C O N T R I B U TO R S
M r s . L i s a H i l l - S u t t o n , O. P. w w w. l i s a j u l i a p h o t o g r a p h y. c o m Our Lady of Angels P h o t o g r a p h e r / Wr i t e r / P u bl i s h e r M e l i s s a C h av e s Our Lady of Angels Wr i t e r / C o p y E d i t o r Malissa Coy Our Lady of Angels Copy Editor Jo s e p h S u t t o n Our Lady of Angels Copy Editor
Sophie Wheeler Our Lady of Angels Layout Designer Fr. Ke v i n O ’ Ke e f e Pa s t o r - S t . J u d e Spiritual Direction Fr. T h o m a s C av a n a u g h Pa r r o c h i a l V i c a r S t . Jo h n t h e A p o s t l e Spiritual Direction N a t a l i e S u t t o n a n d K a t e r i Fo o s Our Lady of Angels Te e n C o r n e r C o n t r i b u t o rs
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C O N TAC T U S
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P R I N C E W I L L I A M C O U N T Y C AT H O L I C I S A L A B O R O F LOV E W I T H T H E I N T E N T I O N O F D R AW I N G C LO S E R TO G E T H E R O U R LO C A L P R I N C E W I L L I A M C AT H O L I C C O M M U N I T Y. W E B E L I E V E T H AT B R I N G I N G AT T E N T I O N TO O U R N E I G H B O R S I N T H E P E W S , W H O M W E M AY N OT Y E T K N OW O N A P E R S O N A L L E V E L , WILL GIVE OUR READERS AN O P P O RT U N I T Y TO S E E T H E G O O D WO R K S T H AT LO C A L C AT H O L I C S A R E D O I N G I N T H E N A M E O F C H R I S T. W E S E E K TO D E E P E N O U R P R AY E R L I F E , A N D G ROW I N T H E LOV E A N D K N OW L E D G E O F O U R C AT H O L I C FA I T H SO IN TURN WE CAN BETTER SHARE T H AT LOV E , K N OW L E D G E A N D S U P P O RT W I T H O U R C O M M U N I T Y AT L A R G E .
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Prince William County Catholic
TA B L E O F CONTENTS 6
Pa r i s h i o n e r P r o f i l e : M a r y G i l d e r s l e e v e
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T h e H o m e L i f e o f M a r y a n d Jo s e p h i n Nazareth
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E m b a r k i n g o n t h e Pa t h t o D o m i n i c a n L a i t y
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How Can a Candle Smell Like Advent?
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T h e S e c o n d Jo y f u l M y s t e r y : T h e Vi s i t a t i o n
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Stained Glass Star Cookies
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Pa r i s h D i r e c t o r y a n d B u l l e t i n s
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Prince William County Catholic
Prince William County Catholic
*this article contains courtesy photos
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. [1Cor 13:11] The above quote from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians sums up my prayer life. It is one of the few times that God would rather I wasn’t child-like. A child’s prayers, which can last long into adulthood, are akin to a letter written to Santa: “I want …. “ “I must have …” “Give me … “ And sometimes this is a properly perfect prayer. God wants us to rely on him. But He also wants us to know Him, to love Him, to accept His will. I grew up in San Francisco in the 70s, just post-hippie era, and yet when much of society was in turmoil. We had Jonestown, the assasination of our Mayor and a City Supervisor, the Zodiac killer, Patty Hearst’s Symbianese Liberation Army, numerous kidnappings and cults and killings. In the midst of all this, I was nurtured in a very Catholic home, a strong Catholic parish, and a Dominican high school. I knew I could always turn to God if I needed something.
The summer before my sophomore year of high school, my Dad ended up in the hospital with a near-to-bursting aorta requiring emergency open heart surgery. While Mom rushed down to Stanford to be there, my sister and I prayed. I remember my prayer: “God, please just let Dad live long enough to be a grandpa.” God heard and God answered: Dad lived to see 10 healthy grandchildren, dying some 20 years later. My life as a Catholic continued through undergrad at a Jesuit university. I was a mediocre, lukewarm Catholic who went to Mass when it fit into my busy schedule. When issues came up, I knew I could still count on God to help me out even though I did little to merit these graces. I was still a child in my prayers -- “God, please let me pass this test.” “God, please send me Mr. Perfect.” After graduation I moved to Virginia, living with my parents and working in Washington, D.C. We went to St. William of York back when it was still a single-aisle sanctuary with no school. I was slowly learning that my prayers needed to mature as I matured. I needed to own my faith and not rely on Mom
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and Dad to “make me” go to Mass. When I went off to earn my MBA at William and Mary I began to, finally, own my faith a little. My prayers were beginning to mature to beyond telling God what I needed. I started, ever so slightly, to pray for what God wanted. When I was interviewing for a real job, I prayed, “God please help me find a job that uses the gifts You’ve given me.” God heard and God answered: I ended up in Atlanta working for Delta Air Lines. I began to go to Mass because I wanted to. For the first time, in my late 20s, I became involved in my parish and attended more than Mass. I met my husband at Holy Cross; we played co-ed softball, helped at the soup kitchen, went to weekly Mass with other young adults, got married and had two children. As I matured, my faith life was growing, slowly. And then tragedy. My husband was diagnosed with cancer. First, a simple melanoma that was removed three months before my daughter was born. Then it was in his lymph nodes. He was seeing his cancer doctor every month for check ups. At the beginning of May 1992, he was given a clean bill of health from his cancer doctor: he wouldn’t have to go back for six months. Mike and my almost 3-year-
old son and 11-month old daughter planted a tree in our front yard for Mother’s Day and to celebrate the reprieve. God heard and God answered. A week later, Mike started throwing up. His back hurt and he was miserable. One of his co-workers suggested he call the doctor “just to check.” The cancer had erupted all over Mike’s body, including crippling cells on his spine. I prayed to God, “please God, let Mike be OK. Let him get better. But not my will but Yours be done.” God heard and God answered. One week later, 4 days after his 31st birthday, my husband died. God had heard and God had answered. Mike was better: he was released from the 24/7 morphine drip to relieve the pain. My high school football and soccer coaching husband was released from the wheelchair his friends used to race him up and down the hospital halls. God heard and God answered. I stopped my corporate ladder-climbing life to be home with my kids. I started teaching computers at our parish school as my daughter entered Kindergarten and my son entered second grade and received his sacraments. I had God in my life, but something was still off-kilter.
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My prayer now became, “please God, help us to jumpstart our life. We’re stagnating here. What would you have us do?” I began to research places to move where the memories would no longer oppress and our world could become normal again. I prayed for a good Catholic school for Joe and Cate and a job for me. God heard and God answered: we moved to Raleigh and were all together at Our Lady of Lourdes in Raleigh, North Carolina. I was the K-8 computer teacher and Joe and Cate settled into their new home. I met the Middle School science teacher, Dr. Rick Gildersleeve. Seeking God’s will, we were married within the year, blending our families into one. “Please God, Your will be done. What would you have us do?” Now, I had a fellow prayer warrior to walk with me on this earthly journey. We sought God’s will in everything we did, praying together and separately, always seeking His will. We welcomed two more children into our family; we moved to Austria for two years for Rick to get a Masters in Theological Studies and where we had our last child; we moved to Colorado to work for the Diocesan highschool and homeschool five of our kids; in 2008, we moved to
Virginia to help start and teach at the newest high school in the Arlington Diocese, Pope John Paul the Great. My prayer life continues to mature. In 2017, we sold our house in west of Fredericksburg, moved to Woodbridge and began getting active at Seton LakeRidge while our youngest three became active students at JP the Great. I started to pray everyday, getting up at 4:30 a.m. to ensure an hour or so of quiet before the others were up. I’ve recently started reading scripture, imitating God’s directive to St. Augustine to “take up and read” and then journaling about the daily readings. I pray the “Surrender Novena” on endless loop to allow God’s will more and more into my life. I spent my birthday at San Damiano Retreat Center on my own silent retreat, calming the storms of chaos created by COVID. Thus, after many decades of an immature prayer life, I have now, finally, started on my journey toward God with an ever-maturing prayer life, now (usually) seeking only His will be done. I still stumble back to the childish, demanding prayers but I’m a bit more receptive when those are answered with a resounding “No!”
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The Home Life of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth by Colleen Rooney
In the Gospel of St. Luke, we find the Archangel Gabriel appearing to the virgin Mary who is betrothed to a man named Joseph. He tells her of God’s plan for her to bear His Son. Mary responds to God’s design with a question. After receiving the answer, she responds with her fiat, “Thy will be done.” After hearing this news, she leaves her home in Nazareth for the hill country of Judaea, where her cousin Elizabeth in her old age is expecting a child. After spending about three months with Elizabeth and her husband, Zachary, Mary returns to Nazareth. Joseph has not seen Mary for a few months and as the Gospel of Matthew tells us, he saw that she was with child. He knew the child was not his, and it caused him great consternation to see his lovely Mary in an inexplicable way. After much suffering, Joseph was told in a dream that the child Mary was carrying was the fruit of the Holy Spirit,
and so with this peaceful explanation the two of them could begin their virginal and chaste married life together. Mary and Joseph were observant Jews. They followed the law, the Torah, its commandments, and proscriptions. The Jewish calendar with its months, weeks, and days of Sabbath worship, feasts and rituals were part of their everyday life. They were of the tribe of Judah, and in the royal line of the great King David. They had awaited the promise to King David: “And when your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.” (2 Sam.7:12.) ‘Mary and Joseph now shared the secret of that great promise. For in Mary, the promise would be fulfilled with Joseph by her side to support her and bring the Divine Child up according to the Jewish Law. Sharers of the secret of God’s Divine
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Plan, Mary and Joseph lived a normal, everyday life in first century Palestine. Their day would begin early in the morning. They would rise at dawn to feed their animals. They might have a young goat or two inside with them and a donkey outside. Mary and Joseph slept on a dirt floor on mats. The mats were rolled up after rising and placed in niches in the wall of their one-room house. Most homes in Nazareth were small, usually one room or, for some, a two-room house. The roof of the house was used for eating, sleeping when it was too hot to sleep inside
and to weave clothing on the loom. Many homes were of stone; some were caves carved out of the side of a hill. The inside of the home had a separate area for the animals that was a step lower than the sleeping and cooking/ eating area of Mary and Joseph. There was no running water or lighting as we know it. No plumbing. Rainwater was caught in cisterns, or Mary would walk to the community well and draw water to carry home. There were jugs which held water for washing. Ritual cleansing (“mikvah�), a requirement for Sabbath worship if one defiled
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Prince William County Catholic
Prince William County Catholic
themselves according to the laws of the Torah, post-menstrual cleaning, or to recognize a special occasion such as marriage, etc., occurred in community baths. Small lamps made of clay contained oil which could be lit to provide some light in the evening. After rising early and feeding the animals, Joseph would lead the couple in the Shema. Here is its beginning: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord.� (Deut. 6:4.) They would pray it in the morning and in the evening. It was a required prayer for Joseph as for all Jewish men after their bar mitzvah. After praying, the couple would eat a small meal of dates, yogurt, or figs. They would drink watered down wine. Mary would then begin preparing the bread for the evening meal. She would use a starter for the barley bread. On feast days she would prepare bread with wheat flour. Barley was more abundant. It was ground into flour with a mortar and pestle and combined with the starter for a nutritious and substantial bread. Some women had small cook stoves for
cooking pits outside of homes. Others would take their prepared bread to the community oven and bake it there. Baking bread was a long, tedious process compared to 21st century KitchenAid mixers or bread machines. Joseph would start his workday fulfilling the woodworking orders of those in Nazareth. He might be making a door frame, a box to hold household implements, a reclining table, window frames, benches, and other pieces of furniture common to first century Palestine. Both Mary and Joseph would stop midday to rest from the heat of the day and perhaps, but not always, have some small meal. The Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., has an area devoted to life at the time of Jesus. There are many authentic replicas of the home and the Nazareth community that bring to life the realities of the simple way Mary and Joseph lived together as a married couple and later the life that the Incarnate Word shared with them.
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Embarking on the Path to
Dominican Laity by Erin Jobes
* All photos in this article are courtesy photos
I have gotten quite a few shocked expressions when I say that I am a Lay Dominican postulant, so I’d love to share my discernment story of how someone “so young” found her way to the Order of Preachers. But first, I need to give some backstory on how I even became Catholic. I grew up without any faith formation after my baptism in November of 2001, and it wasn’t until I was a freshman in high school that I yearned to find happiness. I was depressed, alone, treated poorly in my friend group and I thought to myself, there has to be something more out there for me. So I looked to the happiest person I knew and saw that her joy came from her faith. I knew that I was baptized as a baby in the Catholic Church, but other than that I knew nearly nothing about Catholicism. So I did what any tech savvy teen would do--I Googled it. I stumbled across a blog called “LifeTeen” and read through their hundreds of articles. When I didn’t have 30-50 tabs open at once, I was trying to pray the rosary. My grandmother made me a beautiful purple rosary that I kept my whole childhood, and so I asked my mom to teach me to pray it. Before I even bought my first Bible, Mama Mary was showing me who her Son was. Through the inconceivable graces Mary bestowed on me by praying the rosary every night, I was finally able to join a CCD class the beginning of my sophomore year. Those classes weren’t
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teaching me anything I hadn’t already learned from my internet lurking so a few months in, I decided I needed something else to help me grow spiritually. So I joined the parish youth group. I made holy friends who didn’t belittle me, who prayed for me, and who helped me when I stumbled or felt the burdens of my conversion. The weekly talks fueled a fire in my heart for Christ, and by November 2017, I was sick of waiting to receive the sacraments. My faith had stumbled during the summer without the routine of youth group and Mass (I still couldn’t drive myself). So during adoration one November evening, I saw my friends lined up for confession and I cried. I cried because I was feeling the burdens of my sins and I wanted so badly to have them washed away. On St. Andrew’s feast day, I asked my Youth Director if it was possible to move up my Confession and Communion, so I didn’t have to wait six months to receive them before my Confirmation. He said he would talk to our pastor at their upcoming staff meeting. Coincidentally, that Monday night at my CCD class, it was confession day, and so I had to awkwardly go up to my teacher and tell him I couldn’t go. He said, “Well, today can be your first confession.” The religious education director was right there and agreed with him, and I realized I had 20 minutes to go over approximately 16 years of sin to confess. I went in, confessed, came out to do my penance, and felt absolutely nothing. I was expecting to
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feel clean, made anew...and I felt nothing. I say this to give hope to converts that you may not feel anything when you receive the Sacraments but the grace is there in abundance anyway! The next morning I received an email from my Youth Director telling me that Father had said I could go to confession anytime. But what he said next was even better. Father’s exact words on the subject of me receiving Holy Communion for the first time were, “Let Jesus’ gift to you be His very self.” I was given permission to have my first Communion on Christmas. I was overwhelmed and so excited. I knelt down and received our Lord for the first time on Christmas morning in 2017. Then in May 2018, under the name Catherine of Siena, I was confirmed into the Catholic Church. The day was hot, humid, and I tripped on the way back from receiving Communion, but I officially was Catholic! Forever and always in the Body of Christ, belonging to Holy Mother Church! I chose St. Catherine of Siena as my confirmation saint because of her patronage for those ridiculed for their faith, which I had been subject to all of my sophomore year of high school. I wouldn’t find out until later that she was a writer, a Lay Dominican, and one of four female Doctors of the Church (a.k.a a powerhouse saint!). After my journey to the Faith was complete, I turned to discerning my vocation. This in and of itself wasn’t that difficult because I have always known in my soul that I was meant to be a wife and mother. So after a few months of asking God to make sure
this was my path, I became confident in knowing that was my vocation. After graduating high school (and ultimately youth group as well), I started to falter in confidence in the Lord. I didn’t know where I was supposed to go. I didn’t have the means to go to school, I couldn’t find a job, and I didn’t have the faith community that I was so used to during my conversion. I began to write for an online prolife organization called “Human Defense Initiative” where I met my good friend Isaiah. We began talking on Twitter, and eventually started texting and chatting on the phone, and he told me that he was discerning the Lay Dominicans in his area. I hadn’t recalled hearing about this group before, so I researched what the Lay Dominicans were, and found out my own patron saint was a Lay Dominican! That same summer, a dear family friend of mine announced she was going to enter postulancy at the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville. Within a week of that announcement I saw a blog post on a popular website for Catholic women talking about the Lay Dominicans. Dominicans just seemed to be constantly popping up for some reason. I took the hint and started researching once again. I looked up my closest chapters, watched videos, started reading about St. Dominic, and asked my friend Isaiah what he was learning during his postulancy. After months of doing research and learning on my own I decided to try to reach out to my closest chapter. I got so excited
that the chapter closer to me recently made a website with a contact form so I could reach out and take the first step. After a brief talk with a wonderful lady named Lisa, I knew that this was the right decision. There isn’t only one reason that made me know. I think it was just a lot of signal graces. For example, this chapter’s apostolate is the promotion of the Rosary, which I was praying before I even realized I wanted to enter the Church. Yet another example, Lisa and I both are photographers, both enjoy journalistic work, know some of the same people, and all of these things just fell together in a way that was too perfect to be coincidental. I felt a sense of peace talking to her, learning about the Dominican life, and I recognized this peace because it is the same peace I feel when I am at adoration (half asleep) talking to the Lord. I have always been a bookworm and sponge when it comes to learning, and I am excited to be able to have study buddies for life, as well as having the wise words of those older than me
who I know can give me guidance and pray for me. May the Blessed Mother, St. Dominic, and St. Catherine all lead me closer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus! *Editor’s note: Erin recently took the first step in discerning a vocation as a lay Dominican. We will be following along with her in future issues as she progresses through postulancy in the coming year. Please keep her in your prayers. If you feel called to explore your vocation more deeply, we invite you to visit the website of the lay Dominican Chapter here in Prince William County at www.lfsd513.com for more information.
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How Can A Candle Smell Like Advent by Brad Engborg
Prince William County Catholic
It is not always easy to describe the scent of a candle. Have you tried? Ask ten different people and you will get ten different answers. Does it smell like fruit or flowers or conjure up a specific memory relating to a time or an event in your life such as summer, a soft rain, or fresh cut grass? For me it smells like Advent. How can a candle smell like Advent? Well, for the past 20+ years, the sweet light honey scent of homemade beeswax candles has permeated our home for days and weeks at a time as I sat for many evenings making Advent and Christmas candles. As my hands work the honeycombed shaped wax into the telltale purple and rose colored Advent candles, I spend time surrounded by their fragrance while reflecting on the memories which connect me to this special time of year. I think my love of candles and the light they give has always attracted me since childhood. I have very vivid memories where candles created a sense of happiness. Some of my favorite memories are of my father lighting candles at the dinner table and the lively and witty discussions that ensued; my favorite candle shop in an old red building by the ocean with a giant window on the second floor that overlooked the seaside town of Kennebunkport, Maine where I spent time every summer; candles glowing in the houses during cold snowy winter nights in Vermont where I grew up; votive candles lit at church for the intention of others.
*courtesy photo
Little did I know that my love of candles would one day send me down the 20+ year path of creating Advent and Christmas candles while simultaneously leading me through a personal spiritual journey. Let me share a little more about myself. I have been married for 22 years to my wife Donna and I have two college-aged boys--Kyle and Tyler. We have been parishioners at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Woodbridge, Virginia since 1999. I am a 4th Degree Knight and can often be found helping at Knights of Columbus church functions. For many years I assisted with youth group activities, including making Advent candles with the Religious Education children and their families. I am a converted Catholic. I grew up Episcopalian. This is how my spiritual journey begins. Through my formative years I was occasionally found attending Mass with my Catholic friends which gave me a sense of a community that I didn’t have. Through years of life journeys and spiritual lessons learned along the way I made the decision to go through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program in 2006 at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. Let me share a journey I call “the accidental house guest.” In the Fall of my Junior year of college, I was accepted into a study abroad program that sent me to London, UK.
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Prince William County Catholic
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I arrived overseas, on my first solo trip and tired from travelling, at the City University of London. Upon my arrival at the university I was informed that the student housing was completely full and I would be staying at another prearranged location off campus. This was a bit upsetting; but I took the address they handed me on a piece of paper, I crumpled it into my pocket, grabbed my meagre belongings and headed out to their subway system called the “Tube” to find my new home--The Newman House at 111 Gower Street. Little did I know that the Newman House is the Catholic Chaplaincy in London that houses students from a variety of universities. As my feet landed on the steps I thought my semester of college fun overseas was shot right there. And as for Faith? I sure felt like I didn’t have any at that time. My parents were separated and, as I mentioned, I had not grown up Catholic so I was not feeling too comfortable being there at the Chaplaincy. It was sort of a fish out of water feeling. I thought surely it was all a big mistake and it would get remedied in the morning. However, once inside they were most definitely expecting me! They showed me to my room in a building which was covered from roof to basement in scaffolding, completely under renovation.Not unlike myself, who I discovered in hindsight was also going through a renovation just of a more personal and spiritual nature. Often, I was awakened in the dark early
hours of the morning to the sound of work crews hauling buckets up to the roof. During those early hours I would head to the bathroom to shower in almost complete darkness because the electricity had been completely cut off. Candles were provided for lighting - a flicker, like a candle flame, ignited in me and lit up the darkness - Okay, I opted for a flashlight! But could this have been a foreshadowing of the Advent candles I would one day make? Looking back now on that time, I know God had a plan for me and he knew what he was doing placing me there. But isn’t that how every journey is? We often cannot see the journey we are taking forward until we look in our rear-view mirror and see where we have been. I discovered Newman House was a place full of lively wonderful personalities from all over the world. I was often invited to attend daily Mass and group discussions. Being stubborn, I turned down almost every invite. But they kept inviting me, never growing impatient with me (I now suspect I was probably the focus of a few extra prayers from behind closed doors) and eventually I engaged in the liveliest of chats and in-depth conversations, discovering an amazing chain of connection between all who wandered through those front doors. The seeds of my faith were planted here. Looking back, I could not have found a better place to spend my time while in London. This is where I opened my heart and mind to experiences in the world and be in the moment whether across the world or right here in
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our backyard. I realized the four candles of Advent--Hope, Peace, Joy and Love--were available to me then as it is in Advent season and every day. After I left Newman House, God must have realized “planting seeds” wouldn’t be enough for this hardened soul before he returned me to the States so he gave me another pivotal moment on my spiritual journey. After travelling like a nomad for a few weeks across Europe I found myself stuck, due to a train strike, in of all places Rome, Italy on Christmas Eve. I rented a room at a pension from a family who enjoyed hearing about my recent experience at Newman House. I took a walk with some friends and upon returning to my room discovered a very special gift on my bed. It was a ticket to the Christmas midnight Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican with Pope John Paul II. It was a several mile walk to the Vatican and once inside I was ushered in, led down a long hallway, sent through a side door and suddenly found myself in a seat about 10 rows behind the altar with the same view as the Pope looking out over the congregation. The Mass was a pivotal moment for me and is forever etched in my mind’s eye. I walked back to the pension after Mass in the middle of the night through the streets crowded with tens of thousands of people, many carrying candles lighting up the night and connected together in complete silence. Again, a flicker, like a candle flame,
ignited in me and lit up the darkness. I was starting to see a pattern here! Fast forward years later to pivotal moment number three. I met my future wife Donna. In marriage preparation I discovered the Catholic Faith again. Meeting with priests, going through Pre-Cana, preparing the wedding service and promising to baptize and raise our future children in the Catholic Faith. In the first few years of marriage my wife, recognizing my love of candles, urged me to make my own. I started out making candles of all colors for craft fairs and then someone asked if I would make candles for Advent. So I did. Year after year my list for Advent candles grew larger and larger as my community at Church grew as well. At this point, which may come as no surprise, I decided to join the Church officially and I went through the RCIA program. As my boys entered Religious Education classes, the DRE invited me to instruct the children and their families how to make their own Advent candles by providing a kit I made for them. These events with my wife and children grew into fun memories and traditions as we made our family Advent candles together with our Church community. Making Advent candles every year for others has special meaning for me knowing that the recipients are celebrating and focusing on Hope, Peace, Joy and Love through the Advent season just a little more because God has worked a lifetime to lead me here.
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THE SECOND
JOYFUL MYSTERY:
THE VISITATION ( LUKE 1:39 - 56 ) by Mrs. Mary Catabui, O.P.
Prince William County Catholic
In the October issue of our magazine, we shared the first in a series of rosary meditations beginning with the First Joyful Mystery. We continue now with the second Joyful Mystery. When praying the second joyful mystery, The Visitation, think of the joyful appreciation found in the hearts of these two pregnant cousins. Elizabeth who had conceived in her old age and Mary, who conceived just recently. Elizabeth was so grateful that Mary came to be with her, staying until she had delivered her son, John. It was only by Divine intervention that either woman should be pregnant at all. Mary wasn’t yet married and Elizabeth was beyond child-bearing years. In All Saints Catholic Church in Manassas, there is a big picture of The Visitation. It is so beautiful. Elizabeth and Mary hugged each other. The colors are rich, and the features of their faces show tremendous joy. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit burst out, “At your greeting, the baby in my womb leapt with joy. Blessed are you, Mary, for believing all that was said by the angel.” Mary, filled with the Holy Spirit, recited what is referred to as the Magnificat, Latin for “[My soul] magnifies [the Lord”: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of His arm, He has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has come to the help of his servant Israel for He has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise He made to our fathers, to Abraham
and his children forever.” (Luke 1:46–55) As Mary finished, she and Elizabeth felt such great gratitude. Just imagine what peace they had in their pregnancies. For several months Mary worked to make Elizabeth light-hearted but busy. These two women were ages apart but they had a partnership between them. Elizabeth carried the precursor of God made man, which Mary was carrying--Jesus, the Son of God. Short Meditation: “According to Jewish custom, Elizabeth ‘secluded herself for five months,’ and Zachary had been struck dumb for his doubting! The secret was, gratifyingly, all theirs. So they thought, until Mary came from Nazareth to congratulate them. But Mary’s own secret must be given in exchange. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth cried out, ‘Why should I be honored with a visit from the Mother of my Lord?’ By the light of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth knew that Jesus was in Mary. Like Elizabeth, I can develop the habit of seeing Christ in my neighbor, a vital part of true Christian living. Prayerful devotion to the Holy Spirit, ‘the Spirit of Jesus,’ is the key.” Father Peyton Rosary Book, Et. al. page 92
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Prince William County Catholic
Prince William County Catholic
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STAINED GLASS STAR COOKIES “WE HAVE SEEN HIS STAR.” - ADVENT RECIPE
by Colleen Rooney
YIELDS: 12 – 24 cookies
INGREDIENTS Refrigerated sugar cookie dough Life Savers candy, multi-colored Baking spray or parchment paper Baking sheets EQUIPMENT Floured surface Rolling pin Star cookies cutters Wax paper or a plastic sandwich bag Wooden mallet
foodsandfestivitiesofthechristianyear.blogspot.com
DIRECTIONS: 1. Follow directions for cookie dough on package. Check oven temperature. 2. Roll out dough and cut in shape of stars. 3. Place one cookie star on baking sheet. Take the second cookie star and cut out a smaller star in the center. Set small star aside. 4. Crush life savers between two pieces of wax paper or place inside a sandwich bag and crush them. 5. Place second star on top of the first star and add a small amount of crushed life savers to the cut-out center. 6. Be sure all parts of the cookie are attached to each other by gently pressing together. 7. Repeat the process until all stars are used. Bake according to the directions. 8. Bake smaller cut-out stars separately, as they will bake in a shorter period of time.
ENJOY!
S A I N T
C E C I L I A
COUNTY PARISH DIRECTORY
OUR LADY OF ANGELS 13752 Marys Way, Woodbridge, VA 22191 (703) 494-2444 Online Bulletin Here
ST. FRANCIS 18825 Fuller Heights Rd, Triangle, VA 22172 (703) 221-4044 Online Bulletin Here
SACRED HEART 12975 Purcell Rd, Manassas, VA 20112 (703) 590-0030 Online Bulletin Here
HOLY FAMILY 14160 Ferndale Rd, Woodbridge, VA 22193 (703) 670-8161 Online Bulletin Here
ST. ELIZABETH ANN SETON 12807 Valleywood Dr, Lake Ridge, VA 22192 (703) 494-4008 Online Bulletin Here
HOLY TRINITY 8213 Linton Hall Rd, Gainesville, VA 20155 (703) 753-6700 Online Here Bulletin
ALL SAINTS 9300 Stonewall Rd, Manassas, VA 20110 (703) 368-4500 Online Bulletin Here
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