Mary Page News
March 17, 2000
Mary Page News items give insight into our interest areas, our outreach, and the myriad ways people honor Our Lady. We welcome your input and your comments.
Pope John Paul II – Visit to the Holy Land
On March 7, 2000, the Israeli government announced the itinerary of Pope John Paul II's visit to the Holy Land. According to United Press International, the pope is schedule to arrive on a flight to Tel Aviv on Tuesday, March 21. He will then travel by helicopter to Jerusalem. On Wednesday, March 22, he will travel to Bethlehem for an official Palestinian reception. He will celebrate Holy Mass at the Manger Square outside the Basilica of the Nativity, and visit the nativity Grotto. That afternoon a visit is scheduled with Yasser Arafat. From there to pope will travel to the Deheishe refugee camp.
Thursday, a private Mass will be celebrated at the Chapel of the Cenacle. This will be followed by a private meeting with Israel's two chief rabbis in Jerusalem. The news service reports that the pope will then pay a courtesy call on Israeli President Ezer Weizman followed by a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. Toward evening the pope will attend an inter-religious meeting at the Pontifical Institute in Jerusalem.
Friday morning, the Holy Father will fly north to the Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee where he will celebrate Mass. In the afternoon he will receive Prime Minister Ehud Barak at the Shrine of the Mount of Beatitudes, visit the Church of Multiplication of the Loaves, the Church of the Primacy of Peter, and the House of St. Peter at Capernaum.
On Saturday morning, March 25, he will celebrate Mass at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. The news service reported that the pope will spend about four hours in Nazareth, then return to Jerusalem for a meeting with foreign consul generals, visit the Basilica of the Garden of Gethsemane, and visit the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.
On Sunday, March 26, the pope will pay a courtesy call on the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, visit the Western Wall, celebrate Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and meet with patriarchs and bishops at the Latin Patriarchate inside the Old City wall. He will return to Rome in the evening.
St. Joseph, Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Are you in need of resources for March, the month dedicated to St. Joseph and to his feast and liturgical celebration? The Mary Page offers the following items:
March 25: The Annunciation of the Lord
The Solemnity of March 25, The Annunciation of the Lord, is a pivot Marian celebration. This is the moment of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, when the Son of God became a human being. The Mary Page has numerous references to the Annunciation. Here are samples:
The Annunciation Image on the Holy Door in Rome
![[Annunciation]](/mary/images/HolyDoor.jpg)
To learn briefly about the Holy Door, see the ZENIT article Holy Door
Excerpt:
"In order to express the gratitude of the Swiss population, for having been spared the horrors of
World War II, Bishop Francis von Streng of Basilea-Lugano took the initiative and gave Pope
Pius XII the nine bronze panels of the Holy Door of Saint Peter's Basilica,on the occasion of the
Holy Year of 1950. In his book, Cardinal Noe gives a profound meditation on each one of the
door panels which are the work of sculptor Vico Consorti."
CTN, Catholic Telemedia Network from Menlo Park, California provides a service pamphlet entitled, On Screen and is edited by Nancy Attinger Greely. The service provides brief info VHS loans and theme kits and Internet sites. The Mary Page appeared under the Jubilee Theme: Pilgrimage. For more information: http:www.ctnba.org or write for the news service to:
CTN
324 Middlefield Road
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Or call Information: (650) 326-4605
The German mission organization, Misereor, yearly provides excellent materials for schools and pastoral needs. The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute recently received this year's packet of material which includes large contemporary Stations of the Cross printed in color on fine paper. The booklet, written in German, includes the history of the devotion, biblical backgrounds, a section for doing the stations with young people, the stations themselves, and media resources. The fourth station represents an encounter between Jesus and Mary on the Way of the Cross. The unusual depiction "hides" Mary and Jesus behind the cross beam where they quietly share the anguish of the moment. The artist, Sieger Köder, entitles the station, Shared Pain. This material is still available and quickly obtained via email at: postmaster@misereor.de
See our resource list at:
Commentary on Mary in various news articles from March 3 to March 14, 2000.
The director and editors of The Mary Page 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.
- The Church of England has agreed to a new translation of the Nicene Creed that gives Mary a more active role in Christ's incarnation for its new prayer book, according to the Belfast News Letter of March 3. The revised text says, "Christ was made incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary." The 1980 version read: "by the power of the Holy Spirit He became incarnate of the Virgin Mary." The new version is shared by no other church.
- About 350 male inmates of the California Rehabilitation Center attended an afternoon mass in the prison chapel in hopes of seeing and touching a digitized image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Riverside, CA. Press-Enterprise reported on March 6. Some of the inmates who knelt before the image wept and many prayed for a new life for themselves.
- The holy mediation of the Virgin Mary was among the themes in a program of Provencal minstrel-troubadour music presented by French soprano Anne Azema under the auspices of the Boston Camerata, the Boston Globe reported on March 14. The concert ended with a "cheeky" ballad in which the Virgin Mary rescues a rebellious knight who had been imprisoned by an evil crusades commander.
- A statue of the Virgin Mary outside the Church of St. Gregory the Great in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, was reported vandalized the previous weekend, the New York Times said on March 14. This is the tenth incident of Roman Catholic iconography being damaged in the borough in recent months.
- In Kinnegad, County Westmeath, a boy severely injured when a statue of the Virgin Mary collapsed on him in 1996 was awarded 1.1 million Irish pounds. The three-foot statue fell off its plinth on the school porch and left Joseph Garland, then eight, with serious head injuries, the Glasgow Herald said on March 9.
- The changing face of Philadelphia's Hispanic population is reflected in the various images of the Virgin Mary at the downtown Shrine of the Miraculous Medal. Associated Press reported on March 14 that statues include La Virgen de Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico; la Virgen de Pilar, the patron saint of Spain; La Caridad de Cobre (Our Lady of Charity, the patron saint of Cuba; and Our Lady of Providence, which holds special significance for Puerto Ricans.
- Three Providence College students were fined $1,000 each and suspended for the semester for putting the Virgin Mary on abortion rights fliers. Posted last month on the Catholic school's campus, the fliers featured a picture of a marble statue of Mary and asked, "how's this for an immaculate concept: Keep Abortion Safe and Legal," the Associated Press reported on March 3.
A commentary on the subject by the Rev. Augustine Judd, the Dominican priest and theology instructor at Providence College who saw the students posting the fliers, was published in the Providence Journal-Bulletin on March 10. Father Judd presented a "different perspective" on the matter, questioning the students' intentions and their claim to be motivated by "uninhibited dialogue" in the spirit of Socrates.
- Pavao Zanic, the former Catholic bishop of Mostar in Croatia who first believed then disbelieved the accounts of the Virgin Mary's appearances in Medjugorje, died January 11, the London Independent reported on March 9. Bishop Zanic first said he was "profoundly convinced that the (six), children were not lying," but later said the events could have been of "diabolical origin" and declared, "These children are little liars.' To read the full length article, see Obituary: Bishop Pavao Zanic, The Independent (London), March 9, 2000, Thursday via the search LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe.
Film Festival: On Mary in Film
![[film brochure]](/mary/images/filmfestival6.jpg)
The University of Dayton Sesquicentennial Film Festival of The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute has been attended by students, faculty, staff, and local residents of the Dayton area. Professors of the university enrich the festival from their respective disciplines. See the brochure left for upcoming films and speakers.
Mary and the Church: Assumption (eschatological image)
What is the meaning of Mary's assumption into heaven? This section offers direct quotes from magisterial documents on the theme. Examples:
- in the Blessed Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle (cf. Eph 5:27) (Lumen Gentium 65)
- in the glory which she possesses in body and soul in heaven is the image and beginning of the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come (Lumen Gentium 68)
- she shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come (cf. 2 Pet 3:10), a sign of certain hope and comfort to the pilgrim People of God (Lumen Gentium 68)
Mary and the Church: Assumption (eschatological image)
You are invited to help us pray for our prayer corner intentions.
The intentions of the Holy Father for March 2000:
|
This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by Michael P. Duricy , was last modified Wednesday, 02/20/2008 10:45:00 EST by Victor Pennekamp . Please send any comments to jroten1@udayton.edu. URL for this page is http://campus.udayton.edu |
