Mary Page News

July 7, 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.

Features Contemporary Stations of the Cross by Beverly Stoller Human Life International Consecration to Mary Church Without Mary – Church Without A Mother Looking for a Mary Statue for Children (and adults)? Puerto Rican 'Santos' "New Feminism" New Exhibit:Constance Pierce Mary in the Secular Press Calendar of Marian Events Prayer Corner Requests

Items Re-visited Exhibit: Tom Dusterberg News Archive This week's themes: The Person of Mary Humanness William  Joseph Chaminade Vignette-27 / Cameo-27 Keystone of the Marianist Charism

Features

Contemporary Stations of the Cross by Beverly Stoller

Beverly Stoller, exhibitor at The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute from January 20 - February 28, 1990 and participant in the exhibit of the Mariological Society of America, Images of Mary – Contemporary Variations, 1998-1999, has recently lent a contemporary Way of the Cross to exhibit at the Marian Library. Stoller's collage pastels (watercolor, oil, paper) seem to echo reality behind the reality – the refraction of color in the suffering universe, shattered and redeemed, serene yet capturing the intensity of a split moment of passion in time echoing eternity.

Stoller bases her work on A Scriptural Version of THE WAY OF THE CROSS as given by Pope John Paul II. She provided the following panel with her works:

The following insights are given to aid in understanding these fifteen stations of the cross:

• 1. CHRIST is always portrayed in a yellow color or a white color to indicate that He is the Light of the world.
• 2. The HOLY SPIRIT appears as organe or as yellow orange, and is present in all but one of these fifteen Stations of the Cross.
• 3. The EARTH and its creations are represented as variations of green, brown, or pink.
• 4. The SKY and HEAVENS are in blues.
• 5. PAIN is always red.
• 6. MARY, the THEOTOKOS, is always in a blue or white to illustrate her love and purity.

I: Jesus Prays in the Garden with Peter, James & John	XII: Jesus' Mother and the Apostle John
XIV: The Burial: Jesus is Buried in the Tomb	XV: The Resurrection: Jesus Rises from the Dead

Human Life International Consecration

Human Life International's president, Father Richard Welch, CSSR, JCD, the world's largest pro-life, pro-faith, pro-family apostolate, announced to the news media that the organization intended to consecrate themselves and their mission to Mary Immaculate and Mediatrix of all Graces. This major event in the history of the organization took place on Friday, June 30, 2000. The PR Newswire article by Andy Blom quoted Father Welch, "Through the intercession of Mary, we will obtain this victory for God over the present attacks against life, fiath and family. This consecration will help to strengthen our dedication to our mission and ensure that we do not forget in whose name we continue our fight to spread the Gospel of Life.

See more on Human Life International at: http://www.hli.org or call 1-8000-549-LIFE.

Church Without Mary – Church Without A Mother

Africa News (June 28) under Education and Religion featured an article by Fr. Joseph A. Atadana, Accra Mail (Accra), with a very fine article on the topic, "The Church without Mary is a church without a mother ... Atadana first describes the Church as a mother who is the handmaid of the Lord, a mother with an attitude of listening and pondering. He then provides a ecumenical possibility for dialogue on Mary, which is based on the resolutions of the International Mariological Congress of Zaragosa (1979).

Atadana states,

"As a mother in the model of Mary, the Catholic Church listens to all the other religions, ponders things in her heart and give motherly advice to her faithful. Churches without Mary therefore are churches without mother, which are obsessed with doings and do not understand wiat it is to be a being. Such churches are more ideological and full of theories and sound, signifying nothing. They are in the habit of new ventures, new styles of dramatising their preaching but lack the trust of a mother. They are obsessed with dreams of the next world but never taste and feel the presence now of being a mother. They claim to have the power of healing, overcoming problems, but will never learn to experience these like Mary going through seven sorrows with a motherly devotion to the will of the Lord. In sum, a church without Mary is a church without a mother and can rather attract more followers in a functional and rationalistic world but can hardly survive in a world of faith and trust in God. A church without a mother cannot love but only strive for power and winning and competing. The patience and gentleness of a mother are not their outstanding virtues."

The article then continues with a brief discussion of a meeting point of the churches concerning Mary in the following points: Praise of Mary, Imitation of Mary, Veneration of Mary, Invocation and Intercession.

Looking for a Mary Statue for Children (and adults)?

Pipka has created yet another in her series entitled, The Madonna Collection. This edition is named, Mary, Mother of All Children, and draws upon the long popular European tradition of seeing Mary depicted with her wide open mantle sheltering everyone gathered beneath its folds. This statue is cast in a limited edition of 5400 pieces. The five children nestled under Mary's mantle represent the five continents and all races.

Mary, Mother of All Children is the three in The Madonna Collection. Pipka collectibles can be viewed at www.angelsbypipka.com under the gallery section. There, too, you will learn more about the artist.

Puerto Rican 'Santos'

The Smithsonian Institute's web site includes a large section entitled, A Closer Look Santos from Puerto Rico. There is considerable material about a large collection donated by Teodor Vidal Santoni. The history and significance of these wooden religious statues representing various themes and titles is also included.

There is also a site with detailed explanations of the technology used to examine 'Santos' from the collection and of the information yielded about the construction and maintenance history of the works. Many Marian works are among the collection.

Find the site at: www.si.edu/scmre/santos_e.html
See Marian 'Santos' at www.americanhistory.si.edu/vidal/religion1.htm

"New Feminism"

See EWTN's article borrowed from ZENIT: 1-Jul-2000 -- ZENIT News Agency

VATICAN CITY, JUNE 26 (ZENIT.org).- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ended his presentation of the Fatima "secret" to the press, with an extremely contemporary, feminine interpretation.

See article at: www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory .asp?number=4620

New Exhibit: Constance Pierce

On July 15, a new exhibit will be on display at The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute:

The exhibit will be online with information about the artist and examples of the works by July 15 at: Current Exhibit

Mary in the Secular Press

Commentary on Mary in various news articles from June 22 - July 3, 2000.

The director and editors of 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 secular news echoes with varied interpretations the announcement of the third secret of Fatima. Several articles appear in major national and international journals including such as The Washington Post (July 1, 2000) and the Financial Times (London, June 27, 2000). Philip Willan in Rome wrote in his article, "To avoid suggestions that part of the document had been suppressed, the Vatican yesterday (June 26) published a photocopy of the original Portuguese text, accompanied by 40 pages of explanation and interpretation."

• Carl Demma, (68) donor of the 33-foot-tall stainless steel statue named, Our Lady of the New Millennium, which has been traveling to numerous parishes in the Chicago area and beyond, died on June 26 of an apparent heart condition. Journalist, Felicia Thomas-Lynn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, quotes Demma's description of the statue and of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

  "When you see the Madonna, you witness her. Her face glows. There's a lot of beauty to the artwork of her. She was a good woman, she raised a child. With this child, she brought our faith."

  The day previous to his death, Demma had been present at a Mass attended by 30,000 persons at Chicago's Soldier Field. Though he usually kept in the background of gatherings, on this day he stood in front of the statue giving out prayer cards. He said of the Mass, "This mass was the moment I've been waiting for all my life. It was like a sigh of relief." (Ernest Tucker, Chicago Sun-Times, June 27)

  The 8,4000-pound steel structure was trucked to St. Louis where it was blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1999. Since then it travels to parishes. According to Al Castillo, of the Chicago archdiocesan Millennium Office, "Wherever the statue was, or had been, parishes told us of an increase in participation." (Chicago Sun-Times) "His faith in God was very apparent. He knew the impacat the statue would have. We just were astounded by the reports of the numbers of people who would be in attendance." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

• The giant statue, Our Lady of the New Millennium, will make a pilgrimage to Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the main attraction for this year's Festa Italiana (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel), July 20 - 23. The statue will grace the south end of the Summerfest grounds along Lake Michigan where the festival takes place. Carl Demma, donor of the statue, of Italian-American heritage, agreed to the statue's presence at Festa Italiana.
• Pope Pius IX "was the pope who locked papal infallibility and the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary into church doctrine." (The New York Times, June 28) Plans are underway to beatify Pius IX. There is an "echo" of "controversy" by Italian Jews who claim the pope raised a Jewish child as a Roman Catholic.
• The Christchurch Press Company Limited (July 1, 2000) had the following tidbit:
  "Itlaian jockeys who will compete in Siena's centuries-old Palio horse race tomorrow ride through the Casato curve during practice. The traditional race, which dates back to 1224, consists of a bareback dash around Siena's sloping main square by 10 local parishes who compete for the Palio, a banner depicting the Virgin Mary."
• A lengthy Australian article in The Canberra Times (July 1) with the title, "SYNCRETISM" is as much a theological concept as an artistic one, dealt with the integration of Aboriginal and Christian spirituality. The article speaks of substituting the main characters in Christian iconography with Aboriginal figures and combining Aboriginal and European visual codes as applied to Roman Catholic theology. Focal to the article are the works of artist, Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann.
• The Express (July 5) noted that singer, Jennifer Lopez, "plays the part of the Virgin Mary in Hollywood's latest bit of bizarre casting." The article continues, "It is only one of the guises the actress slips into for her role in the futuristic sci-fi film The Cell in which she teams up with the FBI to battle a serial killer.
• Asia Intelligence Wire transmitted an article from The Hindu (June 23) that pointed out a book by Mr. Arun Shourie, Harvesting Our Souls, which has caused anguish to Christians in Mangalore. The book questions the existence of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary and the authenticity of the Gospels.
• A curious and, at times, humorous article in The Independent (London, July 3) featured Oliver Peyton, who has built six fine restaurants, the first being at Knock, Ireland, the place of the Knock Apparitions. Peyton's great-grandmother was one of the visionaries at Knock. Peyton tells of his family's "lucrative brand of entrepreneurship" which has learned to profit from pilgrims to Knock.
• The Independent (June 28) devoted 1646 words to the Fatima story and the secret. The concluding three paragraphs present "a different view":

  Tom Weinandy, warden of Greyfriars College, Oxford, points out that "most prophecies are not super-clear". Nor do all believers take the Fatima story as gospel truth. In Dr Weinandy's words, "It's not against doctrine not to believe." ...

  In the last resort, it becomes clear that you merely have to take a large leap of faith in order to believe. It would be nice to think that the publication, after all this time, of the mysterious Third Secret would at last end the speculation. It seems unlikely. At one level, religion is about personal beliefs and how to relate to other people. At a different level, it takes on its own momentum, creating alternative realities.

  Sceptics argue the children's visions could have been simply down to hunger (they had nothing to eat except a thin broth known as "soup of the tired horse") and electric storms on the open hillside. For millions worldwide, however, "scepticism" and "Fatima" are two words which cannot be spoken in the same breath. Visions of hell and a bishop in white slain on a mountain- top are allowed to rule - as a memory of the millennium now ended.

Items Revisited

Tom Dusterberg – Mary, A Different Look

Tom Dusterberg lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he manages his own art shop and has his studio. We are certain that you will enjoy the new and original works produced by Dusterberg for the exhibit here at The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute. Among the new works are five deeply thought-provoking pieces for the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. The artist has presented powerful images for contemplation which we hope you will take the time to visit online and on location. You can take a virtual tour of the Dusterberg exhibit at:

The Person of Mary – The Person of Mary: Humanness

The Mary Page theme for this news brief about the Blessed Mother is culled from magisterial documents since Vatican II. The theme will covers various aspects of Mary's personhood. Mary is a real, historical person who lived in Nazareth 2000.

The example from magisterial writings below is derived from the document Lumen Gentium, Chapter 8 (MC).

• joyfully showed (nativity) 57
• moved with pity (Cana: cf. Jn 2:1-11) 58
• pondered in her heart (cf. Lk 2:34-35) 57
• sought him sorrowing (cf. Lk 2:41-51) 57
• lovingly consenting to the immolation 58
• imploring the gift of the Spirit 59
  The Person of Mary: Humanness

  

  Prayer Corner Requests

  You are invited to help us pray for our prayer corner intentions.

  Prayer Corner

  The intentions of the Holy Father for July 2000:

  • General Intentions: That the followers of the various religions May grow in respecting one another and collaborating to consolidate justice and peace in the world
    
  • Mission Intentions: That all those who are tried by sickness and loneliness may offer their suffering with Christ for the conversion of the world

  For more information on these intentions, see: Apostleship of Prayer

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