Mary in Advent
Celebrate the Immaculate Conception
Celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe
A Gift of Love for the Marian Library
Millennium to be Dedicated to Mary
Professor of IMRI Writes New Book
Mary in the News
We Are/Were in the News
Cuban Christmas Cards
Mary Movie Had 16.7 Million TV Viewers
Theology Today Has Mary Issue
She is 33 feet tall!
Mary in Advent: Includes New Feature – The Jesse Tree
- The Jesse Tree
- – an image from the 13th century Ingeborg Psalter with reflections for the major figures.
- Advent Calendar
- – includes reflections on Old Testament women who pre-figure Mary, New Testament passages, and the O-Antiphons
- God Still Comes: A Meditative Journey Through Advent
- – This reflection leads us through the symbols of * The Tent * The Land * The Temple * The Womb * The Heart
- Advent Poetry
- – Gives a selection of nine poems suited to the season
- Liturgical Music for Advent
- – Gives references where liturgical music can be located in various hymnals
- Alma Redemptoris Mater – Marian Antiphon for Advent
- – The history of the antiphon is developed
- Angelus
- – On the Angelus and its connection to Advent
- Shelter Seeking – Brief Info
- Christmas Novena
- – an image from the 13th century Ingeborg Psalter with reflections for the major figures.
Celebrate the Immaculate Conception: Includes New Feature – Immaculata Conception in Images
- Immaculate Conception in Images
- Immaculate Conception
- – Reflects on history of the dogma
- Immaculate Conception Poetry
- – Two poems appropriate to the celebration
- Immaculate Conception in Magisterial Documents (see also Mary's holiness)
- – Documents from Vatican II up to the present.
- Immaculate Conception and Scripture
- Beloved Daughter Our Guide Toward the New Millennium
- – A prayer by Pope John Paul II on the feastday of the Immaculate Conception
- – Reflects on history of the dogma
Celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe
- The Story of Guadalupe
- – A text written in 1545, fourteen years after the Guadalupe event of December 9 to 12, 1531
- Guadalupe Poetry
- – A collection of eleven poems dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe
- Description of the Image of Guadalupe
- Mary, Empress of the Americas
- An excellent link to a website on Guadalupe.
- – A text written in 1545, fourteen years after the Guadalupe event of December 9 to 12, 1531
A Gift of Love for the Marian Library
The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute has slowly acquired a state of the art collection of fine nativity sets from around the world. The collection now numbers ca sets. Many of the nativities have been gifts presented to the library. It has become a recent tradition to exhibit the sets during the Christmas season. [See article: Crèches International]. For the Year 2000 crèches will be exhibited all year long at the library.
Fr. Roten, SM, who curates the exhibit and is director of The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute is pleased by the growing value of the collection. He received the following letter dated December 2, 1999, which we would like to share with you:
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Rev. dear Fr. Roten, I am happy to give you my Hummel Nativity set. This was a Christmas gift from my father in 1953 so you can see I have loved it for many, many years. My father designed a stable for the figurines so that Christmas lights could be placed inside the stable and also on the outside. He put a switch in the corner so that you could easily turn the lights off or on, and also had room to plug in a Christmas tree. He used a wooden board as a base and used plaster to simulate a rugged, hilly, background. He put a window in the back and made a rack for the fodder for the animals. Around the side of the stable he made a walkway and steps leading to the front. As nearly as I can determine, the trademark date of the figurines is 1950. I really do hate to give it up, but I am 80 years told with no close relatives, and I appreciate the love and care you give to your collection of nativity sets, and the joy you give to others by sharing them. So I thank you, Fr. Roten for accepting this gift. Marianne Otto
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Millennium to be Dedicated to Mary
For the millennium Holy Year, a great number of jubilee celebrations will take place. [see: Jubilee Celebrations] The bishops of the Church will celebrate their specific millennium jubilee in Rome on the occasion of the 10th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. At that time, the bishops will dedicate the new millennium to the protection of Mary. Check the Vatican website as the new year proceeds for updates: Holy Year Calendar from the Vatican
Jubilee of Bishops
Sunday, October 8, 2000 St Peter's Basilica
Holy Mass
Professor of the International Marian Research Institute Writes New Book
Who is the woman in the Book of Revelation? What is Revelation's real message? Father Bertrand Buby, S.M., who holds positions at the University of Dayton and at the International Marian Research Institute, looks at the Book of Revelation to discover how the woman of Revelations has been interpreted through the centuries. He also deals with the apocalyptic theme and contends that the Book of Revelation isn't as apocalyptic as it seems and that the passages are often taken out of context. The main message is, "Worship God." See Full Article, UD News Digest
The following bits and pieces indicate notice of Mary in various news features assessable on the Interbet:
- On May 13, 2000, Pope John Paul II will travel to Fatima to beatify Francisco and
Jacinta Marto, two of the children who experienced the Fatima apparitions in 1917. Francisco
died in 1919; Jacinta in 1920.
- A play entitled, "The Miracle of Tepeyac" has experienced its fifth successful year as a
production by El Centro Su Teatro at Auraria near Denver. The production combines a play
about the appearance of the Virgin at Guadalupe, Mexico with one about a pastor not interested
in dealing with his parishioners. The theater is supplemented by the Aztec dancers of Grupo
Tlaloc. Lisa Bornstein, News Theatre Critic for the Denver Rocky Mountain News,
writes: "The miracle of the production by El Centro Su Teatro is the way it has brought together
a community dispersed by construction and then geography." For information about this
production, telephone: 303-296-0219.
- The Church of England will translate the Creed in its new prayer book as follows: "By the
power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary." The bishops of the Church of
England favor a translation that states: "incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary."
According the writer Ruth Gledhill of The Times (London), "This version is supported
by many on the Church's Catholic wing, but disliked by evangelicals because it appears to give
Mary an equal role in the conception." The dispute centers on whether the Greek preposition 'ek'
should be translated as 'by', 'from' or 'of'."
- The Australian National Gallery canceled the exhibit, "Sensation," which featured the "portrait of the Virgin Mary decorated with elephant dung."
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The University of Dayton News Service reports: "Nativities on display -- 'Creches International,'
an exhibit of 60 Nativity scenes from around the world, will be on display through Jan. 9..." See
the full article at: UD News
Digest"
- The national PBS program "Religion and Ethics Newsweekly" rebroadcast its feature
"Devotion to Mary". Father Thomas Thompson, S.M., and Father Johann Roten, S.M., provided
the commentary on Mary. Statues and art from the Marian Library were featured in the piece.
- Fr. Roten, director of ML/IMRI, was mentioned in the San Antonio Express-News on November 13, 1999, in an article on Medjugorje. Fr. Roten stated, "the Church has never made any absolute or final judgment on Medjugorje. It left the subject open to further study and evaluation..."
Are you looking for unique and finely crafted Christmas cards? See the work of the artists contributing to a special project of the diocese of Havana. You will find the examples at http://vozcat.com/felicitarse.htm . 8 cards are being sold for $8; more than 10 packs, each pack for $7. You can obtain more information from Araceli M. Cantero, "La Voz Catolica", 9401 Biscayne Blvd, Miami Shores FL 33138. Telephone: 305-757-6241, ext 312, 128 or fax: 305-754-1797.
Mary Movie Had 16.7 Million TV Viewers
The movie, "Mary, Mother of Jesus," is still very much in the news. The director of ML/IMRI learned from Sargent Shriver in a letter of November 19, 1999, that approximately 16.7 million TV viewers watched the film. The ratings placed NBC as the first most watched network on Sunday evening, November 14th. NBC was flooded with phone calls that evening and the following day. 10,000 - 20,000 emails descended on NBC to congratulate them for the show. Mary Page has also learned that a video of the Mary movie will be released February 15, 2000. Amazon.com has the video available for $13.99.
The October 1999 issue of Theology Today" has the following six feature articles devoted to Mary. Marian poetry is also featured:
- "Mary in the Gospels: A Question of Focus" by Pheme Perkins
- "Mary in Catholic Doctrine and Practice" by Lawrence S. Cunningham
- "Breaking Mary's Silence: A Feminist Reflection on Marian Piety" by Sally Cunneen
- "Resurrection at Tepeyac: The Guadalupan Encounter" by Robert S. Goizueta
- "Mary" A Reformed Theological Perspective" by Daniel L. Migliore
- "Thoughts on the Economy of the Image of Mary" by Annemarie Weyl Carr
A stainless steel statue of the Blessed Mother is touring in the Midwest! An article in the Northern Illinois Edition of Senior Connection by Bill Dal Cerro (September 1999) tells the story of Carl Demma who dreamt of dedicating a large statue of Mary ever since he was a child. It took 60 years for the idea to find fruition. Demma commissioned Charles Parkes to create a statue entitled Our Lady of the Millennium. The statue was to be totally unique, according to Demma, who wanted the statue to resemble no other statues or portraits of Mary. The completed statue is 33 feet tall and weighs 8.4 tons.
The statue was completed just in time to be blessed by Pope John Paul II during his visit to St. Louis. Afterward, the statue was taken via flatbed to eleven parishes in the Chicago area. Each "visit" of Our Lady to the parish brings many devoted onlookers who come to see, to be held in wonder and to pray. If you would like more information about Our Lady of the Millennium, call the Millennium office at 312-751-7999, Ext 1.
Exhibits: Crèches International
The extraordinary beauty of nativity sets placed in special settings can be seen at two places in Dayton, Ohio. The Crèches International Exhibit at The Marian Library can be viewed online at: Crèches International
A new exhibit of 60 nativity representations in special settings can be viewed for the first time at St. John's Gallery, Bergamo in Dayton. This exhibit will shortly be featured online.
To celebrate the millennium, the institute is offering for the first time a selection of 7 Christmas note cards of nativities in settings from its Marian Library collection. The photographs were taken by Marian LibraryAssistant, Marjorie Yefchak. See the collection at:
