FILIPINO TRADITIONAL ROMAN CATHOLIC: Mary Mother of the Church: Reflection # 4 My Personal Pilgrimage

Monday, December 29, 2008

Mary Mother of the Church: Reflection # 4 My Personal Pilgrimage

If there is any heart more intimately linked with the heart of Jesus, it is the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Simon the prophet told Mary that a dagger shall pierced her heart. What heart of mother shall not be broken to pieces to see the suffering of her Son. But Mary stood at the foot of the cross, full of pain and sorrow. She has surrendered her entire self to the will of God. Thus seeing her Son crucified must have created so much pain. But with a heart full of forgiveness she resigned her will to God. Like her Son she forgave and prayed for those who killed Jesus. Within her heart saying with her Son, "Forgive them Lord, for they do not know what they are doing." For as the heaven darkened as the Son of God expired on the Cross, the cloud of Sorrow filled her heart. The sword of sorrows thrust itself deeper into the Heart of the Mother of God. Christ, looking up to John the beloved disciple said, "Son behold your Mother..." then turning to Mary, "Mother behold your Son....." Saying thus ...."Son behold your Mother" Our Lord gave Mary to us to be our Mother. And today in various circumstances we behold our Mother. What great Joy would a mother have to see the resurrection of her Son. "Queen of heaven rejoice for the Son whom you bear is now risen.!" Mary Mother of the Church, pray for us.

Let me take you with me into one of the places I visited for this personal pilgrimage - The Caritas Marae Center of the Franciscan friars of Mary Immaculate in San Filipe, Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines.

The Image of the Pieta. The Sorrowful Mother taking her Son in Her Arms.

Its been a long time that I have not visited this convent. I use to visit this convent before when they still have the FM Radio Station. But the super typhoon that brought havoc to Bicol region destroyed the transmission tower of Caritas Mariae. The lat time I came here, this statue of the Pieta was not yet around. At the background is the Convent's Church of Mary Mediatrix of All Graces. The FMMI Convent in Naga City is located in San Felipe. People who want to visit this convent and if in Naga can take the jeepney with the sign "San Felipe".

The Caritas Mariae Center and the Friars' Convent. The FFMI are doing a very good apostolate here in Naga. Here they truly practice poverty and the spirit of St. Francis

It was December 29, 2008 that I visited this convent. The Friars were busy distributing gifts for the poor. I thought of availing the Sacrament of Penance. However, I thought that no one would be available. But one of the superiors gladly obliged when I requested for a confession. I am happy that in ur Church we have this sacrament that allows us to be reconciled to God and to know that with the authority of the Church as given by Christ we are forgiven and given the chance to be closer to God and mend our relationships.

The Image of Padre Pio, in the Church Mary Mediatrix of All Graces.

St. Anthony of Padua

Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary

The Sanctuary

Another View of the Sanctuary

The Choir in Practice

The friars Giving gifts to the Poor

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A 13 years old boy............. in 1983, but now I am a golden boy, gaining weight and wiser, but younger at heart. I consider myself as a “novus ordo baby” because I was born in the late 60s after the 2nd Vatican Council introduced the novus ordo missae and grew up confronted by the confusions as a result. Like my generation I never saw what the church was like prior to Vatican II, but I am a living witness to the gradual disappearance of religious traditions we hold dear. Young as I was then I could not understand what was going on. But I suffered the sense of loss as I saw how the modernizing influence in the church disfigured the liturgy and clouded the way we believe and practice our faith. But then being a child, powerless, not knowing what it was, and why it happened, I simply drifted into the sea of confusion, too young to understand. With a glimmer of faith in my heart, planted by baptism and confirmation, strengthened by the sound teachings of my parents and grandparents, I sailed into the sea of life, day after day, seeing the changes happen, feeling the sense of abandonment, yet God was merciful to me. In 2005 I discovered the Traditional Latin Mass or commonly known in the post-conciliar period as the Tridentine Mass. I began to love the rite of mass that has nourished my ancestors, the saints and the martyrs. I am eternally grateful to His Holiness Pope John Paul II for recognizing the rightful aspirations of Catholics attached to the ancient forms of the Roman Rite through his apostolic letter ECCLESIA DEI DI AFFLICTA. I am also eternally grateful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for liberating the Traditional Latin Mass through his apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum. I fully agree with the program of his pontificate regarding the Hermeneutics of Continuity and disdain the hermeneutics of rupture. Today I consider myself a Traditional Roman Catholic attached to the liturgical discipline of 1962 as outlined in the Motu Proprio SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM of his Holiness. I believe that there is only one Roman Rite, the Ordinary and the Extraordinary and that the Mass in whatever form should be celebrated with dignity. My voyage is on. Join me in this quest.

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FILIPINO TRADITIONAL ROMAN CATHOLIC

Monday, December 29, 2008

Mary Mother of the Church: Reflection # 4 My Personal Pilgrimage

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