News Archives

We have received a number of emails from readers commending our institute and its website, The Mary Page.  Thank you all for your encouragement and support.  The following is a typical example.

Thank you so much the information you have sent me.  I will share your website with others.  You are in my prayers!  Bless you.

Megan

In order to improve performance, the University of Dayton upgraded the server on which our website resided on Wednesday, September 19, 2012.  As a result, The Mary Page has experienced some technical difficulties since then (e.g. Prayer Corner).  Please report any problems by calling Michael Duricy at 937-229-1474.

Updates

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Father Francis Kenney, a Marianist religious, passed away on September 25, 2012, at the age of 90.  Part of his Marianist service was done at the University of Dayton.  The wake and funeral were held on Saturday, September 29, at Emmanuel Church where he last served.

We also learned that Father Roger M. Charest, S.M.M., Charter Member of the Mariological Society of America (MSA), passed away on August 16, 2012.  His colleague in the Montfort Fathers and with the MSA, Father Patrick Gaffney, also passed away recently (on July 1, 2012).  Please pray for them and for all the departed.  May they rest in peace.

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Mary in Books, Films, and Music

New Marian Book from the ESBVM-USA

Mary for the Love and Glory of God, a collection of ecumenical essays by scholars representing various Christian denominations that were presented at the International Congress of the ESBVM in Pittsburgh, PA, USA, in 2008, has recently been published in the United States by ESBVM USA through AuthorHouse.  The contributors to this book focus their attention on Mary, the Mother of Christ, the biblical disciple whose life brings us to the love and glory of God.  Contributing authors are Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant, and include Very Rev. John Behr, Dean of Vladimir's Seminary in New York; Dr. Robert L. Fastiggi, Professor of Sacred Theology at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit; Sr. Nonna Verna Harrison, an Eastern Orthodox nun and specialist in Patristics and Orthodox Theology; Dr. Maura Hearden, a Roman Catholic scholar and professor at DeSales University in PA; Rev. Jennifer Mary Kimball, pastor of the First Congregational Church UCC in Walton, NY; Dr. Virginia M. Kimball, an Eastern Orthodox theologian and president of the ESBVM USA; Rev. Dr. Donald Charles Lacy, United Methodist Pastor and well-known ecumenical author and lecturer; Sr. Barbara Jean Mihalchick OSBM, a Byzantine Catholic sister and vocation director for the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil in Uniontown, PA; Sr. Mary Catherine Nolan, a Roman Catholic Dominican sister and Marian theologian; Rev. Dr. Edward J. Ondrako, OFM Conv, scholar in residence at the Franciscan International Study Center in Canterbury, Kent, England; and Rev. Dr. Paul Snowden Russell III, an Anglican priest, noted Syriac scholar, and Dean of the St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College, in Berkeley, CA.

In the United States, Mary for the Love and Glory of God is available for $25 through AuthorHouse at www.authorhouse.com, as well as other online booksellers.

The book is easily available to those living in the United Kingdom because the publisher, AuthorHouse, has a location in England.  This means that there are no overseas shipping costs.  Go to www.authorhouse.co.uk to order.  On the website go to BOOKSHOP and search at the top of the screen by title, or author, or ISBN 978-1-4567-5667-3. The cost is £15.95.

Click here to see a review [then go to pp. 24-25].

Suggested A/V material

Since October is traditionally the month of the rosary, note that in order to promote the family Rosary, the Family Theater Productions established by Father Patrick Peyton recently produced Rosary Stars: Praying the Gospel. For more information click into familytheater.org/TelevisionandFilm/RosaryStars.aspx. The Marian Library has a copy on DVD in our loaning library. Also related to Father Peyton, there is an entire website dedicated to the family rosary: familyrosary.org. Our thanks to Dr. Gloria Dodd, Rosary promoter, for providing this information.

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Radio Maria from The Marian Library

Prayer of Blessed John Paul II for Radio Maria

Mary, guide us in our major decisions and give us strength in times of trial so that we may, with humble courage, follow the hidden ways of Heaven, keeping faith with God and mankind so that we can bring the joyful message of Christ, the Savior, to the hearts and minds of all.

Mary, guiding star of evangelization, be with us.  Be with Radio Maria as guide and be its protector.

Francesca Franchina, MS Ed., a long-time member of the Marianist Family, will be doing a series of Marian broadcasts through the local stations for Radio Maria WHJM (FM 88.7) in Anna, Ohio and WULM (AM 1600) in Springfield, Ohio.  Called "Francesca and Friends: Why Mary?," the program airs every Wednesday from 12:00 - 1:00 PM EST focusing on what is going on in the world about Mary, how to speak with others about Mary, and Mary in Scripture.  CALL IN TOLL-FREE.  PARTICIPATE IN THE PROGRAM (during the live show) 1-866-333-6279.

On Wednesday, October 3, 2012, Francesca Franchina continues her talk with Father Tom Alkire, OC, from Los Angeles, CA, about the titles of the Blessed Mother as Queen: Queen of Angels, Martyrs, and Saints, relative to her Son, Jesus, King of Kings; Our Lady of the Holy Eucharist and Precious Blood and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and the way she equips us with spiritual weapons; making the five First Saturdays; the Holy Mass, Reconciliation, wearing a blessed Brown Carmelite Scapular and fulfilling her requests at Fatima and other apparition sites.  Learn how she protects us in battle and how we can help her fight her battle for The Triumph and assist her in the New Evangelization, and the Year of Faith.  Father Alkire is a seasoned Carmelite priest affiliated with the Marian Movement of Priests, and the Association of the Precious Blood in Tallahassee, FL.  He is the Associate Pastor of St. Raphael's Parish in Los Angeles, CA, and has been a Home Missionary in Northern and Southern California for many years.

Francesca and Friends with Francesca Franchina, National OSIA Trustee, is now being broadcast throughout the New York City metropolitan area at 11 pm on Friday nights on WSNR 620 AM, as well as on other local  Radio Maria USA frequencies,  and streaming on radiomaria.us.  This is the replay of the program originating on the preceding Wednesday at noon EST.  Give a listen every Friday at 11 PM; Mondays at 8:30 PM and LIVE on Wednesdays at noon EST.

The broadcast may also be heard on-line at radiomaria.us  The website also provides access to some previous broadcasts.  We'll keep you informed about future programs.  An encore of each show is broadcast Monday night from 8:30-9:30 pm EST one week after the original.

Francesca is no longer doing her Tuesday program, Through the Tummy to the Heart on Radio Maria, but all programs and recipes are still posted in the Archives on the Radio Maria website at radiomaria.us.  She will inaugurate commentary and blog on www.credoapostolate.us in the near future.

Living with Mary Today! Live: Thursdays and Fridays 2:30-3:00 PM EST: From the Pontifical International Marian Research Institute (IMRI) at the University of Dayton Marian Library, internationally-known Mariologists Fathers Bertrand Buby, François Rossier, Johann Roten, and Thomas Thompson of the Society of Mary (Marianists), and other IMRI faculty; Michael Duricy, Jean Frisk, and others will discuss Marian themes such as The Blessed Mother and Ecumenism; Mary and The Family; Mary and Suffering, Marian Teachings and Writings of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI; Mary and Scripture from the Founder of the Marianists, Blessed William Joseph Chaminade; Mary and Vatican II, Marian Apparitions, and others.  The Marian Library at the University of Dayton houses the largest collection of Marian books and artifacts in the world, and IMRI is one of the two sites of post-graduate studies in Mariology for the STL and STD.  Find out more by visiting marypage.org.  The University of Dayton; The Marian Library, and IMRI are collaborators with the International Satellite Radio Maria Network and Radio Maria Ohio.  Click here for the schedule of future programs planned to date.  Click here for the audio archive!

This week's programs:

Father Johann Roten, S.M., Thursday, October 4, 2:30 PM on the Rosary I

Father Johann Roten, S.M., Friday, October 5, 2:30 PM on the Rosary II

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From the Marian Treasure Chest

What About the Rosary? by Brother John M. Samaha, S.M.

October is the Month of the Holy Rosary.  The following article was published in Messenger of Mary Immaculate, September-October 2012.  Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

Bro. John

Origin of the Rosary

The Rosary, the blessed beads that quietly slip between our fingers as we pray over the mysteries of Jesus' redemptive life, has an ancient origin.  Most likely its pre-Christian ancestor originated in the ancient East, perhaps in India, and not in the medieval West.  It was and still is a popular prayer device among Muslims, who use the Arabic term masbahat, which means to give praise.  Devout Muslims used the masbahat in repeating the attributes of God, just as it was used by early Christian hermits.  Following the Crusades the Rosary found its way to the West, and the prayer form kept that name.  "Rosary" comes from the Latin rosarium, which means a rose garden.  Applied to the prayer beads, the name connotes a crown of roses for the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The missionary who worked hardest to spread this devotion was Abed El-Ahad, Saint Dominic, and his Dominican companions.

The Rosary became a popular method of prayer and spread quickly in the West during the Middle Ages.  For Christians it has always been "the Gospel strung on beads."  It is a simple and easy prayer that can be employed for vocal prayer or silent contemplation by individuals, families, and communities.

Papal Encouragement

Since the sixteenth century the popes have frequently encouraged the faithful of East and West to pray the Rosary.  The first was a Dominican pope, Saint Pius V, who wrote a papal letter about the Rosary in 1569 shortly after the Council of Trent, and instituted the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

In the late nineteenth century after the First Vatican Council the illustrious Pope Leo XIII wrote more than ten encyclicals and instructions promoting the use of the Rosary.

To make pastoral application of the Marian teachings of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI in 1974 authored the apostolic exhortation Devotion to Mary (Marialis Cultus).  Paul VI discussed the Rosary at some length as a summary of the Gospel comprised of prayers based on Gospel texts.  He urged the faithful to pray the Rosary, and especially recommended the family Rosary in these words:

We would like now to join our voice to the voices of our predecessors and strongly recommend the prayer of the Rosary in the family ... because the Christian family is a family church.... If the family neglected this communal prayer, it would lose its character as a Christian family. In addition to the prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours ... the Rosary of the Virgin Mary would be the most preferred communal prayer for the Christian family.

Pope Paul VI concluded his recommendation by saying: "We would like to repeat that the Rosary is an excellent and magnificent prayer."

Pope John Paul II, an enthusiastic devotee of our Blessed Mother, in 2002 issued a pastoral letter entitled The Rosary of the Virgin Mary, in which he proclaimed October 2002 until October 2003 the Year of the Rosary, and put forth the Luminous Mysteries based on the public life of Jesus.

Our present Holy Father, Benedict XVI, values the prayer of the Rosary as a means of contemplating Jesus with Mary's eyes.  For him, pondering the mysteries of the Rosary calms a "restless spirit, allows the soul to settle into tranquility ... and grants a vision of God."  He associates the Rosary with consolation and healing, an inner refuge which enfolds us "in the rhythm of the prayer of the whole Church."  "I do it quite simply," he said, "just as my parents used to pray."

The Rosary Today

While some Eastern Christians erroneously consider the Rosary foreign to Eastern spirituality, quite the opposite is the reality.  The Rosary is a prayer for all peoples and for all seasons.

Early on, the Rosary was a common method of prayer in the East among Christians and non-Christians.  Even though it came to us through Western missionaries, it was and still is an easy and rich method of prayer to help the faithful fathom the mysteries of God along the journey of salvation.  And we do so with a special companion, the Mother of God and our Mother.  Praying the Rosary, particularly in the family, is an excellent method of bringing us together in the faith under the protection of her who always and everywhere intercedes for all people.  Let us spare no effort to remain close to her.

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New Exhibit!

Faces and Flowers of Mary

The University of Dayton's Marian Library Gallery will feature an exhibit of works by Marilyn Hart.  The exhibit will run from Monday, October 1, through Friday, November 9, in the gallery on the seventh floor of Roesch Library.  Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday or through special arrangement by calling 937-229-4214.  Click to see more information or here for a virtual exhibit.  An artist's reception will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 7, 2012.

We have a permanent crèche exhibit and a dedicated online giving page specifically for those who wish to support The Marian Library crèche collections.  There is also a general page to give to all areas of ML/IMRI and Roesch Library.

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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 Mariology section on their navbar with articles from The Mary Page.  Please visit these sites in return.  We expect continued collaboration with them in the future.

Radio Maria originated east of Milan, Italy in 1983, and is now heard in fifty-four countries.  The main USA station is in Alexandria, Louisiana with affiliate stations across the USA [including FM 88.7, WHJM,  in Anna, Ohio (north of Dayton) and AM 1600, WULM, in Springfield/Dayton, Ohio.  All USA Radio Maria stations regularly air live Marian talks from UD's Marian Library every Wednesday from 12:00-1:00 pm EST and on Thursday and Friday from 2:30-3:00 pm EST, as well as local programming originating from many other affiliated Radio Maria stations in the USA.

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International Marian Research Institute Course Schedule

IMRI courses for the Fall 2012 semester will commence on October 8, 2012!

The Pontifical Academic Program leading to STL and STD in theology with a specialization in Marian Studies offers courses in three year-round sessions.  See our course offerings for Fall 2012.

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In keeping with the season, we suggest Who Is Our Lady of Victory?

Material on international stamps with images of Mary exists on The Mary Page (also available in French). The latest updates were Angola, Chad, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Rhodesia, and Rwanda.

We have revised and expanded our material in Chinese.  This is a work in progress, so expect more content soon.  Feel free to let us know what you think of this section.

We have posted the Call for Papers for the 2013 annual meeting of the Mariological Society of America (MSA) as well as a virtual exhibit of the art of Lu Houng Nien.

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Theology on Tap!

Title: Walking in the Light

Date: October 4, 2012, 7:30-9 pm

Location: Oregon Express, 336 E Fifth St, Dayton, OH

IMRI Professor, Dr. Gloria Dodd, will present A Sacramental Meditation on the Luminous Mysteries.  Click here for more information.

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Archbishop Nichols Welcomes Portsmouth Successor of the Apostles
Reflects on Beginnings of the Church at Episcopal Ordination Mass
Source: Zenit (Portsmouth, England) September 26, 2012

The archbishop of Westminster delivered the homily Monday at the Mass of episcopal ordination for the new prelate of Portsmouth, Bishop Philip Egan.  Monsignor Egan, 56, was appointed to the post in July.  He is a native of Altrincham.  Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster presented a reflection on the early Church, noting that the Gospels show that in his last hours, Jesus laid the foundations of what was to follow.

"It appeals to me deeply," he said, "to think of Jesus' words from the cross, addressed to Mary and to John, as bringing the Church to birth.  From the cross Jesus announces a new way of life, a new pattern of relationships, a new form of family and one that is stronger and longer-lasting than the bonds of blood.  Mary was not John's mother, and John was not her son.  But they are now.  They were forged into that new bond by the word of the Lord and by the power of His sacrifice, unleashing the new gift of the Holy Spirit...."

Click here to read the complete article.

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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.

Marilyn Hart has always had an interest in art, but she didn't begin painting until she was 65 years old.  She started painting to provide artwork for her seven children, but after visiting an exhibit at the Marian Library three years ago, she was inspired to begin painting images of Mary, the mother of Christ....

Click here for the complete article (see pp. 6-7).

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Marian Commemoration Days

To celebrate the month of October with Mary:

• October: Month of the Rosary

The 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 October.

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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 submit prayer requests directly or to volunteer as a prayer partner for these intentions!

Please note that we are currently experiencing technical difficulties with these sections of our site.

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The Mary Page website is updated frequently. Please stop in again and see what's in the news.

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