Little Portion Fraternity The Secular

May 2013 Page 1

In This Issue DON’T FORGET! We will meet on the 19th for the Don’t Forget! May gathering so families can enjoy Mother’s th Br. Jeff’s Column Day on this Sunday May 12 . Prayer Intentions Welcome Back Jeff’s Column Franciscan History Mary, a Model of Motherhood and Discipleship Franciscan Resources By Jeff Shackleton, ofm ------Spiritual Assistant Visit Us In his beautiful, characteristically lyrical poem “May Magnificat,” Jesuit We are happy to invite priest and poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, SJ, reflects on why the Catholic you to our next Church has associated Mary, the mother of God, with the month of May: fraternity meeting on

May 19 at 1 pm in the May is Mary’s month, and I Adult Center Library at Muse at that and wonder why: SS Peter and Paul Her feasts follow reason, Church, 4450 Granite Dated due to season— Drive Rocklin, CA 95667 Candlemas, Lady Day; ------But the Lady Month, May, Servant Leaders Why fasten that upon her, Minister: With a feasting in her honour? KATHLEEN MOLARO 11255 Pekolee Drive Hopkins comes to the conclusion that Grass Valley, CA 95949 this spring month is a fitting time to 530-272-1416 celebrate Mary; spring is, after all, Vice Minister: traditionally associated with mothering, BARBARA LIPIEC with birth, with re-birth. According to 6506 Cleveland Cir the poet Hopkins, Mary’s own role in Rocklin, CA 95675 salvation history — giving birth to our 916-771-5549 Savior — shows her total devotion to God and to God’s Son. Clearly, as Secretary: committed Christians, we’re called to emulate that devotion. DONNA RIETZ 6133 Rutland Drive As we celebrate Mothers’ Day, and the honor the role of mothers in our Carmichael, CA 95608 own lives, it is fitting that Franciscans recognize the part the mother of 916-967-7180 God has played in the Christian story. Although St. Francis did not Treasurer: establish a Marian order per se, he obviously felt a close personal LUCILLE PEDERSEN connection with the mother of God. Mary figures prominently in his 8330 Middland Road writings and spiritual reflections. In his Office of the Passion, for example, Granite Bay,CA 95746 Francis’s lovely antiphon to the blessed was sung or recited at the April 2013 Page 2

916-652-3675 beginning and end of each hour. This meant that images of Mary were introduced into prayer fourteen times throughout the day for those praying Formation: the Office of the Passion. ILEANA MATTISON Po box 544 In spite of strong Marian devotions, however, both Francis and Hopkins Pollock Pines, CA 95726 emphasize a key tenet of Catholic Christian belief: that we revere Mary 530-661-8180 because she points to Jesus. To the extent that Mary becomes a ------destination rather than a signpost, we miss the point. Mary is a model to of May us — a very special model, to be sure, but a model nonetheless. Devotion 3 Bl. Arthur Bell, Henry to Mary is a healthy and useful spiritual practice only in so far as it brings Heath, John us closer to her Son. Woodcock, et al., priests, martyrs of This distinction may seem obvious, but there are those in our faith England, I Ord. tradition who seem to stop at Mary rather than go “the distance” to Christ. 7 Bl. Agnellus of , As a parish priest once observed to me, “Some of the time, we Catholics religious, I Ord. 8 Bl. of tend to make Mary a demi-god.” When we do this, we engage in idolatry: Valacchia, only God is God. Mary and the saints of the Catholic canon merit our religious, I Ord.. respect, our admiration, and our emulation, but only God is the proper 9 St. Catherine of object of our worship. Bologna, virgin, II Ord. Mary herself would be the first to acknowledge this. After all, in her own 10 St. Ivo of Brittany, III “Magnificat,” she declared that her soul proclaimed the greatest of the Ord. Lord, her spirit rejoiced in God the Savior. 11 St. Ignatius of Laconi,

religious, I Ord. Bl. Antonio of St. Anne During this month of May, may we follow the example of Mary, the mother Galvoa, I Ord., of God. May we, through our actions, thoughts, and prayers, also founder “magnify” the Lord. 12 St. Leopold Mandic, priest, I Ord. May the Lord give you peace! 16 St. Margaret of Cortona, III Ord.

17 St. Paschal Baylon, Your brother in Christ, Francis, and Clare, religious, I Ord. Jeff, ofm 18 St. , religious, I Ord. 19 St. Crispin of , religious, I Ord. Prayer Intentions St. Theophilus of Kathleen asks us to pray for her niece JoAnne who was diagmosed with Corte, priest, I stage III uterine cancer. JoAnne is only in her 40’s and has school age Ord. children. Let’s pray that the medical science and arts are guided by God’s 20 St. Bernardine of hands, and that JoAnne stays strong for the road ahead. Siena, priest, I Ord. Donna asks us to pray for the following members: 21 Bl. Franz Jägerstätter,  Margaret Reynolds, OFS who is one of the founding Mothers of the Martyr, III Ord. 24 Dedication of the Little Portion fraternity. Margaret contracted an infection and is in Basilica of St. the Roseville Care Center in Room 326. If you go and visit her please tell the staff you would like to visit Mary Margaret Reynolds 28 St. Mariana of Jesus de as that is how she is registered at the care center. Paredes, virgin, III  Loreene Hosaey, OFS Ord.  Mary Madeline Vergara, OFS 30 St. Ferdinand, king, III Ord. 30 St. Camilla Batista of A Warm Welcome Back Varano, OSC Also Donna asks us to give a warm welcome to Dorothy Voight, OFS. She has been excused for a while, and is returning to active.

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Franciscan History St. Mariana of Jesus de Paredes 1618- 1645: an OFS May

After the death of Mariana of Paredes, a beautiful lily sprouted forth from her blood, and so she has been styled the Lily of Quito. But in far greater measure did she deserve the name because of the innocence of her life. She preserved it unsullied in the midst of a wicked world, carefully protecting it by the practice of rare austerities. From her earliest childhood Mariana, who was born in 1618, felt altogether drawn to God and to heavenly things. Meanwhile she attached herself to the Immaculate Virgin with unbounded confidence and tender devotion. She received the habit of the Third Order from the Franciscans in her native town of Quito, Ecuador, and in consideration of her great virtue, she was permitted to take the three vows of religion. Then she repaired to her home where she led a life hidden in God and devoted to prayer and penance. She left her home only when she went to attend divine services in church or when charity toward her neighbor required it. On such occasions she won the hearts of all she met, even the most depraved among them, by her polite and friendly manner, and succeeded in leading them back to the path of virtue. Incidentally it may be remarked, that almighty God favored His faithful servant with extraordinary mystical gifts in support of her apostolate. By means of the Sign of the Cross or by sprinkling holy water she restored many sick persons to health; she also raised a dead woman to life. When the plague broke out, she offered her chaste young life as a sacrifice to God in behalf of the stricken citizens. God accepted the sacrifice. She died shortly afterwards, in the 28th year of her age, in 1645. She was beatified by Pius IX, and canonized in 1950 by Pope Pius XII.

Franciscan Resources You might want to check out the following Franciscan websites: CIOFS – International Fraternity – http://www.ciofs.org/portal/index.php?lang=en

National Fraternity of the Secular Franciscan Order http://www.nafra-sfo.org/

Blessed Junipero Serra Region http://www.juniperoserraregion.com/juniperoserraregion.com/Homepage. html