The Catholic Church of

St. Mary the Virgin

     Among the unique attributes of Catholicism are some beautiful customs and practices of devotion and piety which are centuries, (or even a millennium), old. The Golden Rose is one example. The Golden Rose is a gold ornament, which Popes have traditionally blessed annually. It is occasionally conferred as a token of reverence or affection. Recipients have included churches and sanctuaries, royalty, military figures, and governments.
   The rose is blessed on the fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday, (also known as Rose Sunday), which we celebrate today, when rose-colored vestments and pulpit hangings substitute for the penitential purple, symbolizing hope and joy in the midst of Lenten solemnity.
    Throughout most of Lent, Catholics pray, fast, perform penance, and meditate upon the malice of sin and its negative effects; but Rose Sunday is an opportunity to look beyond Christ's death at Calvary and forward 
to His joyous Resurrection. The beautiful Golden Rose symbolizes the Risen Christ of glorious majesty. (The Messiah is hailed "the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys" in the Song of Solomon in the Bible.) The rose's fragrance, according to Pope Leo XIII (19th century), "shows the sweet odor of Christ which should be widely diffused by His faithful followers" (Acta, vol. VI, 104), and the thorns and red tint of the petals refer to His bloody Passion
    Many Popes, on the occasion of conferring the Rose, have in sermons and letters explained its mystical significance. Pope Innocent III (13th century) said: "As Lætare Sunday, the day set apart for the function, represents love after hate, joy after sorrow, and fullness after hunger, so does the rose designate by its color, odor and taste, love, joy and satiety respectively," also comparing the rose to the flower referred to in Isaiah 11:1: "There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root."
    During Pope Francis’ pontificate, he has handed out a total of four “Golden Roses.” These roses have been given to various Marian shrines, such as those associated with Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Guadalupe.
    In honor of the Golden Rose , let us celebrate this mid –Lent Laetare Sunday striving  always to be joyful in our Faith!

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

Tuesday night's 6 p.m. Mass (3/14) and Thursday' s noon Mass (3/16) have been canceled.

ALL OTHER PARISH LITURGIES AND EVENTS WILL CONTINUE AS USUAL, thanks to  Fr. Kennedy, Fr. Wooten, and Deacon Woodall. We are blessed to have such good friends.

Fr. Stainbrook has been admitted to the hospital with a recurrence of the infection he was fighting two weeks ago.  While we are disappointed that this has happened, we know he is in the right place to find a solution to this problem. He asks that you keep him in your prayers, as he will certainly be praying for all of us.

We will make updates via email blasts as more information on Father becomes available.

    On Friday nights in Lent, the Catholic Church of St. Mary the Virgin, like the vast majority of Catholic Churches all over the world, walk the Stations of the Cross, beginning at 6:00 PM, ending with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and followed by a meatless meal at 7 PM. 
The Stations of the Cross originated in pilgrimage to Jerusalem and a desire to reproduce the Via Dolorosa. 
Imitating holy places was not a new concept, their efforts were recognized when the Franciscans were officially proclaimed the Custodians of the Holy Places by Pope Clement VI in 1342.
   In the end it was Saint Leonard of Port Maurice, (1676, 175), a Franciscan, who established what we know is the 14 Stations of the Cross. 
During his long life as a missionary, Saint Leonard erected more than 570 stations of the Cross. 
The Stations of the Cross are representations of the path that Jesus bore on His way to the crucifixion. They involve Jesus enduring suffering, insults, moments of support, and relay the intent sacrifice that Christians believe Jesus undertook for human salvation. 
   The Scriptural significance of the Stations of the Cross is to detail the path Jesus walked on his way to eventual redemption of humanity. This path was one that featured Him bearing the weight of the Cross, falling three times during a physical exhaustion He endured, meeting His Beloved Mother, Simon the Cyrene, and a woman named Veronica along the way. The Stations of the Cross also include Jesus being nailed to the cross, His death, and His eventual Resurrection. The path to Spiritual Growth lives in the Station the Cross, when individuals recognized what Jesus endured, and enable it as a call to action in their own lives. 
   To illustrate this, after each Station, we say that “ We adore Thee O Christ and we Praise Thee", to which the respondents reply that "Because by Thy Holy Cross,  Thou hast Redeemed the World.”
   Pope Pius XI argued that the Stations of the Cross was necessary so that Christians could understand the magnitude of what was endured, providing “some sort of compensation to be rendered for the injury.”
   The traditional stations of the Cross are as follows; Jesus is condemned to death, Jesus takes up His cross, Jesus falls the First time, Jesus meets his Blessed Mother, Simon of  Cyrene carries the Cross, Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, Jesus falls the Second time, Jesus meets the Daughters of Jerusalem, Jesus for the Third time, Jesus is stripped of His garments, Jesus is nailed to the cross, Jesus is Crucified, Jesus is taken down from the Cross, Jesus’ Body is laid in the tomb.
   Please join your Parish family, and walk the Stations of the Cross each Friday in Lent.

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

We want to see you at Mass this Sunday at the right time! Please remember to set your clocks forward one hour at bedtime on Saturday. You don't want to be arriving just as everyone else is departing!

    I have never been one to be much of a “contemplative”. Joining a religious order like the Carthusians, or the Carmelites, never had an attraction for me, with their charism  of spending large periods of time in their individual cells through much of the day. I have always been more of a gregarious, “people person”, kind of clergyman. However, this Lent, God had it in mind to give me the chance for seclusion, isolation, and contemplation.
    Since the medical staff here have yet to determine the exact nature of the intestinal infection which has brought me to the hospital, I have been in an isolation room since Ash Wednesday. 
     Much like a novice in a contemplative religious order, I have been able to use this time to pray, fast, (more or less at the dictates of the medical staff) and meditate in a way that I have not been able to do for many years. I thank God for this grace to be alone with Him, even though I am surrounded by many people in the hospital.
    Lent is a time when we all should spend much more of our time in prayer and contemplation. I encourage everyone to take advantage of this “alone time “with God, to examine your own life, and relationship with Him and with His Church. I know that I will be stronger for my own time of contemplation here at the hospital, and I know that all of you will be strengthened by such times of contemplation as well.
    Allow me to remind you that a wonderful time for contemplation here at the Catholic Church of St. Mary the Virgin is on Friday afternoons, when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on the Altar from 1 PM to 5 PM each week. What a wonderful opportunity, during Lent, or any time of the year, to come and adore our blessed Lord in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. I hope many of our people will take advantage of this weekly opportunity.
    I hope to be able to return home soon, and to be back at the church in the very near future.
In the meantime, please pray for me as I pray for you, my dear parishioners, and friends 


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

Because Fr. Stainbrook is still out of commission, the decision was made to cancel the Tuesday evening Mass tomorrow (2/28). We hope that Father will be back among us soon and we will be back to our regular schedule.

      The Season of Lent, which began last Wednesday, (Ash Wednesday), is a time to look at our temptations, sins, and the consequences. During this season more than ever, our ancient adversary, the Devil, is especially relentless in tempting us to sin (I expect that there will be a lot more confessions of “taking the Lord’s name in vain” at next week’s Confessions after this week!)  Lent is a time that reminds us of our universal journey of fall and redemption. Like Adam and Eve, and even Our Blessed Lord Jesus, we all face temptations.  
     Originally, Lent was the season when those about to be baptized repented of their sins and sought to know the Lord Jesus more intimately.  Then it became a season for all the baptized to do the same.  We are challenged to die to sin so that we may rise again to the new life in Christ.  Since the Church begins the season with a reflection on the origins of sin, we should remember that, while testing comes from the outside (as we’ve all experienced during this past week), temptation comes from within.
     However, the Good News for us is that, though we are tempted and often succumb, God’s grace provides the way of salvation for us. The ultimate temptations in life are NOT those that only push us to “do” things we aren’t supposed to “do”; rather they are the ones that push us to “be” persons we weren’t made to “be.” 
     Let us, then, during this Lenten season, pray earnestly, as Jesus has taught us to pray to Our Father in Heaven – “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

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

Father Stainbrook was admitted to Baylor All Saints Hospital in Fort Worth yesterday with a diagnosis of severe dehydration, low blood pressure, lightheadedness, fatigue and dizziness, along with intestinal and respiratory infections. He is in cheerful spirits, although very much regrets not being at church on Ash Wednesday.

Our planned schedule of services today will continue, with Father Kennedy celebrating a Low Mass with imposition of Ashes at 12:00 Noon, and Monsignor Perkins (driving up from the Chancery) and Deacon Woodall celebrating a Solemn High Mass with imposition Ashes at 7pm.

“Remember that Thou art Dust and to Dust Thou Shalt Return”