Blogs
Mary in the News: Jan. 9, 2019
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
Father Donald Calloway, M.I.C. sent us information about his recent publications and upcoming pilgrimages.
1) 10 Wonders of the Rosary
His new book on the rosary highlights the most prominent and powerful wonders of the rosary. The wonders in this book will amaze you and leave you in awe! Bishop Athanasius Schneider, one of the most zealous and inspiring bishops in the world, wrote the Foreword! You don't want to miss this book! It is selling cheap so everyone can get it.
2) Mater Misericordiae: An Annual Journal of Mariology (Volume 3)
This is the third volume of an annual Mariological Journal. All the articles are orthodox and pious. The theme for this issue is "Mary and Theological Anthropology." Only 500 copies of the annual journal are printed. Get yours before they are all gone!
3) No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy (10th anniversary edition)
This book recounting his conversion story was published ten years ago. It has changed the lives of many people. In fact, ten men incarcerated in a prison in northern California received a copy and, after reading it, all of them converted to Catholicism! This is the perfect book for difficult spouses, troubled teens, and wayward youth. The tenth anniversary edition has been updated and contains a new Introduction and new pictures.
Now, about the pilgrimages!
Father Calloway leads 3-4 pilgrimages a year to holy places around the world. He goes on each pilgrimage and all have a wonderful and very prayerful time. Many people have had their marriage restored, experienced conversion, and responded to a call to the priesthood!
He is particularly excited about 2 of the upcoming pilgrimages for 2020: "The Camino in Spain" (May 2-12, 2020) and a brand new pilgrimage he designed called "The Cristero Saints of Mexico" (March 8-15, 2020). The pilgrimage to Mexico to visit the sites of the Cristero saints and martyrs is a bucket list pilgrimage! Sign up for a pilgrimage and walk with Father Calloway where these saints have walked!
Mary in Media: Books, Films, Music, etc.
Marian Art Exhibit on Youtube
The National Museum of Women in the Arts held an exhibit in 2015 called Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother Idea. A playlist of videos related to this exhibit is available on Youtube.
From the Marian Treasure Chest
Brother John Samaha, S.M., sent us the text below with the following comment: "The article below was published in Catholic San Francisco, December 17, 2015. A blessed Christmas Season and New Year!
The Three Masses of Christmas by Brother John Samaha, S.M.
Our feast of Christmas came from a pagan observance which was Christianized. It is a pagan festival revisited. The first mention of the celebration of the Lord's nativity in a liturgical calendar appears in the fourth century. This was the baptism of the pagan festival of the invincible sun (sol invictus), an observance introduced in 274 by the Emperor Aurelius (270-275), and celebrated in Rome on December 25, the winter solstice. The "Sun of Justice" (Mal 3:20) came as "the light of the world" (Jn 8:12) to vanquish darkness and to triumph over sin and death.
As the Christianization of the winter solstice [observed in Egypt and in Arabia on January 6] developed into the feast of the Epiphany, it became a major feast of the East. To counteract certain pagan myths, Epiphany, which means "showing forth" or "manifestation," placed emphasis on the baptism of Jesus and His mission, and on the revelation of His glory at Cana. Gradually the feast of Epiphany spread to the entire West in the fourth century, and the East adopted the feast of Christmas about the same time.
In the fourth century at Rome the celebration of Christmas was a rather ordinary Mass celebrated by the pope. The Mass was similar to our present Mass at Dawn, and proclaimed the prologue of John's Gospel. To refute and oppose the Arian heresy rampant at that time, the Mass affirmed and celebrated the Word made flesh. This Christmas Mass was clearly Christ-centered and dogmatic in character, and in 360 mentioned the adoration of the magi and the massacre of the innocent children of Bethlehem.
At Bethlehem a night Mass was celebrated for Epiphany in the grotto of the Lord's birth. Beginning in the fifth century a night Mass was celebrated in Rome also, but it was the Mass of Christmas and not that of Epiphany. The pope celebrated the night Mass at the Church of St. Mary Major, built after the Council of Ephesus. Wood from a crèche was displayed in one of the basilica's chapels, and the Mass celebrated there became known as the Mass ad praesepe, that is, near the crèche. Since the account of Jesus' birth at Bethlehem was read from the Gospel of Luke, the theme of this celebration was historical.
The Greek (Byzantine) colony in Rome celebrated December 25 too. They assembled at the Church of St. Anastasia (Holy Resurrection). To respect the Byzantines, the pope celebrated Mass with them in the morning before going to St. Peter's Basilica. In that Mass, the gospel reading was the announcement of the good news to the shepherds found in Luke's Gospel.
This is how the three Masses of Christmas originated. The pope and the faithful celebrated Mass at night at St. Mary Major, at dawn at St. Anastasia, and during the day at St. Peter.
Marian Events
2019 Annual Conference of the ESBVM-USA: Call for Papers (Press Release) September 9, 2018
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 study of Mary, the Mother of Christ. Our immediate goal is inter-ecclesial scholarship that focuses on Mary in light of Christian theological, biblical, and spiritual principles. Furthermore, by means of shared study and prayer, we provide an opportunity for Christians of various denominational backgrounds to explore how Marian studies might contribute to the search for unity.
PROPOSAL DUE DATE: January 15, 2019
Conference Theme: Mary, Disciple of the Lord--Motherhood
Conference Dates: July 25-27, 2019
Conference Location: Misericordia University in Dallas, PA (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 2019 ESBVM-USA Conference is: Mary, Disciple of the Lord: Motherhood. This theme may be pondered 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;
* The role that Mary’s motherhood has played in Marian apparitions;
Please address your proposal for committee review to: Christopher M. Carr, Ph.D., ESBVM-USA, President at: ccarr@misericordia.edu.
Mary in the Catholic Press
Adèle de Batz: 'Let's applaud the new blessed!' (Zenit) June 10, 2018
Pope Francis invited the crowd present at the Angelus this Sunday, June 10, 2018, in Saint Peter's Square to applaud the new French Blessed, Adele de Batz, anticipating the celebration taking place this afternoon.
"Sister Marie de la Conception, born Adélaïde Batz de Trenquelléon is proclaimed blessed today in France, in Agen," said the pope before adding: "She lived between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, she founded the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, called Marianists. We praise the Lord for this daughter of His, who consecrated her life to Him and to the service of brethren. A round of applause to the new Blessed; all applaud."
The crowd then applauded Blessed Adèle, who was celebrated in the region for four days (from Friday 8 to Monday 11 June), with a show by Daniel Facérias and the Diaconia of Beauty, about his life, and a march young people from the castle of Trenquelléon....
Blessed Adele Feast Day at the University of Dayton
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.
Holy Mary, Drenched in Symbolism (The Economist) December 11, 2014
The final canto of Dante's Paradiso opens with euphoric praise not for the Son or the Father or even the Spirit, but the Mother:
Virgin mother, daughter of your son
Humbler and higher than any other creature…
You are she who so ennobled human nature
That nature's very maker did not disdain
To Himself be made by you.
The lines are an apt expression of the manifold contradictions embodied in the Christian mythology of Mary. Picturing Mary: Woman, Mother, Idea, a new exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., sets out to explore these contradictions and their evolution in Christian religious imagery. The show brings together more than sixty works of Renaissance and Baroque Italian art, many on view in America for the first time....