Here's a translation project I've had in the works for a few months, an excerpt from Prof. Manfred Hauke's "Introduction to Mariology" (Introduzione alla Mariologia). This chapter presents an overview of theology, pastoral principles, and history regarding Marian apparitions.
Thanks to Fr. Hauke and to EUPress FTL for permission to publish this excerpt.
To borrow a term from Mark Shea, an "episcopal spine alert" is the event that happens when a local bishop stands up for authentic faith and morals, or otherwise shows evidence that he has a functioning backbone.
This time, Bp. Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix has warned a supposedly Catholic hospital company that their St. Joseph Hospital will lose its status as a recognized Catholic hospital if they do not acknowledge that they were wrong to let an abortion be performed there a few months ago. His letter, well-reasoned and showing his patience in what is apparently a long-running series of disputes, insists that the hospital accept ethics training for staff, or face canonical action next week.
One of the small blessings of this Advent is we are less than a year away from the new translation of the Mass, and most US parishes will retire the "Mass of Creation." Adaptations of the acclamations we are all familiar with to fit the new translation are going to be a hard sell on folks who are in the habit of singing them the old way.
It's a great time to revisit the real classics - Gregorian Chant, and a great time to be a composer.
Let's hope the next crop of modern liturgical music has more reverence and less Disney!
It's not often you get to say that a bit of news reflects a history-making event, but this is one: Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay has been studying the case of a Marian apparition reported in 1859, witnessed by a young immigrant from Belgium by the name of Adele Brise.
Today, the bishop announced his verdict: the event is confirmed to be of supernatural origin, and the faithful are free to believe in the apparition.
This makes the appearance of the Virgin Mary in Wisconsin, under the title of "Our Lady of Good Hope", the first and only Marian apparition in the United States to be validated by Church authority. I can only wonder what lies ahead as the grace of this event is to be explored and shared for the good of God's people.
Today's announcement from the diocese is on-line, along with the relevant decrees by the bishop presening his judgment on the apparition and designating the long-standing chapel at the site to be a diocesan shrine. The web site of the newly-designated Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (Notre Dame de Bon Secours) at Champion, WI also has information.
