Mary's Shrine Directly Support the Mission and Ministry of the Basilica

’ MVolume 80, No.A 2 RY S SHRINFall/WinterE 2019 Our Mother of Africa » RECTOR’S MESSAGE Mary’s Shrine By Reverend Monsignor Walter R. Rossi, J.C.L. Bachrach ince June of 2018, the Catholic and makes intercession” for each of us (Homily, Church in the United States has been June 1, 2019). experiencing a great deal of unrest When confronted by a medical crisis, we seek because of the abuse crises. help at a hospital. So too, when confronted SThe Church has been deeply wounded. Her by a spiritual crisis or when tragedy strikes, we parishioners, and especially the victims of abuse seek help at a church. In prayer we find our have been traumatized. The investigations of strength and our solace, confident in God’s the Attorneys General across the country, the help. One need only recall the terrorist attacks Pennsylvania Grand Jury report, new revelations on September 11, 2001, or the senseless acts of of abuse, and the personal and professional violence in churches, synagogues, mosques, and failures on the part of some in leadership, have schools. In these incomprehensible moments caused some people to stop going to church. of grief and tragedy, prayer is our constant, our Others have discontinued their financial buckler and shield, our sure foundation. support. We, the Church, must acknowledge On September 23, 2020, we will mark the and address the suffering of the victims as well centenary of the placing of the foundation as our own pain with the care and comfort stone of the National Shrine. Located in the found only in Jesus. We seek justice; we pray Crypt Church, in what is now the Oratory for healing. of Our Lady of Antipolo, this stone was set Thankfully, in the midst of this great darkness, with great solemnity on September 23, 1920, there is light. It is seen every day in those by Cardinal James Gibbons of Baltimore. (At faithful members of the Church who continue that time, Washington, D.C. belonged to the to place their faith in the grace of God as Archdiocese of Baltimore.) experienced in the sacraments. The simple The sermon on that day was given by the fact that Mass attendance at Mary’s Shrine Most Reverend John T. McNicholas, O.P., of has not diminished over the past year is a Duluth, a former student of the founder of the clear testimony that our faith is our strength. National Shrine, Bishop Thomas Shahan, who As Archbishop Wilton Gregory said in his was known for his commanding influence and homily during his installation Mass here at the gift of oratory. Following the placement and National Shrine, “our shame and our sorrow, blessing of the stone, Bishop McNicholas spoke do not define us.” of the need for devotion to the Blessed Virgin Visitors and pilgrims to Mary’s Shrine have Mary: “The nations need Mary Immaculate been truly wonderful, offering words of support because they need Christ, and it is through and the promise of prayer. The many decades Mary that Christ can most surely be brought of horrific deeds and actions will take many back to them. The entire human race was years to be reconciled and healed. Please keep hopelessly beyond the power of restoration storming heaven with your prayers! when Christ came upon earth. No human agency could have reconstructed society … Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, observes, Through Christ, and only through Him, was “Shrines are like ‘sacraments’ of a Church that man in the first instance restored. Through is a field hospital” … where God’s faithful Christ alone can all society in every age again people, who “in the midst of tribulation,” ... be restored.” “continue to seek the source of living water that renews our hope.” Within the sanctuaries “O Mary, Our Blessed Mother, the family of of Marian shrines, “we come to the feet of our nations needs thy Divine Son.” Mother ... to let her gaze upon us ... bringing One hundred years later, the words of Bishop us to Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the McNicholas still ring true. Amid all of the Life (John 14:6).” Here at the National Shrine, brokenness we experience as a Church and as at every shrine, our Lady “watches over us as a society, it is only the Lord Jesus who can Mary’s Shrine v Fall/Winter 2019 restore all. But we, the members of His body, good and right” (Address, June 11, 2019). must also take the necessary steps to safeguard The good works of prayer, devotion, pilgrimage, all members of the Church, especially the the celebration of the Sacraments of Eucharist most vulnerable. Among these steps we are “to and Reconciliation, together with our ministry come to the feet of our Mother” seeking her to all who come to us in need, spiritual as intercession before the Lord. It is in the power well as physical, have been the center of our of our united prayer that we can conquer the existence at Mary’s Shrine. For the last ninety- evil that surrounds us. nine years, the National Shrine has been a place of prayer, a haven of hope. In his address to the bishops of the United States during their June assembly, the Apostolic As we look toward our centenary celebration in Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop 2020, we pledge to continue our service to God’s Christophe Pierre, advised, “we cannot afford people. With the help of Mary Immaculate, our to lose our many important initiatives and good patroness, we pledge to “continue to seek the works in the long, dark shadow cast by our source of living water that renews our hope,” as problems. As we, the Church, are purified of those who cross our threshold “come to the feet wickedness and evil, let us not forget to be bold of our Mother,” and in so doing, are brought in proclaiming that so much of what we do is closer to her Son, Jesus. ❦ National Shrine Welcomes New Chairman n May 21, 2019, as Archbishop in your prayers in his Archbishop Wilton new ministry to the faithful of the Gregory was installed Archdiocese of Washington and to Oas the seventh archbishop of each of us here at Mary’s Shrine. Washington, he also became the As our Holy Father, Pope Francis, Chairman of the National Shrine reminded the new archbishops on Board of Trustees. the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, “the shepherds do not live Archbishop Gregory is no for themselves but for the sheep,” stranger to the National Shrine. Archbishop Gregory will certainly For the past thirteen years, he has Archbishop Wilton Gregory need the prayerful support of us, his been a member of the National sheep. Shrine Board of Trustees and has served as the chair of our Liturgy and Music Committee. We at Mary’s Shrine entrust Archbishop Archbishop Gregory will bring a new era of Gregory and you to the intercession of Mary leadership to the National Shrine as we prepare Immaculate! for the future, including the celebration of our We also take this opportunity to thank Cardinal centennial anniversary in 2020, as America’s Donald Wuerl, who served as Chairman of Catholic Church. the National Shrine Board of Trustees during We are delighted to welcome Archbishop his tenure as Archbishop of Washington since Gregory and invite you to keep the 2006. Every blessing! ❦ MISSION STATEMENT The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, a Catholic church dedicated to the patroness of our nation, is a place of worship, pilgrimage, evangelization and reconciliation. It offers visitors the occasion for a deepening conversion, a step forward in the journey to God, with Mary as the model for that journey. This monumental church, raised by Catholics of the United States because of their devotion to Mary the Mother of God, gives visibility to their faith and Catholic heritage. Mary’s Shrine invites people from across the country and beyond into the saving moment of faith, hope and charity, so that they may be reconciled and transformed into living symbols of Christ’s presence in the world. It is here that the faithful gather to worship God, give honor to Mary, and are sent to spread God’s word wherever they go. ❦ Mary’s Shrine v Fall/Winter 2019 Archbishop Gregory Installed he Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory was installed as the seventh Archbishop Tof Washington at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on May 21, 2019, before a congregation of more than 3,000 of the faithful who gathered in the Great Upper Church. Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States and Personal Representative of the Holy Father, read the Apostolic Mandate in which Pope Photos Archdiocese by: of Washington Francis appointed Archbishop Archbishop Gregory receives the crosier during the Mass of Installation. Gregory Metropolitan Ordinary of Washington, releasing him Archbishop Gregory from the Archdiocese of Atlanta acknowledged, however, where he had served since 2005. that, “Today…we begin a journey together on With the mandate came an undeniably choppy seas,” Apostolic Blessing from the Holy likening it to the day’s Father which read, “Venerable Gospel reading (Mark Brother…we implore Almighty 4:35-41) in which the God to grace you before His disciples were terrified people with the virtues of during a violent squall as apostolic service, so that, together waves were breaking over with the intercession of the and filling their boat. Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, you may carry this Flock “We have been tossed in the same loving manner that a Archbishop Gregory greets his new flock.

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