The Catholic Church of

St. Mary the Virgin

Register your family now for the Religious Education program for the 2022-2023 year! Classes will meet from 9:15-10:15 am on Sundays. 

Please send any questions to Amy Horan at smv.dre @ gmail.com

https://stmarythevirgin.org/re-registration-22-23

 

  The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the patronal feast of the parish of St. Mary the Virgin. To celebrate, we will have two Masses on Monday, August 15th.

Low Mass, 12 noon
Sung Mass, 7 p.m.

   Please make your plans to take part!

   Our Gospel today advises us to be prepared, for we do not know when our time to move from this world to the next will come. Jesus tells us to be vigilant, like servants awaiting the return of their master. The end will come like a thief in the night.

   The second coming of Christ was anticipated after the Resurrection. But instead, there were persecutions and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. There was a shift of focus to the idea of not being attached to the things of this world. In doing that, the early Christians realized that they would be ready for the end times whenever they came.

    Passages like the Gospel today leads one to the conclusion that beside Heaven and Hell, there is an in-between state of remedial punishment. Catholic teaching calls it Purgatory, a state of temporary, remedial punishment for believers who die in venial sin. They cannot be admitted to Heaven directly because they have guilt, and yet they cannot be consigned to everlasting punishment in Hell because their sin is not mortal (1 John 5:16-17). 

    Many Protestant Christians have a problem with the doctrine of Purgatory. One reason for this is that the Reformation Bible does not include some of the books in the Catholic Bible, such as 2 Maccabees, which clearly support this doctrine. But the doctrine of Purgatory makes sense, especially in light of Biblical passages, such as today's Gospel, that provide a third alternative to outright blessing and outright condemnation.

    The doctrine of Purgatory satisfies God's mercy as well as God's justice. It is Good News to the struggling friend or family member who never quite seems to make it to the Christians ideals we all aim at. It is a great source of hope for us to know that even if we die in this imperfect, struggling state, we may receive "a light beating" but we will still be admitted to the eternal happiness of Heaven in God’s good time.

    People sometimes imagine God sitting in heaven and looking down at his creatures. God in the Bible is not like this at all. "My Father goes on working," St John quotes Jesus saying, "and so do I." God is always at work in our lives, in the lives of others and in the world, and this work is always to break the rod of the oppressor and to set captives free.
 
    To wait for God is, then, to say to him that we know he is at work, and we are prepared to let him carry out his loving purpose when and how he pleases. At times, of course, we become impatient, and even panic and cry out, "How long, O Lord!" But at other times, we feel able to make our act of adoration and tell God that we are willing to wait for him.
 
    Remember and heed the words of today’s Gospel - The things of this world are not lasting. Building up wealth and power in this world is, ultimately, useless. In the end, our love and our faithfulness will be what remains. So as followers of Jesus, we need to be focused on serving our Lord and each other and preparing for our own time when we are called from this world to the next. 
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Priest,
 
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook
 
 

A big thank you to all those who made our week of Vacation Bible School here at St. Mary the Virgin such a huge success. First of all, thanks go out to our DRE Amy Horan, who not only organized and made the day to day work happen, but also WROTE THE CURRICULUM. Well done, Amy!

Second, thanks to our music staff - Marion and Mary Nesvadba - who worked tirelessly to get the kids singing and dancing and praising God through music. 

Third, thanks to the adult volunteers, who showed up to fix snacks, oversee crafts, make sure Scripture was heard and learned. Who sang, who danced, who kissed boo boos and dried tears. Those volunteers are the backbone of what makes the program WORK.

Fourth, thanks to the teen volunteers who worked tirelessly throughout the week, herding kids, playing with kids, who were the factor of FUN in VBS. The children LOVE the teen volunteers and look up to them. Their stamina and energy are irreplaceable.

Fifth,  thanks to the parents who faithfully brought their kids each day to take part in a wonderful program. Who washed t-shirts to make them ready for the next day. And who were PROUD of what all their kids did during this week. May your faithfulness be rewarded ten-fold!

And finally, thanks to our wonderful, noisy, crazy, beloved beyond belief children who came ready to participate, learn and grow! You are our great treasure!

Here's to a wonderful week of VBS. We can't wait to do it again next year!
 

   As I have written about this summer, in our Catholic Church there has grown over time specific “devotions” that were assigned to each month of the year. The month of June became associated with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, because the feast of the Sacred Heart always falls within that month. The month of July was dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus.

    August became known as a month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, but currently it is difficult to know why this is the case. There exists no particular feast, and the main celebration in August is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary on August 15. (About which I will write next week.) The physical heart of Mary is venerated (and not adored as the Sacred Heart of Jesus is) because it is united to Her person and is the seat of Her love (especially for her divine Son), virtue, and inner life. Such devotion is an incentive to a similar love and virtue in us.

   This devotion has received new emphasis in this century from the visions given to Lucy Dos Santos, oldest of the visionaries of Fatima, in her convent in Tuy, in Spain, in 1925 and 1926. In the visions Our Lady asked for the practice of the Five First Saturdays to help make amends for the offenses committed against her heart by the blasphemies and ingratitude of men. The practice parallels the devotion of the Nine First Fridays in honor of the Sacred Heart.

      The reason why August became associated with the Immaculate Heart of Mary is because of World War II, and the devotion of Pope Pius XII to Our Lady of Fatima.  The world was in incredible turmoil in the 1940s and particularly in 1942, when it was not at all certain that the Allies would win the war. Pope Pius XII  responded to the requests of Our Lady of Fatima and consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on October 31, 1942. When the war continued, Pius XII again turned to the Immaculate Heart.

       On May 4, 1944, Pope Pius XII established the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on August 22nd, the Octave Day of the Feast of the Assumption. He did so that by Her intercession there may be obtained “peace among nations, freedom for the Church, the conversion of sinners, the love of purity and the practice of virtue.” This remained the day dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary up until after the Second Vatican Council.

     After the revision of the General Calendar, Pope St. Paul VI decided to switch the feasts of the Immaculate Heart and the Queenship of Mary. The feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was joined to the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (celebrated on the Saturday following the feast of the Sacred Heart, typically in June) and the Queenship of Mary was moved to August 22nd. This was in part to recognize the fact that Mary’s Queenship is closely connected to that of Her Assumption into Heaven.

     Even after the switching of the feasts, many Catholics continued to celebrate August as a month dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as they felt her message at Fatima needed to be heard in a more extended way. There is no better example of the Christian life than that offered by Mary. Through the following prayer, which help to deepen our devotion to her Immaculate Heart, we can join the Mother of God in drawing closer to Christ. I am therefore happy dedicate this month of August to the Immaculate Heart of Mary here at the Catholic Church of St. Mary the Virgin, and offer this prayer of Consecration. This Prayer of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary perfectly illustrates the Marian doctrine of the Catholic Church: We do not worship Mary or place her above Christ,but we come to Christ through Mary, as Christ came to us through Her.
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook
 

Prayer of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart

   Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and tender Mother of all people, I consecrate myself to your Immaculate Heart, and recommend to you my family, my country, and the whole human race. Please accept my consecration, dearest Mother, and use me as you wish, to accomplish your designs upon the world. O Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of Heaven and earth, rule over me, and teach me how to allow the Heart of Jesus to rule and triumph in me and around me, as it has ruled and triumphed in you. Amen.
 
 

   

   As you read this, we are only a few short hours from this summer’s VBS, opening our parish hall to over 100 of some of the most beautiful, joyful, wildest, loudest, greatest persons in God’s creation—the children of our parish! (And that doesn’t include the 40+ teens and adult volunteers who are going to make this boat float!) We are so excited to put on another thrilling VBS week at St. Mary the Virgin. We have a wonderful team of parent and teen volunteers and, as mentioned, a passel of wild munchkins to share some of the funniest aspects of our faith.
 
   This year, I (crazily) decided to write the program. But, despite my insanity, the Holy Spirit has proved Himself the best worker of events, as he guided me to focus the program on the greatest gift of our Church—the Eucharist—in a time when our own Bishops have called us all to renew our devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, as we prepare for the upcoming Eucharistic Congress! 

   The VBS plays out (in every sense!) the connections between familiar Bible stories and the beautiful reality of Jesus Christ made fully present in the seeming bread and wine, showing the children how God has been preparing His people for this gift from the very beginning, through deserts and on mountaintops and all of Scripture. Through the week, they will play “Capture the Lamb” (a lesser-known cousin of Capture the Flag) as they learn about the Passover Supper; they’ll sew simple felt Hosts while hearing about unleavened bread and shape clay patens after talking about Jesus’ manger; they’ll make Divine Mercy Shortcakes and break cinnamon bread at Emmaus. They’ll get daily visits from a Saint (one of the “big kids” all dressed up) whose life tells of love for the Eucharist. The crafts they make, exploring different skills, will build each day so that by the end each child has, with his own hands, made a toy Mass set that he can take home and reenact our greatest act of worship in his joyful childlike play. They’ll sing and dance to Scripture-themed music (with great joyful noise, believe you me!) that have been chosen and choreographed by the amazing Marion and Mary Nesvadba, and filmed by our own children’s choir! (Mr. and Mrs. Nes, as my kids call you, know you have my eternal thanks for this awesome feat!!) And our dear pastor, Father Stainbrook, although his recovery bars him from being able to come in person, will be able to extend his pastoral care to the children through a video that he is making to share with them. 

   At the beginning of each day the teens will put on a skit for them which plays out a famous scene from Scripture in which God is showing us the types and foretasting of His great gift of Himself in the Eucharist—the miraculous Manna in the desert, His own birth in swaddling clothes in an animal feed box, the Last Supper, the breaking of the bread on the road to Emmaus, and Jesus’ own powerful promise of the Eucharist as the “Bread from Heaven” in John, chapter 6. For this is what most struck me as a young convert, reading the Bible for the first time: the repetition of the stories through the Bible like a changing refrain, a good fairy tale that keeps coming true. God keeps showing His complete, self-giving love all through Scripture, and fulfills it, bringing it all to life like a story stepping out of the page and into your own life, in the Sacraments. I pray that next week at VBS the children will experience some of the great joy, the wonder and delight, that comes from the knowledge of what God has done for us in the Scriptures, in every word from his mouth, and from his very Word, Jesus, present fully and most blessedly in the Eucharist. Please pray with me, for our teachers, for our volunteers, and most especially for the hearts and souls of these precious children that we are privileged to journey with, that they will receive the gift of His love and His life. 

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven,” Our dear Lord said, “and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world” (John 6:51).

Amy Horan
Director of Religious Education
 
 

 We pray in the Nicene Creed every Sunday that we believe in the “Communion of Saints”. It is therefore both interesting and worthwhile to learn their stories (especially during a slow    summer week!)

   There are several Saints commemorated this week, but I would like to share the story of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (whose Feast day was last Friday, July 15).
St. Bonaventure, known as "the Seraphic Doctor," was born at Bagnoregio, in the Lazio region of central Italy, in 1221. He received the name of Bonaventure in consequence of an exclamation of St. Francis of Assisi, when, in response to the pleading of the child's mother, the saint prayed for John's recovery from a dangerous illness, and, foreseeing the future greatness of the little John, cried out "O Buona ventura”- O good fortune!

   At the age of twenty-two St. Bonaventure entered the Franciscan Order. Having made his vows, he was sent to Paris to complete his studies under the celebrated teacher Alexander of Hales, an Englishman and a Franciscan. After the latter's death he continued his course under his successor, John of Rochelle. In Paris he became the intimate friend of the great St. Thomas Aquinas (Feast Day, January 28th). He received the degree of Doctor, together with St. Thomas Aquinas, ceding to his friend (against the latter's inclination), the honor of having it first conferred upon him. Like St. Thomas Aquinas, he enjoyed the friendship of the holy King, St. Louis, (Feast Day, August 25th).

   At the age of thirty-five he was chosen General of his Order and restored a perfect calm where peace had been disturbed by internal dissensions. He did much for his Order and composed The Life of St. Francis. He also assisted at the translation of the relics of St. Anthony of Padua, (Feast Day June 13th).   He was nominated Archbishop of York by Pope Clement IV, but he begged not to be forced to accept that dignity. Pope Gregory X obliged him to take upon himself a greater one, that of Cardinal and Bishop of Albano, one of the six suffragan Sees of Rome. Before his death he abdicated his office of General of the Franciscan Order. He died while he was assisting at the Second Council of Lyons, on July 15, 1274.

   When we learn about the lives of the Saints, they become real people for us, and not just a line we say at Mass. The “Communion of Saints’ contains a vast array of interesting and admirable characters - Why not learn about the lives of the Saints this summer, either by attending daily Mass, or by reading about them in books or through the internet? You will be edified and encouraged by the lives of the Saints, and gratified that, with them, we are all part of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook
 
 

   The month of July is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. It is a recognition of Jesus’ sacrifice and how He spilled his blood for the salvation of humanity. Furthermore, this blood is made present through the gift of the Eucharist an along with the body of Christ, under the appearance of bread and wine. Like the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the subject of Catholic devotion in June, the Precious Blood has long been venerated for its role in our redemption.

   Over time the Church developed various feasts of the Precious Blood, but it wasn’t until the 19th century when a universal feast was established. During the First Italian War for Independence in 1849, Pope Pius IX went into exile to Gaeta. He went there with Don Giovanni Merlini, third superior general of the Fathers of the Most Precious Blood.

   While the war was still raging, Merlini suggested to Pope Pius IX that he create a universal feast to the Precious Blood to beg God’s heavenly aid to end the war and bring peace to Rome. Pius IX subsequently made a statement on June 30, 1849 that he intended to create a feast in honor of the Precious Blood. The war soon ended, and he returned to Rome shortly thereafter. On August 10, he made it official and proclaimed that the 1st Sunday in July will be dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. Later, Pope Pius X assigned July 1 as the fixed date of this celebration.

   After Vatican II the feast was removed from the calendar, but a votive Mass in honor of the Precious Blood was established and can be celebrated in the month of July (as well as most other months of the year). For these reasons the entire month of July is traditionally dedicated to the Precious Blood, and Catholics are encouraged to meditate on the profound sacrifice of Jesus and the pouring out of his blood for humanity.

   Many non-Catholics find Catholic devotion to the “body parts” of Jesus Christ to be a little odd. In addition to the Sacred Heart and the Precious Blood, there are devotions to the Five Wounds (in Christ’s hands, feet, and side), to the shoulder wound, where Christ carried the Cross and to the wounds caused by the crown of thorns, to name just a few.

   Faced with Protestant discomfort with these devotions, many Catholics have abandoned or downplayed them. But we should not do that. These devotions provide a living witness to our belief in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. Our Saviour is not an abstraction, He is God-Made-Man. And as the Athanasian Creed tells us, in becoming man, Christ assumed humanity into the Godhead.

   It’s an awesome thought – our physical nature is united to God through the Person of Jesus Christ. When we venerate Christ’s Precious Blood or His Sacred Heart, we aren’t making an idol out of Creation, we are worshiping the One True God Who so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son to save us from everlasting death!

   Christ’s Precious Blood, like His Sacred Heart, is a symbol of His love for all mankind.   In this prayer, we recall the shedding of His Blood and ask, that He may guide our lives so that we may be worthy of Heaven.

Lord Jesus Christ,
who came down from heaven to earth
from the bosom of the Father
and shed Thy Precious Blood
for the remission of our sins,
we humbly beseech Thee,
that in the day of judgment
we may deserve to hear,
standing at Thy right hand:
“Come, ye blessed.”
Who lives and reigns forever and ever.
Amen

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

   Happy 4th of July Weekend! As in everything that is good on earth, there are Catholic threads in this American holiday, showing that the Church played a significant role in the fight for independence.  

   Did you know that Thomas Jefferson’s phrase “All men are created equal” was inspired by an Italian Catholic named Philip Mazzei who wrote to Jefferson that “all men are by nature equally free and independent?” (Come to think of it, I rather like Mazzei’s wording better than Jefferson’s, as it strikes me as more accurate.) The U.S. Post Office honored Mazzei in 1980 with a stamp.

    Most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were Protestants (the majority being Congregationalists, Episcopalians and Presbyterians) but the Catholic Church can claim Charles Carroll (1737–1832), the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, who also happened to be the only Catholic signatory. Carroll was not only the lone Papist who signed the Declaration, he was also the wealthiest, which means that he had the most to lose in this risky political venture. Born September 1737 to a wealthy Annapolis, Maryland, family, Carroll was raised Catholic and educated in Jesuit colleges in Maryland and France before finally studying law in Paris and London.

    His education in Catholic social principles prepared him to embrace the ideals of freedom, liberty, tolerance and constitutional government, and motivated him to openly support the independence of Maryland from Britain. Carroll believed strongly in a government with limited, checked, and balanced power.

    Catholics were prohibited from participating in Maryland politics before the revolution, but that did not stop Carroll from expressing his passion for American liberty so strongly that he became a champion in the fight for independence.

    His outspokenness paid off. As the colonies’ tension with Britain increased, he was allowed to serve in the Maryland delegation as the only Catholic in the Continental Congress. 

   Carroll served in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1778, and then returned to Maryland to help write a constitution and form a state government. He was elected to the Maryland state senate in 1781 and served there continuously until 1800.

   Because he had experienced firsthand intolerance of his own faith, Carroll fought tirelessly for religious liberty in the United States and is remembered for breaking down barriers for Catholics and other religious minorities. His cousin, (The Most Rev'd) John Carroll was the first Bishop and then Archbishop of the United States, and the founder of Georgetown University.
 
   After both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826, Carroll became the last living signatory of the Declaration of Independence. His last public act was the laying of the cornerstone of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad on July 4, 1828.

   And so, as you enjoy the Knights of Columbus festivities in the parking lot today, or choose to celebrate elsewhere with your own family and friends, remember that the principles of this day, especially the support of Religious Freedom, are  enshrined in our civic conscious due, in part, to our Catholic Church.
 
Faithfully, Your Friend and Pastor,
Fr. Christopher C. Stainbrook
 
 

   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