The Catholic Church of

St. Mary the Virgin

   Of all the methods available to us for prayer, (such as Intercession, Petition, and Confession), none is, in many ways, so beautiful as the prayer of Adoration.

   This kind of prayer is simply what it says, when we adore God.

   The angels and archangels and all the heavenly host, spend their time adoring God, while singing “Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus.”

    We have the same opportunity to practice adoration before the living God here at our own church.  Every Friday, after the Noon Mass, the priest exposes the Blessed Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist on the Altar for Adoration throughout the afternoon. There are no set prayers, there is no precise ritual, this time is just an opportunity for us to be in the presence of Jesus Christ Himself, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

   St. John Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests, and the patron of my former parish before I became your Pastor here. St. John Vianney liked to tell the story about one of his own parishioners, an elderly man named Louis. Louis was a farmer, and would pass the church every day to go to work on his plot of land, but he would always stop before going to spend a little time before his Lord in the Holy Tabernacle.

   One day, his neighbor, who was also a farmer, and who had the plot of land next to Louis’, noticed that old Louis had not showed up to work on his plot of land all day. This was very unusual for Louis, as he was a very industrious man.

   The neighbor returned home at the end of the day, and passing the church of Ars, noticed Louis’ hoe leaning against the door of the church. He went inside the church, and saw Louis, sitting there in rapt attention, his face fixed on the tabernacle above the altar. “Why, what is this?”, the neighbor asked in amazement, “Have you been sitting here all day? What have you been doing?”

   And old Louis replied, “I look at Him, and He looks at me, and we are happy together.”

   What a beautiful testimony of Faith! Fr. Vianney used to tell this story often saying “ I look at Him, and He looks at me, and we are happy together. Oh my parishioners, this is everything!”

   I agree with the Cure d’Ars  (as St. John Vianney is also known) - What better way to spend a hot, summer, afternoon in Texas, then by coming to our beautiful church, and sitting in the presence of the One who made you.

   Indeed, one of the things I most miss while I am in the hospital, is being able to go to the church, to kneel down, and look at the tabernacle, not to mention on Fridays being able to expose Our Blessed Lord and adore Him myself.

   One of our local parishes, a parish whose priests and parishioners I admire greatly, just last week held 120 hours of Perpetual Adoration at their church, with the intention of this devotion being the spiritual growth of the parish community, and for the progress of their building projects, (which, like ours, have been mired in red tape from local authorities). I am very impressed that they were able to fill the 120 hours of Adoration by Tuesday.

   This made me think though, that here at SMV, we sometimes have to put special announcements in our bulletin, (including, I believe, this week)  imploring people to fill the open slots for Adoration on Friday afternoons. I would so love to be able to expand Adoration times here, but unfortunately, we won’t be able to until we get a commitment to fill the ones we already have.

   During these hot summer weeks, let me as the “Cure d’Arlington” encourage you to make every resolve to come to Adoration here on Fridays, to spend some time before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and, to be “happy together!”

Faithfully, your friend and Pastor,
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook
 
 

   The word “transplant “comes from the Latin mid-15th century word and means “to plant again in a different place.” The Latin word root is “Trans “which means “across or beyond“ combined with the Latin word “plantare” which means “to plant.” Originally a gardening term, obviously, it was applied to people  in the 1500s, and then two organs or tissues in the 18th century. 

   Not surprisingly, this word has a special meaning for me, this week as I underwent my stem cell transplant last Tuesday. But it occurred to me as I was thinking about what to write in this week’s bulletin, that the word transplant is not only a gardening, or a migration, or a medical word, but also a Spiritual one. We can transplant our spiritual lives too just as well as our gardens, our travel, or our medical procedures.

   Just as a transplanted plant can bloom and grow  in a new richer environment, or people looking for new opportunities can transplant and grow in the new lives in a new geographic location, and surgical procedures can enhance the lives of those who receive a transplant, all of us can work to transplant our lives to focus more on the author of all life - Our loving God who gives us all things, and indeed makes all things grow. 

   As the lovely Offertory Prayer puts it “All things come from Thee O Lord, and of thine own we have given Thee”

   Why not use these warmer summer months, not only to perhaps transplant yourself on a vacation, or transplant your garden, but also use these days to transplant your Spiritual Prayer lives, your Mass attendance, and your corporal works of mercy towards enhancing those as well?

    On a personal note, please allow me to extend my deep appreciation for the many prayers and texts and letters that I have received, and especially for all of you who attended the special rosary and evening prayer for healing on Monday evening, and all who prayed for me in their homes at that time.

   In many ways, hearing about that special service, that has been the very best medicine for me, and it has certainly “transplanted” my spirits!
 
Faithfully your friend and pastor,
 
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook.
 
 

   

   The Month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As May was the month of Mary, our Blessed Mother, and June is the Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, does it not follow that as May leads into June, Mary leads us to the love of her Son, symbolized by His Heart?
  
   Understood in the light of the Scriptures, the term “Sacred Heart of Jesus” denotes the entire mystery of Christ, the totality of his being, and his person considered in its most intimate essential: Son of God, uncreated wisdom; infinite charity, principal of the salvation and sanctification of mankind. The “Sacred Heart” is Christ, the Word Incarnate, Savior, intrinsically containing, in the Spirit, an infinite divine-human love for the Father and for his brothers.
 
   Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a wonderful historical expression of the Church’s piety for Christ, her Spouse and Lord: it calls for a fundamental attitude of conversion and reparation, of love and gratitude, apostolic commitment and dedication to Christ and his   saving work.
 
   To those who honor the Sacred Heart of Jesus in their homes - and spread devotion to the Sacred Heart of  Jesus, here are the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart   given to St. Margaret Mary:

(1) "I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
(2) I will establish peace in their homes.
(3) I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
(4) I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death.
(5) I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their    undertakings.
(6) Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
(7) Lukewarm souls shall become fervent.
(8) Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection.
(9) I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored.
10) I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
(11) Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart.
(12) I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving
their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment."
 
   Let us remember Christ’s Sacred Heart of Love for all of us, and make every effort to emulate His example by showing Christian love (“agape”, in Greek) to all we encounter in our own lives.
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
 
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook
 
 
 

Mark your calendars for VBS at St. Mary the Virgin this summer

Join us this summer at St. Mary the Virgin for a fantastic new VBS program, 
Bread from Heaven: The Eucharist in Saints and Scripture!

WHEN: July 25 - 29, 2022

TIME: 8:45 am - 12 noon

AGES: 3-11  

ANYONE 12 or older is asked to volunteer! Help for one day or all 5!

COST: $20 per child ($60 cap per family)

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: July 1st

   Today, I would like to draw attention to a special Feast  but one of  the lesser-known Feast among all the Marian feasts in the church -Mary, "Mother of the Church", which we celebrated  yesterday, May 28th.
 
   Mary, Mother of the Church, is a feast established in 2018 by Pope Francis to be celebrated every year. By the erection of this Feast, the Church specifically recalls Mary's reception of the Holy Spirit with the Apostles at Pentecost, as well as her desire to protect all who come to her Son in His Holy Church. Yesterday’s feast specifically commemorates Mary’s motherhood of the Church rather than her motherhood of God, (a feast celebrated on January 1st.)
  
   Mary likely showed as much tender concern for Christ’s mystical body as it slowly matured in its native Palestine, as she did for His physical body in Nazareth. Pope Pius XII perceptively noted Mary’s dual maternity in his encyclical on the Church: “It was she who was there to tend the mystical body of Christ, born of the Savior’s pierced heart, with the same motherly care that she spent on the child Jesus in the crib.” It is possible the Apostles held their first Council in about 49 A.D. in Jerusalem precisely because Mary still dwelled in the holy city. She was likely the young religion’s greatest living witness and pillar of unity. We can imagine her presiding over early Christian gatherings with reserved solemnity, nursing primitive Christianity just as she had nursed Christ.
   
   Ancient pagans spoke of imperial Rome as a “Domina”, a divine female master.  The early fathers understood Mother Church as the successor to this Domina.
   
   In baptism this Mother does not release her children from her body, but absorbs them, making them fully her own unto death. Since the early Middle Ages, feast days and devotions to the Virgin Mary have proliferated in Catholicism.
 
    Now Pope Francis has given the Church a feast to complement that of January 1. The two motherhoods of Mary reflect one profound truth, that Christ approaches us in time and in space, in history and in sacrament, in mysterious and beautiful ways. In the words of Saint Augustine: “What (God) has bestowed on Mary in the flesh, He has bestowed on the Church in the spirit; Mary gave birth to the One, and the Church gives birth to the many, who through the One become one.” This is all cause for deep reflection, and, indeed, deep joy.
  
   Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, you are the fairest daughter of Israel, chosen and prepared by God as the sacred vessel to replace Mother Synagogue with Mother Church. Eve approaches you like mother to daughter, old Eve to New Eve—two mothers of souls both on earth and in heaven.
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
 
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook.
 
 

 As I wrote in the bulletin at the beginning of the month, May is the month of Mary, and the beautiful tradition of May Crowning which we will do at the 10:30 High Mass today reflects the beauty of the 5th Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary which it evokes.

    Honoring Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, and Earth, honors her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ who first crowned her as His Queen. Adorning Our Lady with a crown of flowers is a custom of great devotion to Our Holy Mother and recalls the beauty of her maternal love for us during difficult times in the world.  “May Crowning” is a traditional Catholic ritual that occurs in the month of May, and it recognizes Mary as Queen of heaven and earth. Since medieval times, there has been a correlation between Mary and the month of May. May is considered the season of the beginning of new life. “May Crowning” marks a new spiritual season. Our Mary, Queen of heaven and earth, lifted us right out of the last long, cold days of winter and firmly planted our hearts in the warmth of summer.

    The origins of the "May Crowning" are hard to pinpoint, although devotion to our Blessed Mother Mary originated in the earliest days of the church. Concerning the significance of the month of May, toward the end of the 18th century, Father Latomia of the Roman College of the Society of Jesus (in Rome) instituted the practice of dedicating this month to our Blessed Mother. His desire was to promote devotion to Mary among the students as a way to counteract infidelity and immorality. From Rome, the May devotion spread throughout the Jesuit colleges, and eventually throughout the whole church. Pope Pius VII in 1815 granted a partial indulgence for participating in either a public or private devotion honoring Mary during the month of May; Pope Pius IX made the indulgence plenary in 1859. (This particular indulgence is no longer listed in the present Enchiridion of Indulgences, although numerous devotions to our Blessed Mother are, such as the recitation of the rosary or the Litany of Mary.) The pious practice of publicly crowning an image of the Blessed Mother gained popularity in the 19th century. In Rome, the image known as Salus Populi Romani - of our Blessed Mother holding the Child Jesus — is enshrined at the Basilica of St. Mary Major. 

    Tradition holds that St. Luke painted the image- the Salus Populi Romani. Pope Clement VIII (1592-1605) added two crowns to the icon, which were at some point later lost. Nevertheless, on Aug. 15, 1838, the Feast of the Assumption, Pope Gregory XVI with great solemnity, again added the crowns, and thereupon the practice of crowning the image of the Blessed Mother became popular, especially during the month of May.

    In more recent times, Pope Paul VI, in his “Letter on the Occasion of the First of May” (promulgated April 30, 1965), noted not only the venerable tradition of May devotions to Mary, but also their importance: “It is precisely because the month of May is a powerful incentive to more fervent and trusting prayer, and because during this month, our petitions find their way more easily to the compassionate heart of Our Blessed Lady, that it has been a custom dear to Our Predecessors to choose this month, dedicated to Mary, for inviting the Christian people to offer up public prayers, whenever the needs of the Church demanded it, or whenever danger hovered menacingly over the world. This year, we too, feel the need of sending out a similar appeal to the whole Catholic world. When We look at the present needs of the Church or at the state of peace in the world, we have compelling reasons for believing that the present hour is especially grave; that it makes a call for united prayer from the whole Christian people more urgent than ever.” 

    Considering the plight of so many Christians who face persecution throughout the world, we all should use this month to pray more fervently for all of them. May probably seemed most appropriate because the liturgical calendars, mark several feast days honoring our Blessed Mother: Our Lady, Queen of Apostles (the Saturday following the Ascension); Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament (May 13); Our Lady of Fatima (May 13); Mary, Help of Christians (May 24); Mary, Our Lady Mother of the Church (May 28); Mediatrix of All Graces (May 31); and the Visitation (May 31).

   These May devotions also were energized by the four authenticated apparitions of our Blessed Mother. In 1830, Mary appeared to St. Catherine Laboure and instructed her to have the Miraculous Medal struck with the inscription, “Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”   In 1846, she appeared to the children of La Salette, France, and tearfully lamented the lax practice of the faith. In 1858, she appeared to St. Bernadette at Lourdes, identifying herself as the “Immaculate Conception.” Finally, she appeared to the three children at Fatima May 13, 1917, where she instructed the people to pray the rosary daily for peace.

​   Our Lady always guides as a loving mother. Her Immaculate Heart and her maternal beauty will always triumph over the ugliness of sin and suffering. In this time where we face persecution for our Catholic beliefs and uncertainties, we turn to the Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Church, and Queen of Peace to ask that she intercede for us to her Son for an increase in holiness during this time of trial for our Church and for the world.
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook
 
 

    It will be “business as usual” at our Masses today, but it is an exciting and special day for the Catholic Church as a whole, as His Holiness, Pope Francis canonizes 6 new Saints today in Rome. The Vatican on Tuesday announced that the canonization of Bl. Charles de Foucauld and six others will take place in Rome on May 15, 2022.The date of the canonization had been delayed due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

   The May 15 ceremony will be the Catholic Church’s first canonization Mass since the start of the coronavirus outbreak. It will take place two years and seven months after the most recent canonization, that of St. John Henry Newman and four others in October 2019.

    Bl. Charles de Foucauld was a dissolute French soldier who became a Trappist monk and Catholic missionary to Muslims in Algeria. Known as Brother Charles of Jesus, he was killed in 1916 at the age of 58. After his reverted to the Catholic faith, Foucauld wanted to imitate the life of Jesus, spending his last 13 years living among the Muslim Tuareg people, a nomadic ethnic group, in the desert of French-occupied Algeria. Pope Francis approved a miracle obtained through Foucauld’s intercession in May 2020, and the Church’s cardinals signed off on his and six other canonizations during a Vatican consistory a year later. 

    With Foucauld, Pope Francis will also canonize Devasahayam Pillai, a layman from India who was martyred after converting from Hinduism to Catholicism in the 18th century. Pillai, who is also known by his baptismal name, Lazarus, was beatified in 2012 in southern India. He will be the first lay Catholic in India to be declared a saint. Seven years after his conversion, Pillai was killed at the age of 40 by gunshot, after he had been falsely accused of treason. Two religious sisters will also be canonized on May 15: Bl. Maria Francesca di Gesù, the foundress of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of Loano, and Bl. Maria Domenica Mantovani, the co-foundress and first general superior of the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family. Bl. César de Bus, Bl. Luigi Maria Palazzolo, and Bl. Giustino Maria Russolillo — three priests who founded religious congregations and institutes — will also be declared saints.

   The Vatican was waiting for the global situation with COVID-19 to improve before it scheduled the event, and thousands of people from countries such as the United States, Canada, France, and Algeria are expected to travel to Rome for the ceremony. “Canonizations are not for the saints, they are for us,” a priest from the Congregation of Saints said at the conference announcing the canonizations, “Because for them it changes nothing. It changes nothing for them. It is for us. It is a great ecclesial act.” May the example of these new Saints inspire us to continue to strive for holiness here at SMV - who knows, there could be a future canonized saint among us!
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
 
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook 
 

    I know several Catholics who see May as the Month of Mary, and we all get the same question from time to time: Why is May Mary’s month? The Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary, the group for whom we held our Swing dance Fundraiser, along with many other Religious Orders and regular Catholics, include honoring Mary during May. For centuries, the Catholic Church has set aside the entire month of Mary to honor Mary, Mother of God. Not just a day in May, mind you, but the entire month. The custom spans both centuries and cultures, with roots going back as far as the Ancient Greeks. In early Greece, May was dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of fecundity.

   In Ancient Rome, May was dedicated to Flora, the goddess of blooms, or blossoms. They celebrated ludi florals, or floral games, at the end of April and asked the intercession of Flora for all that blooms. In medieval times, similar customs abounded, all centering around the practice of expelling winter, as May 1 was considered the start of new growth. During this period, the tradition of Tricesimum, or “Thirty-Day Devotion to Mary,” came into being. Also called, “Lady Month,” the event was held from August 15-September 14 and is still observed in some areas.

   The idea of a month dedicated specifically to Mary can be traced back to baroque times. Although it wasn’t always held during May, Mary Month included thirty daily spiritual exercises honoring Mary. It was in this era that Mary’s Month and May were combined, making May the Month of Mary with special devotions organized on each day throughout the month. This custom became especially widespread during the nineteenth century and remains in practice until today.

   Some parishes have a daily recitation of the Rosary during May, and many erect a special May altar with a statue or picture of Mary as a reminder of Mary’s month. Additionally, it’s a long-standing tradition to crown the statue of Mary during May – a custom known as May Crowning. We will celebrate our May Crowning at both the 8:00 am and the 10:30 am Masses on May 22. Often, the crown is made of beautiful blossoms representing Mary’s beauty and virtue. It’s also a reminder to the faithful to strive to imitate our Blessed Mother’s virtue in our own lives.

   But May altars and crowning aren’t just “church” things. We can and should be doing the same in our homes. When we echo the customs and traditions of the Church in our homes – our domestic churches – we participate more fully in the life of the Church. Why not honor Mary, our Blessed Mother, and Mother of the Church (celebrated on May 28th), both here at our SMV Masses and in your own homes during this month of May?

Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook.
 
 

   After the excitement of holy week and Easter, it is good for everybody to have a chance to relax. I am learning about relaxing, due to my recent experience this week. Allow me however, to thank all the people who worked so very hard, to make Palm Sunday, holy week, and Easter, very special at the Catholic Church of St. Mary the Virgin. We were blessed with record numbers at all services, and a palpable sense of what the resurrection really means for us.

   Our next celebration will be the birthday of the church, the celebration of Pentecost. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves! The season of Easter is 50 days long, and just as we celebrated the season of Lent for 40 days, let us celebrate Easter for all 50. The season of spring is a season of growth and hope, as is Easter. 
 
   Look to our bulletin for news and announcements about our church, And don’t forget to take it home!
 
Faithfully, your friend and pastor,
 
Fr. Christopher a C. Stainbrook