Papal Infallibility & The Assumption

(Murillo, Assumption of the Virgin, 1670,
Oil on canvas. The Hermitage, St. Petersburg)

Readings for the Assumption

Do you believe the Pope to be infallible? Do you think, in matters of faith and morality, the Pope is able to speak with such authority that it must be held to be true by all Catholics? Well, that is our understanding. This is the teaching of the Church going back well over a century now and yet it has often been cited as one of the whacky things that Catholics believe. It will be raised in the media as we prepare for the Holy Father’s visit next month. Surely no man can be without error, people will say. Of course these people misunderstand the teaching of Papal Infallibility, yet today is a perfect example of what we mean by it. Let me explain.

In 1946 Pope Pius XII polled the Catholic bishops throughout the world and after their affirmative response; he officially promulgated the dogma of Mary’s assumption on 1^st November 1950. The Pope spoke, ex cathedra, infallibly. We, therefore, as dutiful Catholics hold this dogma of our faith to be absolute. Quite simply: Mary was assumed into heaven. No doubt whatsoever. Now, do we know this to be true because the Pope says so, or is it, as I suspect, because we simply know it as truth and, therefore, believe it. It’s a simple question to always ask yourself: is it true because we say it is, or do we believe because it is true!

Whilst there may be no explicit evidence within scripture for this truth; I don’t recall reading the Angel saying to Mary, “oh, and by the way, because you have said yes to be the Mother of God it means that you’re going to be assumed into heaven one day”, there is none the less clear signs within both Scripture and especially within our Tradition that bears witness to this special honour for Our Lady.

In the Gospel Elizabeth says two very interesting things during her greeting of Mary: she refers to Mary as “the mother of my Lord” and also “she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Thus, we have long held that the ravages of the tomb would never touch such a chosen one as Mary. Once Christ had died and then rose from the dead, it must surely be only natural that which was the way of the Son would be replicated in the mother. It is interesting to wonder if the dragon in the book of the Apocalypse somehow represents the decay of the tomb from which the child is snatched up to heaven and the woman is safely removed to the desert to await her turn and thus follow the son. To be assumed into heaven in due course. We will hear, in a moment, the priest say to God: you would not allow decay to touch her body, for she had given birth to your Son. In a sense, Mary’s assumption is pretty obvious really.

When Pope Pius declared this to be true, then, he wasn’t coming up with something new. Often, the harsh critics of Papal Infallibility will say: if the Pope loses the plot then, and says so and so, you have to believe it! As though Catholics were not born with reason and will believe anything and thus, subtly, those who would criticise us can declare all truth to be flawed: All truth to be simply a matter of choice and why is your choice any more important than mine?

We are not talking about who is right and who is wrong. We are taking about the truth revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Always, this is our starting point. Everything points to this. Mary’s assumption has its basis in being the Mother of God: thus is makes clear sense that she should be born immaculate and that she is, for us, the model of all humanity. Not only our personal model but also she shows the Church the way; not only in destiny but via the right route. We prayed at the beginning of Mass: May we see heaven as our final Goal and come to share her glory. We will conclude by praying: may we “be led to the glory of heaven by the prayers of the Virgin Mary.” Amen!

Thanks to Mary, and her assumption, we are able, therefore, to make very clear to people exactly what we mean by Papal Infallibility. This has been our understanding for well over a century now; can anyone actually name a time when it seemed like a daft idea. We love the Pope and we will give him due reverence and we are proud to listen to him speak!

Act of Entrustment and Consecration of Priests to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Immaculate Mother,
in this place of grace,
called together by the love of your Son Jesus
the Eternal High Priest, we,
sons in the Son and his priests,
consecrate ourselves to your maternal Heart,
in order to carry out faithfully the Father’s Will.

We are mindful that, without Jesus,
we can do nothing good (cf. Jn 15:5)
and that only through him, with him and in him,
will we be instruments of salvation
for the world.

Bride of the Holy Spirit,
obtain for us the inestimable gift
of transformation in Christ.
Through the same power of the Spirit that
overshadowed you,
making you the Mother of the Saviour,
help us to bring Christ your Son
to birth in ourselves too.
May the Church
be thus renewed by priests who are holy,
priests transfigured by the grace of him
who makes all things new.

Mother of Mercy,
it was your Son Jesus who called us
to become like him:
light of the world and salt of the earth
(cf. Mt 5:13-14).

Help us,
through your powerful intercession,
never to fall short of this sublime vocation,
nor to give way to our selfishness,
to the allurements of the world
and to the wiles of the Evil One.

Preserve us with your purity,
guard us with your humility
and enfold us with your maternal love
that is reflected in so many souls
consecrated to you,
who have become for us
true spiritual mothers.

Mother of the Church,
we priests want to be pastors
who do not feed themselves
but rather give themselves to God for their brethren,
finding their happiness in this.
Not only with words, but with our lives,
we want to repeat humbly,
day after day,
Our “here I am”.

Guided by you,
we want to be Apostles
of Divine Mercy,
glad to celebrate every day
the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar
and to offer to those who request it
the sacrament of Reconciliation.

Advocate and Mediatrix of grace,
you who are fully immersed
in the one universal mediation of Christ,
invoke upon us, from God,
a heart completely renewed
that loves God with all its strength
and serves mankind as you did.

Repeat to the Lord
your efficacious word:
“They have no wine” (Jn 2:3),
so that the Father and the Son will send upon us
a new outpouring of
the Holy Spirit.
Full of wonder and gratitude
at your continuing presence in our midst,
in the name of all priests
I too want to cry out:
“Why is this granted me,
that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1:43).

Our Mother for all time,
do not tire of “visiting us”,
consoling us, sustaining us.
Come to our aid
and deliver us from every danger
that threatens us.
With this act of entrustment and consecration,
we wish to welcome you
more deeply, more radically,
for ever and totally
into our human and priestly lives.

Let your presence cause new blooms to burst forth
in the desert of our loneliness,
let it cause the sun to shine on our darkness,
let it restore calm after the tempest,
so that all mankind shall see the salvation
of the Lord,
who has the name and the face of Jesus,
who is reflected in our hearts,
for ever united to yours!

Amen!

Prayed by Pope Benedict XVI
h/t Zenit, here.

Mary and the month of May

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

May is a month that is loved and its arrival is welcome for several reasons. In our hemisphere spring advances with so many and colorful blossoms; the climate is favorable for walks and excursions. For the liturgy, May always belongs to the Easter Season, the season of the "alleluia," of the revelation of the mystery of Christ in the light of the Resurrection and of the Easter faith; and it is the time of expectation of the Holy Spirit, who descends with power on the nascent Church at Pentecost. With both these contexts, the "natural" and the liturgical, the tradition of the Church is well in tune in dedicating the month of May to the Virgin Mary. She is, in fact, the most beautiful flower to blossom in creation, the "rose" that appeared in the fullness of time, when God, sending his Son, gave the world a new spring. And she is at the same time humble and discreet protagonist of the first steps of the Christian community: Mary is its spiritual heart, because her very presence in the midst of the disciples is a living memory of the Lord Jesus and pledge of the gift of his Spirit.

This Sunday's Gospel, taken from Chapter 14 of St. John, offers us an implicit spiritual portrait of the Virgin Mary, where Jesus says: "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23). These expressions are addressed to the disciples, but they can be applied precisely to her who is the first and perfect disciple of Jesus. Mary in fact observed first and fully the word of her Son, thus demonstrating that she loved him not only as his mother, but first still as humble and obedient handmaid; because of this God the Father loved her and the Most Holy Trinity made its dwelling in her. Moreover, when Jesus promises his friends that the Holy Spirit will assist them, helping them to remember and understand profoundly every word of his (cf. John 14:26), how can we not think of Mary, who in her heart, temple of the Spirit, meditated and interpreted faithfully everything that her Son said and did? In this way, already before and above all after Easter, the Mother of Jesus became also the Mother and model of the Church.

Dear friends, in the heart of this Marian month, I will have the joy of going in the forthcoming days to Portugal. I will visit the capital, Lisbon, and Porto, the country's second city. The principal objective of my trip will be Fatima, on the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Beatification of the two little shepherds, Jacinta and Francisco. For the first time as Successor of Peter I will go to that Marian Shrine, so dear to the Venerable John Paul II. I invite everyone to accompany me on this pilgrimage, participating actively with prayer: with only one heart and one soul we invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary for the Church, in particular for priests, and for peace in the world.

From Zenit.org here.

Annunciation

25 March – Annunciation (Acies Mass)

"Totus tuus ego sum, et omnia mea tua sunt.” According to John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae he borrowed the motto, Totus Tuus, from the Marian consecrating prayer as found in the book True Devotion to Mary by Saint Louis de Montfort. The late Pope took this for his apostolic motto. Upon reading the works of St Louis, John Paul recalled “"Then I understood that I could not exclude the Lord's Mother from my life without neglecting the will of God."

Today, and especially today for all Legionaries of Mary, we will be more familiar with the English consecration to our Blessed Queen and Mother: “We are all yours, our Queen, our Mother, and all that we have is yours”. We can approach this annual consecration to Mary, both individually and collectively, as merely an annual devotion which we have to do to stay an active member of the Legion of Mary, or we can see it for what it is: a complete and total life changing moment. There is no going back from this moment.

Consecration is very familiar to us. We know what it means, to dedicate ourselves solemnly and this is what we are doing. We are dedicating ourselves to Christ through Mary. To consecrate, however, also means to make holy, to make sacred, to hallow. This we are more familiar with in terms of consecrating people. We once talked of consecrating a Bishop, though now more correctly termed ordaining, we are familiar and admire those consecrated virgins amongst us and, of course, we consecrate the gifts to become the Body and Blood of Christ.

Here in lies the key to what we are about to undertake in both our individual and collective consecration. Like the body of Christ will never return to mere bread so we can never return to what we were before this Mass began. When we come forward and present ourselves, our total selves, then we will be given the great task that is ours alone. It is not, however, a task which is accomplished alone. No, it is accomplished with Mary and through this Legion which she patronises. Without the kind and gracious love of Mary, we are nothing. We have no meaning and there is no making holy, no consecrating of our lives. We are utterly dependent upon our Queen and Mother, and we are united through her to her beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

Today, of all days, we recall the single act which brought about the means of our salvation. Fiat. Let it be done according to your Word. For a single moment – allow yourself to imagine the world if Mary had said ‘no’. For a single second, perhaps, dwell upon how miserable would be our lives without Mary’s ‘yes’ and trust me when I say – you’d be running, nay sprinting, toward the Vexillum and screaming out in desperation your consecration. Yet our consecration has nothing to do with fear of the ‘what if’ and everything to do with love. We are compelled silently in reverence and awe to approach Mary and share in her eternal yes, yes, yes. I love you Jesus, my love above all things, and all that I have is yours. I am ready to give my life to you. Take me as I am, transform me, let your will be done and let me declare before you and your blessed mother that I will never be the same again from this moment forth!

If, after contemplating now the enormity and eternal act you are about to undertake in your own consecration or you doubt your ability or willingness to take this path, then place yourself into the heart of Mary and listen to the words of the Angel: “the Holy Spirit will come upon you”. You are not alone, be brave, trust in the Lord and say Yes. Totus Tuus.

Legion of Mary

Whilst I'm sure that I am likely to be teaching others to suck eggs, it may be helpful to know that you can access the Legion of Mary handbook, here. This evening I am celebrating Mass for the Legion, locally, with the annual Acies. The Acies is the great central annual function of the Legion. The legion handbook notes:

Bearing in mind the importance of devotion to Mary in the Legion system, each year there shall be a consecration of legionaries to Our Lady. The consecration - which shall comprise both an individual and a collective consecration - will take place on the 25 March or on a day close thereto, and will be known as the Acies.

The Latin word, meaning as it does an army ranged in battle array, is appropriate to a ceremony in which the legionaries as a body assemble to renew their fealty to Mary, Queen of the Legion, and from her to receive strength and blessing for yet another year's battle with the forces of evil.

Mass fits the bill.

Annunciation

Whilst it may be some time away, I wanted to share with you a new discovery. A friend alerted me to The Annunciation by Caravaggio. It's a confession to say that I'd not even heard of the work, so looked it up on wiki, good-old wiki. They have the following to say:

The Annunciation is an oil painting by the Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, finished around 1608. It housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nancy.

The painting has been considerably damaged and retouched, and what remains of Caravaggio's brushwork is the angel, who bears a resemblance to the figure in John the Baptist at the Fountain. The illusionistic treatment of the angel, floating on his cloud and seeming to protrude outside the picture plane, is more Baroque than is normal for Caravaggio, but the contrast between the energetic pose of the heavenly messenger and the receptive Mary is dramatically and psychologically effective. The loose brushwork is typical of Caravaggio's later period.

The painting was given by Henry II, Duke of Lorraine, to his primatial church in Nancy as the main altarpiece, and was perhaps acquired by one of the Duke's sons in the course of a visit to Malta in 1608.

Isn't it beautiful, though!

Stations of the Cross with Mary and with children

Whilst I'm sure that many of us are engaged in making the 'way of the cross' or doing the Stations over the weeks of Lent, I have been particularly struck by two aspects.

Firstly, we have begun to bring the children of our schools over to Church to do the stations. This has necessitated finding child-friendly stations in our current climate. Though I recall, as a child, doing the stations on a Friday afternoon and they were the Alphonsus Liguori set, here. For this reason, we have spent the first week of Lent just concentrating on learning the opening versicle for each station. We plan to build up the children's confidence and knowledge over the weeks of Lent.

Secondly, we have used a couple of meditative sets of Stations based on praying with Mary, or walking the way with Mary. Personally, these have been very powerful, spiritually at least, and often quite dramatic. I can highly recommend the Praying the Stations with Mary the Mother of Jesus, written by Richard Furey and published by Twenty-Third Publications. You can get them in most good Catholic bookstores, but on amazon (.co.uk at least) I can only find them in Spanish, here. St Paul's didn't seem to carry them, but I'm sure if you look around their website you may find them - if not there's plenty to grab your attention for Lent, here.

Whichever Stations you're using, or not as the case may be, I pray that your Lenten observance continues to be nourishing you as we journey with Jesus towards Jerusalem.

Devotedly Yours

THEOTOKOS:

MOTHER OF GOD

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In preparing for today's Mass, I was particularly struck by the words of St Augustine:

St Augustine says “The blessed Mary certainly did the Father’s will, and so it was for her a greater thing to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been his mother, and she was more blessed in her discipleship than in her motherhood. Hers was the happiness of first hearing in her womb him whom she would obey as her master.”

St Augustine is commenting on the words of Christ: “Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.” Hence, says Augustine, “Mary heard God’s truth in her mind, a nobler thing than carrying his body in her womb. The truth and the body were both Christ: he was kept in Mary’s mind insofar as he is truth; he was carried in her womb insofar as he is man; but what is kept in the mind is of a higher order than what is carried in the womb.”

Annunciation

Just love this interpretation of the Annunciation by Collier. I came across it on Fr Dwight's blog, here.

I was, particularly, struck by the modern interpretation of the classic scene. It is, evidently, a version of Fra Angelico's wonderful Annunciation with the door column seeming to replace the terrace column of the original. Also, theologically interesting, at least, is the eye line of the Virgin and the Angel. Notice that whilst the angel is quite clearly 'larger', in so much as Mary is but yet a child in many ways, because of the mat, and the position in the picture, she is above the angel in the hierarchy of being. Gabriel lowers himself in respect for whom he addresses, even though he brings the message of Almighty God, the very question upon which all creation awaits an answer. The whole of creation groaning in a new rebirth.

I also love the masculinity of Gabriel in this interpretation. He is evidently male and yet could be described as asexual, given the hairstyle, the wings and especially the dress. In her blue schoolgirl dress, Mary is quite feminine, and yet clearly innocent, too. When you compare the two characters Gabriel's masulinity seems, to me, to be just right.

Also, note that the house in the background looks very similar to that of Mary's home, suggesting, to me at least, that Mary is very human, just like you and I. She, who was to become the Mother of God, could so easily have had another life, or indeed God might have chosen someone else entirely as the one to whom he would send his mighty angel.

Wonderful!