Posted on 12/31/2014 4:33:50 PM PST by NYer
Brass monstrance now placed in a chapel dedicated to vocations
A man fishing at a reservoir near Baltimore two decades ago was convinced he had snagged a big fish after his line hooked something substantial.
After reeling in his haul, the angler had no fish. He had, however, caught something even more remarkable: a large Gothic monstrance used by Catholics to hold the Eucharist for worship.
Unsure what the ornate object was, but thinking it looked “churchy”, the man took the monstrance to a local Catholic church. A priest examined the vessel, suggesting that the man take the beautiful brass finding to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, where it subsequently remained in storage for years.
During a joyous Mass that attracted hundreds of people to the historic basilica last month, Archbishop William Lori placed a consecrated host inside the restored monstrance fished from the water and carried it in a solemn procession to the church’s undercroft.
There, he placed the monstrance atop a gleaming altar inside a new adoration chapel that he dedicated to be used to pray for vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.
“Using a monstrance fished out of a lake, we will ask the Lord to send us new ‘fishers of men,'” Archbishop Lori said in his homily, prior to dedicating the new chapel, “both here in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and in the whole Church.”
How the monstrance found its way into the reservoir is a mystery, Archbishop Lori said, “but how it found its way here to the basilica is a remarkable sign of God’s providence”.
Archbishop Lori announced that the new adoration chapel would be dedicated to the basilica’s 24th rector, Mgr Arthur Valenzano, in gratitude for his “goodness and priestly example”. The surprise announcement stirred the congregation to give the priest a prolonged standing ovation, during which Mgr Valenzano, who is battling cancer, smiled and placed a hand over his heart.
Mgr Valenzano established a small adoration chapel in the same spot as the new one in 2011. It is located near the tombs of several archbishops of Baltimore, including the nation’s first bishop, Archbishop John Carroll.
The new chapel features an altar inspired by the basilica’s side altars in the upper church. The adoration chapel altar includes an octagonal baldacchino, a canopy with metal shingles that Archbishop Lori said were set in a pattern inspired by the design of the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
“The tiles of blue glass which cover the interior of the baldacchino and serve as a backdrop for the monstrance recall the water of the lake from which the monstrance emerged,” Archbishop Lori said, “and also the words of the Lord to the Apostles, the first fishers of men, to ‘put out into the deep.'”
Mgr Valenzano told the Catholic Review, Baltimore’s archdiocesan newspaper, he hopes people will visit the chapel frequently to pray and draw closer to Christ by making a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament. The chapel seats eight.
“At first, a Holy Hour can seem like an obligation,” the rector said, “but eventually, it seems more like an opportunity. It’s a time when we communicate silently with God and God communicates with us.”
Among the priests present for the dedication Mass was Fr Joseph Marcello, a Connecticut clergyman and Archbishop Lori’s former priest-secretary in Baltimore, who was instrumental in the chapel’s design. Jim Sutton was the architect and CAM Construction was the builder. A grant from the Andreas Foundation helped make the chapel possible.
Mgr Valenzano noted that a display in honor of the women and men religious who have served the Archdiocese of Baltimore, previously housed in the alcove where the chapel is located, will be relocated to another spot in the basilica.
Fr Michael DeAscanis, vocations director for the archdiocese, said he believes prayer in the chapel will have a direct impact on vocations.
“Don’t just pray for vocations generically, but particularly,” he said. “Pray for the young people you know – your children, grandchildren, godchildren – simply that God’s will be done.”
An inscription above the side entryways of the chapel is a constant reminder of the power of prayer. Taken from the Gospel of Luke, it reads:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.”
Pure conjecture on your part. The monstrance was found over two decades ago.
How in the heck could anyone recognize it? It’s been in storage for two decades.
It’s not like it was put on the back of milk cartons for twenty years.
LOL!
“the Priest should mention to the parents and Godparents to pray for the child to become a Priest or a Nun!! “
Tell me you are kidding. Pray for your daughter to become an American nun?
“How in the heck could anyone recognize it? It’s been in storage for two decades.”
You think people didn’t see it? I saw such things in storage in two different chanceries. If I saw that stuff, then so would other people. Also, there is documentation for many of these sacred vessels. And, many of them produced after 1900, have inscriptions. This had none.
“It’s not like it was put on the back of milk cartons for twenty years.”
Priests would still know about it and have seen it - and they would be the ones able to identify it. Think, man, think.
“Pure conjecture on your part.”
No worse than yours, in fact much better.
“The monstrance was found over two decades ago.”
Exactly. That means, if it dated back to a post-Vatican II “dumping,” then someone would have recognized it.
Idiot? or anti-Catholic?.....did I say AMERICAN nun? NO....I said NUN! And there are tons of great orders!!
“Tell me you are kidding. Pray for your daughter to become an American nun?”
There are some great American nuns. Liberal nuns are the problem.
There are some great orders in America:
http://www.altonfranciscans.org/
http://nashvilledominican.org/Home
http://www.cjd.cc/
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1677/the_return_to_rome_five_years_later.aspx
http://www.lincolndiocese.org/directory/women-religious/230-sister-servants-of-the-holy-spirit-of-perpetual-adoration
In the 80’s there was a Catholic cemetery in upper New York State that was bulldozed into the river. Volunteers from the local Air Force Base tried to retrieve the headstones.
“Using a monstrance fished out of a lake, we will ask the Lord to send us new ‘fishers of men.”
This is incredible! I love it!
“The fact that this monstrance is brass is a very good indication its post VC II.”
(sigh) No, it really is not.
>>The orb and rays of a monstrance should at least be of silver or silver gilt, and it is recommended that it should be surmounted by a cross.<<
Catholic Encyclopedia
“The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur” - oops! Wrong story...
How do you know that?
“Catholic Encyclopedia”
Published in 1909. Thus, if we use logic, this monstrance could have easily have been made BEFORE 1909 since there sure seems to be silver all over it. And this pic sure makes it look like there’s a cross on top.
Are you serious? How many people have access to storage at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception?
Is a visit to it on the itinerary of the daily tours?
Nice!
I would suspect it was stolen years ago and dumped in the lake by the thief, who realized there was no way of selling it and it was of no value to him.
After Vatican II, I have seen things like this in dumpsters, set on the curb for trash pickup and in thrift stores, but that was pretty open and nobody was hiding their contempt for everything before 1965.
Somebody obviously wanted to get rid of this and not be seen doing it, so it wasn’t just a regular Vatican II “taking out the trash” (also known as the sacred vessels, the altar cloths, the vestments, the images...well, you get the general idea).
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