The Biggest Marian Shrine – Born Out of Faith

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 26 October 2013)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Marian shrines at Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, and so on have originated from Mary’s apparitions at those places. In her apparitions, Mary calls us back to our faith, to conversion and prayer. She asked for the shrines to be built so that we remember the messages. Do you know that the biggest Marian shrine in the world, was born not out of Mary’s apparitions and messages, but rather from the faith of the faithful? I would like to share with you the story of the shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.

In October 1717, when Brazil was still under Portugal rule, the Governor of the State of São Paulo was going to pass through Guaratinguetá, a small city in the Paraiba river valley (now called Aparecida). The people there decided to honour him with a feast. Although it was not the fishing season then, they went down to the Paraiba river to fish for the feast. Three fishermen, Domingos Garcia, Filipe Pedroso and João Alves prayed to God and invoked the intercession of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. After hours of fruitless fishing, they were going to give up. João decided to cast his net for the last time near the Port of Itaguagu. This time, he hauled in a statue’s headless body. A later cast of the net brought up the head of the statue. After cleaning up the statue, they saw that it was a black version of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. According to legend, the slender statue then became so heavy they could not move it. They named it Our Lady of the Conception Who Appeared from the Waters, or in short, Our Lady of Aparecida [which means who appeared]. They wrapped it in cloth and continued fishing. This time, their nets were full to the point of sinking their boats.

Felipe Pedroso brought home the statue and repaired it. Over the next 15 years, he and his family and friends venerated the statue with many rosaries, hymns and prayers before it. Friar Agostino de Jesus, an Augustinian monk famous for his sculptures, was known to have made the statue around 1650. Why it was at the bottom of the river, however, remains a mystery. Devotion grew around the statue with many miracles attributed to it. Later a local chapel was built; it was replaced by a large colonial basilica by 1888, receiving 150,000 pilgrims a year then (de Oliveira, n.d.). To commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1904, the statue was crowned at the decree of the Holy See. Around 1930, Our Lady of Aparecida was proclaimed the Patroness of Brazil.  Her feast day is on 12 October. In 1955, they started building the new Basilica, which was consecrated in 1980 by Pope John Paul II.

Today, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, Sao Paulo, which houses the statue, is the largest Marian shrine, and the third largest basilica in the world (Schaeffer, 2011). Receiving 8 million pilgrims a year, it is the fourth most visited Marian sanctuary in the world. William Thomas wrote in the Catholic Voice, an Irish Catholic newspaper:

‘Although there were no words spoken, nor apparition seen here, nevertheless, the extraordinary number of miracles which are recorded attest to the fact that Our Lady wanted this Shrine built in her honour.’

What can we learn from the history of Our Lady of Aparecida? A certain Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira noted that through the graces, Our Lady persuades the people, especially the simple and poor, to come to her in all their needs, thus stimulating the grace of prayer. The discovery of Our Lady in Brazil as the Immaculate Conception also prepared the Brazilian Catholics to believe in the dogma, which was proclaimed more than a century later.

From Pope Francis:

1)    Like the fishermen who found the Marian statue and then abundant fish, Christians need to be open to being surprised by God. He said, “…even in the midst of difficulties, God acts and he surprises us.” (Aparecida, July 24, 2013)

2)    In the mysterious discovery of Our Lady of Aparecida, the fishermen did not dismiss the incomplete mystery, but awaited its completion patiently. They got the answer not long after. Whenever we see pieces of the mystery, (I quote the Pope), “We are impatient, anxious to see the whole picture, but God lets us see things slowly, quietly. The Church also has to learn how to wait." (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 28, 2013)

In this Year of Faith, may the Aparecida story remind us that with faith all things are possible. We only have to be patient.

References

de Oliveira, P.C. (n.d.) Our Lady Aparecida – October 12. Retrieved 26 Oct 2013 from http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j227sd_OLAparecida_10-12.html.

Pope's Homily at National Shrine of Our Lady of Conception in Aparecida. (24 July 2013). Retrieved 26 Oct 2013 from http://www.zenit.org/.

Reflections From Francis for the Church in Brazil. (28 July 2013). Retrieved 26 Oct 2013 from http://www.zenit.org.

Schaeffer, F. (27 Oct 2011). Our Lady of Apericida. Retrieved 26 Oct 2013 from http://franciscan-sfo.org/FP2/FR2-580.html.

The Seven Sorrows of Our Lady

(Sharing during the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 21 September 2013)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ

Today, I would like to share on a devotion that contains one of my favourite prayers. Although I did not fully understand the purpose of this devotion then, I took to it because of the meaningful prayer. This devotion relates specially to Christ’s passion and death, two of the central elements of our faith. It is the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady.

In this devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows, we meditate on the seven sorrows of Mary while praying one Our Father and seven Hail Mary’s for each sorrow. At the end of each cycle, we pray, “My Mother, share thy grief with me; let me bear thee company, to mourn thy Jesus’ death with thee.” This sums up the devotion’s purpose, that is, to share in Mary’s sorrows and unite ourselves with the Passion of Christ and His holy Mother. Thus, we are led to enter into Jesus’ Heart and honour Him, more so because we have honoured His Mother by revering her sorrows.

As written by Scott P. Richert (About.com Catholicism, n.d.), by uniting ourselves to Mary in her sorrow, we hope to one day also share her joy in the triumph of her Son. Accordingly, the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows on 15 September, one day after the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross.

The Seven Sorrows of Mary are events in Jesus’ life, taken from the Scriptures. They are:

1)    The prophecy of Simeon

2)    The flight into Egypt

3)    The Child Jesus lost in the Temple

4)    Mary meets Jesus carrying the cross

5)    Mary at the foot of the cross

6)    Mary receives the body of Jesus

7)    The burial of Christ

As Fr. William Saunders (Arlington Catholic Herald, 10 October 2000) wrote, the key image is our Blessed Mother standing faithfully at the foot of the cross with her dying Son, as recorded in St. John’s Gospel. The Lumen Gentium document wrote: ”…  She stood in keeping with the divine plan, suffering grievously with her only-begotten Son. There she united herself, with a maternal heart, to His sacrifice, and lovingly consented to the immolation of this Victim which she herself had brought forth” (#58). Through her sufferings with Christ, she plays a part in our redemption.

The Calvary event is also seen as Mary’s spiritual martyrdom. Fr. Saunders cited St. Bernard thus, “Truly, O Blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart.... He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since His” (De duodecim praerogatativs BVM).

Indeed, throughout the centuries, Our Lady has shown her love for us, her children, given by Christ at the foot of the Cross, by her visitations to us. Twenty centuries after Christ’s resurrection, Our Lady still weeps in sorrow, at her apparitions at La Salette, Akita, and Kibeho, among others. Why? At Kibeho, Rwanda, in her most recent and famous apparitions as Our Lady of Sorrows, she told us why.

“The world conducts itself very badly.” “The world hastens to its ruin, it will fall into the abyss.” The Mother of God was very saddened by people’s unbelief and lack of repentance. She complained of our bad way of life. “Faith and unbelief will come unseen”, referring to apostasies.

In her urgent appeal for repentance, she exhorted us, “Convert while there is still time.”  

“No one will reach heaven without suffering.” Suffering helps us compensate for the sins of the world and participate in Jesus’ and Mary’s sufferings for the world’s salvation.

“Pray always and single-heartedly”. Mary begs us to pray with greater zeal and purity of heart.

Marian devotion should be expressed through sincere and regular praying of the Rosary.

She asks for the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of the Mother of God to be renewed and spread in the Church, but not replacing the Holy Rosary.

She asks to pray always for the Church, when many troubles are upon it in the times to come. Her messages are for the whole world, for all times.

Upon reflexion, the call for repentance, while there is still time, applies to all of us, who face our own inevitable deaths. Indeed, there is a prayer in preparation for death, in the devotion; it is the one that caught my fancy.

In this Year of Faith, let us with greater zeal pray for conversion and daily prepare ourselves for our inevitable deaths. Only then would we progress into our heavenly Father’s kingdom. Our Lady of Sorrows, intercede for us. Amen.

Faith of Hope

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 27 Apr 2013)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ

During this Year of Faith, the Nicene Creed is our central prayer. Rightly so, as it tells us and others of our faith. Have you ever wondered why we bow profoundly at the Incarnatus, i.e. the phrase “...and by the Holy Spirit, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man”? On the solemnities of Christmas and the Annunciation, we even genuflect at this moment. Father Daniel Schomaker[1]wrote,

(I quote) “As God comes down to earth, we too go down to the earth and touch our knee to the ground. ...God, in the person of Jesus Christ, emptied himself of all that he was and, putting on flesh, became one like us,”

while maintaining fully his divinity.

Such profound gestures show how central the doctrine of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is in our faith. The Incarnation is the beginning of our Christian faith. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (# 463) states, belief in the true Incarnation of the Son of God is what marks us apart as Christians. The person who gave our God a body, so that we can be redeemed, is none other than Mary. That is why she is called the Mother of God. As award-winning Catholic writer, Kathy Coffey, highlighted, the crucial moment that led to the Incarnation, the Annunciation, must have been the most unforgettable in Mary’s life. Today, I would like to share Kathy Coffey’s thoughts on the Annunciation, and its applications to us.

Coffey painted Mary’s background as such. Immersed in the Torah, Mary, who probably could not read, would have memorised sections of it. The story of God’s fidelity to His people ran in her veins. She would have lighted the Sabbath candle every week, and sung the psalms regularly, reminding of God’s goodness. On the other hand, there was the Roman oppression. She had friends who were sold as slaves with their children when Romans killed Israel’s two thousand men. Admist these two powerful forces, she received a most puzzling message from the Archangel Gabriel, that turned her life upside down. No agenda was given; she did not have any clue of what to expect after the startling visit.

Mary’s dilemma is like ours, moving between two worlds: the promises of our faith, and the sad realities of our culture. If we hope in our faith, we may be accused of ignoring reality. If we focus on people’s inhumanity, we may despair and ask where God is. Coffey boldly wondered about God’s seemingly bad sense of timing. Could the news of the pregnancy not waited till Mary was safely and respectably married to Joseph? Could the birth not have happened when they were settled at home with family and friends’ support? Could God not have struck Herod with a simple lightning bolt, and spared the besieged family the difficult trip? Coffey then wrote that we balk at hardship and inconvenience because we cannot see into the future.

How could Mary have so easily answered “yes”? Ladislas Orsy, S.J., a Jesuit professor, says that human hopes name future expectations and then cling fast to them, whereas divine hope means immersion in God’s plan. “God guarantees a good outcome but without telling us what it will be.” Mary’s participation (I quote) “...was perfect; she never said, ‘I had hoped.’” (unquote) Mary participated actively in her own drama, without knowing how it would unfold. She did not try to hide her fear or uncertainty, but she knew the cure for our human failure to see: blind trust. She could praise God in the Magnificat thereafter, because she knew God’s constancy and fidelity. Mary’s way was divine hope.

According to Coffey, Mary can help us here, because she understood the kind of tensions we face. Living with the dramatic contrasts, she made her peace with disparate worlds. Throughout her life, she would help her friends remember God’s goodness, especially through her son. She directed Jesus’ disciples towards hope when they despaired. We, who have been baptized into Mary’s same gift of faith, must also live on hope, trusting in God’s promise. Like Mary, we have been called to participate in the fullness of God’s life and bring Christ into our worlds.

As we prepare for the coming general elections, let us keep this hope alive for our nation by praying and fulfilling our duty to vote, guided by the Holy Spirit. By our faith, may we show others the reason for our hope. Mary, our Mother, show us the way and pray for us. Amen.

---

[1] An associate director of the diocesan Office of Worship and Liturgy of Covington, Kentucky, the USA

The Miraculous Medal

(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 16 Mar 2013)

•    The Year of Faith is a command to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the one Saviour of the world (Benedict XVI, 2011, Porta Fidei, #6).

•    We, the Church, have the mission to faithfully proclaim the mystery of our Lord until it is finally manifested in full light.

•    The call to conversion is not new. The mystery of our salvation has been filled with God’s seeking out mankind who often strayed, calling him to return to the Creator in heart and mind.

The Miraculous Medal

•    The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Sister Catherine (Zoe Labore) three times in 1830 at the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Paris. On the second occasion, 27 November 1830, Sister Catherine records that the Blessed Virgin appeared as if standing on a globe, and bearing a globe in her hands. As if from rings set with precious stones dazzling rays of light were emitted from her fingers. These, she said, were symbols of the graces which would be bestowed on all who asked for them. 

•    Around the figure appeared an oval frame bearing in golden letters the words "O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee"; on the back appeared the letter M, surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it and, under all, the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the former surrounded by a crown of thorns, and the latter pierced by a sword. (Catholic Tradition webpage, n.d.)

•    In the image of Her Immaculate Heart pierced by a sword, we see the heart of the Blessed Virgin stabbed for all of those who have lived – and died – by the sword, and by sin. 

•    Jesus said, “Put your sword back, for all who have lived by the sword, die by the sword.” (Mt 26:52)

•    At the second and third of these visions a command was given to have a medal struck after the model revealed, and a promise of great graces was made to those who wear it when blessed. After careful investigation, M. Aladel, the spiritual director of Sister Catherine, obtained the approval of Mgr. de Quelen, Archbishop of Paris. Sister Catherine Laboure was canonized by Pope Pius XII on 27 November 1947. (Catholic Tradition webpage, n.d.)

•    The Miraculous Medal is a sacramental, a physical manifestation of the gift of grace that perpetually exudes from Our Lady. It was originally called the Medal of the Immaculate Conception but because so many miracles were reported by those wearing it, the sacramental became known as the Miraculous Medal. (Catholic Tradition webpage, n.d.)

•    Marie-Alphonsus Ratisbonne, who had resisted the calling to the Church, wore the medal and prayed a simple prayer to Mary out of respect for his friend. Our Lady appeared to him and brought about his conversion. He later became a priest and, together with his converted priest brother, founded the Institute of Our Lady of Sion. The Pope inaugurated the Feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal on 27 November.

•    In this Year of Faith, let us like trustful children place our faith in our Blessed Mother’s guidance to prayer, sacrifice and penance so that we, too, would be conveying to the world the mystery of our Lord. Then, we would have fulfilled the command of the Holy Father for this grace-filled Year. 

•    Virgin Mother of God, Mary Immaculate, we unite ourselves to you under your title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.

May this medal be for each one of us a sure sign of your motherly affection for us and a constant reminder of our filial duties towards you.

While wearing it, may we be blessed by your loving protection and preserved in the grace of your Son.

Most powerful Virgin, Mother of our Saviour, keep us close to you every moment of our lives so that like you, we may live and act according to the teaching and example of your Son.

Obtain for us, your children, the grace of a happy death so that in union with you we may enjoy the happiness of heaven forever. Amen.

References:

•    Benedict XVI. (11 October 2011). Porta Fidei.

•    Catholic Tradition webpage. (n.d.). The Miraculous Medal. Retrieved from http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/miraculous-medal.htm

St Rita of Cascia (1381-1457)

Feast day:- May 22

Patron Saint for Impossible Cases and Hopeless Causes

St Rita was born as Margarita in Roccaporena near Spoleto in Italy. At the age of 12, she married a nobleman named Paolo Mancini. Rita remained loyal to her spouse for the entire 18 years of their marriage. She was also a devoted mother of two boys.

Rita’s religious and spiritual convictions so frustrated and angered her husband that he often flew off into a fit of rage. Sixteen years into their marriage, her consistency and persistence finally paid off; she converted her husband from a life of debauchery and vendetta to her way of life but 2 years later he was murdered in what was believed to be a politically motivated assassination.  Knowing this, Rita’s two teenage boys immediately began to scheme to avenge their father’s murder with the influence of their uncle Bernardo Mancini.

Rita exhausted all efforts to convince her boys not to go forward with their plans but she did not succeed.  Fearing for her boys’ souls, as a last resort, she prayed to God asking Him to bring her children to forsake their misguided path. One day while in deep prayer, she became certain with a new and penetrating awareness that her desire for her sons’ welfare could not be greater than that of God Himself whose sons they also were. She therefore entrusted them completely to His wisdom and providence; thereby putting aside her own plans.

Less than a year later, a deadly disease afflicted Roccaporena.  Among its many victims were Rita’s sons Paolo Maria and Giangiacomo.

After losing the entire family, Rita asked to join the local convent in Cascia but she was rejected simply because she was a widow and the nuns were afraid of being associated with her due to the scandal of her husband’s violent death; even though she was acknowledged to be of good character and deeply admired by the entire community for her gentle and religious spirit and held in even greater esteem ever since the triple tragedy in Rita’s family. St Rita felt the call of God was too strong after the first refusal. She requested two more times to enter the convent but was denied.

Rita did not give up but persisted in her prayers especially to St John the Baptist, St Augustine of Hippo and Blessed Nicholas of Tolentino for whom she had a very strong devotion. Eventually they came and visited her in answer to her petitions and showed her the way through the barred doors of the convent. She was to share the gift of peace that she has received from God freely to all. With the help of God and her three Patrons, one of whom who was about to be canonized; she was able to resolve the conflicts and enmity and reconcile her husband’s family with the family of her husband’s murderers. 

St Rita was thirty six years old when she finally entered the convent.  As a first test of her obedience, her superior ordered her to water the dead trunk of a barren vine.  St Rita complied faithfully day after day until finally to everyone’s amazement especially her superior’s, the vine began to flower and bear fruit. St Rita remained at the convent living by the Augustinian Rule.  She is well known as the Patron Saint of impossible or hopeless causes/cases due to the many miracles and impossible events that happened as a result of her intercession.

During the remaining years of her life, St Rita prayed to join with Jesus in His suffering and was given the stigmata gift of a thorn in her forehead.  The thorn was not visible to anyone except her but the wound was.  The wound festered and exuded a horrible stench which remained with her for the rest of her life and made her a recluse within the convent. 

In the year 1446, Friar Nicholas of Tolentino was to be canonized a Saint. As he had been one of St Rita’s special patrons for much of her life, she wanted very much to make the pilgrimage to Rome for this happy and solemn event. Her superior did not allow her initially because of the wound but it healed inexplicably. St Rita was able to go and on her return to Cascia , the wound reappeared.

On one occasion, several months before she died, St Rita was visited by a cousin from Roccaporena. Upon leaving, the cousin asked St Rita whether she could do something for her. St Rita requested her to bring a rose from the garden of her former home in Roccaporena. Thinking it would be impossible to find even a single stalk of rose during the height of winter in January but to the cousin’s astonishment, she saw a single fresh rose on an otherwise dry and barren bush in the snow covered garden. She immediately returned to the convent with the rose.  St Rita received the rose with quiet and grateful assurance understanding it to be a sign from God that through her prayers her family members were brought to eternal life. 

At the time of her death in 1457, the revolting smell that emanated from her wound became a sweet pleasant odour and a bright light filled the room.

St Rita is also known to be a patroness for abused wives and mourning women.

Excerpts taken from:-

    1)  www.catholic.org/saints

    2)  www.etwn.org

    3)  The Precious Pearl (the Story of St Rita of Cascia) by Michael Di Gregorio, OSR