A PublicAtion of the lourdes center • the MArist fAthers & brothers

March-April 2015 Vol. 77 No. 4

For further information or registration forms callThe Lourdes Center in Boston at 617-536-2761.

2 M A R I S T FAT H E R S & B R OT H E R S O F T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S ECHOES FROM LOURDES

the director’s corner

Rev. AndRew AlbeRt, S.M.

dear friends of the lourdes center,

our cover this issue features ouryearly pilgrimage to the shrine of ourlady of lourdes in france. onceagain we are part of the lourdesPilgrimage under the tutelage of thecatholic travel office based inrockville, Maryland. this arrange-ment has been working very well. oneof our Marist priests, fr. George szalwill be accompanying the pilgrimsleaving from logan Airport, boston.for the first time this year there willbe a group leaving from the Westcoast. this is due to the fact that thelourdes echoes publication has thou-sands of readers who live incalifornia, nevada, and other westernstates. All the groups will meet up inlourdes and stay at the same hotel.

i encourage all those who are finan-cially able to make this pilgrimage.You will never forget it. the shrine atlourdes is a power house of prayer,love of God and Mary, and deep faith.

Mass at the grotto where Maryappeared 18 times is an unforgettableexperience. the great basilica dedicat-ed to our lady of the rosary, theimmense underground church dedicat-ed to st. Pius X, the joyous and faithfilled daily processions featuring therecitation of the rosary, and the thou-

sands of voices raised in singing theimmaculate Mary hymn are simplyawe-inspiring. And the sight of somany sick pilgrims helped by thosewho are healthy and strong is a livingexample of christians loving oneanother as Jesus told us to do. Myprayers are with all those making thiswonderful pilgrimage in late June.

i want to pay tribute to rolandbourgea who was a faithful volunteerworker here for 10 years. he died onchristmas day. i am sure our lady oflourdes received him into heaven.

We are in the midst of lent. lent isa period of time set aside for penancein preparation for the great feast ofeaster. the feast reminding us of theresurrection of Jesus and the estab-lishment of his church.

All forms of penance are not endsin themselves. in other words, wedon’t do something hard or special inorder to pat ourselves on the back aswe say, “boy that was tough, but i didit!” We are not training to be Marines.Penance is done to help us fulfill thetwo commandments that Jesus saidsummarized all the other command-ments. the two commandments are tolove God with all our hearts and tolove the neighbor as ourself. May weall find new ways to fulfill those twocommandments more and more.

Your generous christmas envelope

gift of $16,701.00 to help our ministrygrow is a concrete example of yourlove of God and neighbor. As Jesussaid, “by their fruits you will knowthem.”

i was ordained a priest in thesociety of Mary on January 30, 1965in st. John the baptist church ,brunswick Maine. i was ordained inthe middle of winter and i was born inthe middle of winter (february) dur-ing a snowstorm, so my mother toldme.

i will celebrate my 50th anniver-sary here at the lourdes center onsunday, April 26 at an 11:30 Mass,followed by brunch at a nearbyrestaurant. Please join me by thankingGod and the blessed Mother forallowing me 50 years of Marist priest-ly service. i will remember all of youat that Mass.

God bless you all! A very happyeaster to all of you!

Fr. Albert

Our email address is:ourlady@lourdescenter.orglourdescenter@yahoo.com

Our website is:www.lourdescenter.org

3M A R I S T FAT H E R S & B R OT H E R S O F T H E U N I T E D S TAT E SECHOES FROM LOURDES

stress issometh ingwe all haveto learn tomanage, orit can killyou. it isoften amajor cause

of sickness in many people. Whyelse do we call sickness “disease?”When Jesus repeatedly said to hisApostles, “Peace be with you,” hemeant “don’t let stress overwhelmyou.”

the saints realized that “he’s gotthe whole world in his hands,” asthe song says. they also realizedthat they should not worry overthings they had no control over.they prayed, “lord, i place all mycares in your hands, for i know thatyou, o lord, take care of me.”

Medical doctors have becomeaware over the years that peoplewho are religious-minded do betterat regaining their health than people

By Rev. Roland Lacasse, s.m.

whose faith is weak or non-existent.there is a strong connectionbetween body and soul. When peo-ple go to church every weekend,their souls are nourished and theirbodies are relieved of stress. thesepeople know that they are loved byGod, and when you know thatsomeone loves you, you realize you

are worthwhile, that you are valued,that you are important. God’s lovefor us does all that.

st. bernadette was fully aware ofall this. she could deal with suffer-ing because she realized that Jesuswould have suffered and died on thecross for her, even if she had beenthe only person on earth! shortlybefore she died she was offeredprayers by a nun who said to her,“i’m going to pray that God willsend you some consolation torelieve your pain,” to which st.bernadette replied, “no. Pray that imight have patience and courage inmy suffering.” i wonder how manyof us would have answered that way.

our society is full of stress.Anyone who drives on our high-ways can tell you how stressfulother drivers can be. drivers areafraid to confront stressed out driv-ers lest they be attacked. We aretold not even to make eye contactwith someone who cuts you off or

Rev. RolAnd lAcASSe, S.M.

StressAnd How The Saints Dealt With It

Continued on page 5

Stressis often a

major causeof illness

4 M A R I S T FAT H E R S & B R OT H E R S O F T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S ECHOES FROM LOURDES

By Fr. Frank Grispino, S.M.

TheAssumption ofMary

T H E F O U R T H G L O R I O U S M Y S T E R Y

At the outset, we must make dis-tinctions. for the sake of clari-

ty, we must distinguish betweenAscension and Assumption. in hisAscension, Jesus went up to heavenon his own power. in theAssumption, Mary went up to heav-en, not by her own power, but by thepower of God.

No Sin: No Death, No Decayst. Paul teaches that death has

come into the world by the power ofsatan, and that the wages of sin isdeath. Mary was neither under thepower of satan (see Genesis 3,15)and much less did she ever commitsin. And so the reasoning goes, thatif she never was under the demonicinfluence, she escapes its conse-quence: death. catholics hold thatsince Mary was conceived withoutoriginal sin and never committed apersonal sin, her body was taken upinto heaven without it being dese-crated by decay that ordinarilywould be a result of death.

Mary is SpecialWhat makes Mary so special from

the rest of us? her son. she is the

mother of the son of God givinghim his human flesh “by the powerof the holy spirit” (luke 1,35.) Marygave thanks for such a privilege asher divine motherhood, as well asanticipated privileges such as herAssumption. in her prayerful songof thanksgiving, she attributesthem all to its divine source…”hewho is mighty has done greatthings for me.” (luke 1, 49)

The Wealthy Man and His Motheri remember hearing on the news

about an athlete who came into bigmoney over the years. he alwayswanted to do something in order tohonor his mother. he caught theattention of the news media whenhe purchased a palatial house as agift to his mother. he had themoney to do it, so he did it. it is thesame with Jesus. he certainly hadthe power to preserve his motherfrom sin and its consequences ofdeath and decay, and he willed tohonor her by her bodilyAssumption into heaven. he didwhat a son would do for his moth-er. the athlete honored his motherin a material way; Jesus honoredhis mother in a spiritual way.

Mary, New Ark of the Covenantreligious television programs

are showing great interest in theancient temple of Jerusalem and itsfurnishings. there is one piece offurniture that should be of interestto catholics. it is found in thatroom of the temple that is more

Continued on page 7

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Purgatorialsfor

the Deceased

name

Address

city

state Zip

Phone #

requested by:

Suggested offering: $10.00 (perpetual)

Our Lady’ sPurgatorial

Society

each year your enrolleddeceased and loved ones areremembered during the 365daily Masses celebrated by theMarist Fathers. An attractivecertificate framed in a blue fold-er with a colorful picture of ourlady is sent to the donor orrecipient.

5M A R I S T FAT H E R S & B R OT H E R S O F T H E U N I T E D S TAT E SECHOES FROM LOURDES

tailgates you. if only we could allremember to be kind and thoughtfulof other drivers, our roads wouldhave a lot less stress. i worry aboutwhere people who no longer go tochurch get the inspiration to be kindand thoughtful. religion reminds usto love others and be nice to others,even on the road. Without religion,we revert to selfishness and roadrage all too often.

Who we are and how we dealwith others is determined by whatwe believe. if we believe in a loving

God and if we believe that we werecreated in the image of God, then wewill be loving towards others. if webelieve in living for ourselves alonewithout being accountable to Godfor the way we treat others, whatincentive will we have to be kindand loving toward others?

As a priest, i am bound by thesame laws of the church as allcatholics. on vacation if i don’t sayMass on weekends, i have to attendMass. And when i do, i always feelthat i have been nurtured, uplifted,

and spiritually revitalized. no onecan tell me that church going does-n’t matter. i know that it does mat-ter. i feel it in my body, as well as inmy soul, even when i’m driving onthe highway!

Continued from page 3

fr. lacasse

6 M A R I S T FAT H E R S & B R OT H E R S O F T H E U N I T E D S TAT E S ECHOES FROM LOURDES

R.O. We are so grateful to ourlady for the blessings received andprayers answered with personal sit-uations involving unemployment

and poor health among many mem-bers of our family. these are hardtimes so it is good to know that wecan count on our faith. MO

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We have been notified that the fol-lowing friends of the LourdesCenter have passed away. Pleasejoin us in remembering them inyour prayers.

do you know someone who wouldlike to receive echoes from lourdes?Give them a FRee SUbScRIPtIon!Send their names and addresses. Use a separate sheet if necessary.

e-mail the information to: ourlady@lourdescenter.orgMAil it to:

lourdes centerP.o. box 15575

698 beacon street, boston, MA 02215-2594

Blessed Sacrament Procession at Lourdes

Please send ________ bottles of the

water from the Shrine at lourdes

name

Address

city

state Zip

does this person receive lourdes echoes?__ Yes __ no

if not, should we send lourdes echoes to them?__ Yes __ no

PleAse AlloW 3-6 Weeks for deliverY

(Please Print clearly)

Lourdes Water ...Affiliations

name

Address

city

state Zip

Remembrance in 50 Masses yearly and at our

weekly Perpetual novena(PleAse Print cleArlY)

requested by:

Phone no:

offering: 1 year $2.00, 3 years $5.00 lifetime $10.00

7M A R I S T FAT H E R S & B R OT H E R S O F T H E U N I T E D S TAT E SECHOES FROM LOURDES

...is an expression of my faith...my trust in God’smercy.offering to cover shipping &handling $______________n.b. A donation of $3.00 perbottle is suggested to coverour expenses. When the offer-ing permits, we use PriorityMail. We will accept orders of1-3-5-6-and 10 bottles. formultiples thereof and forunusual numbers requested,we reserve the right to sendwhat is both just and feasible.

holy than all other rooms, so muchso, that it is called “the holy ofholies.” What makes it so holy isthat it contains at its center the Arkof the covenant. this ornate chest-like container with its cover of goldholds the tablets of the tencommandments given to Moses byGod. this makes its contents pre-cious for it held the Word of God.Mary held the living Word of Godfor nine months. does not Maryfulfill the true meaning of the Ark ina far more excellent way?

As the Ark so Mary: Ornate andRevered

the lid of the Ark was overlaidwith gold. the wood of the Arkwas precious; its source was theacacia tree. this wood is unaffectedby age or decay. in short, it is rot

Continued from page 4

fr. Grispino resistant. And so was Mary thenew Ark. she was unaffected bysin and decay of the grave becauseshe was Assumed into heaveneither at the moment of her deathor simply taken up at the appoint-ed time. if the wooden Ark con-taining the Word of God was sopreciously ornate and revered, sowas Mary, the new Ark, who borethe living Word of God.

What Mary’s AssumptionTeaches

Mary’s Assumption into heavenin body as well as in soul teachesus something of our resurrectionat the end of the world. At thattime, our bodies will rise from thegrave by the power of God’s holyspirit and be reunited with oursouls already in heaven. We willthen be in heaven as humans, unit-ed in body and soul. Mary’sAssumption anticipates our finalentrance into heaven.

A Doctrine for the 50s and Todayin the 1950s there were the

scenes captured on film portrayingthe atrocities perpetrated by thenazis in their death camps.humans were dismissed asgarbage. today we are shown inthe evening news the cruelty of theislamic terrorists with their brandof man’s inhumanity to man. oncemore humans are portrayed asmeans for religious-political ends.in the 1950s there was an upsurgein pornography demeaning thehuman body. today it is a $400million industry. in contrast, thedoctrine of the Assumption ofMary into heaven in body as wellas in soul underscores the greatdignity of the human body and itsdestiny for eternal glory

Mary, conceived without sin andAssumed into heaven, pray for uswho have recourse to thee.

lourdes centerMarist Fatherslourdes bureauP.o. box 15575698 beacon streetboston, MA 02215-2594617-536-2761www.lourdescenter.orgourlady@lourdescenter.org

lourdes echoesPublished bi-monthly to promote devotionof our lady and interest in her shrine atlourdes.

director: rev. Andrew Albert, s.M. Asst. director: rev. roland lacasse, s.M. Printed with ecclesiastical Approval

Address ServiceRequested