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Mary in the News: Sept. 23, 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
Call For Papers
The Mariological Society of America (MSA) invites proposals for its May 13-16 2020 Conference to be held at the Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center in Federal Way, WA on The Person of Mary: Her Cultural and Anthropological Dimensions.
In his 1974 apostolic exhortation, Marialis Cultus (nos. 34–41), St. Paul VI called attention to the anthropological dimensions of the person of Mary. Likewise the Congregation for Catholic Education, in its 1988 Letter, The Virgin Mary in Intellectual and Spiritual Formation (no. 15), noted that: “Post-conciliar Mariology has given renewed attention to anthropology. The Popes have repeatedly presented Mary of Nazareth as the supreme expression of human freedom in the cooperation of man with God, who 'in the sublime event of the Incarnation of His Son, entrusted Himself to the ministry, the free and active ministry, of a woman.' (Redemptoris Mater, 46)." This conference will seek to understand the person of Mary in terms of her concrete historical existence as well as her deeper anthropological significance for the human call to communion with God.
Among the topics that might be treated are the following:
The person of Mary as the model for human existence and meaning
Mary as the model of authentic womanhood
Evaluating Marian devotions in light of sound Christian anthropology
Mary's person understood within her own Jewish religious and cultural setting
The person of Mary in light of contemporary anthropological theories
The person of Mary in light of human suffering and redemption
True and false understandings of the person of Mary in light of Scripture and tradition
The person of Mary as understood in mystical literature
The person of Mary as experienced in private vs. public revelation
Mary and the mystery of divine grace and human freedom
The person of Mary in light of divine providence and predestination
The anthropological significance of Mary's Immaculate Conception
The anthropological significance of Mary's divine and spiritual motherhood
Mary's perpetual virginity in our age of the cult of the flesh
Mary's perpetual virginity and the theology of the body
The Assumption of Mary in relation to Catholic eschatology
The person of Mary and divinization
The person of Mary as the exemplar of the divine image and likeness
Mary and the theological virtues
Mary and the gifts of the Holy Spirit
Mary and the charismatic gifts
Please send abstracts by October 31, 2019 to Father Frederick Miller (frederick.miller@shu.edu) and and Dr. Robert Fastiggi at (fastiggi.robert@shms.edu). The abstract should be about 350-500 words. It should include sources and an explanation of how the proposal relates to the theme of the conference.
Mary in Media: Books, Films, Music, etc.
Now Available for pre-order! Rejoice! Advent Meditations with Joseph
This year, you can enjoy an Advent that is more peaceful, more joyful, and more meaningful than ever before. Last year, tens of thousands of Catholics entered in Advent with Rejoice! Advent Meditations with Mary. Ascension Press expects to be able to ship materials for Rejoice! Advent Meditations with Joseph the week of October 7, 2019, so pre-order now!
From the Marian Treasure Chest
Brother John Samaha, S.M., sent us the text below with the following comments: "The article below about Our Lady of Walsingham was published in The Catholic Response."
"England's Nazareth": Our Lady of Walsingham by Brother John Samaha, S.M.
Although the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is medieval in origin, 1997 marked the centenary of the restoration of devotional life at England's famed Marian shrine of Walsingham, Norfolk. "England's Nazareth" is a holy place held in high regard by the Christians of the country.
As popular legend has it, the shrine originated with a noble widow, Lady Richeldis, in 1061. A fifteenth-century manuscript records the Walsingham ballad, which explains how the noble woman wished to honor Our Lady. Mary responded by asking her to build a chapel. Mary led Richeldis "in spirit" to Nazareth to show her the place where the Archangel Gabriel had greeted her, and directed the widow to take measurements of the house so that she could build one like it at Walsingham. In this spot, the Virgin Mary explained, the people would celebrate the Annunciation, the "root of mankind's gracious redemption," and would find help in their needs.
Three times Richeldis experienced this vision and request. This confirmed her desire to have the chapel constructed, but the directions about the location were unclear to her and to the carpenters. When the carpenters could make no progress in building, Richeldis spent the night in prayer. Her supplications were answered immediately, for Our Lady, herself, had angels complete the construction on the site she wanted, just two hundred feet from where the workmen had labored.
Over the years, many miracles were attributed to Our Lady of Walsingham, including one in which King Edward I was saved from a piece of falling masonry.
Around the fourteenth century, the miraculous Holy House of Norfolk began to be upstaged by the Holy House of Loreto, Italy, near Ancona. According to another legend, the birth house of the Virgin Mary in Nazareth was transported by angels from Palestine to Fiume (former Yugoslavia). Failing to attract attention and veneration, angels transported it to two more unsuccessful locations near Recanati, Italy. Finally, in 1295, the Holy House was carried to Loreto, near the Adriatic Sea. Eventually the historic basilica was erected in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
As the Protestant Revolt mounted, the fervor of Marian devotion waned in England, "Our Lady's Dowry," Walsingham had been an immensely popular place of pilgrimage until this time. In 1534, the prior and canons of Walsingham signed Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy, placing them among the first to capitulate to the king's authority. In the following centuries, the shrine fell into ruins and its former glory was largely forgotten.
But a wealthy Anglican woman, Charlotte Boyd, in the nineteenth century commenced the restoration of the shrine, just as another wealthy woman had initially endowed it in the eleventh century. For pilgrims traveling from London to Walsingham, the last stopping place had been a chapel about a mile away known as the "Slipper Chapel," because people left their shoes there before walking barefoot the last mile to the shrine. The small fourteenth-century building was used as a barn to house animals prior to Charlotte Boyd's desire to restore it. Before her plan materialized, she became a Catholic, and in the 1890's bought the chapel and donated it to Downside Abbey. The Guild of Our Lady of Ransom took care of the restorations, and carved the statue of a standing Virgin and Child to be given the place of honor. That statue is now in King's Lynn. Over a century ago, August 20, 1897, a procession of pilgrims from King's Lynn to the Slipper Chapel marked the renewal of public devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham. But for a generation or more, the Catholic Church showed little enthusiasm for the shrine. The reason given was that during the nineteenth century many Catholics in England and Ireland were not pleased with attempts by Cardinal Manning and others to promote public devotions, processions, and rituals. The faithful were accustomed to a more reserved expression of prayer. The recusant families considered such practices as "un-English" imports from abroad. Consequently, the restored shrine of Walsingham had little impact initially on English Catholicism. In the 1920's, however, the Anglican vicar of Walsingham, Father Alfred Hope Patten, determined to recreate the medieval shrine under the auspices of the Church of England. The vigor of the Anglican project shamed the Catholics into doubling their own efforts to encourage devotion to Our Lady at the Slipper Chapel.
At present, the Catholic shrine is developing enormously, especially since the construction of the Chapel of Reconciliation. Now both shrines, with their respective pilgrim hostels, are increasingly popular and patronized. Earlier, neither Anglicans nor Catholics acknowledged publicly one another's existence at Walsingham. Even the old street signs indicated the "Shrine of OLW" in one direction, and the "RC Shrine" in the other.
Then things changed some years ago when Pope John Paul II visited England, and celebrated Mass at Wembley with the image of Our Lady of Walsingham on the altar. The image was placed there by the director of the Catholic shrine and the administrator of the Anglican shrine. Thereafter, Anglicans and Catholics have recognized each other in their publications and events. Ecumenical relations, because of some over-zealous efforts and statements, have been a little strained, and are now going through a quiet phase. The Anglican administrator, Martin Warner, regarded this as a case of "roots deepening in the winter." He is optimistic for the future friendship of the Anglican and Catholic Churches.
The Walsingham shrine has much to celebrate and is busy doing it. A new window depicting the Annunciation, designed by Alfred Fisher, has been added to the Slipper Chapel. The window was donated by the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom. To mark this important addition, a year of special liturgies, concerts, and drama was celebrated--some of it Marian, some not.
Our Lady of Walsingham is known as "The Virgin by the Sea." The medieval ballad told that she helps mariners in distress. The Anglican pilgrim hostel displays the name Stella Maris, Star of the Sea. This is one of Mary's more ancient titles. Walsingham, just a few miles from the Norfolk coast, is a sanctuary of prayer and healing, a metaphor of salvation from storm and shipwreck, offering calm waters and safe harbor to all in trouble.
Might we again refer to England as "Our Lady's Dowry?"
Marian Events
Title: Seventh Annual Marian Eucharistic Conference
Dates: November 9-10, 2019
Location: Hilton Greenville, 45 W Orchard Park Dr, Greenville, SC 29615
Sponsored by the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, the featured speakers will focus on seeking to anchor people to the two pillars of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.
Mary in the Catholic Press
'May the Virgin of Carmel Always Accompany and Protect You,' Pope to Carmelites (Zenit) September 23, 2019
Pope Francis received in audience the participants in the General Chapter of the Order of Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (Carmelites), taking place in Rome, Sept. 10-27, 2019, on the theme: "You are my witnesses." (Is 43: 10); from one generation to the next: called to be faithful to our Carmelite charism (cf. Const. 21).
The following is a Vatican-provided translation of Pope Francis’ address to those present:
***
Dear brothers!
With joy I greet you, called to celebrate the General Chapter, and through you I greet all the members of the Carmelite Order. The theme at the center of your Chapter reflection is: “You are my witnesses” (Is 43: 10); from one generation to the next: called to be faithful to our Carmelite charism (cf. Const. 21).
God has blessed Carmel with an original charism to enrich the Church and to communicate the joy of the Gospel to the world, sharing what you have received with enthusiasm and generosity: "Freely you have received; freely give." (Mt 10: 8)...
Mary in the Secular Press
Memorial to unborn set to break ground (Bakersfield.com) September 21, 2019
A local church is embarking on an effort to honor babies lost in utero with the construction of a memorial where the remains of miscarried babies can be entombed.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Patroness of the Unborn, a Catholic church on Brundage Lane, will break ground September 30 on the Memorial of the Unborn. Bishop Joseph V. Brennan, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno, will be in attendance to bless the project, which will feature a bronze statue of Mary and Joseph cradling a tiny baby in their hands, a crypt to entomb remains and a wall containing remembrance plaques.
"This will be a healing place for all families. Miscarriages, stillborns, abortions ... there's no one that hasn't suffered or known someone who suffered from this," said Virginia Santos, a parishioner who is active in the project....