April 27, 1999

 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

Meditations for May
Honor Her Everywhere!
Rosaries Wanted!
A Garden for Mary
Marian Shrine in Harissa, Beirut
18th Century Blockprint
New Exhibit May – June
Prayerbook Fits in Pocket
Help

Meditations for May

Mary Page resources for May can help you plan celebrations to honor Mary.

• See our meditation feature, which includes the subtitles:
  Liturgical Celebrations for Mary in May
  Mary Month - Why May?
  Ways to Celebrate Mary's Month
  A May Crowning Suggestion - Everyone Crowns
  A Marian Coronation Celebration for Parishes
  Coronation of Mary
  You'll find the page at: May, Mary's Month, Marian Coronation

• Coronation of Mary and the saints. This is an ancient practice of the Christian churches in both the East and in the West. As the official Catholic liturgical Order of Crowning an Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary states: Coronation is one form of reverence frequently shown to images of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
  More about the official texts of the Church at: Coronation of Mary

• Read the answer to Your Question: What is the origin of the custom to place a crown on Mary's head?
  See: Origin of Coronation

• Mary Page also has a selection of May Poetry. You'll find it at: May Poetry

Honor Her Everywhere!

Mary Page received a request recently from a researcher who then told us the following true experience:

I have been fortunate to get some pictures of amazing shrines to Our Lady. Most notable is one in the middle of the desert outside of Tucson, Az., which I have dubbed "Our Lady of the Garbage Dump". Apparently someone was walking their dog when the saw something white sticking out of the sand in the middle of one of those "unofficial" dumps where people throw beer bottles and old couches to die.

He pulled at the ceramic and out of the sand extracted a foot tall statute of Our Lady. It had lost an arm and part of the cloak, and was broken at the knees. He found the knees in another area of the dump! Deeply offended, he marked the spot it came from, brought Her home, washed the statue, re-glued the knees, and built a lovely niche on the EXACT spot he found Her!

That was about four years ago. The niche canNOT be seen from the road. It is in the middle of the desert, where there are no roads, just dirt bike tracks. When it rains, the geography changes! Since that time, anonymous individuals have cleared the garbage about ten feet away from the site, and have started to leave printed prayer candles, silk flowers, and rosaries. I expect that within a few more years, we will be seeing 'milagros' medals and little notes as well. The phenomenon is amazing.

Rosaries Wanted!

Cord rosaries with black or brown beads are needed for the prison ministry of The Riehle Foundation. Please send rosaries to:

A Garden for Mary

The National Council of Catholic Women [NCCW] plans to erect a Mary Garden at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. The groundbreaking for hte prayer garden is scheduled to take place in June 1999. It is expected to be a circular garden with plants, benches, statuary, and a fountain. The garden will cover 3/4 of an acre and is estimated to cost between $75,000 and $100,000. Currently, $12,000 has been raised.

The impetus to build the shrine developed last year when the NCCW, the largest organization of Catholic women in the United States, noted that the organization was not represented among the donor organizations which helped to build the shrine.

If you would like to share in building the garden, contact:

Ms. Annette Kane, Executive Director
National Council of Catholic Women
1275 K. Street, N.W., Suite 975
Washington, DC 20005

Marian Shrine in Harissa, Beirut, Lebanon

In his message on the World Day for the Ill and Handicapped (February 11, 1999), Pope John Paul II spoke of a Marian shrine titled, Our Lady of Harissa, located on a hill overlooking Beirut, Lebanon. The Holy Father stated:

"The decision to erect the pilgrimage place of Our Lady of Harissa on a hillside above Beirut has a manifold and deep significance in view of the present situation of the place and circumstances of the time. The country where the shrine is located is Lebanon – as I have frequently said – a country that is more than a country in itself: It is a message and an example for the East and for the West.

Which region on earth other than Lebanon could be a better symbol of the unity among the Christian and the encounter of all the people in a community of love? In fact, Lebanese soil is not only a place where people of differing Christian traditions live, but also a crossroads of countless religions. In this regard, Lebanon can, in a certain sense, be considered a test case to creating a future with one another, working together for the human and moral progress of the peoples.

Harissa is the pilgrimage destination of all Lebanese Christian communities and of countless practicing Muslims. ... With a motherly hand, the Virgin Mary, Our dear Lady of Harissa, guides everyone to the house of the Father of all Mercy. Sheltered by her mantle and through the hope that blossoms anew in this nation, she, who watched over the horrible suffering of the Lebanese people, wakens a firm trust in the healing power of love."

May the new millennium before us initiate an epoche of renewed trust in human beings, the most exalted of God's creatures, who can find the meaning of life and purpose only in love.

18th Century Blockprint

Our Lady of Grace

The woodcut below was recently re-discovered in text published in 1779 entitled, Della Coronazione della Immagine Di Maria Vergine che sotto il titolo: delle Grazie [the Coronation of the Image of Virgin Mary under the title Grace. The beautiful little volume is one of the thousands of treasures of The Marian Library.

Mary Page invites you to help The Marian Library maintain this treasury for all generations.

New Exhibit May – June

Mark Charleville is a multimedia artist living in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. He has over 20 years experience producing graphics in broadcast and print. Charleville presents a new exhibit at The Marian Library entitled, Land of the Blue Virgins.

Each print is a photograph digitally enhanced with color and montage elements and then printed by a digital ink jet printing process known as "Gicl'ee."The resulting images have a soft, almost velvety appearance of texture, which immediately suggests the mists and fogs of the bayou setting as well as the dreamlike quality of a vision or religious experience.

You will find the exhibit and slide show at:

Prayerbook Fits in Pocket

As Crux news bulletin stated, "Is the 'pocket-book' coming back? Two new books from Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) take the time-honored format of prayerbooks small enough to fit into pocket or purse." To quote Crux:

With Mary in Prayer, by Luis Fernando Figari (Lima, Peru),and translated from Spanish for the OSV edition. Organized in 5 parts, this truly pocket-sized book (approximately 3.25" x 4.75") emphasizes Mary's intercessory role, collecting 60 prayers (some well-known, others include the author's own prayers). Of special interest to readers of Hispanic heritage: Part 5, which includes the Latin American Litany, and Holy Mary's Litany from Puebla. 144 pages, with leather-like paper cover.

One-Month Scriptural Rosary, by John A. Hammes, PhD, offers a daily 5- decade Rosary, looking to both Hebew Scriptures and New Testament for scriptural quotations, along with writings of Church Fathers and women saints/scholars. Author's prayerful reflections unite the theme connecting each of the three parts for each mystery. Of note: Because of the beauty of the text, the author chose the Douay-Rheims translation for scriptural quotations. Format: 3.75" x 5.5" paperback (glossy cover), 192 pages.

Both from bookstores or OSV Books; 200 Noll Plaza; Huntington IN 46750.
Phone: 1.800.348.2440.

Help

Mary Page promised to pass on this message. See site below.

Help American Liberty to stop Our Blessed Mother being blasphemed again! This will not go away like some try to tell us!

50th Anniversary – Mariological Society of America
 
 

Conference Information

EVENTS!

 Mary Page is pleased to announce a brand new format to its Calendar of Marian Events. You will find a map of the United States listing a variety of events and also a compendium of international events. Click on your state or any state to see what's happening. Want to leave your state and go on an international pilgrimage? Click on pilgrimages.
 

See Calendar of Marian Events:

Cincinnati Exhibit: Visual Prayers

 An exhibit by Sister Mary Grace Thull, O.P., held at The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute from September 1 - October 23, 1998 will be shown again at the Mater Ecclesia Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio from May 16 - May 30, 1999. The exhibit will feature a new woodcut never before exhibited entitled, "Despised of the Earth; Images of Christ," which depicts Christ surrounded by homeless persons living with AIDS. Another new woodcut was created for the National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities in Washington, DC. Entitled "Disabled Simons, Sustained and Sustaining," it images people in various states of disability who, by joyfully and courageously accepting their impairments in union with Christ carrying the Cross, are both sustained in the suffering they must bear and are sustaining the whole Church and indeed the whole world.

 Marer Ecclesia Institute
3020 Erie Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45208-2406

 To view works of Sr. Mary Grace Thull, O.P. see Visual Prayers

Mary and God the Father

 Mary Page continues to publish a compendium of Marian themes that have surfaced in magisterial documents from Vatican II to the present. The first set of themes correspond to the Year of God our Father as recommended by Pope John Paul II in preparation for the turn of the millennium. This and the next few week's theme, Mary and God the Father, is a main trinitarian theme with various sub-themes. Information on the sources is also given in cross reference pages. You will find this resource at:
 

Prayer Corner Requests

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

The intentions of the Holy Father for May 1999:
 
 

• General Intentions:The young, announcers and witnesses of the Word of Jesus

That the young, creative and dynamic as they are, become witnesses to the word of Jesus, the source of hope, joy and peace.
• Mission Intentions:Christian parents, educators of their children in the faith

That, following the example of Mary and with her help, Christian parents educate their children in a deep faith that will be open to apostolic and missionary commitment.

Return to The Mary Page

Mary Page, maintained by The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute, Dayton, Ohio 45469-1390, was modified by M. J. Frisk, July 3, 2000. Please send any comments to Johann.Roten@udayton.edu.

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