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CCCB statement regarding recent discovery at former Kamloops Indian Residential School

5/31/2021

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​Statement from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops following the recent discovery at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation 

On behalf of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), I express our deepest sorrow for the heartrending loss of the children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. 

The news of the recent discovery is shocking. It rekindles trauma in numerous communities across this land. Honouring the dignity of the lost little ones demands that the truth be brought to light. 

This tragedy profoundly impacts Indigenous communities, with whom many people across this land and throughout the world now stand in solidarity. 

As we see ever more clearly the pain and suffering of the past, the Bishops of Canada pledge to continue walking side by side with Indigenous Peoples in the present, seeking greater healing and reconciliation for the future. 

We lift up prayers to the Lord for the children who have lost their lives and pledge our close accompaniment of Indigenous families and communities. 

May our Creator God bless all of us with consolation and hope. 

+ Richard Gagnon 
Archbishop of Winnipeg and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, ​31 May 2021


Related articles
  • A statement from the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) regarding news from the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation on the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the Kamloops Residential School run by the OMI. Read message
  • Diocese of Kamloops: Bishop Joseph Nguyen's message about the findings at the former residential school site in Kamloops. Read message
  • Archdiocese of Edmonton: Video message from Archbishop Smith after the tragic discovery made at the former Kamloops Residential School site, and the way forward through the intercession of St. Kateri. Watch video ​
  • Resources from CCCB on Indigenous People (pastoral and current reconciliation initiatives, TRC, letters and statements, encounters with popes etc.)​ 
  • Current initiatives: The Bishops in Canada have been working with Indigenous Peoples since the 17th century. A number of religious institutes of consecrated life, as well as Catholic lay organizations, have also been involved in working with Indigenous Peoples; a more recent example is Our Lady of Guadalupe Circle, a Catholic coalition of Indigenous people, Bishops, lay movements, clergy, and institutes of consecrated life. The members of the Circle are engaged in renewing and fostering relationships between the Catholic Church and Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Our Lady of Guadalupe Circle | Listening Circles | National Day of Prayer in Solidarity with Indigenous People |  Returning to Spirit 
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Let us join in prayer as a community of faith:
  • For the children whose death in Kamloops Residential School were undocumented and whose passing has now been recognized, may they be welcomed into the light and peace of your kingdom, and may they find the fullness of your charity and love, and live in the joys of eternal life. 
  • For the families of the deceased children in Kamloops residential school, may they be lifted from the depths of their grief and strengthened in faith and hope.  
  • For our current leaders and all of us, may God give us the courage to face our shared history and the desire to continue and forge new paths of justice and healing. May our respect for one another lead to acts of human solidarity and bring about spiritual and social change for the good of all.
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Trinity Sunday

5/27/2021

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God is with us; who are we accompanying?

​On Trinity Sunday, we often hear homilies about the theological mystery of the Trinity, but this year, perhaps we could focus on the theological miracle: that the three persons of God have promised to be with us to the end of time.

We have been promised that the Triune God will never leave us. Just as Jesus came to earth to reveal this to us, we are asked to be ambassadors of this kind of love in the world. Who knows God’s constant presence because you show up for them consistently? Your family and friends? Your community and neighbours? What about the sick and the suffering, the neglected and needy, the addicted and the poor? How are we bearing witness to the Triune God’s constant and faithful presence as an act of faith in the Blessed Trinity?*

May others know God’s enduring love because we have borne witness to it so well.

  • Trinity Sunday Resources 
    • How to celebrate Trinity Sunday at home?
    • The Trinity & Mission - Tim O'Malley
    • History and liturgy of the Holy Trinity
    • Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer
    • Resources for Family & children:
      • Kid's Bulletin for Trinity Sunday
      • Craft for kids from Catholic Icing
      • Catholic Cuisine for Trinity Sunday 
      • The Holy Trinity quiz 
      • The Sign of the Cross poster
      • Video for children on Trinity Sunday 

(excerpt from National Pastoral Initiative for Life and the Family, May 2021).
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Celebrating Pentecost at home

5/19/2021

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Pentecost can be just another Sunday, or it can be one of the highlights in the devotional life of the Church! What will it be in your home this year?

The Church celebrates Pentecost as a day of great joy, the day on which God's people of the new covenant were revealed to the world. It is an epiphany: Christ makes his spouse known to the world, and invites all to become his members. On this day we praise God who pours his Spirit on us as his first gift to believers. We praise God for his gift, the Spirit, and for the many ways in which the Spirit is poured into our hearts and lives. Pentecost is a day of praise and gratitude. (CCCB)

Here is one simple prayer to the Holy Spirit that you can pray all year long: 
  • Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love.
    V. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.
    R. And you shall renew the face of the earth.
    Let us pray. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

​Ideas for activities and celebration of Pentecost 
  • Watch & Pray: Full List of Livestream Masses
    Solemnity of Pentecost Vigil with Bishop McGrattan, Saturday, May 22 at 7 pm. Watch here
  • Pray the Liturgy of the Hour. Download printable PDF Morning Prayer | Evening Prayer 
  • Play the Pentecost Sacred Music playlist
  • Prayers between Ascension and Pentecost
  • Pray the First Novena from Ascension to Pentecost
  • Ideas for Celebrating Pentecost with your family (Catechist Journey, Loyola Press)
  • 10 Pentecost activities for kids and families (Traci M Smith)
  • Pentecost Crafts with kids

Singing the Pentecost Sequence
  • Chant in Latin
    • Modern notation: Breaking Bread 2019 on page 177
    • Square notation: Print notation | Listen
  • Chant in English
    • Breaking Bread 2019 on page 177 | Listen
    • Alternate English Versions
      • CBW III no. 692 - Matches English text in Canadian lectionary | Listen
      • Breaking Bread 2019 nos. nos. 188 and 189
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Painting: Hainaut, Valenciennes (c 1480-1490) by follower or Simon Marmion
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2021 Laudato Si' Week

5/17/2021

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To celebrate the end of the Laudato Si’ Special Anniversary Year, Pope Francis invites the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics to joyfully participate in Laudato Si’ Week 2021, to be held May 16–24, 2021.
 
Through live dialogues and Spirit-filled conversations, the weeklong celebration - “for we know that things can change” (Laudato Si’ 13) - will highlight the great progress Catholics have made in bringing Laudato Si’ to life and inspire the faithful everywhere to plan further action ahead of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15), the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and the decade ahead.
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All official program events will focus on three key elements of celebration – action - testimony, and will be simultaneously translated into English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, and French.

Join Official programming at laudatosiweek.org

For those with young children, here are some 
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Catholic Education Week 2021

5/10/2021

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Letter from the Alberta & NWT Bishops

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

In May each year we mark Catholic Education Week, which celebrates the important and vital role our publicly funded Catholic schools play in the province of Alberta by providing a faith-based education to more than 180,000 students. The Alberta Bishops’ commitment to Catholic education remains steadfast. We engage actively with the Alberta Catholic School Trustees’ Association (ACSTA), the Council of Catholic School Superintendents of Alberta (CCSSA) and Grateful Advocates for Catholic Education (GrACE) to ensure the future of Catholic education in our province. 
 
The theme for this year’s Catholic Education Week is drawn from the Book of Isaiah. We offer it to our educators, students and families as the sure source of encouragement and strength as we respond to the challenges facing us all at this time in history. 
 
Those who hope in the LORD shall renew their strength. (Isaiah 40:31, NRSV.) 
 
The pandemic continues to have a deep impact on every facet of our communal life and society, including the Catholic Education of our young people. During the shut-down of schools in the spring of last year, Catholic Education faced this challenge by providing virtual classrooms, which continued to engage students in their academic learning and religious faith instruction. When the schools reopened in the fall, many new practices were put in place to adhere to the health precautions and ensure student safety. In the midst of these current challenges, Catholic Education continues to accompany students and their families, always encouraging them to see that our strength for both the present and future springs from our hope in the Lord. 
 
The Pastoral Statement on the Impact of COVID-19 and the Call to Christian Renewal we released last year identified the present moment as a “time for bold creativity and life-giving transformation for all” as we address the significant societal issues brought to light by the pandemic. It calls people of faith to chart a prophetic path of hope toward a more just society for the children of future generations. 
 
“Specifically, we seek new ways to promote authentic human development and flourishing in the very way that we live, care for others, work, organize society and interact with one another. Moved by our faith in Christ and inspired by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, we invite the Catholic community to join us in looking afresh at certain aspects of our life together in society, to discern and decide a course for true social, cultural and spiritual renewal.” - Pastoral Statement on the Impact of COVID-19 and the Call to Christian Renewal. 
 
Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, proposes a similar renewal by rediscovering the value of human fraternity and recognizing ourselves as sisters and brothers, who are responsible for one another and called to stand by those who suffer. 
 
“Education and upbringing, concern for others, a well-integrated view of life and spiritual growth: all these are essential for quality human relationships and for enabling society itself to react against injustices, aberrations and abuses of economic, technological, political and media power.” (Fratelli Tutti, No. 167) 
 
Catholic Education endeavours to foster high academic achievement and provide students with personal and communal spiritual formation. It invites our young people to see each other and, indeed, all peoples of the world, as their sisters and brothers. This solidarity calls the students to respond to those in need both locally and globally. These good works help young people to seek the common good and to bring Christ’s love and hope to others, especially during this pandemic. 
 
This year Catholic Education Week once again unites us virtually as one “educational family” and as a “single family of faith” through liturgical celebrations, Scripture reading, and prayer., Each day of the week will focus on one of the “Five Marks of Catholic Education”, while also drawing upon themes for the Year of St. Joseph announced by Pope Francis. Thursday, May 13th is World Catholic Education Day, on which the contemplative and consecrated religious women and men of our Dioceses will offer special prayers for the teachers, staff, students and their families facing the ongoing challenges of the pandemic. We invite all clergy and parishioners to unite their own prayers to this initiative. 
 
May all of our efforts bring hope and renewed strength to everyone engaged in Catholic Education in this province. We gladly extend to our Catholic school communities our prayers and blessing for Catholic Education Week 2021. 
 
Yours in Christ,
 
Catholic Bishops of Alberta and Northwest Territories
catholic_education_week_2021_-_letter_from_ab___nwt_bishops.pdf
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2021 Catholic Education Week Prayers | Download daily prayes

Pray with Alberta Bishops during Catholic Education Week - at 11 am each day.
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  • Monday, May 10 - Liturgy with Bishop David Motiuk, Eparchy of Edmonton | Zoom link | Meeting ID: 851 9184 0999 - Passcode: 103446 

  • Tuesday, May 11 - Seven Sorrows & Seven Joys of St. Joseph with Archbishop Pettipas, Archdiocese Grouard-McLennan | Zoom link | Meeting ID: 869 9150 4909 - Passcode: G PCSD

  • Wednesday, May 12 - Holy Mass with Archbishop Richard Smith, Archdiocese of Edmonton | Facebook Live link

  • Thursday, May 13 - Liturgy, World Catholic Education Day with Bishop Paul Terrio, Diocese of St. Paul | Zoom link | Meeting ID: 982 1302 9174 - Passcode: ss8L2Z  |  Thursday, May 13 is World Catholic Education Day on which the clergy and consecrated religious women of the dioceses will offer special prayers for the teachers, staff, students and their families facing the ongoing challenges of the pandemic. Please join us!
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  • Friday, May 14 - Liturgy, Consecration to St. Joseph with Bishop William McGrattan, Diocese of Calgary | Zoom link | Meeting ID: 992 7479 9089 Passcode: 1drDm3
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Impact of COVID-19 on women, mothers, and families

5/7/2021

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Last Fall the Alberta Bishops issued a Pastoral Statement on the Impact of COVID-19 and the Call to Christian Renewal.  At that time, the pandemic was beginning to alert us to a number of important human and social issues: isolation and depression in our homes and communities, the prevalence and stigma of mental illness, substance abuse, suicide, and other social ills, in addition to increased rates of domestic violence, elder abuse, and other forms of interpersonal violence.
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In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis also acknowledged that although it is “true, a worldwide tragedy like the COVID-19 pandemic momentarily revived the sense that we are global community, all in the same boat, where one person’s problem are the problems of others. Yet, the storm has exposed our vulnerability and uncovered those false and superfluous certainties around which we construct our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities …” (FT no. 32)  The Pope goes on to say, “the pain, uncertainty and fear, and the realization of our own limitations, brought on by the pandemic have only made it all the more urgent that we rethink our styles of life, our relationships, the organization of our societies and, above all, the meaning of our existence.” (FT no. 33)

Now in the month of May, we recall and celebrate the importance of those women who in being “mothers” give the world the gift of life, maternal care, love and guidance.  As Catholics, we also honour our spiritual mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary and during this pandemic, Pope Francis has invited the Marian shrines throughout the world to be united in prayer, like the early Church, in the recitation of the Holy Rosary for the end of the pandemic.  

As we approach Mother’s Day this year, it is important to also acknowledge the human and social issues that are impacting on women and girls in our society, mothers and families. A recent UN Report – How COVID-19 Impacts Women and Girls reported the following, “the COVID-19 pandemic underscores society’s reliance on women both on the front line and at home, while simultaneously exposing structural inequalities across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection. In times of crisis, when resources are strained and institutional capacity is limited, women and girls face disproportionate impacts with far reaching consequences that are only further amplified in contexts of fragility, conflict and emergencies.”

In 2016, Pope Francis issued the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia concerning the experiences and challenges of families. He noted that “at times we have also proposed a far too abstract and almost artificial theological ideal of marriage, far removed from the concrete situations and practical possibilities of real families ...  especially when we have failed to inspire trust in God’s grace.” (AL no. 36) He also quoted the Bishops of Mexico in that “violence within families breeds new forms of aggression … This is often the case with families where communication is lacking, defensive attitudes predominate, the members are not supportive of one another, family activities that encourage participation are absent, the parental relationship is frequently conflictual and violent, and the relationship between the parents and the children are marked by hostility. Violence within the family is a breeding-ground of resentment and hatred in the most basic human relationship.” (AL no. 51)

It is true that during the pandemic we have come to recognize the increase of domestic violence and its impact upon mothers and indeed, the family. “A crisis in a couple’s relationship destabilizes the family and may lead, through separation and divorce, to serious consequences for adults, children and society as a whole, weakening its individual and social bonds” (AL no. 41).

This awareness should also lead us to respond in ways that support the family. Elizabeth House continues to receive women who are sometimes fleeing from such situations of violence and instability to find a home in which to support them in their pregnancy and parenting. Catholic Family Service offers counselling and programs to support families and parents. Our Catholic schools have been extremely proactive in supporting students who find themselves in such family situations of conflict. The Diocese promotes the offering of Retrouvaille, a program to assist married couples who seek ways to work through their marital difficulties relying on and recognizing the grace of God at work through the Sacrament of Marriage.

Such initiatives need to be expanded in the wake of the pandemic to address the internal family stresses or external pressures such as unemployment that have been caused by the pandemic and which have had a disproportionate effect on women. Other initiatives such as part-time education, adequate childcare, improved places of shelter and support for those fleeing domestic violence need to be part of our response.

May is the month in which we focus our attention on the importance of women in society, especially in the family as mothers. Perhaps the pandemic is also opening our eyes to the violence and conflict that is specifically experienced by and targeted against women, and that in justice and compassion, we must respond in true spirit of Christian renewal now and in the future. Let us continue to pray for the intercession of the Blessed Mary Virgin and offer the Rosary for the end of the pandemic and the injustices it has exposed. Mother Mary, pray for us!    
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Written by Most Rev. William T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary
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May 7, 2021
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A month for mothers

5/5/2021

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​Like May, October is a month of special dedication to Mary and therefore also to mothers. Three of our daughters were born in October, and though not born then the due date for our eldest could have placed her there too. The youngest of these October-babies was named after my grandmother – and born the day after Gramma died. While not unexpected, her death was felt deeply by many. Though Gramma was not herself part of their social circles, friends of my parents and in-laws of our relatives honoured her and our family with their presence at the funeral. Her young great-granddaughter, less than a week old, flew with my wife back home to be there. And I drove the eight highway hours with our other six daughters.
 
As a group, mothers exemplify the best of those supportive qualities, especially their own children. While fathers certainly love our children too, it has been said that in some ways we learn how to father by watching our wives mother. The Second Vatican Council said the family is “a school of deeper humanity.” To be in Gramma’s presence was to learn, and being deprived of that presence (even if we know that death changes life, does not end it) fifteen years later is still a loss.
 
Thinking of Gramma brings memories of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. We call these Fruits of the Spirit, the result of living a life of virtue. They came from how she lived her life, but like real fruit they were enjoyed more by those around her than by the one who produced them.
 
Our eldest daughter commented that she wished the lesson of appreciating others better was not learned after their death. It doesn’t need to be so but we often let it be. May reminds us to appreciate what is perhaps the first of our human relationships, with our mothers. We can thank these women explicitly with words and gestures, as well as implicitly in how we generously live our lives.

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​Written by Wayne Ottenbreit for Faithfully. Wayne writes as an educator, psychotherapist, husband, and father to nine daughters. Altogether they have recently launched online courses addressing family life, relationships, and personal growth at VivensAcademy.thinkific.com
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Feast of Our Lady of Fatima - May 13

5/5/2021

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The Diocese of Calgary invites you to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima on Thursday, May 13, 2021 with your community. The message of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima pleaded with an urgent call to conversion of heart, penance and repentance. Please consider joining these events:

  1. Mater Fatima for the World - Mass & Worldwide Rosary
    On May 13, Colombia will host the worldwide rosary, which will be held at the National Marian Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquira, the Patron Saint of Colombia. The worldwide rosary will be held within the framework of the 450th anniversary of the Battle of Lepanto's victory, in which the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima heard the appeal made by the Church and the people. Holy Mass, Exposition, Rosary, Consecration to Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and Procession will be available livestreamed, starting at 10 am (Calgary time). Livestream links: Youtube | Facebook Live 

  2. Our Lady of Fatima Parish - Mass & Rosary
    On May 13, Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Calgary invites all the faithful to participate in the day's celebration through Mass and Rosary at 6 pm. Livestream links: Facebook Live or watch on TELUS Optik TV Ch. 877
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The wonderful gift of Catholic education

5/4/2021

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Four of our five children attended and graduated from our Catholic schools in Brooks. What a gift and blessing this was for Aggie and me, as we witnessed our children grow in their faith, not only at home but away from home. It was not an easy decision to move our children from a public school system where they were well treated, well educated and highly involved within their respective classes. We recognized though, that something was missing within the secular school system they attended, something we so desired them to have; a faith based Catholic education.

This deep desire for Catholic Education for our children was finally attained in 1996, and the journey of watching them grow and graduate in a Catholic education system was realized! Their experiences in Catholic education were so important in the career decisions and direction each of them were to make, following graduation from St. Joseph’s Collegiate High School in Brooks.
Catholic Education created for our children, experiences of sponsoring friends in joining the Catholic faith, mentoring young people in faith by being members of NET (National Evangelization Team), Face-To-Face (Catholic Retreat Team), CCO (Catholic Christian Outreach). The gift of Catholic education our children received in our Brooks schools led them to an even more meaningful, active faith life in their post- secondary education, which ultimately led them meeting their current spouses, teaching in Catholic schools, and their children attending Catholic schools.
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Catholic Education and the educators within Christ The Redeemer Catholic Schools have been an integral part in the formation and witness our children are now demonstrating in their respective communities. The wonderful gift of Catholic education which our children experienced, and now their children, our delightful grandchildren, is a legacy and blessing we cherish with profound gratitude.
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Written by John deJong for Faithfully. John is a Catholic school trustee for the ward of Brooks within Christ the Redeemer Catholic School District.  He and his wife, Aggie, have five children and 16 grandchildren.  As founding parents in 1996, John and Aggie are so pleased to be celebrating 25 Years of Catholic Education in Brooks with their community.
Photos courtesy of John deJong. 
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Lyrics, Lies, and Love: Coming to Brooks

5/4/2021

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“You must be Olivia. We’ve been waiting for you!” These words stand out as the first time in my life I had felt genuinely welcomed. I was a cradle Catholic, but I was hesitant about faith. I’d accepted a position at a Catholic school under the guise that I’d gone to a Catholic school, so I could surely teach at one. I didn’t even really want to be a teacher – my practicum experiences had left a sour taste in my mouth (seemed apropos, given the general trajectory of my life – disappointment after disappointment after disappointment.)
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Imagine my surprise when, after a totally-unexpected job offer, I walked into St. Joseph’s Collegiate in Brooks, Alberta, ready for more disappointment, only to be welcomed with the most genuine of greetings: “We’ve been waiting for you!”
Waiting? Waiting for me? For me? What for? I was a disappointment. Never good enough. Never accomplished enough. I’d always been convinced that the only thing those around me saw was my failure. I worked so, so hard to combat these beliefs, but my strength wasn’t enough. The harder I worked to prove myself, the stronger the lies about my identity piled up. I believed that I would never amount to anything worthy of love.

Those lies brought me to the brink on a regular basis. I was fractured. Cracked. Even so, the light got in. Before the Holy Spirit nudged me not-so-gently from Nova Scotia to Brooks, chance meetings with those who knew Jesus punctuated my life: Sarah, a classmate in a first-year English class at university, whose quiet faith both intrigued and unsettled me.

​She’d invite me to faith activities on campus, but that just “wasn’t my style.” Claudette and Theresa, two religious sisters who frequented the gym at which I was employed. They were so, so kind, and I always felt that they saw the real me – the me that even I was incapable of fully accepting. But I never followed where I now know they were praying for my heart to be led: to Jesus.

God brought me to Brooks. Slowly but surely, He’s been delivering me from the weight of the lies I’d carried around my entire life. Over the course of the last decade and a half, He’s shown me what love looks like, and He’s revealed that love in a myriad of ways.

Don’t get me wrong. I still struggle, but now I see the lies that I believed for so long for what they are. The sure knowledge that they are lies and that God is healing me makes the weight of suffering manageable. Jesus says “my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” – this is the absolute truth.

It was with arms wide open that I was invited into my new place of employment, my new city, my new life. It was with arms wide open that I was invited to experience the miraculous healing of a loving Saviour. I’ve been a teacher with Christ The Redeemer Catholic Schools in Brooks for 14 years, and even though I have a myriad of stories that reveal the amazing opportunities Catholic education has afforded me, it’s that greeting the moment I first stepped into St. Joseph’s Collegiate – a greeting that so very much juxtaposed with the life I’d lived up until that point – that will forever be my first and most fundamental memory of Catholic Education in Brooks. It’s a love that I know intimately now, and a love that allows me to welcome others - with open arms, naturally.

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Written by Olivia Liboiron for Faithfully. Olivia is a committed Catholic educator, wife and mother of two precious children.  She has been in the community of Brooks since 2007.  She currently teaches at Christ the King Academy, Brooks’ Catholic middle school.  Olivia’s passion for Catholic education makes her an ideal advocate; her strong and obvious faith allows her to witness to each student, colleague and parent she encounters.
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Faith in times we couldn’t imagine

5/4/2021

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In times we couldn’t imagine, even just a year ago, we have found many different ways to rely on and share our faith.  Working in a Catholic school division has provided me with many opportunities to pray and grow with my fellow staff and students.  This year has been no exception. At a time when physically being together is not acceptable, we have found ways to still gather in our faith. In Fort McMurray Catholic Schools, this has taken on many new forms.

School liturgies have always been an integral part of who we are as a Catholic school. At Father Mercredi High School, liturgies are predominantly led by a student liturgy team. We wondered what this would look like this year. How would we keep this very important part of our prayer life alive?
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We have found ways to celebrate together, from our individual classrooms. We have hosted several school-wide liturgies using Google meet. I, along with my student liturgy team, have continued to lead the school in prayer, each from our own classroom. Students now know how to speak to a computer screen, and yet when we listen, we can hear the collective prayers through the hallways as all students join in response.

As a Division, we also felt it was more important than ever this year to share faith with our families. In the past, families would be invited into the schools for our liturgies, so this year we needed a new plan. During the initial public health restrictions last March, we started Thankful Thursday Liturgies, where I would go live on the Fort McMurray Catholic Schools’ Facebook account from the Chapel at our school. The liturgies were well received and we felt this was an excellent way to continue the engagement of our community and families this year.

This year has also brought me many opportunities to learn from other members of our staff, as we continue to look for new ways to engage the students in their faith from afar. When we went back to off-site learning at the end of November, just as Advent was beginning, it was important that we find ways to not only observe the importance of the Advent season, but to have students reflect on the meaning of the season. This prompted a series of short videos made in my home, with the help of my 9 year old daughter. These videos included the lighting of our family Advent wreath and a series of images depicting the theme of the week with an explanation of what each week symbolized in our Advent journey. Teachers shared these videos in their google classrooms, along with a google form asking all staff and students to respond to the weekly theme. Responses were compiled into a weekly image, which was shared on our social media, prompting more conversation and discussion within our community.

Personally, I have learned over the last number of months, that while we may not be able to gather in large school groups, or even be in the building together; our faith, which is such an important part of who we are as a Catholic School Community, has continued to grow and blossom.

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Written by Cherie Phinney for Faithfully.

​Cherie Phinney has served faithfully as Chaplain at Father Mercredi High School for 3 years. Originally from Nova Scotia, Cherie joined the Fort McMurray Catholic Schools’ family in 2009 and has been a faith leader in the community ever since.
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Becoming very Marian this May

5/4/2021

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​During May, the Church asks us to grow closer to Our Blessed Mother. St. Josemaria said, “If you want to be faithful, be very Marian.” Here are five ways we can become ‘very Marian.’
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Get Acquainted
Our Lady is a person, not just an idea. She is our faithful, tender Mother and glorious, admirable Queen. Let us become acquainted with Our Lady’s character, mission, and personal love! She introduces herself to us in personal prayer, through the Church’s antiphons, books, Liturgy, prayers, and art. The Litany of Loreto, for example, provides many titles of Mary that communicate her goodness. Another example is how images of the Immaculate Heart of Mary can put us in intimate contact with her Heart which burns with the purest love of God. Through prayer, we can personally know and love the Mother who already knows and loves us.
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Daily Rosary or bust!
Our Lady has made it clear that she desires that each of us pray the Rosary every single day. St. John Paul II backed this up by saying, “the Rosary is our daily meeting which neither I nor the Blessed Virgin Mary neglect.” But St. Josemaria advises: “Do you want to love Our Lady? Well, get to know her. How? By praying her Rosary well.” From those who already do pray the Rosary daily, it may be that Our Lady asks for a focus on praying it well. Let us slow down, pull out Scripture or another aid for meditation, (I love St. Josemaria’s!), and be more receptive to the Word of God as we pray.
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The Scapular and the Miraculous Medal
Sacramentals such as the Brown Scapular and the Miraculous Medal help us to receive God’s grace. The Scapular is a woolen necklace which one wears as a daily silent prayer of entrustment and devotion to Our Mother. Our Lady gave the Miraculous Medal to St. Catherine Labouré, promising that “those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around their neck." Our Lady chooses to channel God’s grace upon us through these two means in particular. If you were thinking about being enrolled in the Scapular or getting a Miraculous Medal, consider this your sign
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"Pray my Seven Sorrows to find repentance"
Our Mother desires our highest good, a life “dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.” She has repeatedly expressed this desire in her apparitions. St. John Paul II described the message of Our Lady of Fatima as, “in its basic nucleus, a call to conversion and repentance.” Our Lady of Kibeho gave an urgent call: “Convert to God! Convert to God! Convert to God!” She asked us to pray the Seven Sorrows Rosary to meditate on her experience of the Passion of Jesus. St. Teresa of Calcutta said that “her role is to bring you face to face… with the love in the Heart of Jesus crucified.” Who can teach us to hate sin, even venial sin, like Our Lady of Sorrows, who watched the Blood pour from Jesus’ wounds, until she held His crumpled Body in her arms? Her merciful arms reach out to console us in our sinfulness and guide us to wholeheartedly receive Divine Mercy in Confession.
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A decisive turning point
Marian consecration is the twofold act of renewing one’s Baptismal vows and of making a sincere gift of self to God through Mary: “I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours.” It is a promise of obedience to her will, the Will of God. It is a time-tested recipe for sainthood; St. John Paul II called his consecration a “decisive turning point” in his life. Through Marian consecration, one’s whole life becomes a sacrifice for God. By giving her our merits, we cease to offer God an hour of work, for example, for a particular intention. Rather, we offer every action to Our Lady, and trust her to choose, in her loving wisdom, how to apply our merits. Moreover, Our Lady purifies the love that we offer to God through her and increases our capacity for sacrificial love. 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael Gaitley is a great guide. From those who are already consecrated to her, it may be that Our Lady asks greater commitment to a pursuit of sainthood.
Let us earnestly love Our Lady! ​
Servus Mariae nunquam peribit.
 The servant of Mary shall never perish.

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​Written by Angela Blach for Faithfully.
​Angela is a student at the University of Calgary studying history and education. She belongs to the St. Francis Xavier Chaplaincy. She enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her friends.
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Marie Madeleine d'Houet

5/4/2021

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PictureMarie Madeleine D’Houet
Marie Madeleine D’Houet. Do you know the name? Do you know the woman? There is a Calgary Catholic School named for her. She has been declared “Venerable” by the Church and her process for canonization awaits a miracle. Who is she and what’s her connection to Calgary?
 
Marie Madeleine d’Houet is the Foundress of the Sisters, Faithful Companions of Jesus. She began her new religious congregation in 1820 (so last year was the FCJ Sisters’ Bicentennial). The new congregation opened its first convent in Amiens, France. The Jesuits inspired Marie Madeleine--she loved their spirit of self-renunciation in order to love God with a whole heart and she was inspired by their passion for mission. She would often pray, “ O God, give your Church women Jesuits!”
 
In the years after the French Revolution, France needed a lot of help to rebuild the country, particularly in educating poor children and girls of all social classes. So, Marie Madeleine started schools. Typically, she founded a boarding school for the daughters of wealthy parents and then used some of the school fees to open a day school for poor children. Many women caught her spirit and joined the new community. Soon, she had established convents and schools in many town and cities in France, England, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium.

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By the time of her death in 1858, the congregation had received Papal approval. If you’d like to read more about her life, you can visit the FCJ Sisters website or stop by the FCJ Centre behind the Cathedral and borrow a copy of her short biography. Sr. Madeleine Gregg wrote picture books to teach children and youth about Marie Madeleine’s life, published in 2020, that are available for sale at the FCJ Centre.
 
In 1882 Bishop Vital Grandin, OMI wrote to Mother Josephine Petit, Superior General of the Sisters. “I hope, Reverend Mother, that you will be willing to come to our aid by accepting a foundation in my poor diocese…” Mother Josephine Petit answered that plea, “Monseigneur, you ask for Sisters for your schools and your diocese in urgent need. The journey will be long, difficult, costly, and even dangerous…Your poverty does not permit you to pay our traveling expenses. You ask for sacrifices. Well, we will do it for God.” 
 
The first Sisters left Liverpool, England on May 10, 1883. Four went to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and four went 40 miles further, to St. Laurent. With the Riel Rebellion and active shooting, Bishop Grandin sent the Sisters to Calgary, where they arrived on July 26, 1885.  The Oblate priests handed over their house to the sisters, who opened St. Mary’s School five weeks later. Details about the journey to Canada and harrowing accounts of the early days in Saskatchewan can be found here.
 
One of these Sisters, Mother Mary Greene, was an extraordinary woman who seemed to take the work of establishing new schools and convents in stride. (There is a Calgary Catholic School named for her, too.) She was the first principal of St. Mary’s School and it was through her hard work and shrewd negotiation that the Calgary Catholic schools were given equal funding with the non-Catholic schools… that both were funded as public schools.
 
They say that when Bishop Carroll visited rural areas within our Diocese, he kept encountering families with strong Catholic faith, devotions, and traditional practices, even through many of them were able to attend Mass only rarely.  When he asked about how they were managing to keep the faith, the mothers often responded, “We are Mother Mary Greene Catholics!” They had attended St. Mary’s in Calgary as boarding students and their solid faith formation allowed them to carry on, even in the absence of the sacraments!

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The first convent, created from the Oblate Father’s house, was soon too small. In 1892, the sandstone Sacred Heart Convent was built. The main floor has been preserved as “heritage rooms” with very interesting features to admire. In 1922, two large wings were added to the convent/boarding school:  a large Chapel and the even larger 4-story addition. This beautiful sandstone building, situation between the Cathedral and the Elbow River, is now a retreat center. ​


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Written by Sr. Madeleine Gregg, fcJ for Faithfully.
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​Please join us on Sunday, May 16, from 2:45 pm to 5 pm when the FCJ Centre will celebrate the Bicentennial of the Sisters with a Showcase of the spirit and work of the FCJ sisters around the world and a presentation of what goes on now at the FCJ Centre!

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Sure assurance in Mary

5/4/2021

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An Evening with Mary

After my second pilgrimage to Lourdes, France in 2013, I felt a stronger call for a devotion to the Blessed Mother. This was how "An Evening with Mary" ministry started. I wanted to serve the Blessed Mother by helping the community foster a beautiful devotion to Mary, to bring the gifts of our prayers as a bouquet of flowers for her. 

Though the route of Our Lady is always on the tough side, her strong intercession for us all has brought many persons to Her. Through the blessed Lourdes pilgrimage, I met a group of friends who were also excited to devote themselves to the Blessed Mother.

At the beginning of our ministry, there were many crosses, sufferings, rejections, and stress, but our hearts were on fire to start the devotion. 
With the initial help from Mr. Gerson, and spiritual guidance of Fr. Gerard Hatton, we celebrated our first home-based devotion on Feb. 11, 2017.  The statue of Our Lady was also blest on this day by Rev. Father Antoni Paul for the devotion to the Immaculate Conception, Lourdes and Health of the Sick (Vailankanni). With this devotional ministry, we hope that all pilgrims may experience the mantle love of Our Lady, allowing us to celebrate the blessing of Lourdes here in the Diocese. 

Latin Rosary

For over a year, the world has been living in very tough times. Times are filled with confusion, fear and uncertainty. We felt that the devil enjoys creating division, destruction and hatred among the people of God. With this in our mind, Jude Ghia from our ministry, was drawn to start a group and pray the Rosary in Latin, the official language of the universal Church. Our Lady talk about the importance in reciting the Rosary, and many Saints demonstrated their love for the Latin language and prayed in this sacred language throughout the ages. 

Currently due to the pandemic restrictions the recitation of the Rosary in Latin is hosted online (Zoom) every Saturday at 7 am. It’s been close to 6 months since we started the Latin rosary. Many Catholics join us from across the world to pray as one children of God. During the rosary, we pray for our individual intentions along with world peace, the intensions of the Holy Father Pope Francis, the health of Pope Emeritus Benedict the XVI, the conversion of sinners, the souls in purgatory, for our Bishops, priests, deacons and all people dedicated to religious life and for church unity.

In these past 4 years, many who have prayed as a child of Mary through our ministry have found favours answered through the Blessed Mother's intercession, including for conversions of hearts. When topics about Our Lady is shared, peace is felt in many of us as she brings peace from her Son us all. The enrolment of The Brown Scapular of Our Lady also has led many to true conversion from this devotion. We learned more about Mary and Our Lord in our ministry. We grow, we change and we are led towards our Lord when we pray as children of one Mother, regardless how sinful we are. She loves us all unconditionally and direct our journey towards her Son always.
 
With conclusion, through Mary, our journey becomes sanctified as we entrust ourselves in her loving care. All to Jesus through Mary (Ad Iesu, per Mariam).

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, pray for us. Amen.


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Written by Murphy Alungaram (Coordinator of An Evening with Mary Lay Association), parishioner of St. Anthony's Parish, Calgary and Jude Ghia (Coordinator of Latin Rosary), parishioner of Sacred Heart's Parish, Calgary
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One woman: Stories of Mary

5/4/2021

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“Powerful,” I always think, whenever I read the story the wedding at Cana, “Mary had such power.” I’m not thinking of the kind of dominating power of dictators, but the power of one woman. One woman was chosen by God among all the women to bring Him to all of us.

“I’m just one woman!” I often exclaim in entirely different contexts; when I’m feeling frustrated or powerless and small. But sometimes I pause and reflect that if God can do such great things with Mary, maybe he can do something with me.
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May seemed like the perfect time to explore this, and I wanted to talk to other women and get their perspectives. I prayed and asked friends about who would be good to talk to, and was delighted that these four ladies shared and discussed with me. What follows is the product of phone calls that I didn’t want to end. We talked about what it looks like to be a Catholic woman who loves Mary, and to take her into our homes as our Mother. Each woman is so incredible and authentic and it brought so much light to my life to hear their stories of Our Lady in their lives.
When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 
​John 2:3-5

Christina Remijn

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Christina Remijn and family
PictureOur Lady of Fatima
​Christina and her husband Japp farm near Bow Island. When I asked how Christina wanted to be described she said, “I’m a farm wife and mom just trying to get through!” and we laughed. She and I had just caught up for nearly half-an-hour as we talked about raising kids, farming, husbands, and yes, Mary and our Catholic faith. Anyone who knows Christina knows she tells it like it is. It was a fantastic, refreshing conversation.

As we were talking I learned that though she is a cradle Catholic, Christina grew up attending a Protestant youth group, and instead of causing her faith to waver, she said, it actually did the opposite, especially in regards to Our Lady. “That’s why I’m confident that we can go to her and pray with her.”

“If Jesus is the son of God,” she said, “then who is this person who God chose to be His mother? If she’s special enough for God, then she’s special enough for me.”

With a firm foundation of Our Lady’s importance, Christina said she, like so many of us has had “no ‘aha Mary’ moment.”

“She had one perfect kid and a saint for a husband,” she exclaimed at one point in our chat and I laughed in agreement because I have often felt exactly the same way. It’s true that sometimes we have to dig a little deeper to look for similarities between ourselves and Mary.

“We’re so ordinary and boring,” she said, “I love Mary; I need Mary; we named our oldest child Mary after her, but we just do normal Catholic stuff.”

By normal, Christina meant that they ask Mary’s intercession and pray the Rosary as a family.

​A regular family rosary has long been an ambition of mine, but I’ll admit that we haven’t made it happen, which is why I admire that Christina and Japp did it this past Lent, which also coincided with the time that the farm holds a few less demands, and therefore allows Japp to be there for dinner and bedtime.

Christina said, “when it’s just me by myself with five kids, we manage a decade of the Rosary and sometimes it’s pretty ugly, but I just trust that Mary is happy that the children are there and that she knows that it is just life with little kids.”
“With the way the world is lately,” said Christina, we have felt called to be praying more and to make a point to do it with the kids, and to have the kids see us praying as well.”

May crowning of Mary are a beautiful way to honor Our Lady this month, and Christina said that they’d thought of doing that this year since her daughter Mary will be celebrating her First Communion a little differently than would normally happen.
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As I prepare one of my own sons for the sacraments, I’m intrigued by this idea too.

 

Pat Siray

PicturePat Siray
When I first met Pat, it was as a parishioner of St. Bernard’s parish where her son Fr. Nathan had recently moved. After Mass one Sunday while visiting our parish, Pat and her husband Brian who had sat behind us with our wiggly bunch of four little boys, paused to talk to us and let us know that our Mass experience had been a flashback to theirs not-too-many years before. I have been grateful for that conversation ever since and have often thought of it as I have dealt with normal little boy behaviour time and again.

Raising a bunch of boys is a task unto itself, but raising them in the Catholic faith is a thing Pat knows about very well. It wasn’t always the case though, she said, recounting a wake-up-call she experienced when preparing her oldest for First Communion. “It was like being hit over the head with a 2x4,” she said, “I realized he didn’t know anything.”

Though raised in a thoroughly Catholic home, Pat said that her years in university “weakened my faith. I never stopped believing or attending Mass, but I will admit that I became a Sunday Catholic.”

Teaching her sons would bring Pat deeper into the fold of the faith, with Our Lady playing a key role.

In 1991 Pat went on pilgrimage to well-known apparition site Medjugorje,

“That made a huge difference in my life,” she said, “Mary played a huge role in guiding me and leading me back to her Son.”

Pat started praying the Rosary again and talking to her sons about Jesus and Mary and the Church. It took her two weeks to fully unpack all that had happened in Medjugorje to awaken her faith to Brian, and “he was fascinated,” she said. “My experience changed his life.”

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Mother’s Love by Liz Lemon Swindle
In the years that followed, she said not only did they pray the Rosary as a family but that Brian built a Marian shrine in their backyard in Millarville.

“Mary became a mother to us, and I truly believe she strengthened our marriage through our life of prayer.”

That backyard shrine would see the family praying the Rosary and walking together in pilgrimage during the month of May.

“May Marian pilgrimages have become my favourite way to share my love for Our Mother Mary,” said Pat.
​
As I came home from my hasty interview with Pat, which was conducted in my mini-van as my kids played at a park, I paused for a second to look upon our own little Marian shrine, which has been neglected through the winter, and made plans for cleaning up and perhaps our own pilgrimage to echo the many Marian pilgrimages taken around the world before now.
 

Sarah Stamp

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The Stamp family
I first met Sarah when we travelled to World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002 as part of an over 80 person group. My now-husband made the same trip, and it was he who suggested I give Sarah a call.

The Stamp family resides in Vauxhall, Alberta and their story is a beautiful one. They have six children and “one in heaven,” Sarah said.

Mary Josephine is the name of the baby that Sarah and her husband Greg said goodbye to 9 years ago this October when she passed away at 20 weeks gestation.
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The rosary that Sarah found in her pocket at the graveside of her daughter.
“Now I can tell you a story about Mary,” Sarah said.

“When we had finished the funeral Mass (for Mary Josephine) I was about to fall apart, and I reached into my pocket and found a rosary. But it wasn’t my rosary. It was a blue beaded rosary that I’d never seen before. I don’t know how or why it came to be in my pocket, but at that moment I was comforted by it, and I just held it.”

The literal mystery of that rosary is still unsolved, but it was a source of consolation.

“It was a sign that Mary was with me.”

In the days that followed, Sarah said she had a very hard time praying. At times she couldn’t get out the entire Hail Mary – “All I could say was “Hail Mary,” sometimes just “Hail”, she said. But she held onto the rosary and prayed as much as she was able.
PictureOur Lady of Sorrows, the image that hangs on the wall of the Stamp home.
“I’d like to say that the praying the rosary was comforting,” she said, “but really, at the time it felt like just going through the motions.

But, I think going through the motions brings us hope; we live the hope by just saying the words.”

I was awestruck by how much wisdom Sarah has as a result of her family’s loss, and by the ardent conviction that Our Lady was there all along.
​

“She picks you up and keeps pushing you toward her son,” Sarah said. “I think she helps you to trust Jesus more.”

Later, Sarah found an icon of Our Lady of Sorrows that touched her heart enough to hang it on her wall. “She has this little tear on her face. It is just so beautiful to me – that she cries with us, and that she feels our pain.


She has always been my mother, but somehow this icon makes her real.

“I know that without tears of sorrow, we wouldn’t be able to love as God calls us to love, and in my time of sorrow, she was right there with me.”

With incredible strength, Sarah and her family carry on, but with new hope.

“When I experienced the pain that I hope no one experiences,” she said, “I got to know what it meant to love Jesus. He was so close. There was a point where I couldn’t even stand, and I needed to lean on people, but also, the more I leaned on Mary, the closer I came to Jesus.”

“I also think sometimes “Mary gets to hold my baby,” and through all of this, I have realized that heaven is a lot closer than I thought.”

I could have talked to Sarah for another hour or more, but as our little ones started to need us, one of the last things she said about Our Lady really struck me: “Part of Mary’s power is in loss; when mothers have lost so much there are no words in our hearts, it is a broken heart that you’ve never felt before, and that can really crush you.

“But I ask myself, if this hadn’t happened to us, would I have been that connected with Mary?”

These are words that I myself will contemplate for years to come. All of us have some suffering and grief, and though it’s hard sometimes to see that the Queen of Heaven understands there are sometimes powerful reminders, like Sarah’s story that she truly does.
​
“I love that God gave us an example to follow – he gave us a mother, and did not leave us alone.”

 

Mary Ma

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Mary Ma
PictureKissing the Face of God by Morgan Weistling
To grow up with the name Mary puts a lot of pressure on a Catholic girl. Emulating Our Lady is hard even for those of us who don’t share her name, but who can blame Catholic parents the world over?

Mary Ma has lived 22 years with the name, and recently came to have a deeper relationship with her namesake, the Blessed Virgin.

“I haven’t always had a robust relationship with Mary,” she said, admitting that “I found her unapproachable and I became discouraged because she was sinless and I knew I could never be like her.”

But it was in 2019 while meditating on the Annunciation as part of a Catholic Christian Outreach faith study that changed things. “One of the topics was Our Lady’s docility to the Holy Spirit at the Annunciation and that study made me see her as a person.”

“When I was a child, I prayed the rosary with my family and no one would think that I didn’t have a strong relationship with Mary.”

On Ash Wednesday this year, Mary completed the Consecration to Mary guided by Fr. Michael Gaitley in his book 33 Days to Morning Glory.

"Marian consecration basically means giving Mary our full permission (or as much permission as we can) to complete her motherly task in us, which is to form us into other Christs." Gaitley says in the book.

On Ash Wednesday Mary said she “levelled with (the Blessed Mother), saying I know I haven’t been a good daughter, and I have been distant, but I am going to try to love you personally.”
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Certainly now, Mary has solidified her faith in the Blessed Mother by joining a branch of the Legion of Mary as part of the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Community. Nine or ten members meet weekly to pray the rosary and keep one another accountable in their journeys to serve Christ.


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​
​Written by Jessica Cyr for Faithfully. Jessica Cyr is an at-home mother of five and a freelance writer. She loves reading, baking, and gardening. ​
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