Blogs
In the News: August 16, 2016
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
Call for Papers for the 2017 Annual Conference of the Mariological Society of America (MSA)
The Blessed Virgin's Relationship to the Sacraments of Christian Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist
The Mariological Society of America invites proposals for its May 16–19, 2017 Conference to be held at the Schoenstatt Center Lamar in Rockport, Texas (near Corpus Christi)
Topics for the 2017 conference could include the following--though other topics related to Mary and the Sacraments of Initiation might be appropriate:
Foundations:
Scriptural Allegories/Imageries pointing to Mary and the Sacraments
Historical, theological, and artistic perspectives on Mary's possible reception of the Sacraments.
Patristic Intuitions of Mary's Spiritual Motherhood in the sacramental life of the Church
Marian Traditions connected to the Sacraments of Initiation
Mary as the Model of Docility to the Holy Spirit relative to the Sacraments of Initiation
Mary's Spiritual Maternity:
Mary as Mother of the Faithful in relation to the Sacramental Life
Mary as the Model of the Priesthood of the Faithful with respect to the Sacramental Life
Mary's Spiritual Maternity relative to the Sacramental Initiation of the Faithful
The Roles of Mary and the Church in the Generation and Nurturing of Christ's Life in the Souls of the Faithful
Spiritual Motherhood in the French School of Spirituality in relation to the Sacramental Life
Baptism:
Consecration to Mary as the Perfect Way to Live out One's Baptismal Promises
The Sacramental Correspondence of Mary's Immaculate Conception to the Newly Baptized Person.
Eucharist:
Devotion to Mary and More Fruitful Reception of Holy Communion
Mary as the Mother of the Eucharist
St. John Paul II, Mary, and the Eucharist (e.g. chapter six of Ecclesia de Eucharistia)
Mary's Presence at the Mass
Mary and the Eucharistic Expressions of Epiclesis, Anamnesis, and Agape
Mary and the Mass as Sacrifice: the Sorrowful Mother and the Eucharist
Mary in the Eucharistic Liturgies of the Eastern Churches
How Devotion to Mary helps us to Love the Eucharist More
The Harmony of Marian Devotion with Eucharistic Adoration
The Marian Devotion of Communities of the Consecrated Life Dedicated to the Eucharist
Confirmation:
Mary, the Holy Spirit, and Confirmation
Mary as the Model of the Theological Virtues and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in relation to the Sacrament of Confirmation
Catechesis:
Catechetical Aspects of including Mary in Sacramental Preparation
Catechesis on Mary in Preparation for the Sacraments of Initiation (and in the Catechumenate)
Please send abstracts by October 15, 2016 to Father Frederick Miller (Frederick.miller@shu.edu) and Dr. Robert Fastiggi (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.
TOPMary in Media: Books, Films, Music, etc.
Daniel Clough recently published a book through Loreto Publications, Genesis According to the Saints. It includes a chapter on Genesis 3:15 entitled "The Promise of a Future Redeemer." Click here for more details or to order copies online.
From the Marian Treasure Chest
Brother John M. Samaha, S.M., sent us the text below with the following comments: "Blessings for the feast of Mary's Assumption! The article below was published in Catholic San Francisco, August 11, 2016, on page 19."
Mary's Assumption Pertains to Us by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.
Like every doctrine of faith, Mary's Assumption into heaven body and soul is about us too. Mary is our model in faith, charity, and perfect union with Christ. She teaches us how to live in a faith-filled and loving way.
Mary's Assumption teaches us how to live with hope even in dying, how to anticipate our eternal destiny. The Solemnity of the Assumption, observed on August 15, celebrates the completion of Mary's transformation by the Holy Spirit, being taken to heaven not only in soul but also in body.
Mary's Assumption brings us hope because it reminds us that what happened to Mary is our destiny too. The Preface of the Mass declares that the Assumption is "the beginning and the image of Your Church's coming to perfection and a sign of sure hope and comfort for Your people."
We are the Church. Mary's bodily assumption is a harbinger of what will happen to us. What God has done for Mary gives us hope and comfort in what He will do for us.
St. Paul reminds us that even in this life believers are already being transformed into the image of Christ. "All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory as from the Lord who is Spirit." (2 Cor 3:18) This transformation affects not only our souls but also our bodies. "We groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies." (Rom 8:23) Our bodies will be conformed to the body of Christ. "He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorious body by the power that enables Him also to bring all things into subjection to Himself." (Phil 3:21) This transformation results from Jesus' victory over the power of sin and death in His own death and Resurrection.
The opening prayer for the August 15 Eucharistic Liturgy asks that "always attentive to the things that are above, we may merit to be sharers of her glory." Living in tune with God as Mary did, we will also undergo the transformation of both our souls and our bodies.
The post communion prayer requests that "through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom you assumed into heaven, we may be brought to the glory of the Resurrection."
When celebrating the Solemnity of Mary's Assumption in 2010, Pope Benedict XVI offered this clear description in his homily. "The Mother of God is inserted to such a degree in the mystery of Christ that she shares in the resurrection of her Son with her whole being already at the end her life, she lives what we hope for at the end of time...."
While admiring Mary in her glorious destiny, we are invited to recognize that the loving Lord has willed for our final destiny to live through faith in perfect union with Him.
Our predecessors in faith professed their firm hope in "the resurrection of the body" in the Apostles Creed and in the Nicene Creed. We rarely think about the resurrection of our bodies. Yet this article of faith greatly encourages us, comforts us at the death of loved ones, and raises our awareness of the value of our bodies.
The Assumption of Mary vividly reminds us that our lives have a special destiny with God.
TOPMarian Events
Mary, Favored by God: A Three Week Bible Study
Date: Sundays, August 14, 21, and 28, 2016
Time: 10:30 am - 12 Noon
Location: Spirit Center Room D, Saint Albert the Great Catholic Parish, 3033 Far Hills Avenue, Kettering, OH, 45429
This study, published in April 2016, has all the material needed in a study booklet. Alive in the Word is a series that aims to deepen your understanding of Scripture, offer meaning for life today, and help you to pray and act in response to God's word. This study is open to all, but is geared to adult learners. For more information contact Julie Burt by phone at 937-298-1122 (extension 216) or email at rcia@stalbertthegreat.net or click here.
Mary in the Catholic Press
Press Office Speaks on Appointment from Zenit July 19, 2016
"Beautiful and good," should be said of Paloma Garcia Ovejero, but the young Spanish Vatican expert, appointed last Monday Vice-Director of the Holy See Press Office, is not the type to be described in simple phrases or labels. For her, this very important appointment, unprecedented in history, fits in the "logic of normality" that permeates Francis' pontificate, the Argentine Pope she so admires and has followed over the past three years on all his international trips.
In the end, it is about "a service to the Church," which the journalist wishes to render, with some fear but great tenacity and a strong sense of responsibility, the same with which, over the last four years, she has carried out her work as correspondent in Rome for Cope, radio of the Spanish Bishops. A professional always "on the spot," as is said in journalistic jargon, always ready, no matter what time of day it is, to answer her cell phone and tell in a few seconds, with extreme fidelity and precision, what is happening in the Sacred Palaces, or herself being the reporter of news through her Twitter account, which is followed by 14,900 people.
However Paloma, whose name comes from the Virgin of the Dove of her city, Madrid, does not like the piling up of praises. In a conversation with ZENIT, she prefers to talk about the "new adventure," which she will undertake August 1 beside Greg Burke, the American journalist who is succeeding Father Federico Lombardi in the role of Vatican Press Office director....
Click here to read the complete article.
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.
Olympic Superstar, Katie Ledecky: ‘The Hail Mary is a Beautiful Prayer and I Find That it Calms Me.’ (cnsnews.com website) August 9, 2016
Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, who recently set a world record in the 400-meter competition, prays before she races.
The nineteen-year-old talked about her Catholic faith in a recent interview with the Catholic Standard. Ledecky won her first gold medal in the 2012 Olympics for the 800-meter freestyle. Since then she has become the world record holder in the 400, 800, and 1500-meter freestyles, and the American record holder in the 500, 1000, and 1650-yard freestyles....
Q: Do you still say a 'Hail Mary' before each race? How did you decide upon the 'Hail Mary' as your go-to prayer?
A: I do say a prayer--or two--before any race. The 'Hail Mary' is a beautiful prayer, and I find that it calms me....
Click here to read the complete article.