t eanc 0 VOL. 40, NO.]9
•
Friday, October 11, 1996
FALL RIVER, MASS.
FALL RIVER DIOCESAN NEWSPAPER FOR SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS CAPEC;:OD & THE ISLANDS Southeastern Massachusetts' Largest Weekly
•
513 Per Yeai'
Bishop Sean O'Malley OFM Cap. served as homilist for the annual pilgrimage of the Archdiocese of Washington to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Thousands gathered there on Respect Life Surlday, October 6, for the Mass. Following is the text of the bishop's homily: n ancient Ireland. the people had the practice of making a vow to be peregrinus, to be lifelong pilgrims in perpetual exile. They neither cut their hair nor clipped their nails (they must have looked like our rock stars). They traveled from one holy well to the next. from one shrine or hermitage to another, never sleeping two nights in the same place. Their pilgrimage was a witness to the whole Church, a testimony abollt our spiritual condition as pilgrims-one that engenders a sense of solidarity. detachment, penance, and courage and forbearance in the face of hardship. St. Teresa put it very succinctly: "Esta vida no es sima una mala noche en una mala posada." "This life is like a bad night in an uncomfortable inn." oday, we are all here on pilgrimage celebrating the Patroness of the Archdiocese, Mary, Mother of God, the ancient title that goes back to the Council of Ephesus in 431, in which Mary is proclaimed Mother of God. or in Greek Theotokos. Our Pilgrimage Mass today celebrates life - on Pro-Life Sunday, and in a special way Mary's pregnancy, Mary as the temple with God inside her. A new collection of Marian Masses offers us this celebration: the Virgin Mary. the Temple of the Lord. BISHOP SEAN O'Malley, OFM, Cap., delivers the homily at the arin"ual pilgrimage of the Archdiocese he Fathers of the Church gradually realize.d that of Wasl;lington to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. (Catholic Stanthe temple and 'dwelling place images of Scripture, indeed all the figures'of containment and dard/Michael Alexander photo) . enclosure, apply with great precision to the Mother of God. When for nine months the Virgin carries Christ in is the 'house' that Divine Wisdom built for Himself." The cret. At Fatima, the rosary had been the secret. !'S. Fatima, her womb, she is the consummate Ark and Temple of Temple was Goa's dwelling place; it was God'~ house. the rosary emerges again as a spiritual weapon against God. In a homily preached at the Council of Ephesus, The sign of God's,taking up residence in the Temple was the oppression of atheistic Communism. Today, Qur roSt. Cyril salutes Our Lady in a litany replete with meta- the cloud of incense which filled the inner shrine where . saries are needed to fight a new battle ... one of life and the Ark was enthroned. phors of habitation and sanctuary: .death. We come together on this Pro-Life Sunday, on ary, the mother of Jesus, is often called "the the eve of the Feast of the Holy Rosary, to celebrate the Hail, Ma~y Theotokos ... Imperishable Temple, Temple of God" because' she became the Mass of Mary, the Temple of God. place of Him who cannot be c9ntained in a dwelling place for God in human form. Just place, Mother and Virgin ... Hail, thou who hast ary became the new Temple, the new Ark of contained in thy holy virginal womb Him who as Solomon prepared the Temple in every detail, so God . the Covenant, when she said, "Yes" to God at cannot be contained in the heavens. prepared Mary to be the Mother of Jesus. From the first the Annunciation, the day the first 'Ave' was t. Proclus acclaims the Holy Theotokos as "the moment of her conception, she was preserved from any prayed: Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee. unsullied shell that contains the pearl of great stain of sin and guk~ed py the cloud of God's presence. When Mother Teresa opens convents in the farthest corprice, the sacred shroud of sinlessness, the costly When she conceived Jesus in her womb, she became a ners of the earth, she says she is putting a tabernacle alabaster box of spikenard, the Ark gilt within and with- true Temple, the dwelling place of God in the flesh .. there. Mary is the first tabernacle. Mer hearing from out." All these sacred places from Scripture reach their Through the death and resurrection of Mary's Son, every the angel Gabriel the news that her cousin was preg.fulfillment in Mary's womb: 0 womb in,which the Char- person has been made a Temple of God. In Baptism, nant. Mary rushed off to help her. When she arrives at ter of our freedom was composed, 0 temple in which the Spirit of God dwells in each person, making us Elizabeth's house...the Hail Mary continues ... Blessedare God became a priest, "in the words of an ancient prayer. temples. The Holy Father speaks of the vocation of the thou among woman and blessed is the fruit of.thy womb. he pregnant Mary and the 'pregnant Elizabeth ne hundred fifty years ago, the Bishops of the family to be the "sanctuary of life." Mary, the Temple, is embrace. Jot]n the Baptist, a fetus in his mother's United States consecrated this country to Mary just that. Through her intercession, our families will grow womb, leaps for jay - like David dancing before under the title of the Immaculate Conception to be "sanctuaries of life." our hundred and twenty-five years ago, St. Pope the Ark of the Covenant. ...thus the narne of this Shrine dedicated to Mary, PaPius V established October 7 as the Feast of the he Apocryphal Gospel of James describes the troness of our country. Most Holy Rosary. The feast was established in flight into Egypt ... it is said that the pagan idols his magnificent Basilica is Mary's temple, but fell at Mary's feet like Dagon crumbled in the prestoday's Mass reminds us that Mary is God's thanksgiving. By the power of prayer, Christendom was' . temple; as St. Bernard of C1airvaux stated: "Ma!y .spared a terrible invasion, The rosary had been the s~ Turn to Page Six
I
· T
T
M
S
O
T
F
M T T