Mary Page News
October 12, 2001
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.
The Liturgical Season
with Mary
Special Hours for U.D.'s Parents Weekend
In addition to our regular hours of 8:30 am - 4:30 pm on weekdays, during Parents Weekend at the University of Dayton (October 12-14, 2001) the Marian Library will also be open:
Friday, October 12: 7:00 pm -10:00 pm
Saturday, October 13: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
Sunday, October 14: 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
For more information, click into Parents Weekend.
Return to Top
Alumni Update
Sister M. Marcia Vinje, a recent student of IMRI and currently associate director of the Office of Pastoral Services for the Diocese of Madison, spoke September 6 on "Understanding the Role of Mary, the Saints and Sacramentals in our Faith Lives", opening a monthly lecture series to be held at the Montello Center. For more information, call the parish office at 608-297-7423.
Schedule of IMRI Courses for the Fall Semester
The International Marian Research Institute will be offering a selection of seminar courses in Theology on the University Dayton campus during the Fall 2001 Semester. For more details, click into Current Courses.
Personal thoughts and reflections about Mary from our readers
We've added a section to our Research and Publications section showing selected personal comments from our readers about the Virgin Mary. Click here to see comments received within the past month. From this page, feel free to submit your own personal thoughts on Mary.
This section lists all of the current Marian Events by geographical position.
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.
Commentary on Mary in various news articles from September 20-30.
- The "anti-Muslim racism" evidenced in the wake of the September 11 attacks prompted William Dalrymple to write about his experience in Seidnaya in The London Independent on September 25. The Greek Orthodox convent in Syria, three hours’ walk from Damascas, was founded, legend says, in the sixth century after the Byzantine Emperor Justinian chased a stag onto the top of the hill during a hunting expedition. Just as Justinian was about the draw his bow, the stag changed into the Virgin Mary, who commanded him to build a convent on the rock. The abbey quickly became a place of pilgrimage and to this day streams of Christian, Muslim and Druze pilgrims trudge their way there. Dalrymple attended an evening service where the congregation in the church consisted not principally of Christians but almost entirely of heavily bearded Muslim men and their shrouded wives. He writes of religious tolerance that existed in the Mughul and Ottoman Empires as late as the 18th century, the massacre of 8,000 Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995 by Christians, and says Islam is no more cohesive than Christendom.
- Worshipers at an Ecuadorean church claim their statue of the Virgin Mary has started crying tears of blood and that the wooden statue reportedly started crying days before the US terror attacks, the Nationwide News reported on September 25. Priest Alfredo Viera says the tears show Mary’s distress at mankind’s sinful nature. Scientists suggest the "tears" are a result of a change in temperature, making the wooden statue exude sap, but can’t explain why the tears are red rather than white.
-
The bones of St. Therese of Lisieux, whose popularity pales only next to the Virgin Mary, will find only temporary rest in Canada, both the Edmonton Sun and Montreal Gazette said on September 23. The remains of the French Carmelite nun, which have toured 22 countries since 1997, will be in Victoria, Kamloops and Prince George, B.C., Alberta and Toronto until December 14, when they leave for Asia.
-
"Our Lady," a digital image of the Virgin Mary with a bare midriff, has survived a public outcry from many Roman Catholics and will remain on display through October 28 at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, the Associated Press said on September 26. The attorney general’s office informed Museum of New Mexico regents that a lawsuit would result if the artwork by Alma Lopez were removed any earlier. The closing date for the show is four months earlier than the original closing date, Museum officials said.
- A Little Rock man has pleaded innocent to a felony
charge involving the theft of a sculpture of the Virgin Mary from the
grounds of Mount St. Mary Academy, the Arkansas-Democrat-Gazette said on
September 23. The 5-foot tall cast aluminum state of Mary, stolen September
14, had been marred by graffiti and its head had been sawed off. A September
19 story reporting the loss said the statue was painted white and modeled on
"Our Lady of Lourdes."
-
A brief item in News of the World on September 23 says a
controversial new statue of the Virgin Mary in Ely Cathedral has failed to grow
on visitors. They moan the strawberry blonde Madonna looks just like bra-less TV
gardener Charlie Dimmock.
-
A County Armagh man stopped for drunk driving told cops he
was the "Virgin Mary," The People reported on September 30. Gary
Clarke, who gave a false address, was fined pounds 300 and banned from driving
for 18 months.
-
The Blessed Virgin Mary of Czestochowa Church planned to hold
a cabaret on September 30, the Albany NY Times Union said on September 28. The
program was to be dedicated to the victims of the terrorist attack and proceeds
from a free-will offering would be donated to a national organization providing
emergency relief.
- Titles like "Makes Me Wonder (Virgin Mary on a Chain)" and "If I Were a Weapon" by singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega were among those scheduled for release on new CDs, the Albany NY Times Union said on September 20.
- A shrine to the Virgin Mary is among the photos Walker Evans took to illustrate American journalist Carleton Beals’s book, ‘The Crime of Cuba." In his essay on "Walker Evans: Cuba," Andrei Codrescu says that while Beals wrote a fervent expose of American complicity with the practices of the oppressive Machado Regime, Evans captured more of the formal beauty of Havana. "He tried to photograph misery, but shapeliness got in the way." Reported in the New York Times, September 30.
- Classical music listings for September 27, posted by the Time Out Group, included: Music, theatre and film exploring medieval Spain’s obsession, sacred and profane, with the Virgin Mary.
Rosary Rally in Phoenix
On October 14th, the Diocese of Phoenix will have it's 26th Diocesan Rosary Sunday at the Phoenix Civic Center. Our attendance usually runs around 5,000 to 5,500 people. It consists of a parade of blessing where all the different parishes and organizations in the diocese march before the bishop for his blessing. This is followed by a talk. This year it will be Father Trigilio givng the talk.
Then we have the entrance of the Blessed Sacrament followed by the Rosary. Over 100 altar servers form an honor guard for the Blessed Sacrament. This is concluded with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. It starts at 2:00 PM and usually finishes about 4:30 PM.
After this celebration, adoration is continued across the street at St Mary's Basilica with several priests hearing confessions. This event is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and the Legion of Mary.
ZENIT
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 7, 2001 (Zenit.org). - Speaking in English, the Pope reminded the faithful of his request that they pray the rosary daily for peace in the world and for an end to terrorist attacks.
Catholic-Anglican Declaration on Mary Is in the Works
LONDON, OCT. 5, 2001 (Zenit.org).
-
Catholics and Anglicans are working to reach an agreement on a crucial point of
their differences: the dogmas of the immaculate conception of Mary and her
assumption into heaven.
Members of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) met last
month at Dublin´s College of Education and agreed in principle on the
preparation of a joint declaration on Mary's role in the life and doctrine of
the Church. The document is expected to take two years to complete.
Father Don Bolen, Catholic secretary of ARCIC and member of the Pontifical
Council for Christian Unity, reported the news to the Catholic Herald.
From L’Osservatore Romano September 19&26
- On September 23, at the end of the Mass on the Square of the Motherland in Astana, Kazakhstan, the Holy Father prayed the Angelus with the people gathered there. He made an appeal for a non-violent solution to the terrorist attack on the USA and invoked the protection of Mary for the entire nation of Kazakhstan. He noted that the Astana Cathedral which can be seen from the Square is dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and said that: "At this moment I wish to go on spiritual pilgrimage to your national Marian shrine near Oziornoe where you, dear Brothers and Sisters, venerate the Blessed Virgin under the title of Queen of Peace. Prostrate at her feet, I pray for the entire nation of Kazakhstan." To Mary he entrusted "all of you: Christians and non-Christians, believers and non-believers," and the countries bordering Kazakhstan. He gave a special greeting to all those present of Kazakh origin and said: "May the Blessed Virgin Mary take you and your families under her mantle."
- In his letter of condolence sent September 15 to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Archbishop of Washington, the Holy Father repeated the Gospel injunction "not to be conquered by evil, but to conquer evil with good." The letter was read at the Mass for Healing and Peace celebrated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.D. September 16.
- In his message September 12 to Fr. Joseph Chalmers, Prior General of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mt. Carmel, the Holy Father asked the friars to follow the example of the two great persons connected with the Order, the prophet Elijah in his listening to God and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in her song of praise and in her generous readiness to serve her cousin Elizabeth. He said: "Ask Mary, who was so caring and so gentle towards the Child Jesus (Lk 2, 7b), to clothe each of us with the wisdom and love of her divine Son."
- The Holy Father celebrated Mass with the priests, religious and seminarians of Kazakhstan in honor of Our Lady, Queen of Peace in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on September 24. He asked that "Mary, Queen of Peace, sustain these your children. Today they entrust themselves to you with renewed confidence. Our Lady of Perpetual Help, from this Cathedral you embrace the whole Catholic community. Help the faithful to be generous and committed in bearing witness to their faith, so that the Gospel of your Son may resound throughout these vast, immense and beloved lands."
- After the Mass at the Square of the Motherland in Astana, the Holy Father had lunch with the Ordinaries of Central Asia, the Nuncio and the Papal Entourage. In his address that followed the Pope spoke to the Ordinaries about the difficulties of their task of starting again "in these territories, newly open to the Gospel." He said that "The leaven seems insignificant, but it has the power to transform the whole loaf." He entrusted their "pastoral mission to Mary, Star of Evangelization and Queen of Peace" and said that "In the Cathedral of Astana you venerate her as the Mother of Perpetual Help. Into her maternal hands I place your endless work, your expectations and your plans; may she guide and sustain you every step of the way."
-
On Sunday, September 16, at the end of his visit to the
city of Frosinone, in the Ciociara region south of Rome, the Holy Father
made one of his intentions for the Angelus a prayer for the American people
as they pick up their lives after the tragedy on September 11. His prayer:
"May the Blessed Virgin bring comfort and hope to those who suffer on account of the tragic attack of the terrorists, that last week seriously harmed the beloved American people. To all the children of this great Nation I direct my heartbroken and heartfelt consideration. May Mary welcome the dead, console the survivors, support those families who are particularly tried, help all to resist the temptation to hatred and violence, and to dedicate themselves to the service of justice and peace."
- In his address to the Sylvestrine Benedictines, who he received in audience September 8 at the papal residence of Castel Gandolfo, Pope John Paul II said: "In this journey, may the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose Nativity we celebrate today, grant you her maternal assistance. May her Magnificat that celebrates the memory and hope of the People of God become your Congregation’s canticle of praise at the beginning of this new millennium."
- On September 14, the Holy Father spoke to the Father General and the members of the 17th General Assembly of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood, whom he received in audience at Castel Gandolfo. He said: "It was not by accident that St. Gaspar del Bufalo established your Congregation on the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady. For he saw in the glory of the Virgin the wondrous fruit of the sacrifice of her Son on the Cross....That is why you must look always to the Woman ‘clothed with the sun, the moon beneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.’" (Apoc. 12,1)
- The Pope began the General Audience on September 12 with a message of profound sorrow for the tragedy in the United States and of solidarity with its people, then led the pilgrims and visitors in solemn prayer for the living, the dead, for peace and an end to violence and terrorism. He greeted "with special affection" the thousands of Carmelite pilgrims who came to Rome to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the giving of the Scapular and crowned a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He said that in his letter to the Superiors General of the Order of the Carmelites and of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, inviting them to this special dedication, he wrote that the "Scapular is essentially a habit which evokes the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary in this life and in the passage to the fullness of eternal glory." He said that the "Scapular also reminds us that the devotion to her must become a ‘uniform’ that is a Christian life-style, woven of prayer and interior life."
The Newsletter for the Mariological Society of America (MSA) is now on-line.
We've also added answers to two new questions submitted by readers.
- Did Saint Anne teach Mary how to read?
- What is a Vierge Ouvrante or Shrine Madonna?
- What is the story about the Marian Statue in Urakami, Japan?
A new section on international stamps with images of Mary has been added to our Resources section. The latest added was Chile. Expect more countries to follow.
A new section on
Mary in History was recently added
to our Resources index.
We have also added a new section on
French-language Resources.
Our section on
New Marian Poetry was also updated recently. Also, we have added
prayers from With God and with Men by Adrienne von Speyr to our section on
Marian Prayers.
We've posted memorials to three long-time faculty members who died recently:
The graphic at the top left of our home page now randomly displays flowers named after the Virgin Mary. Click on the flower to enlarge the image and display information about it.
Documents, Pronouncements (Magisterial, doctrinal)
Ad Caeli Reginam: On Proclaiming the Queenship of Mary
Encyclical of Pope Pius XII promulgated on October 11, 1954. Issued on the feast of the Queenship of Mary, it summarizes the history of devotion to Mary as Queen.
Spanish version at: www.multimedios.org/bec/etexts/adcr.htm
Marian Themes in Magisterial Documents
Marian Devotion: Various Forms of Marian Piety
Quotes from post-Vatican II Church documents on the Rosary
devotion.
www.udayton.edu/mary/resources/documents/docs7-2.html
This section contains excerpts from past editions of the Mary Page news.
Our Mary Page web site is updated frequently. Please stop in again and see what's new.
You are invited to help us pray for our Prayer Corner intentions. Please take a look! This site has been updated and enhanced and now allows users to directly submit prayer requests or to volunteer as a prayer partner for these intentions!
This page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute,
Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, and created by
Michael P. Duricy
, was last modified
Thursday, 11/21/2002 15:37:41 EST
by
Michael P. Duricy
. Please send any comments to jroten1@udayton.edu. URL for this page is http://campus.udayton.edu