Byzantine Catholic Mission
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Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission |
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O ye incorporeal angels who stand before the throne of God, luminous with the brilliance thereof and everlastingly shining with radiance. As secondary luminaries, entreat Christ, that He grant unto our souls peace and great mercy. O immortal messengers of the truly incorruptible Life, ye most blessed ones who received life from the first Life, ye have become holy beholders of the eternal Wisdom, full of light, and reflecting lamps shown forth as is meet. O ye archangels and angels, principalities, thrones, dominions, six-winged seraphim, and divine, many-eyed cherubim, instruments of wisdom, virtues and powers most divine. Pray ye to Christ, that He grant our souls peace and great mercy. Archives:
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HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY FOREVER!
DIVINE LITURGY BEGINS AT 4 P.M. EVERY SUNDAY
December 7, 2003
Divine Liturgy Intention: If you would like the Divine Liturgy offered for a loved one, deceased or living, please give your offering to Father O’Connell and obtain a Liturgy intention card from William Gogar. Please write down the intention so it can be printed in the bulletin.
Our Offerings
Did you know?
In October 2003, our mission’s website, www.hrbcc.org, was visited by people in the United States (including personal
accounts, universities, the federal government, and the military), Italy, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Brazil,
Japan, Germany, Greece, Croatia, the Russian Federation, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, New Zealand, the
Philippines, Romania, the Seychelles Islands, Poland, and France!
The Conception of St. Anna — When She Conceived the Most Holy Mother of God — December 8
From end to end, the Byzantine world greets the Mother of God as “the immaculate, spotless one,” no less than
eight times in the Divine Liturgy alone. Her immaculateness is especially stressed on the feast of her conception: “This
day, O faithful, from the saintly parents, begins to take being the spotless lamb, the most pure tabernacle, Mary, the only
immaculate one.” No sin, no fault, not even the slightest, ever marred the perfect sanctity of this masterpiece of
God’s creation. For hundreds of years, the Byzantine Church has believed this and has honored her in this way. Centuries
of sacred tradition stand behind this truth. Traditionally, the Byzantine church celebrated the feast on Dec. 9; but in
order to observe this feast — the patronal feast of the United States since 1846 — with other American Catholics,
the Byzantine Ruthenian Metropolia transferred it to Dec. 8.
Concerning the Most Holy Mother of God
People who do not understand Catholic teaching about Mary sometimes become offended by our displaying her icon or by our
praying through her. They do not understand how Catholics see Mary: She leads us to her Son Jesus. As St. Alphonsus
Liguori, who wrote a beautiful book extolling The Glories of Mary, once noted in a letter to a friend: “The greatest
pleasure you can give to Mary is to love Jesus devotedly.” Perhaps the confusion that some non-Catholic Christians have
over Mary stems from Catholics who do not understand Mary’s role in our faith. It would almost appear that some
Catholics put more emphasis on the alleged appearances of Mary in various parts of the world today than they put on the
revelation of Jesus Himself, who entered our history 2,000 years ago. To that point, St. John of the Cross imagines God
speaking to souls who ask for heavenly visions and apparitions: “If I have spoken all things to you in my Word, which is
greater than this? For you ask locutions and revelations, which can reveal only part of the truth. If you set your eyes on
Him, you shall find the whole Truth” (The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Bk II, XXII/5). In our own time, the bishops at
the Second Vatican Council reiterate what we believe to be the place of Mary in the Church: “When she is being preached
and venerated, she summons the faithful to her Son and His sacrifice, and to love for the Father” (Lumen Gentium
VII/65).
This is why in the proper teaching of the Eastern Church, she never appears without her Son.
—Rev. James Melnic
Pastoral Ponderings
On Dec. 8, the Solemnity of St. Anna, we celebrate the truth that at the very moment when God infused a human soul
into the body that had been fashioned of Joachim and Anna, that soul had divine life within it. At the very first moment of
her existence, Mary was full of God’s grace, His Holiness. It was God who kept sin from Mary’s soul from the first
moment of her existence. It was God who chose Mary to be the virgin-mother of his Son. It was God who lifted Mary, body and
soul, to union with Him.
If we define holiness as union with God, we must also remember that holiness depends upon two factors: on God and on us. While
God takes the initiative in holiness, there is always the question of our response. When asked to be the mother of God, Mary
said, “Yes.” The same thing happens to us. Throughout our lives, even on a daily basis, God asks whether or not
we want to be united to him. In the sacraments, in prayer, in our daily work. Our response depends on our holiness, our union
with God.
In devotion to Mary we glimpse our own destiny — not an immaculate conception, a virginal motherhood, or a glorious
assumption — a oneness with God in every phase of our lives. But for now we have the courage to say as did Mary,
“Be it done to me according to your word.”
—Father O’Connell
Last updated: 31-Dec-2003 |
