Dear Parishioners,

This past weekend we introduced chanting the Marian antiphons after all the Sunday Masses. I am so glad that Christa, our music director, wanted to start this practice. So, I would like to take a moment in this buletin to explain these beautiful devotions of the Church.

The Marian Antiphons are hymns dedicated to Our Lady that match the seasons of the liturgical year. During Advent and through Candlemas (February 2nd) we will sing the Alma Remptoris. (Which can be found on page 428 of the St. Michael hymnal.) From Candlemas to Easter Vigil, we will sing the Ave Regina Caelorum. Then, in the Easter season we will sing Regina Caeli. And for the rest of the year we will sing the Salve Regi- na. (Which you might know well because it is the Hail Holy Queen prayer said at the end of the Rosary.) I am going to write an article on each of these antiphons as they come up in the year.

Alma Redemptoris is the antiphon for the Advent and Christmas seasons and it was written by a monk named Herman the Cripple in the 11th century. It is translated as follows, “Holy mother of our Redeemer, thou gate leading to heaven and star of the sea; help the falling people who seek to rise, thou who, all nature wondering, didst give birth to thy holy Creator. Virgin always, hearing the greeting from Gabriel’s lips, take pity on sinners.”

Pope Saint John Paul II reflects on this antiphon in his letter Redemptoris Mater saying: “These words of the antiphon express that wonderment of faith which ac- companies the mystery of Mary’s divine motherhood. In a sense, it does so in the heart of the whole of crea- tion, and, directly, in the heart of the whole People of God, in the heart of the Church. How wonderfully far God has gone, the Creator and Lord of all things, in the ‘revelation of himself’ to human beings! How clearly he has bridged all the spaces of that infinite ‘distance’ which separates the Creator from the creature! If in himself he remains ineffable and unsearchable, still more ineffable and unsearchable is he in the reality of the Incarnation of the Word, who became man through the Virgin of Nazareth… At the center of this mystery, in the midst of this wonderment of faith, stands Mary. As the loving Mother of the Redeemer, she was the first to experience it: ‘To the wonderment of nature you bore your Creator!'”

So, I hope that you reflect well on this great mystery and allow it to renew your faith in the Lord and devo- tion to His Mother.

God Bless!

Fr. Carter

P.S. Do not forget that tomorrow December 9th we are celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Con- ception (a holy day of obligation) and Wednesday De- cember 11th we will be having a talk in church about Our Lady of Guadalupe.