Blogs
Mary in the News: September 3, 2019
By Michael Duricy
Read recent items about Mary in both Catholic and secular news. Also, see International Marian Research Institute as well as Marian Library news and updates.
Marian Library and International Marian Research Institute Features
Updates
Father John-Luke Stahr successfully defended his Thesis for the Licentiate of Sacred Theology with the International Marian Research Institute (IMRI) on Friday, August 30, 2019.
The topic was Mary's Contemplation of the Eucharist: A Study of the Mariology of Jean Gerson Found in His Commentary on the Magnificat
Please join us in congratulating him for a job well done and pray for the success of his future ministry.
Mary in Media: Books, Films, Music, etc.
New Marian Book from Ignatius Press, Annunciation: A Call to Faith in a Broken World
Sally Read converted from atheism to Catholicism when her daughter, Flo, was only four years old, but it did not take long for the child to become aware that many friends and relatives did not share her mother's newfound faith. This consciousness of "two worlds" led to a great many doubts in Flo, and some rebellion. Two nights before her First Communion, she suddenly questioned whether she should receive the Eucharist.
Sensing the precarious nature of faith in an overwhelmingly secular world, Read began writing down the compelling reasons for holding on to both God and Church. Taking the Annunciation as her template, she explored common experiences of the spiritual life as she meditated on each part of the story recorded in the Gospel of Luke.
Drawing on Scripture, the saints, and the lives of people she has known personally or professionally as a nurse, Read shows how God is with us always--even in suffering, spiritual dryness, and depression. Although inspired by a mother's loving response to a daughter, this book will speak to any believer engaged in the bliss and the bewilderment of a relationship with God.
From the Marian Treasure Chest
Father Bertrand Buby, S.M., sent us text on this feast with the following comments: "September 5 is celebrated by the Society of Mary and several other religious congregations as a foundation day. For the Marianists, Sept. 5 was chosen after seven young men took their vows on the fifth of September, after completing a six day retreat (August 31-Sept. 5, 1817). Today, this is a special day for all those Marianists who made vows on this feast dedicated to Mary under the title of Mary Queen of the Apostles."
Mary, Queen of the Apostles by Father Johann Roten, S.M.
Mary, Queen of Apostles, understood as a title/advocation first appears in the oldest versions of the Litany of Loreto, those of Paris (end of the twelfth century) and Padua (end of the fourteenth century) (see Meersseman II, 222-229). The liturgical feast was approved in 1890 (May 17) requested by the Pallottine Fathers and adopted by a number of dioceses and religious (esp. missionary ) congregations. In the older version of the Missale Romanum it was scheduled for the Saturday after Ascension (probably in the neighborhood of May 21 ... now and then!) There were--at one time--seven women's congregations with that name. Many congregations with special apostolic orientation venerate Mary under this title (Salvatorians, Claretians, Pallottines, Missionaries of Steyl, etc.).
The biblical roots of this title (also true for the iconographical theme) are, of course, Acts 1:13-14 showing Mary in the midst of the apostles. The thematic stressing Mary's pre-eminent role with regard to the apostles is much older than the title. In a homily (erroneously attributed to Cyril of Alexandria, PG 77, 992), Mary is pictured as the one who leads every creature to the truth. Why? Because Mary brought forth the light of the world. Through her, the apostles announce salvation to the world.
Marian Events
Title: Miracles of France
Dates: September 12-20, 2019
Location: France with stops in Belgium
Join "Miracle Hunter" Michael O'Neill at sites of miracles in France and Belgium.
See places of apparitions at Lourdes, Miraculous Medal, Sacred Heart, Pontmain, Beauraing, Banneux and more.
Join Relevant Radio® and EWTN® television host and Our Sunday Visitor author "Miracle Hunter" Michael O'Neill and Father John Broussard, CPM, rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (the only approved Marian apparition site in the US) in exploring the miracles of France and Belgium!
Travel to the famed site of Lourdes with its Marian apparitions and healing waters, the place where St. Margaret Mary Alocoque experienced visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the location where the popular Miraculous Medal was supernaturally inspired, and the spots of the twentieth-century Vatican-recognized Marian apparitions of Belgium (Our Lady of Beauraing and Our Lady of Banneux). See other major Marian apparition sites like Our Lady of Hope (Pontmain) and Our Lady of the Green Scapular, the Eucharistic Miracles of Douai and Brussels, and the incorruptible bodies of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Nevers and St. Catherine Laboure in Paris. Daily Mass and spiritual reflections will be offered along the pilgrimage route.
Mary in the Catholic Press
Daily Homily: At Your Right Stands the Queen (Zenit) August 21, 2019
Note: The reflections contained in today's homily are taken entirely from Edward Sri's book Queen Mother: A Biblical Theology of Mary's Queenship, Emmaus Road, Steubenville 2005.
Mary is the Queen of heaven and earth and our Queen because she is the Mother of our Lord and because she cooperated in Christ's redemptive work of salvation. "Since she was uniquely associated with Christ's suffering on the Cross, she was uniquely associated with His triumph and royal reign in the kingdom" (Queen Mother, 9). Assumed into heaven, Mary entered the royal court of heaven and sits at the right hand of her Son, Christ the King. As our Queen, Mary directs us, protects us, and intercedes for us.
In his encyclical letter Ad Caeli Reginam (1954), Pius XII teaches that Mary is a most excellent queen because of her Immaculate Conception by which she possessed a fullness of innocence and holiness, as well she is a most efficacious queen as she shares in Christ's influence over humanity, distributing graces through her motherly intercession. "With a heart that is truly a mother's ... does she approach the problem of our salvation, and is solicitous for the whole human race; made Queen of heaven and earth by the Lord, exalted above all choirs of angels and saints, and standing at the right hand of her only Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, she intercedes powerfully for us with a mother's prayers, obtains what she seeks and cannot be refused." (AC, 42) ...
Mary in the Secular Press
The faithful throng Annai Vailankanni church in Chennai for Mother Mary's annual fest (The New Indian Express) August 30, 2019
Lakhs of devotees from all walks of life visit the Annai Vailankanni shrine on Besant Nagar beach during its annual festival from August 29 to September 8....