Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) was born in Germany to a devout peasant family. From a young age she received divine knowledge imparted to her through extremely detailed visions of the lives of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. As a child her guardian angel often appeared to her, and Jesus himself visited her while she was tending sheep. The suffering souls in purgatory often called upon her assistance to offer prayers and penances on their behalf. At the age of 28, after many years of longing for the religious life, Anne Catherine entered the novitiate with the Augustinians. She devoted her life to waging a spiritual battle for suffering souls, and in her great charity she accepted extreme physical, yet supernatural, sufferings which ultimately left her bedridden. This strange phenomena of physical suffering for the spiritual condition of other souls was not always accepted by others, and she endured much ridicule due to the astonishing manner in which her experiences displayed themselves. Her daily visions gave her special insight into the spiritual realm which have been recorded into now-popular books, and were used to discover what is believed to be the house of Mary in Ephesus. Her feast day is February 9th.
Blessed John Bodey (1549-1583) was born in Wells, England, the son of a wealthy merchant and former mayor. He studied at Oxford and became an Oxford Fellow in 1568 at the age of 19. Later he, along with seven others, was deprived of his fellowship for being a Roman Catholic by the Anglican Bishop of Winchester. Bodey, a married layman and schoolmaster, was arrested in 1580 for continuing to practice the Catholic religion and rejecting England’s newly-established heretical Church of England. He was kept in iron shackles for three years, which he called his “school of patience.” In 1583 he was tried for treason, both for being a faithful Roman Catholic and for repudiating King Henry VIII’s claim of supremacy of the Church in England over against the Holy Father. Bodey wrote that his iron chains were earning him glory in heaven, even kissing the chain halter around his neck. He was executed under Queen Elizabeth on November 2, 1583 by being hanged, drawn, and quartered at Andover. He died with the name of Jesus on his lips. His mother rejoiced that her son persevered to the end and won the crown of martyrdom; she gave a feast in honor of him being numbered among the saints in heaven. John Bodey was beatified in 1929 and is one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales. His feast day is November 2nd.
The Story of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The Church has celebrated Mary’s birth since at least the sixth century. A September birth was chosen because the Eastern Church begins its Church year with September. The September 8 date helped determine the date for the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.
Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s birth. However, the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James fills in the gap. This work has no historical value, but it does reflect the development of Christian piety. According to this account, Anna and Joachim are infertile but pray for a child. They receive the promise of a child who will advance God’s plan of salvation for the world. Such a story, like many biblical counterparts, stresses the special presence of God in Mary’s life from the beginning.
Saint Augustine connects Mary’s birth with Jesus’ saving work. He tells the earth to rejoice and shine forth in the light of her birth. “She is the flower of the field from whom bloomed the precious lily of the valley. Through her birth the nature inherited from our first parents is changed.” The opening prayer at Mass speaks of the birth of Mary’s Son as the dawn of our salvation, and asks for an increase of peace.
Reflection
We can see every human birth as a call for new hope in the world. The love of two human beings has joined with God in his creative work. The loving parents have shown hope in a world filled with travail. The new child has the potential to be a channel of God’s love and peace to the world.
This is all true in a magnificent way in Mary. If Jesus is the perfect expression of God’s love, Mary is the foreshadowing of that love. If Jesus has brought the fullness of salvation, Mary is its dawning.
Birthday celebrations bring happiness to the celebrant as well as to family and friends. Next to the birth of Jesus, Mary’s birth offers the greatest possible happiness to the world. Each time we celebrate her birth, we can confidently hope for an increase of peace in our hearts and in the world at large.
“But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame.” 1 Peter 3:14-16
Where I’m from up north, I lived in a diverse community with very strong ethnic ties and associations. There was this gentleman who approached a priest and said, “Hey Father, you visit my mother – I remember your name.” Okay…I’d love to. What son, as hated as this gentleman allegedly was, doesn’t want to honor his mother. There’s no shame in honoring one’s mother. That’s true for us even with all our sins. What about our good Lord? He was the only child in history who actually created His mother. Throughout the centuries, for thousands of years, the Church has always called for devotion to the Blessed Mother – not for worship or adoration – that belongs only to God Himself – but for devotion. It’s not just a pious tradition for old women sitting in their living-rooms knitting, it’s for the whole Church. Over the past 50 years or so, Devotion to the Blessed Mother has really fallen to the wayside which is sad, because people really don’t know their faith or scripture. Non-Catholics say, “I study scripture and I pray scripturally.” Well, if you studied scripture and prayed scripturally, you would be Catholic. When you honor the Blessed Mother, you are praying scripturally.
You’ve heard the proclamation of the Holy Gospel of Saint Luke. Where did Luke get his gospel? He wasn’t one of the apostles. At the Annunciation, Mary was alone when the angel came to her. Luke wasn’t there. He wasn’t at Elizabeth’s house when Mary visited her. So, where did he get all of this information? Did Luke channel his inner Miss Cleo the psychic? The first part of the Gospel of Luke is known as the Gospel of Mary, because she told him everything that’s in it. So, Mary’s words are scriptural. All of those people who have gotten biblical, theological, or philosophy degrees and who are not Catholic, should sue their professors for theological and intellectual malpractice. You wasted your money. Because if you made it this far in the scriptures, then you must be Catholic, and you must honor the Blessed Mother.
What did Mary say further into the Magnificat? “All generations will call me blessed.” So, it’s a scriptural command to honor the mother of Jesus. It has been 70 years since the so-called Second Vatican Council and some decided that devotion to the Blessed Mother was not scriptural. Really? Devotion is decreasing and along with it purity and belief in the Real Presence. In order to understand Jesus, you have to understand Mary. In theological studies, Mariology (the study of Mary) is a subset of Christology (the study of Christ). It was from the Blessed Mother that He took His human nature. If you look throughout scripture, I’m not going to give you a whole class on Mariology today – it’s a semester-long study – but just look at the highlights. Protestants say they don’t have to rely on the saints. Really? Where is that in scripture? Who interceded for us before the first miracle recorded in scripture? The Blessed Mother at the wedding in Cana. During the Passion, our Lord looked at His mother and said, “Woman, behold your son.” He then looked at John and said, “Behold your mother.” Protestants also say, “In order to be saved, you must be washed in the blood.” Who was standing beneath the cross getting spattered with His blood? The Blessed Mother. The blood did not stop. . .the Romans were very good at what they did. When they took her Son down from the cross, He was placed in her lap. She was covered in His blood. Was she not bathed in the blood? Walk in the blood? After the Resurrection, Mary was in the Upper Room with the apostles when the Holy Spirit came. This was the second time that the Holy Spirit came to her. Remember the Annunciation? The angel said, “Hail full of grace.” Nobody else in scripture has been called that. The power of the Holy Spirit came and overshadowed her. “Oh, you have to be born again in the Holy Spirit.” Well, Mary did it twice.
This is why we have devotion to the Blessed Mother. Just like our own mothers who have died, and hopefully in Heaven, intercede for us to the Holy Father. How much more so can the mother of Christ intercede for us. The original woman, the old Eve, took us all out of paradise to the new Eve who leads us to paradise. Our Blessed Mother is the new Eve.
Not too long ago, I received a call to go visit woman who was in her last days. So, I went into the house and gave her the Last Rites. She said, “Father, I have a Rosary.” Oh, that’s great! It was beautiful set of beads. I said to her, “Hold them in your hands, and as often as you can say the Rosary so that when the time comes when you are to leave this world, our Blessed Mother will come take you by the hand and lead you to her Son.”
How will you apply this message to your life? Remain devoted to the Blessed Mother and ask for her intercession with her Son.
You can read all of Father Fitzgibbons’ sermons by going to https://annunciationcatholicalbemarle.com/ and clicking on “Blog” then “Categories” and then “Sermon Notes.” From a cell phone, click on “Blog” then “Menu” and then “Categories” (located at the end of page). There is also a search box if you are looking for a specific topic.
Pope Pius XII established this feast in 1954. But Mary’s queenship has roots in Scripture. At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced that Mary’s Son would receive the throne of David and rule forever. At the Visitation, Elizabeth calls Mary “mother of my Lord.” As in all the mysteries of Mary’s life, she is closely associated with Jesus: Her queenship is a share in Jesus’ kingship. We can also recall that in the Old Testament the mother of the king has great influence in court.
In the fourth century Saint Ephrem called Mary “Lady” and “Queen.” Later Church fathers and doctors continued to use the title. Hymns of the 11th to 13th centuries address Mary as queen: “Hail, Holy Queen,” “Hail, Queen of Heaven,” “Queen of Heaven.” The Dominican rosary and the Franciscan crown as well as numerous invocations in Mary’s litany celebrate her queenship.
The feast is a logical follow-up to the Assumption, and is now celebrated on the octave day of that feast. In his 1954 encyclical To the Queen of Heaven, Pius XII points out that Mary deserves the title because she is Mother of God, because she is closely associated as the New Eve with Jesus’ redemptive work, because of her preeminent perfection, and because of her intercessory power.
Reflection
As Saint Paul suggests in Romans 8:28–30, God has predestined human beings from all eternity to share the image of his Son. All the more was Mary predestined to be the mother of Jesus. As Jesus was to be king of all creation, Mary, in dependence on Jesus, was to be queen. All other titles to queenship derive from this eternal intention of God. As Jesus exercised his kingship on earth by serving his Father and his fellow human beings, so did Mary exercise her queenship. As the glorified Jesus remains with us as our king till the end of time (Matthew 28:20), so does Mary, who was assumed into heaven and crowned queen of heaven and earth.
“Out of the darkness of my life, so much frustrated, I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: The Blessed Sacrament … There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth, and more than that: Death. By the divine paradox, that which ends life, and demands the surrender of all, and yet by the taste (or foretaste) of which alone can what you seek in your earthly relationships (love, faithfulness, joy) be maintained, or take on that complexion of reality, of eternal endurance, which every man’s heart desires.”— J. R. R. Tolkien, p. 119
SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2021 “As we celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I entrust you and your families to her maternal intercession, that she may guide us on our pilgrim way to the fullness of Christ’s promises. May God bless you!” Pope Francis
The Story of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church.
We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. In following centuries, the Eastern Churches held steadily to the doctrine, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However by the 13th century there was universal agreement. The feast was celebrated under various names—Commemoration, Dormition, Passing, Assumption—from at least the fifth or sixth century. Today it is celebrated as a solemnity.
Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s assumption into heaven. Nevertheless, Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testaments, her assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory.
Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Since Mary is closely associated with all the mysteries of Jesus’ life, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to believe in Mary’s share in his glorification. So close was she to Jesus on earth, she must be with him body and soul in heaven.
Reflection
In the light of the Assumption of Mary, it is easy to pray her Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55) with new meaning. In her glory she proclaims the greatness of the Lord and finds joy in God her savior. God has done marvels to her and she leads others to recognize God’s holiness. She is the lowly handmaid who deeply reverenced her God and has been raised to the heights. From her position of strength she will help the lowly and the poor find justice on earth, and she will challenge the rich and powerful to distrust wealth and power as a source of happiness.
“Christ is the second person of the Blessed Trinity, true God and true man, eternally united with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Just as there can be no separation within Christ’s human nature, so there can be none within His divine nature. Just as we cannot separate Christ’s body from His blood, or His soul from His body and blood, so we cannot separate Christ from the other persons in the Trinity. Time after time, we hear the priest pray to the Father at the end of the opening prayer of the Mass: We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.”— Vinney Flynn, p. 25
