Blogs
Mary in the News: Dec. 10, 2010
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
2020 Annual Conference of the ESBVM USA Call for Papers
The Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary, USA (ESBVM USA) was formed by Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Orthodox, and Presbyterian Scholars and is open to all Christians. The Society exists to advance the scholarly study of Mary, the Mother of Christ. By drawing on insights and perspectives from all traditions within the Christian household, the Society promotes increasing one's understanding of Christianity, furthering the effectiveness of the Christian mission, fostering academic interchange, and participating in inter-ecclesial prayer.
PROPOSAL DUE DATE: March 1, 2020
Conference Theme: "Mary, Mother of the Lord"
Conference Dates: July 22-25, 2020
Conference Location: Misericordia University, 301 Lake Street, Dallas, PA 18612 (just outside Wilkes-Barre)
Submission Guidelines and Requirements:
The paper proposal should be in DOC or DOCX and must include: presentation title, your name, professional affiliation (e.g., university or church name), and status (undergrad, grad. student, Ph.D. candidate, faculty, pastor, etc.), contact information (e-mail address and daytime telephone), abstract (350-500 words), and equipment needs.
The general theme for the 2020 ESBVM USA Conference is "Mary, Mother of the Lord." This theme may be explored 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 Mary's motherhood as gleaned from particular Scripture passages (Old Testament typologies and prophecies as well as New Testament texts);
- A study of Mary's motherhood as explored in the work of particular theologians and churchmen including the Early Church Fathers, Medieval Scholars, Protestant Reformers, and contemporary theologians;
- Mary's motherhood as it relates to and illuminates cultural and social justice issues, anthropological issues, sacramental theology, Christian anthropology, and/or soteriology;
- Conclusions drawn from or about ecumenical dialogues on the subject of Mary's motherhood;
- Historical, systematic, scriptural, or ecumenical explorations of Mary's motherhood as revealed by Marian titles such as Theotókos, Maria Lactans, or Mother of the Church and/or aspects of Mary's motherhood enshrined in Marian dogmas;
- Eastern and/or Western artistic depictions of Mary as mother of Christ, Christians, or the Church in the visual, literary and performing arts;
- Liturgical texts, prayers, and feast days in honor of Mary's motherhood; and
- The role that Mary's motherhood has played in Marian apparitions.
Please address your proposal for review to:
Christopher M. Carr, Ph.D.
ESBVM-USA, President
Misericordia University
301 Lake Street
Dallas, PA 18612
Mary in Media: Books, Films, Music, etc.
Mother Thrice Admirable Now Available
To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Servant of God Father Joseph Kentenich, Founder of the Schoenstatt Movement and survivor of the Dachau concentration camp, Danielle Peters and John Larson, MIC, offer an overview of the Mariology of this influential Priest. Drawing together and introducing key texts by Father Kentenich, this book will be indispensable for students, scholars, and children of Our Lady all seeking to understand the Mariology of the twentieth century.
Marian Events
Title: At the Manger: A Labor of Love
Dates: December 20, 2019 - January 12, 2020
Time: 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. weekdays, Dec. 2–Jan. 10
1–4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 7–8
1–4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 14–15
1–4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 21–22
1–4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 11–12
(Closed Dec. 6; 11:30-1 p.m. on Dec. 18; Dec. 24–Jan. 1; Jan. 4–5)
Location: University of Dayton, Roesch Library first-floor gallery and Marian Library, seventh floor
Free and open to the public
Since 1995, the University of Dayton’s Marian Library has presented a selection of its expansive collection of 3,600 Nativity scenes from more than 100 countries, celebrating how people around the world ponder and picture the birth of Christ through many different cultural lenses.
Join us during the 2019 Advent and Christmas seasons as we showcase the dedicated and inspiring volunteers of the Marian Library's crèche workshop. Each year, At the Manger is the product of approximately 6,000 hours of faithful service by dozens of volunteer craftspersons, carpenters and docents. The 2019-20 exhibit gives tribute to these volunteers who, together, curated it from their favorite settings.
Mary in the Catholic Press
Decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on the inscription of the celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto in the General Roman Calendar (Holy See Press Office), October 31, 2019
Since the Middle Ages veneration for the Holy House of Loreto has been the origin of that particular shrine which still today is visited by many faithful pilgrims in order to nourish their faith in the Word of God made flesh for us.
This shrine recalls the mystery of the Incarnation, leading all those who visit it to consider “the fullness of time”, when God sent his Son, born of a woman, as well as to meditate both on the words of the Angel announcing the Good News and on the words of the Virgin in response to the divine call. Overshadowed by the Spirit, the humble handmaid of the Lord so became the dwelling-place of divinity, the purist image of the holy Church....
In light of this, Pope Francis has decreed, by his own authority, that the optional memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Loreto should be inscribed in the Roman Calendar on 10 December, the day on which the feast falls in Loreto, and celebrated every year. This celebration will help all people, especially families, youth and religious to imitate the virtues of that perfect disciple of the Gospel, the Virgin Mother, who, in conceiving the Head of the Church also accepted us as her own.
Therefore the new memorial must appear in all Calendars and Liturgical Books for the celebration of Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours; the relative texts are attached to this decree and their translations, approved by the Episcopal Conferences, will be published after confirmation by this Dicastery.
Anything to the contrary notwithstanding.
From the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 7 October 2019, the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary.
Mary in the Secular Press
Nativity Scenes, U.D. and Pope Francis (University of Dayton Blogs) December 5, 2019
Do you recall your childhood Christmases?
Was setting up a nativity scene in your home a part of your holiday?
Crèches are one of our most significant Catholic Christmas Customs and Traditions.
Pope Francis has written a lovely Apostolic Letter, Admirabile Signum, on the Meaning and Importance of the Nativity Scene, published December 1, 2019.
The Pope reminds us that "Beginning in childhood, and at every stage of our lives, it (crèches) teaches us to contemplate Jesus, to experience God's love for us, to feel and believe that God is with us."
I particularly love the line in his letter that says: "The nativity scene is like a living Gospel rising up from the pages of sacred Scripture."