Symposium

Symposium: Living with Mary Today

The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute sponsored its first symposium – Living with Mary Today – July 26 - 29, 2006. Suggested three years ago by participants at the International Marian Research Institute, the symposium was intended as a way of sharing information on new developments in pastoral and academic programs, in expressions of devotion, and in cultural and artistic areas. The program served as an updating on recent publications, as well as an introduction to new currents of Marian devotion and culture.

One hundred and thirty-six participants from diverse backgrounds registered – teachers, directors of Marian shrines and continuing education programs, catechists, religious sisters and brothers, graduate students, priests, members of secular institutes. Participants came from twenty-five states (USA), Korea, China, India, Venezuela, and Brazil. The participants were housed in the new Marianist Hall of the University of Dayton, where, one night, they calmly responded -- to the amazement of bewildered students -- as a fire alarm required evacuation at 4:00 am. All sessions took place in the grand ball room of Kennedy Union which was decorated with Marian art -- provided by Michael Manning (Omaha), Ann Bain (Dayton), John Lemker, S.M. and Donald Smith, S.M. (Dayton). Tables lining the walls displayed recent publications and Marian CD’s from which selections were played during the program breaks. were all part of the program.

Each day began with Marian Morning Prayer, and the afternoon Mass reflected the intercultural atmosphere of the gathering. The four morning sessions were devoted to recent developments in biblical, doctrinal, liturgical, historical, catechetical, and ecumenical areas. Ample time was allotted for discussion among the participants as well as for questions to the presenters. Afternoon sessions dealt with Marian devotion at shrines, pilgrimage, parishes, and the role of apparitions.

Perhaps greatest interest was shown for reports on the implantation of Marian devotion in newer cultural settings. Fr. Denis Wiseman, O.P., reported on ways in which African familial customs have influenced devotion. Fr. R. K. Samy, rector of the Shrine of Vailankanni (India). spoke on the ways Marian shrines attract non-Christians. Sr. Celia Chua outlined how traditional ancestor veneration has influenced Marian devotion in China and Taiwan.

Evening sessions were devoted to programs of Marian music, film, and art. The first evening featured a program of Marian music, beginning with the eighth-century hymn Ave Maris Stella, sung with organ improvisations between the stanzas. The titles in the opening lines of Ave, Maris Stella furnished the divisions for the program of readings and music – Star of the Sea, God’s Beloved Mother, Ever-Virgin, Gate of Heaven.

The second evening’s program centered on several films – The Passion of the Christ, the Gospel of John (2003), and the CNN Presentation “TheTwo Marys.” The third evening’s session was an illustrated presentation on sacred art – its relation to spirituality, devotional images, and the way in which art serves as a synthesis of the Christian message.

At the concluding banquet, the Marian Library Medal was conferred on Bro.William Fackovec, S.M., who has served as Librarian in the Marian Library since 1960. After a power-point “This Is Your Life” presentation, the citation for the award was read noting Bro. Bill’s many contributions: library acquisitions (especially for the rare book section, now numbering over six thousand books published before 1800);the descriptive cataloging of rare books; author of works on the Marian Library collection; provider of omniscient reference services, library exhibits with informative notes; the classification of Marian images; the translation of Marian documents; countless tours and explanations, lectures and classes on Marian topics and on the history of the book, and, finally, innumerable “extra” hours accommodating students and visitors to the Marian Library.

Material from the symposium already appears on the Mary Page. Check “What about Apparitions?” and “Spirituality and Art.”

The Hymns of St. Louis Marie de Montfort

An early edition of the works of St. Louis Grignion de Montfort’s contains a map of mission-preaching routes in France (Gascony), together with an inscription noting the reasons for success in the missions: the fire of his sermon, the force and appeal of his hymns (cantiques spirituelles) and his virtuous life

De Montfort was an indefatigable writer of hymns, beginning in the seminary and continuing through the sixteen years of priestly ministry. Many of the two hundred hymns are long, some very long – with over a hundred stanzas. The hymns cover almost as many pages as all of his prose works.

Few of these hymns would fit into today’s category of “liturgical music.” They were intended for the parish mission:

Arise, dear brother, come, my friend,
Let us arise before the sun,
God calls us to his festival,
The Mission has begun!

In the 18^th-century parish mission, the mission preacher chose -- or composed -- the hymns. Very long hymns may have been interspersed with exhortations. In contrast to hymns written in the classical style, De Montfort’s mission songs were written in the language of the people, with a simple meter and rhyme, to be sung to a well-known and popular melody, sometimes even to a tavern song. De Montfort contrasted the two styles:

Your conceit and lofty style
Show well your shameless taste. . . .

These are my poems and my songs:

If they are not elegant, they are pure,
If they flatter not the ear,
They tell of great wonders.

The hymns were didactic and exhortative, covering the themes to be treated in the mission – the Holy Trinity, the Cross, the commandments, Christian virtues, renunciation, the Virgin Mary, the consecrated life. St. Louis was convinced that a good song could convey a message and remain with people far longer than any sermon.

You, preacher, in my songs
Can find your homilies;
I have digested their substance
For your guidance and delight.
Here are topics for meditation
I believe I rightly claim,
For often a verse, a line,
Can communicate a truth . . . .
Know that a sacred hymn

Illuminates and clears the mind,
Chases all black humor from the heart
And sets God firmly in remembrance.

De Montfort is known for an intense and distinctive Marian devotion. Yet, similar to his writings, Marian references do not dominate the hymns. A hymn on the Eucharist states that Jesus instituted the Eucharist because he wished to remain with Mary:

Jesus could not leave Mary
So strong the love which bound them.
That is why, just before his death,
He established the Eucharist,
So that after the Ascension,
He could be her consolation here below.

De Montfort’s Collected Writings were published in English in 1987. At that time, it was considered “not expedient” to translate all the hymns, possibly because of their colloquial popular style. However, the fine article on “Hymns” in the Handbook of Spirituality prompted requests for the translation. The work was undertaken by Fr. Patrick Gaffney, S.M.M., and his sister, Sr. Rosemary Gaffney, D.W. Fr. Gaffney claims not a poetic translation, but “authentic fidelity to Montfort’s text . . . not only to each stanza but also, for the most part, to each line.”

Few examples of popular Catholic hymnody used for parish missions in past centuries have survived. An interesting study would be a comparison of mission hymns with those from revival movements which were occurring at the same time. We are grateful for this edition of the hymns of the irrepressible “missionaire-chansonnier:

I am ready, Jesus, my Lord,
To turn up preaching anywhere,
Supported by your power.
Make me, Lord, your missionary;
Even though it has no income
But only insults and rebuffs,
I am content, content, dear Model.

God Alone II: The Hymns of St. Louis Marie de Montfort , 2005

God Alone: The Collected Writings of St. Louis Marie de Montfort, 1987.

Jesus Living in Mary: Handbook of the Spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort. 1994. Montfort Publications, 26 South Saxon Avenue, Bay Shore, New York 11706-8993.

The Virgin Mary in New Catholic Catechisms

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), approved in 1992, was intended as a reference text, a resource for bishops and teachers of theology. Other versions were to follow. Recently, two new catechisms, both based on the CCC, have appeared: the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and, from the American bishops,

the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults.

The Compendium, “a kind of vademecum for believers and unbelievers,” was the work of a commission appointed by John Paul II in 2003, headed by Cardinal Ratzinger, who, as Benedict XVI, approved the text in 2005. The Compendium – in question-and-answer form – has several new features: quotations from the saints, distinctive religious art, and a section of Common Prayers and Formulas of Doctrine.

Similar to the CCC, references to the Virgin Mary are not limited to one section but are integrated throughout -- Creed, Liturgy, Christian Life, Prayer. Mary stands with Abraham as the two “principal witnesses” (26) in Sacred Scripture to the obedience of faith. Abraham was “the father of all who believe” (Romans 4:11); “the Virgin Mary . . . throughout her entire life, embodied in a perfect way the obedience of faith.” The Creed’s statement “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary” is why Mary is called the Mother of God (95); it is also the reason for her sinlessness (96), and for her cooperation in the divine plan (97). “Mary is “the new Eve, the true mother all the living, who with a mother’s love cooperates in their birth and their formation in grace . . . the figure of the Church in its most perfect realization” (100). “Mary and Joseph accepted with faith the mystery of Jesus even though they did not always understand it” (104).

Mary’s relation to the Church appears in several places: The Holy Spirit made her Mother of the “whole Christ, that is, of Jesus the Head and of the Church his body” (142). Mary and the saints are models and intercessors (165). “Mary was present and aided the Church at its beginning with her prayers . . . she continues to intercede for her children . . . . The faithful see in Mary an image and an anticipation of the resurrection that awaits them . . . the Church contemplates in her what she herself is called to be on earth and what she will be in the homeland in heaven” (197-199).

There is a distinction between prayer with and prayer to Mary: “. . . The Church loves to pray to Mary and with Mary, the perfect ‘pray-er,’ and to ‘magnify’ and invoke the Lord with her” (562). Mary’s prayer in the Magnificat and at Cana is “the song both of the Mother of God and of the Church, the joyous thanksgiving that rises from the hearts of the poor because their hope is met by the fulfillment of the divine promises” (547).

Works of art introduce the various sections of the Compendium, many from the late medieval period: the icon of Christ the Pantocrator (1546), the Adoration of the Magi (Gentile Da Fabiano, 1423), an illumination of the Days of Creation, Jesus Giving Communion to the Saints (Joos van Wassenhove), the Triumph of the Cross (Basilica of San Clemente), Jesus in the Garden and St. John Contemplating Mary (El Greco), the Angelic Choir. Two contemporary works also appear: a mosaic of Incarnation from the Mater Redemptoris Chapel (Vatican) and an icon of Pentecost by the Ethiopian artist – Isaac Fanous.

Sidebar: Pentecost – Coptic Icon – by Dr. Isaac Fanous, founder of contemporary school of iconography in Egypt, continuing the iconographical tradition which flourished in 3^rd -century Syria and Palestine. The Virgin Mary is at the center of the icon, in a posture of prayer, with two women, also in prayer. In front is the “college of twelve” – surrounded by a community (not seen here) of 120, ten for each of the apostles.

A second catechism, adapted from the CCC, the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults is from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (July 2006). It is a “local catechism,” intended for “various situations and cultures, while carefully preserving the unity of the faith and fidelity to Catholic doctrine.”

This adult catechism includes discussion questions intended to relate Catholic teaching to daily living. For example, after stating that the Virgin Mary is “the perfect model” of faith, the question is “What steps might you take to make your faith more effective in our culture? Who are outstanding models of faith that inspire you to a deeper faith? . . . . Can you identify with Mary’s “yes” to God at the Annunciation?” Mary was the greatest disciple of her Son. “How are you growing in your call to discipleship?”

Each section contains a “Lesson of Faith” illustrated in the lives of individuals associated with American Catholicism: Fr. Junipero Serra, Sr. Thea Bowman, St. Kateri Tekawitha, Fr. Patrick Peyton, Cardinal Bernardin, Bishop Fulton Sheen. Our Lady of Guadalupe is part of St. Juan Diego’s story: “There are millions in the United States whose devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and regard for St. Juan Diego help keep our faith and commitment to evangelization alive.”

Items frequently not well understood in the United States are clarified. “Private revelation, that is, messages such as those given by the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes and Fatima, add nothing to what was publicly revealed up and through Christ but can help inspire a more profound commitment to what has been revealed through public Revelation.” The distinction between adoration and veneration, so difficult for some to comprehend, is explained: “We do not pray to Mary in the same way we pray to God. In praying to Mary, we invoke her intercession on behalf of our needs, whereas when we pray to God we ask him directly for gifts and favors. . . . The faithful do not worship pictures and statues . . . . The veneration of Mary and saints ultimately leads to God.”

As in the Compendium, a distinction is made between prayer with Mary and prayer to Mary. We join Mary “in praising God for his gifts to her and seeking her intercession.” Where did Jesus learn to pray? “As a child, Jesus first learned to pray from Mary and Joseph.”

Both the Compendium and the U.S. Catechism for Adults provide clear and authoritative presentations of the Catholic teaching on the Virgin Mary, especially useful for clarifications to American Evangelicals and others who are attracted to the Catholic Church but who have difficulty with “the question of Mary.”