Blogs
Mary in the News: Jan. 22, 2018
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 Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary (ESBVM) will be presenting its 2018 Annual Conference on July 26-28, 2018 at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania. The theme of the conference is: Mary, Disciple of the Lord: Suffering. Guidelines for proposals are given below. If you would like to submit a proposal, the deadline is March 1, 2018. Please feel free to share this Call for Papers with others who might be interested in presenting at the conference. Questions regarding proposals may be addressed to ESBVM president, Dr. Christopher Carr at ccarr@misericordia.edu. Please put "ESBVM Conference" in the subject line. Details about the conference will be sent to all members as they become available.
The conference theme may be pondered using a variety of methods appropriate to your field of study, personal interests, and particular Christian tradition. The following are some suggested topics to use for inspiration:
- Explorations of the importance of Mary’s suffering, such as studies of Mary as a teacher in how to deal with suffering or the concept of “Co-Redemptrix” and its implications for doctrine and/or ecumenical dialogue
- Eastern and/or Western artistic depictions of Mary, such as her presence at the foot of the Cross in paintings and iconography, or in other media like Michelangelo’s Pieta.
- Descriptions of Mary and suffering in literature, such as poetry or Medieval passion plays
- Mary’s role in consoling those who suffer, drawing from Scripture, Tradition, and/or popular piety
- The historical development in the Christian understanding of Mary as someone who suffered or consoles, beginning with either the Bible, the Church Fathers, Medieval theologians, the Reformers or later thinkers
- Biblical evidence (or lack thereof) of Mary’s suffering or ability to intercede for those who suffer, especially according to Reformation principles or in the thought of the Reformers themselves
- Liturgical texts that express Mary’s experience of suffering, such as the Marian lamentations used in Eastern Christianity on Holy Friday
- Marian titles and devotions in Catholicism that focus on Mary’s suffering (e.g., Our Lady of Sorrows, or the Immaculate Heart)
Mary in Media: Books, Films, Music, etc.
New Items from Father Donald Calloway to help promote Our Lady, St. Joseph, and the Rosary.
From the Marian Treasure Chest
Brother John Samaha, S.M., sent us the text below.
Understanding Blessed William Joseph Chaminade by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.
Consider William Joseph Chaminade as a man for our times. As a man of the nineteenth century, how can he be considered such a figure? During the French Revolution, the time of the Empire and of the Restoration, he was open to the times to bear witness to Jesus Christ. With the rallying cry Nova bella elegit Dominus (The Lord has chosen new battles.), he directed his collaborators not to put new wines in old wineskins.
In the spirit of the Gospel, Chaminade forged ahead boldly in the world of his day. Defying the Reign of Terror and the oath required by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, he fearlessly pursued his apostolic mission, assuming various disguises to celebrate the Eucharist clandestinely at the risk of his life.
After exile in Spain, he returned to France in 1800 to face reality squarely by envisioning a different approach to rebuilding the Church, a less clerical way separated for all concern of caste or class.
Engaging lay men and women he developed a new evangelization based on the established Sodality model and centered on each individual's witness in his or her own milieu--person to person, worker to worker. In this he was a precursor of the official Catholic Action proposed by Pope Pius XI. He gathered the laity under the banner of Mary, Mother of Jesus and of all people.
Acting on the inspiration of Mary received at the shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar in Spain and on the interest of some lay followers, he collaborated with Venerable Adele de Batz de Trenquelleon to found the religious congregation of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate (F.M.I.) in 1816. The following year, he organized the men religious into the Society of Mary (S.M.). Their common objective was to animate the lay people in the Sodality, and to emphasize serving the young and the poor. Eventually, they concentrated on teaching as the preferred and most influential apostolate.
Solidly ground in prayer and faith, and realizing that the Son is never separated from His Mother, Chaminade entered into an alliance with Mary to participate in her apostolic mission to bring Christ to all.
The Marianist Family is the lengthened shadow of Blessed William Joseph Chaminade.
Marian Events
Theme: Eya Concert
Location: Immaculate Conception Chapel, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio
Date: Thursday, January 25, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
The Marian Library is kicking off its seventy-fifth anniversary year with the vocal ensemble Eya and a performance of medieval music interpreted for women’s voices. Please join us! The concert is free, but tickets are required.
Click here for more information.
Mary in the Catholic Press
Holy Father: Mary an Example and a Mother (Zenit website) January 19, 2018
Pope Francis on January 19, 2019, reminded the crowds in Peru that Mary is not only an example but a mother. His comments came in an address during his meeting with the population at Jorge-Basadre-Institute in Puerto Maldonado in Peru.
The Holy Father went on to explain that he had been told he was coming to a forgotten place, a "no man's land." He disagreed.
"You are not a no man's land," Francis stressed. "This land has names. It has faces. It has you."
He noted that Mary also came from a "no man's land." And where there is a mother, you are cannot be forgotten nor alone....
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.
Vocal Trio Presents Medieval Marian Musical Tribute (University of Dayton website) January 10, 2018
As each season of the calendar year reveals beauty all its own, so do the seasons of the liturgical year, each providing a vibrant context for praise, pondering, penitence, inspiration and reflection.
Such was the inspiration for a January 25, 2018 concert by the Washington, D.C., women's medieval vocal ensemble, Eya, to kick off the Marian Library’s year-long seventy-fifth anniversary celebration....
Click here to read the complete article or here for information about Eya.