Fallen, contains the remains of about 40,000 of both sides who died in the war. One of the Marianist martyrs of Ciudad Real, Brother Fidel Fuidio, is represented in the vast interior mosaic decorations.  

Biographies of the Ciudad Real Marianist martyrs by Father Emilio Ortega, S.M., have been translated into English under a single cover. Father Jose Maria Salaverri, S.M., a former superior general of the S.M., has completed in Spanish a volume containing the biographies of the four Marianists martyred in Madrid. In the latter book, the introduction by Father Enrique Torres, S.M., former postulator general of the Marianist causes for sainthood, is an excellent theological reflection on the meaning of martyrdom. These books are available from the North American Center for Marianist Studies (NACMS) in Dayton, Ohio.

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Marian Events

Theme: Family Rosary Rally

Location: Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 2300 S Smithville Road, Dayton, Ohio 45420

Date: October 8, 2017

The 2017 Family Rosary Rally XIII will he held in the Immaculate Conception Church at 2300 S. Smithville Rd, Dayton, OH, 45420.  2017 is the 100th anniversary of Fatima so we will have some special activities for this rally. Father Ethan Moore will be the Presider.

For more details, click here to view the Flyer or here to read an article from the Catholic Telegraph. 

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Mary in the Catholic Press

Alternate Psalms in the Liturgy of the Hours (Zenit website) September 22, 2017

Q: I have questions about the Divine Office and the interpretation of its instructions. 1) On the daytime prayer psalms: On the feast of Blessed Virgin Mary, for example, in the breviary Volume IV (Ordinary Time weeks 18-34) on page 1646, on “Daytime Prayer,” it says, ” … in place of psalm 122, psalm 129, 1185 may be said, and in place of psalm 127, psalm 131 may be said.” The question: Is it liturgical law that we have to change the two psalms and flip the book back and forth? This confusion regarding the daytime prayer psalms also applies to the feasts of the Virgin, the apostles, the dedication of a church, and the Psalter Week III (Monday-Wednesday). 2) On August 29, the memorial of the Beheading of John the Baptist, Martyr: Do we pray Office of Readings psalms from the weekday psalms or the Common of One Martyr? Do we have options for determining which psalms to pray? This type of memorial is confusing since it looks like a feast day. — M.I., California

A: Our reader's page references are to the U.S. version of the Liturgy of the Hours. I will quote from the three-volume English and Irish edition.

To answer the first question we need to examine the structure of the daytime prayers. There are three sets of prayers traditionally called terce (midmorning), sext (midday) and none (afternoon). These short offices usually consist of three psalms, each one accompanied by an antiphon. The first of the three psalms is almost always a few strophes of Psalm 118, the longest of the psalms. The psalms are followed by a short reading, versicle and final prayer that are proper to the time of day. The office concludes with the acclamation: "Let us praise the Lord: Thanks be to God."

During the major liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter, as well as on most solemnities, a single antiphon is used for all three psalms and is recited before the first and after the last psalm. The final prayer is the same as that of lauds but uses the short conclusion, "Through Christ our Lord." ...

Click here to read the entire article.

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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.

New Jersey mayor orders Marian shrine removed from state-owned land (Crux website) August 17, 2017

A religious shrine that has served as a focal point for Hispanic residents of a New Jersey city has been removed after occupying ground on state-owned land for fourteen years.

Workers took down the shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe in Passaic on Wednesday. It consisted of a wooden log enclosed in a glass case, surrounded by statues, candles and flowers. It came together over the years after a Hispanic teenager claimed to have seen the face of the Virgin Mary in the stump.

More and more people came to venerate the site, and the shrine began to grow. It became a religious focal point for the areas growing Mexican Catholic community....

Click here to read the entire article.

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