Feast Of The Shrine Of Life

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Loreto.  Loreto, as many of you know, is the Sanctuary of the ancient House of Our Lady, translated in the 13th century from Nazareth.  The manner of the translation has been a subject of debate for centuries.  It was originally thought that angels translated the house over the course of a couple of years, the house resting in various places until it found its final resting place on a road on the "hill of laurels" near Ancona.  Archaeological research then suggested that the house was actually dismantled and brought to Italy, eventually being rebuilt on the hill. 

However the enigma continues as archaeological digs around the house have raised more questions: there are no foundations, one corner of the house is hanging over a ditch and one of the walls is on top of a squashed bush.  If the house was built on the road surely the builders would have laid some sort of foundation, and they would not have been able to build it with one corner hanging over a ditch, over thin air, and the squashed bush just boggles the mind.

Anyway, translation aside, the house is the house of Nazareth: the place where Our Lady grew up and where the Annunciation took place.  It is also venerated as the House of the Holy Family, where Jesus grew up.   It is an important shrine, and one with tremendous significance for us as the first "church of the Incarnation" where we are led to deeper reflection on the Son of God's becoming Man for the sake of our redemption.  As the place where "the word was made flesh", it is a truly pro-life shrine where God was conceived as a child in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

News.  Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross has issued a pastoral letter on abortion. 

In his weekly column in The Irish Catholic, David Quinn has some sobering things to say on the abortion issue.  According to David, Enda Kenny will not keep his pro-life promise, not unless there is a grassroots revolt within the ranks of Fine Gael.  I am inclined to agree with him.  So far the Taoiseach has broken many of his pre-election promises, and I think with the Labour party applying pressure he will fold on this issue too unless he sees his backbenchers on the rampage and the unity of the party is seriously threatened.  Keeping the coalition partners happy is one thing, but the disintegration of the party is another - so too is his leadership.  If a majority of Fine Gael backbenchers revolt Kenny's days may well be numbered, as, perhaps, are those of his Fine Gael ministers.   The question is: will the Fine Gael backbenchers revolt?  Will the grassroots Fine Gael members around the country, most of whom are pro-life, revolt and turn on Kenny?  Perhaps the future of Ireland now depends on this.   Certainly silence will usher abortion into Ireland.   If I may turn the adage around: when good men and women remain silent, innocent children die.

Of course we have to be realistic and see that if Kenny turns and becomes pro-life to save the party, will Labour concede for the sake of the coalition?  Will its thirst for power overcome its evangelical campaign for abortion?  Or will the government fall?  I have no doubt that Kenny will be told by Gilmore that Labour will pull out of government if he does not play ball.   It may well be a game of chicken to see who turns first. With the last budget, the harshest one yet, Labour is not in the good books with many citizens and if there is a General Election they may well lose seats: that might be a consideration if Kenny is forced by backbenchers to stand his ground.  Of course a General Election may well yield a hung Dail.  It is all up in the air.

Time to pray!  And fast!  We need to turn human hearts and make backbenchers courageous.  Some say courage and politics are uneasy bedfellows.  I would not be so dismissive - we have had some marvellous politicians who were courageous, virtuous and saintly.  St Thomas More is one, and is now their patron, but also the late Aldo Moro, friend of Paul VI and murdered in 1978: a cause has just been opened for Moro.  So let us seek their intercession in these difficult times.  Meanwhile get ready for action.  We may need to take the streets on a regular basis in the coming months to convince our TDs that we the people are, ultimately, in charge, and we do not want abortion in Ireland.

Monday: Loreto, The Home Of Our Mother

In these days of our pilgrimage, we are welcomed by our Holy Mother to her home - to the House of Nazareth transported from the Holy Land to this hill of Loreto.

These are days of silence for us, of prayer and meditation in the Holy House of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  Within those ancient walls, we meditate on the Annunciation when Mary said yes to God.  Here Mary accepted from God the role she was to play in the salvation of mankind.  So humble and loving, Mary had no thought for herself, but wanted to serve God.  For the holy Jewish people serving God is a sign of their love for him: a daughter of the Jewish people, the Daughter of Zion, Mary honours her people, and brings great glory to them as she offers herself completely to God.  May we follow her.  May we say yes to God, regardless of what he asks us to do.  May that Holy Spirit which guided and assisted Mary in her life and decisions, assist us. 

We follow her example, and so, spiritually coming into the Holy House, we make an Act of Consecration to Mary:

To you, Immaculate Heart of Mary, we consecrate ourselves – our hearts, minds, wills and lives and all those works we undertake so they may be for the glory of God, for the sake of the Gospel and the salvation of souls.   Holy Mother, our Queen and our Joy, give to our hearts the dimensions of yours and form us in the image of your beloved Son.

Let us pray:

Eternal Father, you sent your Son among us to make of us one people dedicated to your will and restored through grace to sing forever of your glorious works. As he offered his life on the Cross for our sake, laying down his life for his friends, accept the gift we make of our prayer and sacrifices, offered in union with him, for those in the theatrical and cinematic arts. Grant us the grace to fulfil our obligations to you and our neighbour, building up the Body of Christ, the Church, and trusting in the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer For Our Families

On this feast of the Holy Family, we might take a moment to pray for all families, and for Christian families in particular.  This prayer is a consecration prayer from the Sanctuary of Loreto in Italy, where the Holy House of Nazareth, transported by Crusader knights from the Holy Land as the Muslims were invading, is venerated.  You might take a moment to say this prayer with me.

O Holy Family of Nazareth,
model of every family,
we bless and venerate you with joyful hearts
and consecrate ourselves to you
in order that our home be
the dwelling place of the presence of God,
in mutual and generous love.

O Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
who from the Loreto hills irradiate on the world
the light of faith and the power of love,
and guide it day by day
on the path of the Gospel
and of the Beatitudes.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, O Holy Family, bless our families.

On this holy day you might like to check out a few links.  Pope Benedict dedicated his Audience on Wednesday to prayer in the Holy Family, see here for the text of his wonderful talk.  The website for the Sanctuary of Loreto is very good and has the story of the translation of the Holy House and information on the life of the Shrine.  Here is another good website, of a new association founded by one of the members of our Fraternity, to pray for our children.  It is well worth a visit and joining - all you need do is offer one holy hour in the week for our children. 

Happy feast day!

Hic Verbum Caro Factum Est

These days of Advent are truly Marian - marked particularly by Marian feasts, from the Immaculate Conception to Our Lady of Guadalupe.   Well, there is another day, one of my favourites: Our Lady of Loreto.  It is the title associated with Our Lady at the sanctuary of Loreto where the Holy House of Nazareth is preserved (La Santa Casa).

The home of the Our Lady in Nazareth was in two parts: one a grotto which remains in Nazareth and forms the heart of the Church of Our Lady there.  The other was a stone building which had been added to the grotto.  According to tradition, increasingly being supported by archaeological evidence, the house was an important centre of Christian worship in the Holy Land right from the early years.  When the Crusaders came they held the house in great veneration and built a great church over.  When the Muslims began to expel the Crusaders, in an effort to save as many relics as they could, the stone house was dismantled and taken to Europe. It was eventually reconstructed on a hill above the town of Ancona on the east coast of Italy, on a hill known for its laurels - hence the name of the sanctuary and city which grew up around the reconstructed house, Loreto.  The house is now preserved within a marble casing and is the heart of a great and beautiful basilica. 

For centuries it was believed that angels had taken the house up into the air and this feast day commemorates the house's arrival in Italy on the night of the 9th/10th December 1294.  According to the tradition the house was taken up miraculously in 1291 to save it from destruction.  It was brought by air to Tersatto, Dalmatia, in modern Croatia, where it remained for three years and became a pilgrimage site.  Then on the 9th December 1294 it was taken up again, to arrive in woods near Recanati, early on the 10th December.  The following year it was moved to the hill of laurels - Loreto.

There had been much debate over the story for centuries.  Modern historical and archaeological research has undermined the legend, but has confirmed the authenticity of the relic itself. While the story of the house's flight may not be true, this is the house of Mary, of the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Spiritually there is so much to reflect on.  I had the joy of visiting the Holy House twice, and it is one of my favourite Marian shrines - it's a toss up between Fatima, Loreto and Medjugorje.   The Holy House resonates with the lives of Jesus and Mary: it can be said that those stones are silent witnesses to great events.  It is known as the House of the Annunication, and over the altar in the House are the words, taken from St John's Gospel and the Angelus (the prayer of Loreto): Hic Verbum Caro Factum Est - Here the Word Was Made Flesh - in prayer and meditation, that word "Here" is mindblowing when you realise you are actually there, within the actual walls.

Each time I have been in Loreto, Our Lady always had graces for me, and of course it is natural - you come as a guest into her home, and so she welcomes you - Our Lady is most hospitable.  I had the enjoy of offering Holy Mass twice on the altar in the House itself, and that was a tremendous privilege.  The Capuchins there are most welcoming.   

Loreto is a place I would like to bring pilgrims, though I haven't had an opportunity to do so......yet.  What do you think, Fraternity members, how about a pilgrimage to Loreto?