Celebrating Our Lady’s Birthday

Today, September 8th, the Church celebrates the birthday of the Virgin Mary!  (As you may haven noticed this feast is fittingly celebrated 9 months after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th.)  So why does the Church celebrate Our Lady’s birth?  We rejoice today because the birth of Mary is like the preface to the birth of our Savior.  We celebrate the birth of our Queen because she gave us our King, and so, in a way, the story of our redemption begins with Mary.

Who could not be joyful on the day that the mother of our Lord is born?  Today we celebrate God’s greatest creation!  The holiest and truest disciple of Christ!  The Immaculate Conception herself!

The Virgin Mary has so many titles of honor: Seat of wisdom, Ark of the covenant, Morning star, Queen of Angels, Holy virgin of virgins.  And she has rightfully been given these titles because no human being has ever belonged so fully to our Lord Jesus.  Because no human being has ever led so many souls to her Son – work she continues in Heaven (and thanks be to God for that intercession!).

So while today we honor our Queen because she is worthy of our honor and love, this is not the ultimate reason for our devotion.  We honor Mary because in doing so we honor her Son, who is always pleased when we love His mother.  And perhaps this why Marian feast days are always so joyful, it’s like two for the price of one.  As we honor our Queen she directs us to her Son so that the honor we give her will redound upon Him.

There’s a famous hymn called Mary the Dawn, and I’d like to close with two couplets from it, which capture the spirit of today.

Church of St. Anne, believed to be the birthplace of Our Lady

Mary the dawn, Christ the Perfect Day;
Mary the gate, Christ the Heavenly Way!

Mary the temple, Christ the temple’s Lord;
Mary the shrine, Christ the God adored!

Happy Birthday, my Queen!  Tōta tua!

Morality and Obedience

Today the Church celebrates the feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorists and doctor of the Church.  Like so many saints his focus was always on love, so it might surprise some to learn that St. Alphonsus is the patron saint of moral theologians.  He wrote voluminous amounts about morality, precisely because he could see how interconnected morality is with God’s love for us.

Statue of St. Alphonsus at St. Peter's Basilica

Too many people today view morality as a hindrance.  They view God as a mean father-figure who wants to restrict their actions, for what good reason they can’t imagine.  We live in a “I’m going to do what I want, when I want, because no one tells me what to do” culture.  But what else is today’s generation to think if the voices explaining the true role of morality?

Most people wouldn’t be foolish enough to say, “I’m going to do what I want, when I want, even if it means self-destructing in the process.”  But not enough people are hearing the message that a disregard for morality can only lead to self-destruction.  Maybe this sounds dramatic – but to ignore God’s precepts is very dangerous.  It not only hurts one’s happiness in the present, it endangers one’s happiness for eternity.

God has given us precepts because He knows how easily we’re willing to settle for counterfeit goods.  He wants us to have life-giving love with a spouse He’s chosen for us, but we’re too often willing to settle for sex (and even “meaningless” sex) outside of marriage.  God wants us to love and serve Him and our neighbor because that’s the only way we can find true fulfillment, but we’re too often willing to settle for the temporary fulfillment of new toys and disposable relationships.  God wants us to live honest, upright lives in His truth (the only way to live that reflects our true dignity), but we’re too often willing to sacrifice our honesty for short term “gain” (what’s a little white lie here?  a little cheating on my taxes there?).  God wants so much more for us than we are willing to settle for!

So quick recap: It’s the true, not the counterfeit, goods of this world that we really desire (even if we’re sometimes willing to settle for the fakes).  It’s the true goods that we deserve.  And it’s the true goods that God wants us to have!  But these true goods can only ever be attained by listening to God, by obedience to His law.  Many today have a negative association with the idea of obedience.  Christians need to set the record straight, as St. Alphonsus worked to do.  Obedience to God leads to true joy; obedience to oneself (rebellion against God) may be punctuated by pleasurable moments, but it can only end in an unfulfilled, selfish life.

St. Alphonsus, pray for us that we may learn to love God’s precepts, since they are an expression of His love for us!

“Selling All” to Follow Jesus

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field’” (Mt 13:44).  Jesus is once again using parables to make His point, this time likening the Gospel and the Kingdom of Heaven to a treasure buried in the field.  Every time I hear this passage (which was today’s Gospel) I have such a strong reaction.

It always makes me think: would I/am I willing to give up everything should Jesus asks me?  Are there strings attached to my allegiance to Him and my love for Him?  Would I “joyfully” cut any ties necessary to serve the Lord well, or would I be too attached to the things of this world to sell all?  Or too afraid to sell everything and put my trust fully in Him?

This Gospel reminds me of the story about Lot and his wife (Genesis 19).  They had to leave Soddom and Gomorrah because it was going to be destroyed, and God warned that if they looked back they too would be destroyed.  They got safely out of the city, but Lot’s wife looked back and was turned to salt.  She wasn’t able to let go of the city and its illicit pleasures.  She wasn’t able to joyfully sell all she had and move forward to new life like the person described in the Gospel.  I can’t help but wonder who I resemble more.

“‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind.  When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets.  What is bad they throw away’” (Mt 13:44-47).  Jesus is telling us that the Kingdom of God on earth, the Church, has both members who are “good’ and “bad”.  The Church herself is holy, but that doesn’t mean that every one of her members is holy as well.  For me, this serves as a reminder that it is not enough merely to be a member of the only, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.  Membership doesn’t guarantee a place in Heaven.  It certainly helps, since the Church dispenses the wonderful fountains of grace that are the sacraments.  But it’s still incumbent on me to always be growing closer to Jesus, to always be conforming myself more to His image, to always be growing in His love.  I have to be willing to “sell all” I have and follow Him, and this isn’t a one time decision.  It’s a decision that has to be renewed day and in day out.

May we all be willing to “sell all” and give ourselves and our lives fully to Jesus!

The Brown Scapular

Tomorrow, July 16, is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, so it seems like an opportune time to write about the Brown Scapular, which was given by Our Lady of Mount Carmel to Saint Simon Stock in 1251.

What is it?
The Brown Scapular is simply two pieces of brown wool connected by some kind of cord or string that are worn over the shoulders.  Our Lady gave the Carmelite brother a mantle that, as part of his habit, went all the way down to the floor.  Happily there is a small version of that Brown Scapular so that laymen can wear it as well.

Why do people wear the Brown Scapular?
Because of the promises attached to it!  When the Blessed Virgin gave the scapular to St. Simon she told him, “Receive, my beloved Son, this habit of your order: this shall be to you and to all Carmelites a privilege, that whosoever dies clothed in this shall never suffer eternal fire.”  In essence, Mary promised that all who enroll into Confraternity of the Brown Scapular will have eternal life!  Any Catholic can be invested (enrolled) by any Catholic priest with simply a proper scapular and the prayer of investiture for the Brown Scapular.

This seems to good to be true
It almost does right?  But this should not be surprising.  That God would become man to die for our sins so that we could be reconciled to Him sounds too good to be true too!  But the love of God knows no bounds.  Jesus (so therefore Mary as well) wants us to be in Heaven so He has given us, through His Mother, a way to feel confident in our salvation.

That said, we must understand the scapular is not meant to be a means to salvation in place of following Jesus.  This would be a flagrant abuse of Our Lady’s great promise.  Rather, the Brown Scapular is a complement to living the Christian life – it is intended to help us become better disciples of Christ.  How?  The Brown Scapular is a form of consecration to Mary.  And in the famous words of St. Louis de Montfort, “The more one is consecrated to Mary, the more one is consecrated to Jesus.”

Miracles of the Brown Scapular
There are many recorded miracles attributed to the intercession of Our Lady for those wearing the “little habit.”  In 1945 a fire broke out in Germany in a residential area, causing a chain reaction that caused one house after another in the row to burn.  Seeing this, the residents of one of the houses in the line of fire placed his scapular on the front door.  After five hours, 22 houses had burned to the ground, but one house remained unharmed.  With houses burned down on either side of it, the one the exception was the house with the Brown Scapular on the door.

In 1845 the vessel King of the Ocean was caught in terrible tornado.  The tremendous waves thrashed the seemingly doomed ship about like a toy boat.  A Protestant clergymen and his family encouraged all to pray for mercy and forgiveness, but to no avail.  Seeing the desperateness of the situation, a young Irish sailor took off his scapular, made the sign of the cross with it and threw in into the ocean.  The storm immediately ceased, with the exception of one last wave that brought the Brown Scapular back on board.  All were saved and the Protestant family later converted.

In Ohio a fallen away Catholic living in mortal sin stumbled drunk into a train yard.  Tragically, he was run over by a train, his body sliced in half.  Instead of dying instantly, he incredibly remained alive while a priest was summoned.  His confession was heard, and he died in communion with God.  He was wearing the Brown Scapular.

Both St. John Bosco and St. Alphonsus Ligouri were buried wearing their Brown Scapulars and priestly vestments.  Many years later when they were exumed their bodies and vestments had turned to dust, but the Brown Scapular of both saints remained in perfect condition!  There are many more documented miracles, I suggest Sign of Her Heart by John Haffert if you’re interested.

St. Theresa wearing her Brown Scapular

The Sabbatine Privilege
As if this wasn’t enough, in the 14th century Mary appeared to Pope John XXII, promising to free those who wear the Brown Scapular from Purgatory on the first Saturday after death.  In exchange for this Sabbatine Privilege, Mary stipulated that we must wear her scapular, observe chastity according to our state in life, and recite the Little Office of Our Blessed Virgin (though it is the common practice today to have this commuted to a daily Rosary by the priest who does the investiture).  Unfortunately the bull in which Pope John documented this vision has been lost, but 17 subsequent popes have confirmed this indulgence!  How little our Queen asks in return for such an invaluable gift!

The Brown Scapular falls under private revelation, meaning that it is not part of the official deposit of the faith of the Church.  Therefore, Catholics are not required to believe in it.  But given the hearty support many popes and saints have given the Brown Scapular, we would all do well to wear the “Garment of Grace” and trust in Our Lady’s incredible promise.

Tōta tua, mea Rēgīna!