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.”
Bemoaning shrinking families while encouraging choosing a celibate lifestyle as a priest or a nun?
You can't have it both ways.
Or do Catholics expect only a few Catholic families to do all the heavy lifting in maintaining the number of cradle Catholics? Quite a burden to place on those who are denigrated already for choosing marriage over celibacy.
Do you'll not see the irony at all?
What happened at VC II that made them get rid of these beautiful things?
“How do you know that?”
Because if there was an inscription of a parish’s name, then that’s where it would go. At the very least such an inscription would help explain how the monstrance ended up in the lake because it would help delineate time and place.
1) Yet we are specifically told that the man who found it only had a notion it was “churchy” - indicating there was no inscription of a parish’s name.
2) a priest was shown the item and he said take it to the basilica. If there was an inscription of a parish’s name or a priest’s name even, that would not have been the case.
3) If it had an inscription identifying an owning parish, it would not have sat in storage for 20 years.
4) Such an inscription would have been mention in the article or at the very least in the Bishop’s homily/address. It was not.
There is NO inscription.
We are without Nun teachers in this country, need teaching nuns like the Nuns from Ann Arbor, MI. I was taught for 12 years, all Catholic Nuns throughout.
“What happened at VC II that made them get rid of these beautiful things?”
Nothing. That’s the problem. Nothing that came out of Vatican II - in its documents - actually denigrated the use of beautiful things. Here’s how John Paul II put it:
11. The Second Vatican Council laid the foundation for a renewed relationship between the Church and culture, with immediate implications for the world of art. This is a relationship offered in friendship, openness and dialogue. In the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, the Fathers of the Council stressed “the great importance” of literature and the arts in human life: “They seek to probe the true nature of man, his problems and experiences, as he strives to know and perfect himself and the world, to discover his place in history and the universe, to portray his miseries and joys, his needs and strengths, with a view to a better future”.(18)
On this basis, at the end of the Council the Fathers addressed a greeting and an appeal to artists: “This world—they said—in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart and is that precious fruit which resists the erosion of time, which unites generations and enables them to be one in admiration!”.(19) In this spirit of profound respect for beauty, the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium recalled the historic friendliness of the Church towards art and, referring more specifically to sacred art, the “summit” of religious art, did not hesitate to consider artists as having “a noble ministry” when their works reflect in some way the infinite beauty of God and raise people’s minds to him.(20) Thanks also to the help of artists “the knowledge of God can be better revealed and the preaching of the Gospel can become clearer to the human mind”.(21) In this light, it comes as no surprise when Father Marie Dominique Chenu claims that the work of the historian of theology would be incomplete if he failed to give due attention to works of art, both literary and figurative, which are in their own way “not only aesthetic representations, but genuine ‘sources’ of theology”.(22)
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_let_23041999_artists_en.html
It was the “spirit of Vatican II” - which has nothing to do with Vatican II itself - is the problem. And started BEFORE Vatican II.
“HE AMERICAN WING of The Metropolitan
“Museum of Art houses a fine silver monstrance
from the distinguished collection
bequeathed in 1931 by Michael F. Friedsam (Figure
1).”
Figures 3-6. Details of
monstrance in Figure i,
showing inscription
All sorts of inscriptions: http://www.frh-europe.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Pregent3b.jpg
Without a VC II, there would be no “spirit of Vatican II”.
There was no evil “spirit of Trent” which followed that council.
“Without a VC II, there would be no “spirit of Vatican II”.”
The only relation between the two is the name.
“There was no evil “spirit of Trent” which followed that council.”
Evil? No. Problematic? Well, look at what some Catholics were writing in the late 16th century and you might think otherwise.
**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.”**
Amen!
Parents can pray for their children to enter any of these vocations, all noble.
Does the article say this? I don't see it.
Also, wasn't this monstrance just recently been made known to the public? If so, isn't it possible that someone who could recognize it just hasn't seen it yet?
Not a believer myself, but that is amazing art work. You have to admire the skill and devotion/ dedication it must taken to build something like that.
.....Or get those from those countries that are having a “boom” in vocations, such as in Africa or Asia.
There was say a “Prostestant Revolt” though during the 16th century.
That thing looks pretty darn big and heavy. I wonder what pound test line the guy was using to be able to real that in........
“Does the article say this? I don’t see it.”
No, you don’t.
“Also, wasn’t this monstrance just recently been made known to the public?”
No, not really, but that wouldn’t be the point anyway. Clergy would recognize it more readily than lay people anyway.
“If so, isn’t it possible that someone who could recognize it just hasn’t seen it yet?”
Yes, but most likely it hasn’t been recognized because it is old.
“There was say a “Prostestant Revolt” though during the 16th century.”
There was say a “Modernist/Liberal Revolt” though during the 20th century.
I’ll bet not many parents plant a seed of being a religious in these days.....sad.
If you accept Vat2, you think the RCC is alive,
If you reject Vat2, you know the RCC is dead.
...PS I got saved out of the rcc in ‘86. Ephesians ch2
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