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1/20/06 Mary Page News items give insight into our interest areas, our outreach, and the many ways people honor Our Lady. We welcome your input and your comments. |
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To celebrate the month of January with Mary: Marian Commemoration Days Mary Page offers a variety of resources inviting study, reflection and meditation. We also list important Marian dates for each month of the year. Please see Marian Commemoration Days for the month of January.
A section on international stamps with images of Mary has also been added to About Mary page. The latest added was Paraguay. Expect more countries to follow. We have expanded our material on The Hail Mary in Various Languages and on the reported apparitions in Marpingen, Germany. We have also posted two Marian poems by John Donne and thoughts on this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
Polish Madonna Prints Still Available! While the note-cards are now out of stock, seven different 11" x 14" prints are still available from Wislawa Kwiatkowska's "Polish Madonnas in Art and Poetry" exhibit. All pictures are printed on 80# paper. The pictures available are:
These 11" x 14" prints are $5 each. There is an additional charge of $5 for each quantity of 11 prints or less to cover postage and handling. Here is an example of the postage and handling rates:
Specify which prints and quantity you want and make a check or money order out to "The Marian Library." Mail it to:
We also have a "Polish Madonna" Windows PC screensaver that shows all twelve of the pictures that were in the St. Anthony Messenger article. It sells for $5.00, which includes postage and handling. If you have any questions, please call 937-229-4214. Print Descriptions Madonna Covered with Cherry Blossoms: Delicate cherry blossoms frame the faces of Mary and Baby Jesus while butterflies--symbols of the Resurrection--circle around them. Madonna of the Mushrooms: These mushrooms of autumn are attractive but deadly; Mary draws out the poison and warns against the allure and perniciousness of sin.
Madonna of the Sowers: From the lilac heather, through the morning fog, the wind pulls threads from Mary's shawl and wraps them around the trees and branches, protecting the autumn seeds.
Mournful Mother of Czestochowa: In this portrait of the famous icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Baby Jesus tries to comfort his mother as she mourns for the fate of the Polish people. Around Mary's shoulders is a blue and gold ribbon from which hangs the Virtuti Militari--the highest Polish military honor that is given in recognition of bravery. (The two slashes on the face of the original icon were inflicted by Hussite soldiers in the fifteenth century.) Alumni Update Teresa Monaghen, the local and National Moderator of the Secular Institute of the Apostolic Oblates and the National Director of the Pro Sanctity Movement, has been doing regular radio broadcasts on Marian and other spiritual topics on Spirit 88.9 FM out of Omaha, Nebraska. Her latest talk aired on January 6, 2006 about Our Lady's Place in the Epiphany. She is scheduled to do a series on "Discernment in the Spirit of Mary" next month. We are hoping to make a number of her talks available as podcasts from The Mary Page. Stay tuned! In the meantime, listen to KVSS, 88.9 for the Pro Sanctity Hour with Mary and the Saints! Next show Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at 7:00 am. Listen on your computer too through the KVSS Website: http://www.kvss.com. St Francis de Sales and our Lady show us how to "Live a Devout Life in a Busy, Crazy World!" Teresa has a BA in Liberal Studies from Cal State Fullerton and did her thesis on "Faith Development for Children." Teresa studied in Rome, Italy for her STB in Theology and then went on to Creighton University in Omaha for her MA in Christian Spirituality. She is working towards her STL at The International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio. She has 29 years experience giving retreats and spiritual direction to people of all ages and backgrounds, and has also worked as a spiritual director for the summer program of the Institute for Priestly Formation under the direction of Father John Horn, SJ. She currently runs the Pro Sanctity Retreat Center and Camp Fun for girls in Elkhorn, NE which is in its 15th season. Additional Web Addresses for The Mary Page In order to make our web site more accessible, The Mary Page may now be reached at the following URLs: lapagedemarie.org; lapaginademaria.org; marypage.org; themarypage.org; marypage.udayton.edu; and themarypage.net. The original address on the University of Dayton site, www.udayton.edu/mary, remains active as well. Web Collaborators Two important Catholic websites have added The Mary Page to their list of Media Partners. CatholicWeb.com highlights items from The Mary Page in their section on Catholic News. Catholic.net includes a Mary Channel on their navbar with Mary Page articles. Please visit these site in return. We expect continued collaboration with them in the future. Also, the University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) has added the Gallery section of The Mary Page to the Exhibits section of their on-line museum, the Plethoreum. International Marian Research Institute Course Schedule IMRI courses for the Spring 2006 semester are scheduled to begin on February 20. The course schedule for this semester is now available.
Marianist Heritage Celebration The Rector's Office at the University of Dayton is sponsoring a series of events to highlight the Marianist spirit of U.D.'s founders through February 24. Among the activities, Campus Ministry and the Marianists will sponsor a Program on "Mary, Faith and Justice" on Thursday, 2/23/2006. This will be held in the Kennedy Union Ballroom from 7-9 pm with a Social to follow. Click this link for a list of all of the current Marian Events by geographical position.
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!
Sister Lucia's Remains to be Moved to Fatima The mortal remains of Sister Lucia, who saw apparitions of Our Lady in 1917, will be moved from the Carmelite convent of Coimbra, where she died, to the Shrine of Fatima. The news was confirmed by the Roman Society for Pilgrimages, an institution dependent on the Holy See, which is organizing pilgrimages to the Portuguese shrine for the occasion. The public will be able to take part in the Feb. 19 event, which will included a procession to the Chapel of the Apparitions, Mass, and the transferal of the remains to the basilica. The remains of the religious, who died at age 97 last Feb. 13, will rest next to those of her two cousins, Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta, who also witnessed the Virgin Mary's apparitions with her. The liturgical memorial of the blessed is celebrated Feb. 20.
Pontifical Household is Home to All Believers Recalling that tomorrow is the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, the Pope dwelt on the figure of Mary: "Just as she presented Jesus to the Magi, so the Virgin continues to offer Him to all humanity. Let us accept Him from her hands: Christ fulfils the most profound expectations of our hearts and gives meaning to all out plans and actions. May He be present in families and reign everywhere with the power of His love." The Mother of God and the World
Day of Peace Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today before reciting the midday Angelus with tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square. Beforehand, the Pope presided at a Mass on the solemnity of Mary the Mother of God. It was also World Day of Peace. Dear Brothers and Sisters! On this first day of the year, the Church contemplates the heavenly Mother of God, who holds in her arms the Child Jesus, source of all blessings. "Hail, holy Mother, you have given birth to the King who rules heaven and earth for ever and ever." The announcement of the angels in Bethlehem echoed in Mary's maternal heart, filling it with wonder: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!" (Luke 2:14). And the Gospel adds that Mary "kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Like her, the Church also keeps and meditates on the Word of God, applying it with the different and changing situations she finds on her way. Contemplating Christ, who came on earth to give us peace, we celebrate with the new year the World Day of Peace, which began by decision of Pope Paul VI thirty-eight years ago. In my first message on this occasion, I wanted to take up this year a constant theme in the magisterium of my venerated predecessors, beginning with the memorable encyclical of Blessed Pope John XXIII, "Pacem in Terris": the theme of truth as the foundation of authentic peace: "In Truth, Peace" is the motto that I present for the reflection of every person of good will. When man allows himself to be illuminated by the splendor of truth, he becomes interiorly a courageous architect of peace. The liturgical time we are living gives us a great lesson: To welcome the gift of peace we must open ourselves to the truth that has been revealed in the person of Jesus, who taught us the "content" and at the same time the "method" of peace, that is, love. God, in fact, who is perfect and subsistent love, revealed himself in Jesus, assuming our human condition. In this way he has also indicated to us the way of peace: dialogue, forgiveness, solidarity. This is the only way that leads to authentic peace. Let us turn our gaze to Mary Most Holy, who today blesses the whole world showing her divine Son, the "Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:5). With trust, let us invoke her powerful intercession so that the human family, by opening itself to the evangelical message, might spend the year which begins today in fraternity and peace. With these sentiments I express to all of you here present, and to all those who are united to us through radio and television, my most cordial wishes for peace and goodness." [Translation by ZENIT The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:] I greet all the English-speaking visitors present at today's Angelus, and in particular the many Pueri Cantores, whom I thank for their beautiful signing at this morning's Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. I wish all of you a New Year full of joy and consolation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Through the intercession of his Blessed Mother, Mary, may Christians everywhere have the courage to be promoters of forgiveness, reconciliation and peace! 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. Black Jesus Film Preaches Politics
Over Religion Billed as the world's first black Jesus movie, "Son of Man" portrays Christ as a modern African revolutionary and aims to shatter the Western image of a placid savior with fair hair and blue eyes. The South African film, which premieres on Sunday at the U.S. Sundance festival in Utah, transports the life and death of Christ from first century Palestine to a contemporary African state racked by war and poverty. Jesus is born in a shanty-town shed, a far cry from a manger in a Bethlehem stable. His mother Mary is a virgin, though feisty enough to argue with the angels. Gun-wielding authorities fear his message of equality and he ends up hanging on a cross. "We wanted to look at the gospels as if they were written by spin doctors and to strip that away and look at the truth," director Mark Dornford-May told Reuters in an interview. "The truth is that Christ was born in an occupied state and preached equality at a time when that wasn't very acceptable." By portraying Jesus as a black African, Dornford-May hopes to sharpen the political context of the gospels, when Israel was under Roman occupation, and challenge Western perceptions of Christ as meek, mild and European. "We have to accept that Christ has been hijacked a bit -- he's gone very blonde haired and blue-eyed," he said. "The important thing about the message of Christ was that it is universal. It doesn't matter what he looked like." In fact, there was a film called "Black Jesus" made in 1968 and starring Woody Strode, but it is described as a political commentary rather than an interpretation of the life of Christ. RESURRECTION HOPE Made by the same theater company behind last year's award-winning "U-Carmen eKhayelitsha," Son of Man is in the tongue-clicking Xhosa African language and English and was filmed in the sprawling black townships near Cape Town. Jesus begins his public ministry after an encounter with Satan -- who appears cloaked in black leather -- during his traditional Xhosa circumcision rite. He gathers followers from the factions of armed rebels across the country and demands they lay down their guns and confront their corrupt rulers with a vision of non-violent protest and solidarity. Dornford-May, who says he subscribes to Christ's teachings without necessarily believing he is the son of God, says the Jesus in the film is a divine being who rises from the dead. His resurrection is meant to signal hope for Africa, the world's poorest continent which is sometimes dismissed by foreigners as a hopeless mess of conflict and corruption. "The ending is optimistic but realistic. There is an incredible struggle to get to the optimism," he said. Dornford-May says focus groups of church leaders and ordinary Christians in South Africa, where Christianity often comes in a conservative form, broadly praised the film, which he hopes will prove a hit on the continent and worldwide. Mary, played by the star of U-Carmen, Pauline Malefane, gets a beefed-up role as the inspiration for Christ's politics and humanity, compared to her fairly brief biblical appearances. And Malefane, who is married to Dorford-May, makes a smooth transition from playing the seductive heroine Carmen to the world's most famous virgin, he said. "They are both women who are prepared to stand outside of society. They may be different sides of the coin but they are still the same coin--but I'm not going to be very popular for saying that." Baby Jesus Resurrected in Creche The Virgin Mary rode into Bethlehem on a donkey, but baby Jesus returned to
Place Jacques Cartier yesterday in a Volkswagen Passat. The scene will remain in until Dec. 27, when it will be removed to make room
for New Year's Eve celebrations. Ceremony Honors Vision of Mary Surrounded by a bower of roses, the portrait of the Virgin Mary
moved through the parking lot of a Norcross church. Our Mary Page web site is updated frequently. Please stop in again and see What's New.
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