May is for Mary

Lady Month, or the month of May is especially marked by catholics with devotion to the God-Bearer (Theotokos).  May 31st, after all, is the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin to her cousin Elizabeth whereby Luke recalls that famous ave and the glorious Magnificat (Luke 1:39-57).  Later this month in Walsingham, the National Pilgrimage will be held.  May is the month of Mary.

There is an old catholic tradition of building and maintaining a "May altar" dedicated to Our Lady throughout the month of May.  The photographs of these May Altars come from the home of my brother, Fr. Robert-James, OPC.  The following excerpt comes from the webpages of The Marian Library/The International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, OH.

To the specific characteristics of the May devotion is to be counted the specially set up May altar - be it as an addition to or specially decorated altar in the church or as a "house altar" in the family circle. Like the May devotions themselves, the custom to highlight this type of May altar stems from southern European countries. A report from France in 1842 speaks of Our Lady's altar in May showing off in rich splendor, while the families also erected and decorated small home altars. 

All of nature awakened to new life in springtime is presented to honor Mary, who is herself "a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys" (Song of Songs 2,1). This form of devotion was influence and furthered, for example, in Treatise on True Devotion to Mary by Louis de Montfort, who, among other things, counted the decoration of Marian altars a chief exercise of Marian devotion.

The development of "home altars" seems to have naturally grown from churches specially dedicating altars within the worship space to Our Lady.  The above citation continues:

When erecting a May altar in a church, one distinguishes between the special decoration of an existing Marian altar, the erection of an altar set up specifically to serve this May devotion, or the transformation of the main altar into a May altar. The Handbook of Church Rituals (Regensburg 1846) notes under May altar that these devotions be held at an altar dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and decorated "to the full." If there isn't any [altar dedicated to Mary], another  altar is to be set up and furnished with a picture or a statue of Mary.  In Strasbourg, in 1855 for the first time, a special "Mother of God altar" was set up before the chancel.

With the development of May altars in churches, the custom spread to set up this type of "altar" also  in the home. The authors of both private publications and of official publications refer to this practice, encourage them, or assume that there are such.  While some devotional books encourage the user to decorate an image of Mary found there and to pray there--a custom "that belongs anyway in every good Catholic home"--others depict the "prayer room" as "a shrine dedicated to Mary." 

A side altar of this type was drawn into the celebration in that the blessing frequently was given from this altar. By carrying the Blessed Sacrament from the main altar, the precedence of the main altar was clearly visible. 

Pick some flowers, find an icon or statue, and light a candle.  Place Mary as the "spiritual fireplace" of your home this month.  Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us all!   

A New Walsingham Icon

Today I received my new icon of Our Lady of Walsingham.  I had commissioned this through an iconographer that I discovered in Bulgaria via the internet.  Not only was the price reasonable, but the quality is simply amazing.  I have much to aspire to in my own iconography.  The iconographer, Krasimir Kostov, does excellent work and I commend him to you.  If you would like his email address, drop me a line.

In this icon, I wanted to blend together two of my favorite icon depictions of Our Lady--namely the checkered floor which struck me as both odd and out of place.  But it grew on me over time!  The size is large, 12in. x 15in. and the colors are brilliant.  I hope to have the icon properly blessed soon.

A Newman Prayer

O Jesus,

flood my soul with Your Spirit and Life.

Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly

that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.

Shine through me and be so in me

that every soul I come in contact with may

feel Your presence in my soul.

Let them look up and see no longer me 

but only thee, Jesus.  Amen.

This is an abbreviated version of Cardinal Newman's prayer that he used following the Eucharist.  I learned about this prayer while in the sacristy at the seminary, it was fancied by one of our more Anglo-Catholic professors.

A Home We Build Together

Members of the Class of 2010 from The School of Theology 

with Br. Ron Fender, BSG.

What do graduating senior seminarians from the School of Theology, a Gregorian monk, and a house for homeless men have in common?  The answer, the Body of Christ.  Members of the Class of 2010 from The School of Theology, The University of the South partnered with Br. Ron Fender, a monk in the Brotherhood of Gregory the Great, to help furnish the new Brandenburg Chapel at the House of All Souls in Chattanooga.  The seminarians designed and constructed an altar and furnished all the necessary items for worship in the new space.  Senior Chris Caddell (Diocese of West Texas) was the designer and carpenter for the project.  "Building this altar was a gift of love to help this new community become a family."  Caddell notes, "I am so honored that our class was able to help in a very meaningful way." 

Brother Ron has been tending and washing the feet of the homeless in Chattanooga for the past seven years as his ministry.  He serves as a case manager at the Community Kitchen, a Chattanooga refuge for the hungry and homeless.  He has been featured on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition, which was chronicling the stories from main street USA. Inspired by such projects as the Brother Bernard Fessenden House in Yonkers as well as Common Ground in New York City, Brother Ron sought to build an intentional community to house homeless men using a monastic model to instill community.  Brother Ron discovered in his time at the Community Kitchen that many who completed recovery programs and who were eventually placed into apartments as a way to rebuild their lives, quickly fell back to street life.  Fender notes that, “putting a homeless person in an isolated room or apartment without supportive services, or even furniture or household goods makes no sense whatsoever… the most successful model for ending homelessness is to create community for the homeless.”  Brother Ron is doing just that.

With a grant from The Rosewood Foundation, a new house in Chattanooga was constructed and named the House of All Souls, a clear statement that this house that has brought together eight homeless men along with Brother Ron is a home for all.  The Brandenburg Chapel is named in memory of Edward Brandenburg, a homeless resident of Chattanooga who inspired Brother Ron to begin the whole project.  Brandenburg died in 2008 and so All Souls is a living tribute to his vision and ideal of what a home should look like.  At the foot of the altar rests Brandenburg's brick memorial.  The new residents were screened and agreed to live in this intentional community and continue in their recovery programs.  This new family offers mutual support and love centered on Jesus Christ. 

"All it takes is to spend five minutes with Brother Ron," notes seminarian Br. Chad Krouse, OPC (Diocese of Southern Virginia), "and you will feel the presence of the living Christ through his work and ministry in Chattanooga."  For the seminarians, it was important that their senior class gift go out into the world for mission.  Reactions from Br. Ron and the men of All Souls were powerful and inspiring for this future class of ordained ministers.    


P.S.  I made the candlesticks and altar missal stand.  And yes, there is an icon of Our Lady of Walsingham in the new chapel.  ;)