Year Dedicated to Mary
“She will bear a Son and you are
to name Him Jesus” (Mt. 1:21)
Advent /Christmas, 2010
Dear Friends,
In a few short weeks we will celebrate “the feast of our salvation,” the “beginning of our redemption.” Christmas is a celebration of light, a light that shines not only on us, but in us. As the opening prayer for Mass at Dawn on Christmas Day states, “we are filled with the new light by the coming of your Word among us.” Before we can celebrate this great feast of God becoming man, though, we must first enter into the season of Advent. Who better to journey with through Advent to Christmas than Mary, the mother of God’s incarnate Son whose light shone on her from the moment of her conception? Mary is the immaculate dawn announcing our salvation; the “woman clothed with the sun bringing Jesus to the waiting world.”
As we begin the Season of Advent I am announcing a special year in our parish to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I invite you to journey with her to Christmas and throughout the New Year. Mary held a special place in the life of our patron, St. Aloysius Gonzaga. Mary holds a place of prominence in our Church. This year dedicated to Mary is intended to lead all of us closer to her Son through deeper devotion to His mother.
The Year Dedicated to Mary will begin on December 8, 2010, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, is the patroness of the United States.
It is fitting that we begin this year in honor of Mary during Advent and on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. God prepared the way for His Son’s coming in the flesh by preserving Mary from original sin from the moment of her conception. Journeying with Mary to Christmas and throughout the New Year will deepen our hope both in her Son’s coming and in our being with Him one day in heaven if we follow the path He set out for us and which Mary faithfully walked.
Evangelization and catechesis will be important features of this year. We will be using the program “Why Catholic?” to deepen our own understanding of our Catholic faith and lead us to inviting others to come to the Lord.
Along with preparing for Christmas there are five prayer intentions for this Year Dedicated to Mary. Using the enclosed prayer composed by St. Aloysius to commend ourselves to the work of God through Mary, I invite us to pray for the following:
1. The return of non-practicing Catholics to the Church.
2. The protection of human life from conception until natural death.
3. The protection of marriage and the strengthening of family life.
4. An increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.
5. A more just and peaceful world with an end to all war, violence and terrorism.
As we begin this time of waiting for the coming of the Lord and this year honoring Mary, I pray
that you, your family and our parish will grow closer to God, strengthened and renewed by His grace
through the intercession of Mary, the Immaculate Conception.
Sincerely,
Rev. John T. Dakes
Pastor
