Los Angeles, Calif., May 19, 2018 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- May 21 will mark the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church, added to the Roman calendar this year by Pope Francis.
The annual memorial is intended to foster Marian devotion among Catholics. Cardinal Robert Sarah, head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said this celebration will help promote affection for Christ and his mother.
“This celebration will help us to remember that growth in the Christian life must be anchored to the Mystery of the Cross, to the oblation of Christ in the Eucharistic Banquet and to the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Redeemed,” he said in a March 3 letter.
For the inaugural celebration of the memorial – which will be held annually on the Monday after Pentecost – some dioceses are planning special Masses, processions and prayer services.
The Archdiocese of Detroit has invited Catholics to 5:30 p.m. Mass at Old St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Auxiliary Bishop Donald Hanchon will celebrate the Mass with Bishop Gerard Battersby concelebrating. Priests from around the archdiocese will also participate.
A traditional May Crowning will follow Mass, followed by a procession through the center of Detroit’s Greektown. Michelle St. Pierre, marketing manager for the Michigan Catholic, said they hope for large and diverse crowd.
“Watching everyone processing through the streets with the statue of the Blessed Mother will be a beautiful witness to the fact that while each of us is unique, we all have one mother: Mary, Mother of the Church,” she said, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles urged his archdiocese to celebrate this new memorial with prayer and celebration of the Eucharist. He encouraged people to join him for Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels at noon.
Additionally, the archbishop called on all members of the archdiocese to have an image of the Virgin Mary in their home. An image of the Blessed Mother, personally blessed by Archbishop Gomez, will be offered to any family within the archdiocese who is interested, through the diocesan Angelus News publication.
Calling the memorial a “prophetic rediscovery of an ancient devotion,” the archbishop said he hopes it will bolster modern Catholics’ recognition of Mary’s role in the Church, as well as the infinite love of God.
“The first Christians understood Mary to be the perfect symbol of the Church’s spiritual motherhood. And to know that Mary is the mother of the Church is to begin to understand the depths of God’s love for us,” he said.
“Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to be a mother to us and turn all of us to have a new love for her and for Jesus and for our mother the Church.”
The Marian title of “Mother of the Church,” was given to the Blessed Mother by Bl. Pope Paul VI at the Second Vatican Council. It was also added to the Roman Missal after the Holy Year of Reconciliation in 1975.
Subsequently, some countries, dioceses and religious families were granted permission by the Holy See to add this celebration to their particular calendars. With its addition to the General Roman Calendar, it will now be celebrated by the whole Roman Catholic Church.
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Sister Scholastica Radel (left) and Mother Abbess Cecilia Snell of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, discuss the recent exhumation of the order’s foundress, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, in an interview with EWTN News In Depth on May 30, 2023, at their abbey in Gower, Missouri. / EWTN News
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 4, 2023 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Her flashlight was dim, so when Mother Abbess Cecilia Snell first peered inside the cracked coffin lid and saw a human foot inside a black sock where one would expect to find only bone and dust, she didn’t say anything.
Instead, she took a step back, collected herself, and leaned in for another look, just to be sure. Then she screamed for joy.
“I will never forget that scream for as long as I live,” recalled Sister Scholastica Radel, the prioress, who was among the members of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, who were present to exhume the remains of their foundress, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster.
“It was a very different scream than any other scream,” the abbess agreed. “Nothing like seeing a mouse or something. It was just pure joy. ‘I see her foot!’”
What the sisters discovered that day would cause a worldwide sensation: Roughly four years after her burial in a simple wooden coffin, Sister Wilhelmina’s unembalmed body appeared very much intact.
In an exclusive TV interview with EWTN News In Depth, the two sisters shared details of their remarkable discovery — revealing, among other things, that Sister Wilhelmina’s body doesn’t exhibit the muscular stiffness of rigor mortis — and reflected on the deeper significance of the drama still unfolding at their Abbey of Our Lady of Ephesus in rural Gower, Missouri.
They also clarified that Sister Wilhelmina’s coffin was exhumed on April 28, nearly three weeks earlier than CNA had understood. The sisters explained that it took about two weeks to remove dirt, mold, and mildew before they moved her body to the church. You can hear excerpts from the interview and other commentaries in the video at the end of this story.
Of particular significance to the members of the contemplative order, known for their popular recordings of Gregorian chants and devotion to the Traditional Latin Mass, is that the traditional habit of their African American foundress also is surprisingly well-preserved.
“It’s in better condition than most of our habits,” Mother Cecilia told EWTN’s Catherine Hadro.
“This is not possible. Four years in a wet coffin, broken in with all the dirt, all the bacteria, all the mildew, all the mold — completely intact, every thread.”
For the sisters, the symbolism is profound. A St. Louis native, Sister Wilhelmina spent 50 years in another religious order but left after it dispensed with the requirement of wearing its conventional habit and altered other long-established practices. She founded the Benedictines of Mary in 1995 when she was 70 years old.
“It’s so appropriate, because that’s what Sister Wilhelmina fought for her whole religious life,” Mother Cecilia said of the habit.
“And now,” Sister Scholastica said, “that’s what’s standing out. That’s what she took on to show the world that she belonged to Christ, and that is what she still shows the world. Even in her state, even after death, four years after the death, she’s still showing the world that this is who she is. She’s a bride of Christ, and nothing else matters.”
‘I did a double take’
The Benedictine community exhumed Sister Wilhelmina, almost four years after her death, after deciding to move her remains to a new St. Joseph’s Shrine inside the abbey’s church, a common custom to honor the founders of religious orders, the sisters said.
Members of the community did the digging themselves, “a little bit each day,” Mother Cecilia said. The process began on April 26 and culminated with a half-dozen or so sisters using straps to haul the coffin out of the ground on April 28.
The abbess revealed that there was a feeling of anticipation among the sisters to see what was inside the coffin.
“There was a sense that maybe God would do something special because she was so special and so pure of heart,” Mother Cecilia said.
It was the abbess who looked through the cracked lid first, shining her flashlight into the dark coffin.
“So I looked and I kind of did a double take and I kind of stepped back. ‘Did I just see what I think I saw? Because I think I just saw a completely full foot with a black sock still on it,'” she recalled saying to herself.
Sister Wilhelmina’s features were clearly recognizable; even her eyebrows and eyelashes were still there, the sisters discovered. Not only that, but her Hanes-brand socks, her brown scapular, Miraculous Medal, rosary beads, profession candle, and the ribbon around the candle — none of it had deteriorated.
The crown of flowers placed on her head for her burial had survived, too, dried in place but still visible. Yet the coffin’s fabric lining, the sisters noted, had disintegrated. So had a strap of new linen the sisters said they used to keep Sister Wilhelmina’s mouth closed.
“So I think everything that was left to us was a sign of her life,” Sister Scholastica reflected, “whereas everything pertaining to her death was gone.”
Another revelation from the interview: Contrary to what one would expect in the case of a four-year-old corpse, Sister Wilhelmina’s body is “really flexible,” according to Sister Scholastica.
“I mean, you can take her leg and lift it,” Mother Cecilia observed.
EWTN News In Depth also spoke with Shannen Dee Williams, an author and scholar who is an expert on the history of Black Catholicism. Sister Wilhelmina’s story, she said, is an important reminder of “the the great diversity and beauty of the Black Catholic experience across the spectrum.”
“It’s a really important story that reminds us of what is the great diversity of what is the Black Catholic experience.” – @BlkNunHistorian explains the significance of Sister Wilhelmina choosing a traditional habit for her community. pic.twitter.com/nJmyQ6UYjA
— EWTN News In Depth (@EWTNNewsInDepth) June 3, 2023
‘A unifying moment’
There has been no formal declaration by Church authorities that Sister Wilhelmina’s body is incorrupt, nor has an independent analysis been conducted of her remains, the condition of which has puzzled even some experienced morticians. Neither is there any official process yet underway to put the African American nun on a possible path to sainthood.
In the interview, Mother Cecilia called what’s happening at the abbey “a unifying moment for everybody” in a time of discord.
“There’s so much division, and it’s crazy,” she said. “We’re children of God the Father, every single one of us. And so you see, Sister Wilhelmina is bringing everyone together . . . I mean, this is God’s love pouring forth through people of every race, color,” she said.
“They come and they’re blown away, and it makes them think,” the abbess said. “It makes them think about God, about, ‘OK, why are we here? Is there more than just my phone, and my job, and my next vacation?’”
As for what comes next, no one can say. “We love God so much, his sense of humor, the irony, this humble little black nun hidden away in a monastery is a catalyst for this. It’s like a spark to send fire to the world,” Mother Cecilia said.
“It’s just remarkable,” she said. “But this is the kind of thing that God does when we need a wake-up call.”
Denver Newsroom, Sep 7, 2020 / 06:01 am (CNA).- In a photo from this spring, Fr. Bobby Krueger dons a black beanie, thick grey gloves, and a jacket with a hood over his clerics.
In his gloved hands, he carries a small gold and glass monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament – which he carried on foot to every block in St. Leonard’s parish on two occasions during the coronavirus lockdowns in Berwyn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
Anyone who has experienced spring in Chicago, or merely sees the photo of Fr. Krueger, knows that those could not have been balmy walks.
“When we couldn’t get to Mass, He brought Jesus to us – even in the snow and rain,” Kathy Rokosz, a St. Leonard’s parishioner, wrote in her nomination of Krueger as a “hero priest” of the pandemic.
Through Sept. 14, Mundelien Seminary is accepting nominations of “hero priests” throughout the United States who went above and beyond during the weeks when public Masses and other normal parish activities were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
These priests will be honored collectively as part of Mundelein’s 2020 In Service of One Another Catholic Humanitarian Award. “As COVID-19 has changed so much about the way we live in 2020, the Church has remained an essential source of hope, inspiration and support. Heroic priests across the country have answered the chaos of the pandemic with extraordinary creativity and resolve to continue serving as a bridge between Christ and his people,” the seminary states on their website, where nominations may be submitted. Fr. John Kartje, the rector of Mundelein, told CNA that the idea for the recognition of these priests came from a desire to focus on the good that has come from these unprecedented times.
“It just came from the realization that in the midst of the pandemic and frankly also with everything that’s been going on over the last several months, all the social unrest, we’ve certainly seen that here in Chicago… that there have been a lot of people stepping up in amazing ways,” including many priests, Kartje said. Indeed, as public Masses and gatherings closed throughout the country for weeks on end starting in mid-March, priests started getting creative. Drive-through and walk-up confessionals, parking lot Masses, livestream retreats, and teams of priests specially trained to enter ICU wards and administer the sacraments to coronavirus patients became the norm in many dioceses throughout the U.S.
Fr. Kartje said they want to recognize the extraordinary efforts of priests during these times – no matter how flashy or not their efforts seem. “Even aside from those kinds of things that often get headlines, it’s just the ways that they’ve been trying to minister to their people, however that’s possible,” he said, “whether that’s an increased number of home visits, or obviously the ways social media has made the sacraments available and accessible to people.” Kartje said one of his favorite submissions so far has been of an elderly priest who spent time visiting people outside of their windows at nursing homes, which experienced some of the strictest measures of lockdown and isolation.
“He could not only pray for them and offer their blessing from the outside, but then he could be with their families who are right outside the window beside him,” Kartje said. “You know, these are just heartbreaking cases of grown children and grandchildren, their hearts aching to go inside and be with their loved ones. And here’s an elderly priest who can provide real ministry and solace to the family, as well as providing prayer and blessing for a person who’s inside the nursing home and not able to receive visitors.” Another submission of a hero priest is Father Christopher DiTomo, who served in Elburn, Illinois during the pandemic. Besides hearing confessions outside in the elements and live-streaming Masses and prayer services, DiTomo also drove the Blessed Sacrament around his parish and held a Palm Sunday procession. “He brought Jesus to the streets of Elburn for over four hours on foot to people who were unable to attend Mass due to restrictions, and to a people who were starving for the Lord, both physically and spiritually,” Theresa Carter wrote of DiTomo in her nomination. “He brought people a glimpse of hope and peace at a very scary, uncertain time. He was all in at all times to help ensure his flock were spiritually nourished during this proverbial wandering in the desert,” she added. Kartje said that while there have been several submissions of priests in the area of Chicago, the campaign is open to submissions of priests throughout the country. Parishioners who would like to honor their priests may fill out a questionnaire located on the seminary website through Sept. 14. On Sept. 17, a small ceremony will be held at the Rector’s Classic Golf Outing in Mundelein, with a few local priests who will accept the honor on behalf of all of the nominated priests.
“The extraordinary times we’re living in obviously put a spotlight on the work these priests are doing, but as I’m sure many of your readers know, even outside of such extraordinary times, there are just thousands and thousands of good priests doing the work of the Lord,” Kartje said. “We certainly appreciate them, and it’s humbling and an honor for us to be able to hold up some of these men’s stories in gratitude.”
Benedictine College President Stephen D. Minnis and Catholic Healthcare International founder and President Jere D. Palazzolo sign a Collaborative Affiliation Agreement Sept. 8, 2022 in Denver, Colorado, beginning the process of establishing an … […]
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