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Missio ImmaculataeTota Pulchra, O Maria!
For centuries, the ancient Gregorian chant Tota Pulchra has been the joyful hymn with which the Church, and in particular the Franciscan Order, greets Mary, calling to mind the Mystery of the Immaculate Conception. This hymn of veneration, from the Church’s lips,...
The Fundamentally Marian Imagination of J.R.R. Tolkein
“The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like ‘religion’, to cults or practices,...
The Marian Issue in the Church Today According to Peter Damian Fehlner
By God’s design, Mary is united with her Son Jesus in the work of our salvation, not in a passive way, but by her active cooperation. This is why Mary is said to “occupy center stage” in our redemption—not substituting for or replacing Jesus, but never separated from...
Consecration to Saint Joseph
For nearly two millennia, the Church has found solace in the Virgin Mary’s motherly embrace. St. Joseph has historically assumed a much lower profile, but this situation has been changing, especially since Blessed Pius IX declared him Patron of the Universal Church in...
Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman and Our Lady – Part 2
“Piously meditating on [Mary] and contemplating her in the light of the Word made man,” the Second Vatican Council states, “the Church with reverence enters more intimately into the great mystery of the Incarnation.” The recently canonized Cardinal John Henry Newman,...
Stabat Mater Dolorosa: A Hymn of Coredemption Part 2
In this second part of the article on the Stabat Mater we see the Golden Thread of the Franciscan Order includes this important meditation on the compassion of Our Lady Coredemptrix. With the help of the Franciscan mystics, Ven. Mary of Agreda and St. Veronica...
Stabat Mater Dolorosa: A Hymn of Coredemption – Part 1
Saint Maximilian Kolbe believed the Immaculate Conception was the “Golden Thread” running throughout the history of the Franciscan Order. This article examines the claim that one could say this “Golden Thread” has shades of coredemption in it as well. We recount in...
The Presentation of Mary: An Historical Event?
The Church presently celebrates the Presentation of Mary (as distinct from that of Jesus) as a liturgical memorial on November 21. Our main source of knowledge of this event, apart from the liturgy, lies in aprocryphal writings which the Church has rejected as not...
The Marian-Franciscan Legacy of Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner
“Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart.” “Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.” Christus unus omnium Magister. De Maria numquam satis. These passages from St. Luke, St. John, St. Bonaventure and St. Bernard express the heart of Fr. Peter...
Blessed Conchita (Concepción Cabrera de Armida) – Part 3
The great mystics of the Church are famed for allowing the Holy Spirit to reproduce the lives of Jesus and Mary in their souls. For Conchita, reproducing faithfully the interior life of Mary, as she was called to do, meant entering into the mystery of Our Lady’s...