Posted on November 17, 2019 View all news
Laudetur Jesus Christus! Gelobt sei Jesus Christus!
Sia lodato Gesù Cristo! Praised be Jesus Christ!
This upcoming week, we will celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple. This feast commemorates the dedication of Our Lady, by her parents Sts. Anne & Joachim, to God. She continued to live in the Temple to dedicate her life more fully to God. During this time, she prepared herself specifically to become the Mother of God, even though she did not know this at the time. From her young age, she was always holy, having been conceived immaculately. On this feast, we should ask Our Lady to help prepare us to also receive the Lord, to be open to His Will, and to open our hearts to His teaching. Just as Our Lady had to be prepared to become the Mother of God, so do we need to prepare ourselves to receive the Lord, especially in the Holy Eucharist.
On some practical notes, please be sure to check out the Thanksgiving schedule on the following pages in the bulletin. Also, please be sure to see a note regarding the Sacrament of Confirmation. We need to have everything finalized in this regard this coming Tuesday. Please be sure to pray for us and have a blessed week ahead!
“Joachim took to wife that most eminent and praiseworthy woman, Anne. And even as the ancient Hannah, being stricken with barrenness, by prayer and promise became the mother of Samuel, so likewise this woman also through prayer and promise received from God the Mother of God, that in fruitfulness she might not be behind any of the famous matrons. And thus grace (for such is the signification of the name of Anne) is mother of the Lady (for such is the signification of the name of Mary.) And indeed she became the Lady of every creature, since she hath been mother of the Creator. She first saw the light in Joachim’s house, hard by the Pool of Bethesda, at Jerusalem, and was carried to the Temple. There planted in the Lord, the dew of His Spirit made her to flourish in the courts of her God, and like a green olive she became a tree, so that all the doves of grace came and lodged in her branches. And so she raised her mind utterly above the lust of life and the lust of the flesh, and kept her soul virgin in her virgin body, as became her that was to receive God into her womb.
Such was Mary that her single life offereth an example to all. If then the doer displease us not, let us applaud the deed; if any other woman seek like reward, let her follow after like works. In the one Virgin how many glorious examples do shine forth. Her’s was the hidden treasure of modesty, her’s the high standard of faith, her’s the self-sacrifice of earnestness, her’s to be the pattern of maidenhood at home, of kinswomanhood in ministry, of motherhood in the Temple. O to how many virgins hath she been helpful, how many hath she taken in her arms and presented unto the Lord, saying Here is one who, like me, hath kept stainlessly clean the wedding -chamber, the marriage -bed of my Son!” – St. John Damascene