Our Lady's Life

I'm not sure if you saw these articles, but I would recommend a read.  Thomas McDonald offers a two-part series on the life of Our Lady after Pentecost, drawing mainly on ancient works by St Melito of Sardis and St Maximus the Confessor. 

The first part can be read here.  The second part can be read here.

It is interesting that McDonald does not accept the Ephesus tradition but is inclined towards the Jerusalem tradition.  

If you are looking for some good Lenten reading the work by St Maximus would be good.  It very much shows Our Lady as being active in the early Church, continuing, in a sense, the role she embraced at the Visitation - going out to those in need bringing Christ with her.  The book is available. I got a copy in CTS in London some time ago, but it can be ordered from Amazon.

Lizzie's Day

 

One of our Carmelite Beati who is gradually gaining popularity in the Church has to be Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity.  As things stand the Congregation for the Causes of Saints is now examining a miracle which may well see Lizzie canonised in the next couple of years - and how wonderful that would be.  Like many Carmelite Saints and Beati, it is in her name that Elizabeth's contribution to  Carmelite spirituality and theology is revealed - the Holy Trinity. 

 

Her life as a Carmelite was short, her writings few, but Elizabeth has left us some profound meditations on the Holy Trinity and on the Trinity's call to us to enter more deeply into his divine life.  Her theology is contained mostly in prayers she wrote, and her spirituality finds its most potent expression in her letters where she forms others in her way.  She recognised that she was called to be a "praise of glory" for God - that we all are to manifest in our lives the glory of God and to praise and honour the Holy Trinity by living our lives as lights shining brightly in the world.  Lizzie is an eternal optimist, literally, she orientated herself and her whole life towards eternity, to the God who is in eternity, and found everything in him. 

 

Another aspect of her spirituality was her relationship with Our Lady.  Her favourite title for Mary was "Janua Coeli" - the Gate of Heaven.  She a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes and during her last illness she often referred to that statue by that title.  Our Lady is indeed the Gate of Heaven.  As she was the gate to earth for the Son of God who was born of her, now, as our Mother given at the foot of the cross, she is our Gate of Heaven, the one who can bring us to her Son. 

 

In her teachings on Our Lady, Elizabeth tells us that no one knows Jesus better than Mary, and if we wish to come to know Christ in a deeper way, we would be advised to see him in Our Lady's light, as she puts it.  From her retreat notes:

"It seems to me that we can also say, "No one has penetrated the depths of the mystery of Christ except the Blessed Virgin." John and Mary Magdalen penetrated deeply this mystery; St. Paul often speaks of "the understanding of it which was given to him"; and yet, how all the saints remain in the shadows when we look at the Blessed Virgin's light!

"The Virgin kept all these things in her heart": . . . It was within her heart that she lived, and at such a depth that no human eye can follow her. . . . When I shall have said my "consummatum est," it is again she, "Janua Coeli," who will lead me into the heavenly courts, whispering to me these mysterious words: "Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi, in domum Domini ibimus!" [I rejoiced when they said to me: let us go to the house of the Lord].

Blessed Elizabeth with her statue of Our Lady, "Janua Coeli"

Maria, Perfecta Fidei Icona

 

In his first encyclical, Lumen fidei, Pope Francis has given us many beautiful things to meditate on. But he has also given us, I think, another lovely title for Our Lady: "Perfect Icon of Faith" (Perfecta Fidei Icona). 

 

In paragraph 58 he writes:

In the parable of the sower, Saint Luke has left us these words of the Lord about the "good soil": "These are the ones who when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience endurance" (Lk 8:15). In the context of Luke’s Gospel, this mention of an honest and good heart which hears and keeps the word is an implicit portrayal of the faith of the Virgin Mary. The evangelist himself speaks of Mary’s memory, how she treasured in her heart all that she had heard and seen, so that the word could bear fruit in her life. The Mother of the Lord is the perfect icon of faith; as Saint Elizabeth would say: "Blessed is she who believed" (Lk 1:45). 

Beautiful stuff!   As we mull over the Holy Father's words, we can keep Our Lady before our eyes and ask her to help us in our struggle to love and serve her Son.

At the end of the encyclical, the Holy Father offers a prayer to Mary for faith, it serves as a fitting invocation to Our Lady as Perfect Icon of Faith:

Mother, help our faith!
Open our ears to hear God’s word and to recognize his voice and call.
Awaken in us a desire to follow in his footsteps, to go forth from our own land and to receive his promise.
Help us to be touched by his love, that we may touch him in faith.
Help us to entrust ourselves fully to him and to believe in his love, especially at times of trial, beneath the shadow of the cross, when our faith is called to mature.
Sow in our faith the joy of the Risen One.
Remind us that those who believe are never alone.
Teach us to see all things with the eyes of Jesus, that he may be light for our path. And may this light of faith always increase in us, until the dawn of that undying day which is Christ himself, your Son, our Lord! 

Mary, Mother and Perfect Icon of Faith, pray for us

Ah....Maria!

Another wonderful Marian Feast - the Holy Name of Mary - happy feast day to you all.  Suppressed following the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council it was restored by Blessed John Paul II, and I am glad it is.  It is an opporunity for us to reflect on Our Lady's role in our salvation which begin with an angel calling out her name: Hail Mary, or more correctly, Rejoice Miriam!  As our name is an important part of who we are, so too Mary's serves as potent symbol of who she is and what she has done for love of God and what she does for love of us.  As the song from the musical West Side Story goes:

"The most beautiful sound I ever heard:
Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria . . .
All the beautiful sounds of the world in a single word . .
Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria . . .
Maria!....

And suddenly that name
Will never be the same
To me!"

Ah - I know he's singing about his girlfriend, but just that bit brings Our Holy Mother to mind - Maria - what a beautiful name.  Sure look, we might as well take a moment and listen to the song and pretend Tony is getting down to say his rosary (you might have to close your eyes to indulge that particular fantasy!).  We'll let Jose do the honours:



As the battle for life begins, the Pro-Life Campaign is hosting a National Seminar on Saturday the 22nd September next at 11.30pm, more information here.  The report from the "expert group" set up by the government is due soon, and we are expecting it to recommend legislation for abortion. 

As you reflect on what this will bring to Ireland, just look across the water and see what over forty years of abortion have brought. Here's a disturbing story which shows exactly where the medical profession is now in Great Britain.  A child born at just under 22 weeks is left to die, despite desperate appeals from his mother to put him on medical support to give him a chance to live: doctors refused.  The little boy took two hours to die - a sign that he may well have pulled through and lived.  However, given that children are aborted every day at a later stage in pregnancy (a woman can kill her child as long as she is in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy), there was no will to keep him alive.   The mother was told that if the child had been born two days later they would have treated him. 

I sometimes wonder why God allows this world to continue existing.  Given that our governments, hospitals, medical staff and various highly-influential groups are engaged in the massacre of innocent little children, I sometimes wonder why God allows it.  Billy Graham's wife, Ruth, as she looked at the state of the US once said that if God did not punish America he owed Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.   When you see the silent holocaust claiming the lives of little children you'd have to agree with her.  Why does God allow this? 

This is very much a Jeremiah question (Cf. Jer 12): the prophet asked the Lord why he allowed evil men and women to prosper while they persecuted the good and the holy. We too might ask: "Lord why do you allow abortionists and their supporters to live when they kill your little children and persecute those who fight for life?  Lord, why do you allow pro-abortion politicians to live while they manipulate the laws and constitutions of our nations to legislate for the murder of our most vulnerable of our citizens?"  As a friend of mine would say, "It's all a mystery", and it is: King David filled the Psalms with such questions and, in faith came to the same conclusion as my friend, as did holy Job. 

God has a bigger plan and included in that is the call to conversion.  He desires that all people be saved and will not use the tactics of anger and hatred - the devil uses them.  Our part is to pray, make sacrifices and work, within the bounds of charity, to bring this holocaust to an end.   But, as we all know, it takes strength to say no to anger: may the God give us the grace to resist this anger.  Not anger, but love; and, yes, that love will be tested.  It will be tested by politicians who call us bigots like the UK deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - who is now trying to squirm his way out of it for political expediency.

Time to call upon Holy Maria for help: Sweet Mother of us all, watch over us, watch over our little children.

Related to all this, there is a new movie coming out in the US exploring the theme of discrimination against Christians.  Called Last Ounce of Courage it looks at how believers have become, not only strangers in society, but are under pressure to hide, and perhaps even renounce, their religious practices.  It stars a young Catholic actor, Hunter Gomez, in the one of the lead roles.  Kevin Jones has an interesting article on it here.   It raises interesting questions.  Here is the trailer:

Happy Birthday, Mother!

Today is Our Lady's birthday - her official, liturgical birthday, though we do not know the actual day of her birth.  If the visions of Medjugorje are authentic, then we would know her birthday to be the 5th August, since that is the date the alleged visionaries claim Our Lady told them she was born; but that would make no difference to the liturgy, she would not be the only Queen to have two birthdays: Elizabeth II of England has an official birthday in June and her actual birthday in April: the June date allows for better weather for official celebrations.

How do we celebrate Our Lady's birthday, after all we cannot give her gifts or throw her a party...or can we?  One of the wonderful dimensions of the Catholic faith is our attitude to feasts - from early times we have made festivity an important part of the liturgy.  We attend Holy Mass, have processions and then we party.   In Ireland that was part of our religious experience for centuries until the parties lost their religious/devotional elements and disintegrated into drunken orgies.  The bishops then felt the need to ban these celebrations, and so one of the few colourful elements in what was for the most part a rather austere Church was lost. 

Now I do not agree with the drinking and hanky-panky, but it is a shame that the drab became the dominant experience for many.  We Irish were never great at liturgy, and we still struggle with it, hence the liturgical crisis of the last fifty years.  While it would be good to recover some of our ancient traditions in the renewal, we might also learn from other traditions in the Church, particularly the Mediterraneans.

In the meantime, I think it would be quite appropriate to celebrate Our Lady's birthday with a little fiesta.  Holy Mass (offered for her intentions, perhaps), Rosary, a Holy Hour with her Son, and a nice meal and a toast to the Holy Mother.  Perhaps a little music and dancing, but no hanky-panky!

Lenten Devotion To Our Lady Restored

As I mentioned in one of my posts yesterday, there are a number of changes to the Holy Week ceremonies in the new translation of the Missal, and today we encounter one of the first: the restoration, in part, of the commemoration of Our Lady of Sorrows, celebrated on the Friday of Passion week (now fifth week of Lent) in the liturgy prior to the changes of Vatican II.  Blessed John Paul II directed that the collect of the commemoration be included as an option in today's Mass.

This is a wonderful restoration, it encourages a more devotional approach to the liturgy and that is not a bad thing.   As we are about to enter Holy Week, there is no better companion than Our Lady who can lead us through the events and help us enter into them in a deeper way.  Meditating on her sorrows, those of a mother and a faithful disciple, we may experience a livelier sorrow ourselves, and that sorrow will help us come closer to the Lord who offered his life for our salvation.

Traditionally today's memorial commemorates Our Lady's compassion, a compassion not only for her suffering Son, but also for us who still labour under the yoke of sin and struggle with the difficulties of life.  As we reflect on that we see what a beautiful commemoration this is and how necessary it is for us in these times, particularly when so many have suffered, even at the hands of representatives of the Church.  Surely the Holy Mother of God holds in her heart all those innocents who, like her Son, have been abused by others.  I hope many priests will use the optional collect and preach on the Compassionate Heart of Mary, the Lady of Sorrows.  Personally I would have like to see a restoration of the full Mass of the commemoration, rather than just an optional collect, a restoration which would also include the Stabat Mater.

Blessed John Paul restored a number of Masses from the Tridentine liturgy.  The Mass of Tears is one (cf Roman Missal, Masses for Various Intentions, 38 B), and the Mass for Chastity is another (cf Roman Missal, Masses for Various Intentions, 39).  Strangely, in a time when purity and chastity were under attack - the 1960's, those reforming the liturgy felt the need to remove a Mass which was badly needed.  Crazy. 

Collect

O God, who in this season

give your Church the grace

to imitate devoutly the Blessed Virgin Mary

in contemplating the Passion of Christ,

grant, we pray, through her intercession,

that we may cling more firmly each day

to your Only Begotten Son

and come at last to the fullness of grace.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

A Holy Vow?

In recent years the perpetual virginity of Mary has, like a number of articles of faith, become a subject of some debate in certain circles.  We often hear it questioned by reference to the phrase "the brothers and sisters" of Jesus, even by Catholics, a phrase easily explained which does not mean Our Lady had other children.  And today I would have to wonder how many Catholics today actually believe (as we are required) that Our Lady was a virgin when she conceived Jesus and remained a virgin throughout her life.

People doubt this doctrine for a number of reasons, one of them being the bewilderment that someone could actually live without having sex regularly.  In much the same way as priestly celibacy is attacked, it is asserted by many today that if someone is not having sex regularly, then there is something wrong with them - it is unhealthy not to have sex.  This ridiculous position is used as the foundation for the widespread belief that celibacy is the main cause of child abuse.  Of course we know that most abuse is committed by non celibate people, parents included.   It is impossible, some may say, for her to have remained a virgin and be healthy and normal.  Anyway according to Jewish custom, it would have been weird, indeed perhaps even sinful, for Mary not to have fulfilled her duty as a wife.     

Another reason for the disbelief here is a negative view of virginity.  Thanks to our contemporary culture, virginity seems to be good only as a state which is to be lost, rather than as a state in itself.  From as early an age as possible our society, and particularly our education systems, are preparing children to lose their virginity as quickly as possible so to become "normal" and to share in life in its fullness.   Such an ideological approach to human sexuality demeans sexuality.

Reflecting on all this, I would like to refer you to a very interesting article on The New Theological Movement website which discusses the belief that Mary had made a vow of virginity - an even more controversial matter.  I remember making the suggestion during a homily on a feast of Our Lady once, and after Mass I got a telling off from a middle-aged lady whom I suspect was a religious sister (she had all the dowdiness of nuns who have thrown off their habits).  The lady was appalled that could make such a suggestion, and when I explained, she dismissed me: she wasn't very open to consider the evidence.

I am no stranger to the argument presented in the article, in fact I have often used it myself and even preached it - I think the Scripture is clear.  The words of Our Lady to St Gabriel are very unusual - if she was to marry Joseph and have a normal sex life, why was it so strange that she should conceive a child? After all the Annunciation is very like the annunciations to Samson's mother, Hannah and Zachariah - it is only when Our Lady asks how it is to happen that she, and we, discover that her child will be conceived by the Holy Spirit.   We can certainly argue that Our Lady had no intention to engaging in sexual relations with Joseph, which leads us to consider that she had made a vow of virginity.

Now our scholars will balk at that, perhaps dismiss it as pious piffle which has no basis in fact. Why?  Because the Jews did not do that - they did not take vows of virginity - it would have been a scandal - they had to marry.  The same argument has been used to prove that St Paul had been married, even though he makes no reference to it and there is not a shred of evidence that he had a wife.  I remember reading a hilarious explanation for why Paul did not mention a wife and children in the autobiographical sections of his epistles.  You see they died in very tragic circumstances and Paul was so distraught he could not speak about them.  That scholarly scrap is offered by renowned Pauline expert, Fr Jerome Murphy O'Connor - when I read it, he plummeted in my estimation and I read him now with a large vat of salt to hand. The argument that all Jews had to marry is even put forward to prove that Jesus would have married, enter stage left Mary Magdalen with massive brood of offspring.................

The Jews prized virginity, and yes, the norm was to marry and to have children - indeed barrenness was a sign of God's disfavour, while fertility was a sign of blessing.  That was the norm, but then there are always exceptions to the norm, exceptions that were inspired by a form of dedication: the Nazirites and Essenes, for example.  St John the Baptist was celibate, and so was Jesus.  Why not Mary too?  Seeing as the new dispensation was about to begin, why couldn't God inspire people to embrace this consecration as a sign of the new way of life - the Christian way.  All the arguments against this celibate way of life do not take into account that God may inspire this way of life for a reason, and that this way of life can be exceedingly fruitful. 

We have to be open to these things.  Contrary to the opinions of some scholars, sometimes the traditions which have been passed on to us are actually true, so we must not dismiss them, but listen with an open and humble ear.  Let's face it, if scholars have to face up to the awful fact that Sodom and Gormorrah were destroyed by a "heat event" (aka as fire and brimstone, and smiting of an extreme kind), then we had better be open to other possibilies too.

Happy Birthday Ma!

O You, O Blessed Mother

we offer our praise and thanks

for, attentive to the prompting of the Spirit,

You said yes to the will of the Father

and brought forth the Son.

on this Your birthday,

our dear sweet Mother

we offer You ourselves

and we honour You,

O Most Blessed Mother.

Consecration Programme Starts



My former Legion of Mary Praesidium begins a progamme of preparation for the Act of Total Consecration to Our Lady today, as devised by St Louis-Marie de Montfort (whose feast it would be today if it were not Easter Thursday.  The ceremony of consecration will take place in St Mary's Church, Drogheda, on the 31st May next.

St Louis-Marie's famous book Treatise on True Devotion to Mary is a spiritual and theological classic, well worth a read.  It transformed the lives of Pope John Paul II and Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary.  I often wonder how long we have to wait for St Louis-Marie to be declared a Doctor of the Church - I always thought Pope John Paul would have done it.  His theology and teaching has had an enormous influence in the Church, one of the criteria for proclaiming a Doctor.

That said, if you want a good spiritual exercise, then this Consecration is as good as you will get.  And if you are around Drogheda on the 31st May, you might come to the ceremony.

He Is Risen!

There is an ancient tradition in the Church which tells us that the first witness to the Resurrection was in fact Our Lady.  We rarely hear of that today, although a number of religious families and churches have reflected on it: Franciscans, for example, have a tradition of devotion to Our Lady as the first witness and in some of their churches there are paintings or mosaics of the encounter.

The Scriptures proclaim that Mary Magdalen was the first public witness, and indeed it that encounter we see the renewal of humanity as the new Adam meets, in the garden, with a woman who symbolizes the new Eve, reclaimed by grace.  That encounter is important for the Church for it is a reversal of what happened in another garden at the Fall when man and woman disobeyed God and the community of mankind lost their inheritance: with the Resurrection of Jesus mankind becomes, once again, the heirs to God’s kingdom.  The encounter with Our Lady is different.

Pope John Paul II in his homily in Guayaquil in Mexico in 1985 reflected on this special appearance of the Risen Jesus to Our Lady and concluded that it must have happened.  He said: “The Gospels do not tell us of the appearance of the risen Christ to Mary.  Nevertheless, since she was so specially close to the Cross of her Son. She must also have had a privileged experience of his Resurrection”.  And if we reflect on it, was appropriate.  Mary is the first and principal co-redeemer of the human race, sharing in perfect union with her Son the passion that was his, but also hers by participation.  She was now Mother of the human race and in those hours between the crucifixion and the Resurrection, she alone held the hope of the Church in her heart, and we rightly call her Mother of the Church and Type of the Church.  

Jesus’ apparition to Our Lady is deeply personal: it is the Son coming to his Mother, to the one who bore him and raised him.  That encounter will remain, for now, locked in the Hearts of Mary and Jesus.  But while we cannot enter into it yet, there is also a message for us as we consider Our Lady as the faithful disciple, the most perfect follower of Jesus: in this context we understand that Jesus comes in a most personal way to those who follow him and that the Resurrection is as much a personal mystery as a community one: we are saved as the Church, the people of God, but that corporate identity is one comprising of individual souls: each of us must also be saved and renewed.  So today, as we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus, we are also called into a personal encounter with Risen Lord, and through lives of fidelity to him enter into his Resurrection as the promise of our own.  

We have just completed our Lenten observance.  Throughout those weeks we have sought to be renewed through prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  The great solemnity and season of Easter brings our penance to a culmination as we celebrate not only the victory of Christ, but the mystery we hope to have fulfilled in our lives. Human flesh defeats death in the person of Jesus, our human flesh hopes to be victorious too as we incorporate ourselves into his life.  Lent, as a season of renewal is one in which we come to terms with the fallen nature of our humanity, and through our willing cooperation with grace, die to ourselves in order to be born into Christ, and so, like Our Lady, encounter in the most personal way possible the Risen Christ who brings with him our resurrection. 

Another aspect of the Lord’s appearance to his Mother which we might consider: Mary received this privilege because she shared in the suffering of her Son: as she also bore the Cross in spirit, and as her Heart was also pierced with the sword of sorrow, as Simeon foretold, she shares in the Resurrection of her Son, first in the encounter early Sunday morning and later in her Assumption.  Here the Lord teaches us a profound message for our suffering and darkest moments – in participating with him in his suffering by our suffering we will come to share in his Resurrection.   The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is indeed the symbol of hope for humanity in its darkest hours, and it is also the context in which we may also enter into the mystery of the Cross, not as something which will defeat us, but ultimately as that which will save us.  Our crosses, whatever they may be, if embraced in union with Jesus, can be a sign of victory if we allow them to be. 

A third aspect of the encounter between Jesus and Our Lady on Easter Sunday speaks of the triumph of hope.  When all the disciples ran away, even when the most faithful could not see through their grief, Mary remained the woman of hope.  Holy Saturday is the day when the Church enters into the hope of Mary as we wait by the tomb for the Lord to emerge in victory.  Mary, the Mother of hope is, therefore, the first to greet her Son as he rises from the dead: her hope is fulfilled in the vision of her Son in glory.  And so in imitation of her we seek to orient our own lives into the spirit of hope through our faith and our love.  For us Christians the resurrection of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of hope: a hope that tells us that even death, the great destroyer, will crumble. 

For those who put their trust in Jesus there is nothing – absolutely nothing, that can overcome them – not even death.  He is our strength; he is the one who can take this meaningless living and make it the most significant and meaningful adventure on the face of the earth: look at the lives of the Saints.  In them he took ordinary lives and made them extraordinary, not only in the reward they received after death, but also in the example they left behind.  They are the people of the resurrection: the people of hope, and Mary is the supreme example among them, and she is also the supreme teacher formed as she is in the spirit of her Son. In these weeks as we contemplate the vision of the Risen Christ, perhaps we might so with Mary at our side so we too may share in what she saw and what she received. 

Good Friday

Traditionally the Latin sequence Stabat Mater is used today to help us reflect on the Crucifixion of Jesus through the eyes of his Mother.  As we stand with her beneath the Cross, gazing at her beloved Son through her Immaculate Heart, we come to understand in a deeper way the mystery which is unfolding before us, the sacrifice which was offered to save us, and the redemption which is there for us.  There is also a beautiful poem by St Robert Southwell on the Crucifixion as seen through Our Lady's eyes: it provides us with much "meat" for our meditation today:

THE VIRGIN MARY TO CHRIST ON THE CROSS.
What mist hath dimm'd that glorious face?
What seas of grief my sun doth toss?
The golden rays of heavenly grace
Lies now eclipsèd on the cross.

Jesus, my love, my Son, my God,
Behold Thy mother wash'd in tears:
Thy bloody wounds be made a rod
To chasten these my later years.

You cruel Jews, come work your ire
Upon this worthless flesh of mine,
And kindle not eternal fire
By wounding Him who is divine.

Thou messenger that didst impart
His first descent into my womb,
Come help me now to cleave my heart,
That there I may my Son entomb.

You angels, all that present were
To show His birth with harmony,
Why are you not now ready here,
To make a mourning symphony?

The cause I know you wail alone,
And shed your tears in secrecy,
Lest I should movèd be to moan,
By force of heavy company.

But wail, my soul, thy comfort dies,
My woful womb, lament thy fruit;
My heart give tears unto mine eyes,
Let sorrow string my heavy lute.

Akita and the Japanese Earthquake

Following the disaster in Japan, the world is, thankfully, rushing to assist the people affected by the earthquake and tsunami, and prayers are being offered.  I would ask all members of the Fraternity to include the peoples suffering because of this disaster in their daily prayers.

In relation to this the CNA has an interesting article which looks the apparitions of Our Lady to a Japanese sister in Akita.  It seems Akita was near the epicentre of the earthquake, though, thankfully, it escaped the brunt of the disaster.  The article takes the message Our Lady gave to the sister, Sr Agnes, and it could be concluded that it is wondering if the message is being fufiled in this disaster, and perhaps even in the others which have hit us in recent years.  Here is the article, have a read and a think.

That said, we would do well to acquaint ourselves with the apparition - it being one of the more recent which have approved by the Church and having a message pertinent for our times. To be honest, since she came, the people of the world could hardly be said to have responded to Our Lady's call.

Video on the apparitions:

New Series On EWTN

I have been asked by a number of people as to when the next series of Forgotten Heritage will air.  Our next series begins in the US and Canada on Sunday, February 27th and is entitled: Forgotten Heritage: Europe and Our Lady.   The European channels are still showing our series on the Eucharist.  If you go to EWTN's website you will get the schedule, and if you do not have the channel beaming into your TV, you can watch any of EWTN's channels anytime online, so European viewers can catch our new series before it comes here.

The new series looks at Our Lady and her importance in the spirituality and culture of Europe.  Following the same format as the last series, which proved popular, we will be discussing various devotions, apparitions and devotees of Our Lady, always with a view to encouraging a renewal of devotion to the Mother of the Lord in these times. 

The schedule for the new series (US and Canada):

Sundays       8pm (Pacific),  11pm (Eastern)

Tuesdays     12.30am (Pacific), 3.30am (Eastern)

Saturdays    1.30pm (Pacific), 4.30pm (Eastern)

We are scheduled to record series three, Fr Owen and myself are working on that at the moment, and series four is in the planning stages.  Our first series is available on DVD, you can order it from EWTN Religious Catalog here.

Pray for us, Don Bosco

Today is the feast of St John Bosco, more often referred to as Don Bosco.  He is a saint who is assuming more and more of a role in the Church, thanks in particular to his visions and dreams.  He really was an interesting man: he was a most practical person, a wise man and a wily operator - he had to be to get his congregations established in a time when secularism posed a real threat to the Church and sought to claim the minds and hearts of the young, and the officials in the Church were afraid of innovation.  Yet he was also a dreamer, literally.  Through his dreams, God spoke to him, making Don Bosco a most remarkable mystic.

His most famous dream-vision is that of the barque of Peter, assaulted on every side, being guided by the Pope into a safe haven between the pillars of the Eucharist and Our Lady, Help of Christians.  A wonderful painting of it adorns the back wall of the Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians in Turin.  In this vision Don Bosco saw the troubles the Church would have to endure, but also the remedy: the Eucharist and Our Lady.  Thankfully this vision is coming to pass - the Church is facing difficult times, but the faithful are finding their refuge and a strengthening in faith through their devotion to the Holy Eucharist and Our Lady.  When in seminary many of my brother seminarians had a deep devotion to both.  This vision should be a great help to us and a signpost to bring us to Christ and Mary.

Don Bosco was a great defender of the faith and a strong advocate for Catholic education to which he devoted his life.  He also came under suspicion and his enemies sought to stop his work with rumours of child abuse - as many have found down the centuries, accuse a priest of child abuse and you destroy him, his work and undermine the mission and teaching of the Church.  Don Bosco understood it was a terrible weapon which the Church's enemies, both within and outside Church are not afraid to use.  He sought what we would call today "best practice", but not an inhuman regime - he did not want the children in his care to think they were dangerous and had to be kept at a distance: he was their father and he loved them, he cared for them, he wanted the best for them for Christ's sake.  And they adored him and respected him.  I think we should Don Bosco's life and example - I think they might offer us some valuable insights as we deal with various issues today.

During our pilgrimage to the Exposition of the Holy Shroud last May we also visited the Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians - it was a wonderful experience.  The Salesians there gave us a warm welcome and were so kind - we all felt that Don Bosco himself was welcoming us to his home.   I came away with wonderful keepsakes: relics of Don Bosco and St Dominic Savio which I cherish - they will make their appearance at Mass today.

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?