There thus exist solid points of reference to look to and follow in the context of this Marian Year. Lk. Not only "basic dogmas of the Christian faith concerning the Trinity and God's Word made flesh of the Virgin Mary were defined in Ecumenical Councils held in the East,"77 but also in their liturgical worship "the Orientals pay high tribute, in very beautiful hymns, to Mary ever VirginGod's Most Holy Mother."78. "144 Even though we are still experiencing the painful effects of the separation which took place some decades later [1054], we can say that in the presence of the Mother of Christ we feel that we are true brothers and sisters within that messianic People, which is called to be the one family of God on earth. Create new account. The Council says that this happened "not without a divine plan": by "suffering deeply with her only-begotten Son and joining herself with her maternal spirit to his sacrifice, lovingly consenting to the immolation of the victim to whom she had given birth," in this way Mary "faithfully preserved her union with her Son even to the Cross. Contact Info (419) 668-2005 Services COMMUNION CONFESSION COUNSELING WEDDINGS Lk. In what way? In them shines a ray of the mystery of God, the glory of his ineffable holiness, the eternal love which, as an irrevocable gift, enters into human history. Friday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time. In the Magnificat the Church sees uprooted that sin which is found at the outset of the earthly history of man and woman, the sin of disbelief and of "little faith" in God. Mary, Mother of the Redeemer School 1321 Upper State Rd, North Wales, PA 19454 School: (215) 412-7101 Fax: (215) 412 - 7197 Parish: (215) 362-7400 The "Magnificat" of the pilgrim Church, 35. Here there opens up a broad prospect, within which the Blessed Virgin Mary continues to "go before" the People of God. The recent events on Calvary had shrouded that promise in darkness, yet not even beneath the Cross did Mary's faith fail. 8:29),"17 and also because "in the birth and development" of these brothers and sisters "she cooperates with a maternal love."18. But at the same time, at the very beginning of his life, the Son of Mary, and his Mother with him, will experience in themselves the truth of those other words of Simeon: "a sign that is spoken against" (Lk. But it is only after the Resurrection that hope had shown its true face and the promise had begun to be transformed into reality. For the Mother of Christ is glorified as "Queen of the Universe. 2:7) was revealed to Mary, she, his Mother, is in contact with the truth about her Son only in faith and through faith! ", The Council expresses this when it states in another passage that Mary "has gone before," becoming "a model of the Church in the matter of faith, charity and perfect union with Christ. Without any doubt, Mary is worthy of blessing by the very fact that she became the mother of Jesus according to the flesh ("Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked"), but also and especially because already at the Annunciation she accepted the word of God, because she believed it, because she was obedient to God, and because she "kept" the word and "pondered it in her heart" (cf. What is the phone number of St Mary Mother of the Redeemer in New London County? If it is true, as the Council itself proclaims,8 that "only in the mystery of the Incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light," then this principle must be applied in a very particular way to that exceptional "daughter of the human race," that extraordinary "woman" who became the Mother of Christ. 2:11). 1:1, 14), and made himself our brother. 5. 2:11). It is also appropriate to mention the icon of Our Lady of Vladimir, which continually accompanied the pilgrimage of faith of the peoples of ancient Rus'. In these texts Jesus means above all to contrast the motherhood resulting from the fact of birth with what this "motherhood" (and also "brotherhood") is to be in the dimension of the Kingdom of God, in the salvific radius of God's fatherhood. She is the first of those "little ones" of whom Jesus will say one day: "Father, you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes" (Mt. They are images which witness to the faith and spirit of prayer of that people, who sense the presence and protection of the Mother of God. Copyright 2023 :
"104 With this character of "intercession," first manifested at Cana in Galilee, Mary's mediation continues in the history of the Church and the world. By these, the Blessed Virgin is also intimately united with the Church: the Mother of God is a figure of the Church in the matter of faith, charity and perfect union with Christ. 1:4), it can be said that he has matched the "divinization" of man to humanity's historical conditions, so that even after sin he is ready to restore at a great price the eternal plan of his love through the "humanization" of his Son, who is of the same being as himself. She was not only the one who "advanced in her pilgrimage of faith" and loyally persevered in her union with her Son "unto the Cross," but she was also the "handmaid of the Lord," left by her Son as Mother in the midst of the infant Church: "Behold your mother." The son whom Elizabeth is carrying in her womb also shares in this witness: "The babe in my womb leaped for joy" (Lk. 2:51). 2:21). 28. 11:25). How completely she "abandons herself to God" without reserve, offering the full assent of the intellect and the will"39 to him whose "ways are inscrutable" (cf. he restated this truth in an even more forceful way in these words: "We believe that the Most Holy Mother of God, the new Eve, the Mother of the Church, carries on in heaven her maternal role with regard to the members of Christ, cooperating in the birth and development of divine life in the souls of the redeemed. ", 3. This mission of the Apostles began the moment they left the Upper Room in Jerusalem. Lk. But at the same time the "fullness of grace" indicates all the supernatural munificence from which Mary benefits by being chosen and destined to be the Mother of Christ. Acts 1:1) of her Son and definitively through his Cross and Resurrection. . Now, at the Visitation, when Elizabeth's greeting bears witness to that culminating moment, Mary's faith acquires a new consciousness and a new expression. 17. or. "47 But it is not he alone. And if after the announcement of the heavenly messenger the Virgin of Nazareth is also called "blessed among women" (cf. Precisely as the Prophet Isaiah had foretold about the Messiah in the famous passage which Jesus quoted before his fellow townsfolk in Nazareth: "To preach good news to the poorto proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind" (cf. 1:4) in Christ: it is salvation through a sharing in supernatural life. Even when the same woman is the mother of many children, her personal relationship with each one of them is of the very essence of motherhood. Her faith evokes his first "sign" and helps to kindle the faith of the disciples. Immediately after the narration of the Annunciation, the Evangelist Luke guides us in the footsteps of the Virgin of Nazareth towards "a city of Judah" (Lk. Please select St. Vincent de Paul (second option from the TO list). Amen. Only in the mystery of Christ is her mystery fully made clear. 19:11-12; 2 Cor. The words "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord" express the fact that from the outset she accepted and understood her own motherhood as a total gift of self, a gift of her person to the service of the saving plans of the Most High. "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" (Jn. Mary's "obedience of faith" during the whole of her pilgrimage will show surprising similarities to the faith of Abraham. 1:35). 1:5; 2 Cor. Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, 1325 Upper State Rd, North Wales, PA 19454 Parish: (215) 362-7400 - E-mail: MMR@mmredeemer.org Directions - pdf file - Parish Boundaries Parish Office Hours (September through May) Monday to Thursday: 8:30 am to 7:00 pm, Fridays: 8:30 am to 4:00 pm 13. . It has made great advances along the path of progress and civilization, and in recent times one could say that it has succeeded in speeding up the pace of history. 23:1ff.). For more information, if you would like to know more, for any other enquiries, visit their website: http://www.stmarysgroton.org/ And until the death of Herod they will have to remain in Egypt (cf. Just as Abraham "in hope believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations" (cf. Moved by charity, therefore, Mary goes to the house of her kinswoman. The Church "becomes herself a mother by accepting God's word with fidelity. The Church's motherhood is accomplished not only according to the model and figure of the Mother of God but also with her "cooperation." Of the essence of motherhood is the fact that it concerns the person. 3:21-35) that day by day there was fulfilled in her the blessing uttered by Elizabeth at the Visitation: "Blessed is she who believed.". . Listing Incorrect? For he has bought it for himself with his blood (Acts 20:28), has filled it with his Spirit, and provided it with those means which befit it as a visible and social unity. For each child is generated in a unique and unrepeatable way, and this is true both for the mother and for the child. And Jesus said to her, 'O woman, what have you to do with me? Built by Christ upon the Apostles, the Church became fully aware of these mighty works of God on the day of Pentecost, when those gathered together in the Upper Room "were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2:4). As I announced at the beginning of the New Year "We desire to reconfirm this universal inheritance of all the Sons and daughters of this earth. 36. This fiat of Mary-"let it be to me"-was decisive, on the human level, for the accomplishment of the divine mystery. 2:5)- will be able to go forward together on this "pilgrimage of faith." The faith community of St. Mary Mother of the Redeemer welcomes you! She followed him during the years of his hidden life at Nazareth; she followed him also during the time after he left home, when he began "to do and to teach" (cf. 20:28). The Council emphasizes that the Mother of God is already the eschatological fulfillment of the Church: "In the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection whereby she exists without spot or wrinkle (cf. The Annunciation, therefore, is the revelation of the mystery of the Incarnation at the very beginning of its fulfillment on earth. 2:19, 51), the Church is committed to preserving the word of God and investigating its riches with discernment and prudence, in order to bear faithful witness to it before all mankind in every age.126, 44. Col. 1:12- 14; Rom. This statement certainly means that the role of son was attributed to the disciple and that he assumed responsibility for the Mother of his beloved Master. she receives from the angel the confirmation and explanation of the preceding words. For the messenger greets Mary as "full of grace"; he calls her thus as if it were her real name. Thus, through the mystery of Christ, on the horizon of the Church's faith there shines in its fullness the mystery of his Mother. And she still continues to do so. On that wood of the Cross her Son hangs in agony as one condemned. "The Church 'like a pilgrim in a foreign land, presses forward amid the persecutions of the world and the consolations of God,'52 announcing the Cross and Death of the Lord until he comes (cf. 11:27) These words were an expression of praise of Mary as Jesus' mother according to the flesh. 45. Indeed, "the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man is made clear to us in Christ, who is at the same time the mediator and the fullness of all revelation. Ps. "For," the text goes on, "taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving role, but by her manifold acts of intercession continues to win for us gifts of eternal salvation. 11:27). For, just as Mary is at the service of the mystery of the Incarnation, so the Church is always at the service of the mystery of adoption to sonship through grace. Eph. The Mother of the Redeemer has a precise place in the plan of salvation, for "when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. In a sense her journey of faith is longer. 1:14). 11:33)! She was present among them as an exceptional witness to the mystery of Christ. She experiences it continuously and commends it to the hearts of the faithful, so that, encouraged by this maternal help, they may more closely adhere to the Mediator and Redeemer. Ex. But this veneration always includes a blessing of her faith, for the Virgin of Nazareth became blessed above all through this faith, in accordance with Elizabeth's words. Thus has the Church sought to interpret it from the very beginning: the mystery of the Incarnation has enabled her to penetrate and to make ever clearer the mystery of the Mother of the Incarnate Word. And that is not all. Lk. Lk. Learn More Look to Mary, Mother of the Redeemer, Sisters and Brothers. Find a local church. This is the beginning of the Gospel, the joyful Good News. 3:19), the self-revelation of the living God. II REDEMPTORIS MATER On the Blessed Virgin Maryin the life of the Pilgrim Church. "119 This cult is altogether special: it bears in itself and expresses the profound link which exists between the Mother of Christ and the Church.120 As Virgin and Mother, Mary remains for the Church a "permanent model." God's salvific giving of himself and his life, in some way to all creation but directly to man, reaches one of its high points in the mystery of the Incarnation. In no way do they impede the immediate union of the faithful with Christ. Later, a little further along this way of the "obedience of faith," Mary hears other words: those uttered by Simeon in the Temple of Jerusalem. 1:38). 3:16). (Gal. After the events of the Resurrection and Ascension Mary entered the Upper Room together with the Apostles to await Pentecost, and was present there as the Mother of the glorified Lord. 7:14).20 In this way the Old Testament prepares that "fullness of time" when God "sent forth his Son, born of womanso that we might receive adoption as sons." Simeon's words cast new light on the announcement which Mary had heard from the angel: Jesus is the Savior, he is "a light for revelation" to mankind. And yet the "testament of Christ's Cross" says more. She is conscious that the promise made to the fathers, first of all "to Abraham and to his posterity for ever," is being fulfilled in herself. The angel had said to her then: "You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. In the Encyclical Epistle Christi Matri and subsequently in the Apostolic Exhortations Signum Magnum and Marialis Cultus5 he expounded the foundations and criteria of the special veneration which the Mother of Christ receives in the Church, as well as the various forms of Marian devotion- liturgical, popular and private-which respond to the spirit of faith. The God of the Covenant, celebrated in the exultation of her spirit by the Virgin of Nazareth, is also he who "has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry with good things, sent the rich away empty, scattered the proud-heartedand his mercy is from age to age on those who fear him." As a result she is also the favorite daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Among those who devoted themselves to prayer in the Upper Room, preparing to go "into the whole world" after receiving the Spirit, some had been called by Jesus gradually from the beginning of his mission in Israel. "Mary is totally dependent upon God and completely directed towards him, and at the side of her Son, she is the most perfect image of freedom and of the liberation of humanity and of the universe. Eph. "23, 10. English: St. Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Catholic Church in Groton, Connecticut. 12:47-50) and still more so by the Gospel of John (cf. 4:8). 19:26-27). 1 About St. Mary Mother of the Redeemer Church St. Mary Mother of the Redeemer Church is located at 38 W League St in Norwalk, Ohio 44857. 39. In her greeting, Elizabeth first called Mary "blessed" because of "the fruit of her womb," and then she called her "blessed" because of her faith (cf. 2:51). St. Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Church 38 W. League St. Norwalk, Ohio 44857 Phone: 419-668-2005 25; 31; 35; 55). Juan Luis Bastero. (Lk. It is significant that, as he speaks to his mother from the Cross, he calls her "woman" and says to her: "Woman, behold your son!" She was not among those whom Jesus sent "to the whole world to teach all nations" (cf. God's predilection for him was manifested ever more clearly to people's eyes. Saint Mary, Mother of the Redeemer
Eph. 2:19; cf. St. Mary Mother of the Redeemer Website http://www.stmarysgroton.org/ Phone Number 860-445-1446 Location 69 Groton Long Point Road Groton, CT 06340-4806 United States of America View Map & Get Directions More about St. Mary Mother of the Redeemer See our NEW website at http://www.stmarysgroton.org ! And here Mary is not only the model and figure of the Church; she is much more. 11:27-28 and Lk. 8:20-21). The Church, which from the beginning has modelled her earthly journey on that of the Mother of God, constantly repeats after her the words of the Magnificat. The fact that she "preceded" the coming of Christ is reflected every year in the liturgy of Advent. "53 "Israel according to the flesh, which wandered as an exile in the desert, was already called the Church of God (cf. But it has a symbolic value: this coming to the aid of human needs means, at the same time, bringing those needs within the radius of Christ's messianic mission and salvific power. Thanks to this motherhood, Jesus, the Son of the Most High (cf. 13:55). Lk. This is true not only of John, who at that hour stood at the foot of the Cross together with his Master's Mother, but it is also true of every disciple of Christ, of every Christian. Now, while Mary was with the Apostles in the Upper Room in Jerusalem at the dawn of the Church, her faith, born from the words of the Annunciation, found confirmation. 11:26-27; 1 Cor. "134 Later, in 1968, in the Profession of faith known as the "Credo of the People of God." Christ's Mother-who was present at the beginning of "the time of the Church," when in expectation of the coming of the Holy Spirit she devoted herself to prayer in the midst of the Apostles and her Son's disciples-constantly "precedes" the Church in her journey through human history. St._Mary,_Mother_of_the_Redeemer_Church_-_Groton,_Connecticut.jpg&oldid=715318256" Categories: Churches in New London County, Connecticut . In these sublime words, which are simultaneously very simple and wholly inspired by the sacred texts of the people of Israel,89 Mary's personal experience, the ecstasy of her heart, shines forth. Buying grocery cards from the Knights of Columbus before every Mass during the weekends, or 3. And how is one to understand that "kingdom" which "will have no end"? "98 This role is at the same time special and extraordinary. In their midst Mary was "devoted to prayer" as the "mother of Jesus" (cf. 2:7). From the Cross, that is to say from the very heart of the mystery of Redemption, there radiates and spreads out the prospect of that blessing of faith It goes right hack to "the beginning." Gen. 3:15). And that first group of those who in faith looked "upon Jesus as the author of salvation,"62 knew that Jesus was the Son of Mary, and that she was his Mother, and that as such she was from the moment of his conception and birth a unique witness to the mystery of Jesus, that mystery which before their eyes had been disclosed and confirmed in the Cross and Resurrection. Each child is surrounded in the same way by that maternal love on which are based the child's development and coming to maturity as a human being. Log In. Why does the archangel address the Virgin of Nazareth in this way? Jn. 1:43) Elizabeth bears witness to Mary: she recognizes and proclaims that before her stands the Mother of the Lord, the Mother of the Messiah. As the Council teaches, Mary "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently await and receive salvation from him."22. This is the gospel in which Mary is present as the mother who conceives Jesus in her womb, gives him birth and nurses him: the nursing mother referred to by the woman in the crowd. Indeed she is 'clearly the mother of the members of Christsince she cooperated out of love so that there might be born in the Church the faithful.'"48. 5:18-29), it is also eternally linked to Christ. At the same time, by means of this truth about God, the Church desires to shed light upon the difficult and sometimes tangled paths of man's earthly existence. It is an unending and continuous transformation between falling and rising again, between the man of sin and the man of grace and justice. The liturgy does not hesitate to call her "mother of her Creator"26 and to hail her with the words which Dante Alighieri places on the lips of St. Bernard: "daughter of your Son. I also recall the Icon of the Virgin of the Cenacle, praying with the Apostles as they awaited the Holy Spirit: could she not become the sign of hope for all those who, in fraternal dialogue, wish to deepen their obedience of faith? This maternal role of Mary flows, according to God's good pleasure, "from the superabundance of the merits of Christ; it is founded on his mediation, absolutely depends on it, and draws all its efficacy from it. You'll be able to give to any of our collections and view complete financial records at any time. 19:25). And how powerful too is the action of grace in her soul, how all-pervading is the influence of the Holy Spirit and of his light and power! "41 In the light of this comparison with Eve, the Fathers of the Church-as the Council also says-call Mary the "mother of the liing" and often speak of "death through Eve, life through Mary."42. 2 Pt. They must resolve considerable discrepancies of doctrine concerning the mystery and ministry of the Church, and sometimes also concerning the role of Mary in the work of salvation.75 The dialogues begun by the Catholic Church with the Churches and Ecclesial Communities of the West76 are steadily converging upon these two inseparable aspects of the same mystery of salvation. St. Mary, Mother of the Redeemer is alive in the spirit of Jesus Christ. 21. To him all things are made subject until he subjects himself and all created things to the Father, that God may be all in all (cf.