Living the Liturgical Year in September

September... Labor Day, harvest, back to school, corn stalks and scare crow, pumpkin patches, a new leaf (pun totally intended) is turned. But for us, Catholics, what does September bring? What is Mother Church trying to teach us in September?

The month of September is dedicated to our Lady of Sorrows, whom we celebrate on September 15th.

The devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Mary goes back to the Middle Ages but has its source in the Gospel: Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: “This child is destined to be the downfall and the rise of many in Israel, a sign that will be opposed—and you yourself shall be pierced with a sword—so that the thoughts of many hearts may be laid bare.” Luke 2:34-35 (NAB)

Art by Marion Meert

During the month of September the Church invites us to reflect on the Seven Sorrows of Mary. I was personally introduced to this devotion through Immaculee Ilibagiza's book Our Lady of Kibeho. It moved me deeply and I started praying the Seven Sorrows Rosary. In our family it is now a tradition to pray this rosary daily during the month of September. 

Our Lady of Sorrows
XIXth century, Villefranche, France

According to St. Bridget of Sweden (1302-1373), the Blessed Virgin grants seven graces to the souls who honor her daily by meditating on her tears and dolor, at the same time praying seven Hail Marys for each sorrow.

The seven special graces are:

1) Our Blessed Mother will grant peace to their families.

2) They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.

3) Our Heavenly Mother will console them in their pains and she will accompany them in their work. 4) She will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the perfect will of her Divine Son or the sanctification of the soul.

5) Our Blessed Mother will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and she will protect them at every instant of their lives.

6) She will visibly help them at the moment of their death. They will see the face of their mother.

7) She has obtained this grace from her Son, that those who propagate this devotion to her tears and dolor, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven. She and her Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.

Source: http://www.catholic-church.org/grace/marian/7sorrows.htm

It is a beautiful devotion which brings many graces to us and I would encourage you to discover it for yourself.

But September also brings many feast days! Here are a few that we celebrate in our family (and one of the best way Catholic celebrate is with food! So I have attached a few recipes for each fest day that pertains to the saint being celebrated):

- September 5th: Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Feast Day Plans
Mother Teresa Tea

Birth of the Virgin by Bellini, 15th century

- September 8th: Birth of Mary (our oldest daughter Alice shares this birthday with Mary)
Blueberry Cheesecake for Our Lady
A Birthday Cake for Our Lady

- September 12th: The Most Holy Name of Mary
Holy Name of Mary

Crucifix Pont Saint Esprit, Visitation

- September 14th: the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: This feast was observed in Rome before the end of the seventh century. It commemorates the recovery of the Holy Cross, which had been placed on Mt. Calvary by St. Helena and preserved in Jerusalem, but then had fallen into the hands of Chosroas, King of the Persians. The precious relic was recovered and returned to Jerusalem by Emperor Heralius in 629. 
Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad

St. Matthew

- September 21st : Saint Matthew, Apostle and Gospel Writer

Padre Pio

- September 23rd: Saint Pio of Pietrelcina
Italian Sausage and Pasta
Cappucino Mousse Trifle

St. Vincent de Paul

- September 27th: St. Vincent of Paul
Poor Man's Caviar

The Archangels

- September 29th: Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael
Apple Chicken
Angel Food Blackberry Trifle for Michaelmas

So many opportunities to rejoice in our Catholic faith! 

Instructors Interviews: How Did You Meet?

Christine and Christian (from Christine's side)

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It all started on November 27th, 1974.  We didn’t know it at that time, and it took us 37 years to realize it, but it was the anniversary of the Miraculous Medal (there must be something with the Miraculous Medal in our family! See Mattie's story). Mary was watching over us.

I was 18 ½.

My Senior Picture

I was just back to France from ten months in Indiana as an exchange student and my only thought was to go back. Sadly, my parents wanted me to be “reasonable” and to start some studies. I wasn’t in the least interested in studying, so I picked what seemed the least boring to me: art.  It was then decided that I would study art in Montpellier, France, where my aunt and uncle were willing to host me.

I moved in with them, in their basement, at the end of the Summer…
Time flew and it was already the end of November.

Wednesday morning November 27^th.
We had Wednesdays off, so I got up later that morning. For a reason I do not remember, I went upstairs and found myself face to face with my aunt. She started lecturing me about studying art without even visiting the city’s museums and art exhibitions. She knew there was a beautiful tapestry exhibition downtown and thought I should at least go and see it.

I understood she wanted me out, so I got on the bus and headed downtown.

I think I started by visiting a museum. I hate museums; I find them boring most of the time, and exhausting…  so I do not remember anything about it. I was just killing time. Then I decided to visit this tapestry exhibition my aunt had talked about. The tapestries were by Marc Saint Saëns (1903-1979). They were exhibited in the Opera’s gallery, Salle Molière, on the right side of the Opera (when you face it).

Montpellier's Opera

Entrance was free! There was no one but the keeper, a young man who was reading the Time Magazine! 

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All my thoughts being geared towards going back to the States, it struck me that he was reading the Time in English! He seemed nice, didn’t know anything about the tapestries, and was just keeping the gallery for the first –and only – time and from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. only. He had had no visitors at all. I was his first and only one! We talked a bit; I looked vaguely at the tapestries that I really didn’t care for!  

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I felt totally comfortable and safe with him, he didn’t look like a play boy at all with his huge thick glasses.

I was about to leave when he asked me if I wanted to come back at 6:00 to go to the university cafeteria with him... I said OK and went on to meet some of my school friends.

-->One of Saint Saëns' tapestries

It was dark already when I arrived back Salle Moliere. I felt a bit awkward, not being sure that he remembered inviting me, but there I was, and he seemed to remember! Together we went to the worst cafeteria in the whole town, but it really didn’t matter. Afterwards, he took me on a walking tour of Montpellier’s narrow medieval streets. I was a bit scared to be by myself in these dark streets with a total stranger, and excited at the same time that this older guy was actually paying attention to me! He walked the whole way holding his dark blue bike on the side. He was wearing a leather jacket that was kind of short for his long arms.  He had a charm about him, a casual and self-confident look that I found very attractive. Finally, he took me to the bus station for me to go back home and asked me what my name was! I told him my name was Christine and he told me he was Chrick, and that he was from Morocco! I remember being puzzled about this last statement, thinking that he didn’t look like a Moroccan! I was so ignorant, not even knowing that Morocco had been a French colony for a long time! 
As I got home, I was pretty excited inside and I remember telling my uncle I had met a really nice 22-year-old guy who would be a really cool big brother. We hadn’t even talked about seeing each other again, but my heart was happy and light! 

I've always wondered who in heaven was behind our meeting... Maybe Christian's mother who had died the previous year? It was so "improbable" that we ever met! Heaven opened up a short 2 hours window and it worked!
Since the first time I heard it when I was 15, this quote from François Mauriac, from the Académie Française, has always struck me, "We deserve all our meetings. They are granted to our destiny and have a meaning each of us must discover."
 

Instructor Interviews Part I: How did you meet?

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 Hello, Moses and Mattie here!

It is Spring of 1996, I am 18 and enjoying Easter Break at a youth retreat. It is a little bit of a rocky time in my life; high school graduation is looming on the horizon and I have no idea what direction I want to go in. One of the spiritual counselors at school recommends that I entrust my future to Jesus and that I really ask him what He has in mind for me, and to also entrust my future husband to Mary Immaculate. So I do, but only the entrusting my husband part! I am not ready to entrust my whole future to Jesus, but entrusting my husband to Mary sounds like a great idea.

  Let's fast forward to Summer 2000. I am hiking with almost the same youth group on the road between Assisi and Rome. Our destination: Pope John Paul II and World Youth Day! We are so excited! That is when it happens; when I finally surrender my whole life to Christ. It is on the eve of our entrance in Rome, during a beautiful outdoor Mass that Christ visits me and I become all His.

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Two weeks later, as a senior at Franciscan University, my roommate, Rachel, and I rent a house off campus. We are all grown up now!

Rachel is so excited about our beautiful “new” house that she has to invite everyone she knows to come and visit. Which I totally understand: who would not want to show off a living room with long, green shag carpet and orange couches?!

One morning she tells me that “Moses” will come over later in the evening. Moses? Seriously? What kind of person is named Moses? Needless to say that I make fun of it all day (Yes I have encountered Christ, but charity is still something I need to work on…) 

Moses does come over that night and I am not impressed. 

Fast forward again, this time to a few days later, when Rachel decides that we should have a movie night at our place on Saturday evenings. Moses becomes one of the regulars and we start hanging out quite a bit. And as we got to know each other better we also grew to appreciate each other more. And soon, it budded into a deep friendship that evolved into love.

One night at a party, he asks me to go to our Fall Formal dance with him, and I say yes (because of course, as you have guessed by now I am more than just charitable towards him.) He also invites me over to his parents' for Thanksgiving, the week following the dance.

The dance is a blast and we have a great time, even if he steps on my foot and brings his 1977 Ford Bronco as a ride (try getting in that thing in a lady like fashion with high heels and an evening gown! Quite the challenge!!!)

1977 Bronco
image: http://blog.hemmings.com

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On Thanksgiving morning he is set to come and pick me up for mass, after which we would drive over to his parents. While getting ready, I am rummaging through my drawer of unmentionables (I love this word!) when something shiny catches the corner of my eye. Of course, being a girl, I empty the whole drawer and pry out the shiny thing from the side of the drawer (hoping that it’s a quarter or something; you know how college students are so desperate for money!!)

What comes out is a beautiful miraculous medal, one like I had never seen before or since! (Truly, even after extended online searches, I have never seen one like it.) And I can hear in my heart: “Go ahead, I have watched over him for you and now he is all yours.” With the greatest love and gentleness imaginable.

Full of hope and thanksgiving (how appropriate, right?!)  I head with him to mass and then to his parents' house for a wonderful and fun-filled Thanksgiving dinner where I meet most of his family.

  --> That evening when he brings me home, we kiss for the very first time! As they say, the rest is history! (Except for that fine ’77 Bronco, which stills survives in our garage!) 
And the medal? I wear it every day as a reminder of God’s care for us.

Following the Queen

by Maura
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Drawing in ink- Christine Meert

By some small miracle, we ACTUALLY made it to morning mass today- the feast of the Queenship of Mary. Our wonderful priest gave a short homily, but one that was so profound that… here I sit, still thinking about it, hours later. He said it much better, but the idea was this: All of the feasts of Mary go back to one moment- the Magnificat- the moment that Mary said yes to God. We are all called to say yes to God, and Mary showed us how to do that. In fact, she is the QUEEN at that! 

I often hear from couples that they are afraid for the future. They have financial debt, they are unsure of where they will settle, some are still finishing school, etc. From the viewpoint of an engaged person, the idea of total self-giving love is scary….they are so close, but they have yet to experience what it truly means to give 100% of yourself to the spouse.  The idea of pregnancy is scary for many. The idea of NFP is…let’s face it, kind of hard. What if that means a honeymoon of abstinence? Major buzz kill. Couldn’t they just use contraception until they get the hang of NFP? Questions and questions and uncertainty after uncertainty….leading to logical points on why THEY are the exception to the 
(God- is-in-Charge) rule.

Now imagine Mary, a single teenager living in a culture where adultery meant stoning to death. Imagine her uncertainty! But she said yes to God. Her faith at that moment paved the way for our salvation. Her faith at that moment outweighed the possibility of severe consequences for being pregnant and unwed. 

Drawing in ink - Christine Meert

Drawing in ink - Christine Meert

 “Living in the moment” has a reckless ring to it, right? There is a difference with that and with what we SHOULD do, which is to constantly respond to the stream of God’s graces.  Luckily, we are not asked to provide anything—just to respond to what is being provided for us. One couple, who had always planned on using contraception, was upset when they were presented with the knowledge that contraception is actually sinful. Now what? They preferred the time when they didn’t know it was wrong. Well, don’t worry. The God who led you down this path of marriage with your intended chose this very moment for you to receive this knowledge. All he asks is for you to respond. Clean Slate. Respond now. Drop pre-planned ideas and preconceived ideas. It will take time to talk this out with your spouse. It will take humility, no doubt, to come to grips with the knowledge that your prior plan wasn’t good. But, be like Mary. Don’t look to the uncertainty of what is ahead. Don’t be too proud to face the fact that your plan wasn’t best.  Respond to the truth that is being given to you this day. Tomorrow there will be another one, then another one, then another one. And that is what it means to walk in faith. No one who has walked this faith and responded to these truths is left alone and uncared for. 

And, yet, here I am married with 4 kids. Every single time we have been open and generous to life, God has outdone us in generosity in other areas of our life. You’d think that responding back with more generosity would not be scary or hard….how little we are! I’m that apostle. (Sorry, Thomas). My husband is Peter. No really- that is his name. Pray for us!

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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Here we are, starting Catholic Marriage Prep's blog! Each member of our team will participate. Today I, Christine, get to be first! We decided to start on the feast of the Queenship of Mary to entrust this blog to her.

The feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary is dear to my heart especially because it triggers a fond memory: the anniversary of our second daughter's first Communion, Jehanne.

It was in 1987, she was just 6 and literally "full of grace!" Our conversion was still pretty new, 82 for me, 84 for Christian, and we were spending a few days in a monastery during the summer. Jehanne would come to adoration and stare at the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance; she would approach Him very close and talk to Him, telling Him aloud how much she loved him. She was in love! I was a bit embarrassed as we were not alone in the chapel, but she was so innocent and luminous!
We had prepared her first Communion at home and she was ready now to receive Jesus for the first time. August 22nd was the big day. We had brought a pretty white dress and the Community helped us braid a crown of wild flowers.

--> Everything was beautiful, with a great sense of the sacred: icons, incense, candles, flowers, the liturgy. Mary's icon was honored on the side of the altar, reminding us of her Queenship over Jesus' heart and our hearts. Everything was about beauty, prayer, and reverence.... a window open on heaven!
    

--> Saint Maximilian Kolbe, one of our Patron Saints, wrote that Mary "has a right to be loved as Queen of all hearts so that, through her, hearts would be cleansed and themselves become immaculate, similar and like unto her own heart, and so worthy of union with God."

Jehanne is now the happy mother of five children, in Burgundy, France. I miss her and her beautiful family very much....