Search
-
December 16, 2022By Christina Galeone
CFP correspondent
The hope, peace, joy and love of the Advent season can easily be found in exciting Christmas-themed parish events. Giggling, costumed children portraying angels and shepherds in pageants, jubilant greetings among people flocked around long tables of festive baked goods and hot chocolate at fairs, and outstanding performances at concerts all elicit those feelings. But those hallmarks of the Advent and Christmas seasons can also be found in the quieter, less-publicized church events.
Saint Mary Parish in Shrewsbury held such an event at its church on Dec. 10. Presented by the parish’s Respect Life Ministry, the “Rosary in Honor of Baby Jesus and his Beloved Mother” was attended by less than a dozen people. But the Marian-oriented, Christ-centered event – which was bookended by the noontime ringing of the church bells and a closing a cappella rendition of “Immaculate Mary” by the participants – was overflowing with the heartwarming beauty of the seasons.
The Respect Life Ministry prays and works to promote the culture of life and oppose the culture of death in society. Concerned parishioners founded it after the 1973 Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion for virtually any reason throughout all nine months of pregnancy. Ministry founders included Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Francis P. O’Connor and his wife, Ann; Dr. Robert Blute Sr. and his wife, Ann Marie; Attorney John Connors and his wife, Andree; and Dr. John Harding and his wife, Grace.
At the Dec. 10 event, which was open to people outside the ministry as well, participants recited the joyful mysteries of the rosary and prayed the “Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary” and the “Divine Praises.” The ministry also collected infant items for area pregnant women in need.
During the Joyful Mysteries – the Archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary, Mary’s visit with Elizabeth, the Nativity, the Presentation of Jesus in the temple and the finding of Jesus in the temple – the group prayed for a renewal of faith and an end to violence in America, respect for the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine and for conscience clause protection and personal freedom for Christians and medical personnel.
Clare Burke, a ministry member, noted that the ministry also holds rosaries in honor of Our Lady of Fatima in the spring and fall which tend to draw more people. She said that she was inspired to organize the Advent Rosary gathering because Dec. 10 – which fell on a Saturday this year – was between the Dec. 8 Marian Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the Dec. 12 Marian Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“That was kind of the idea behind it – to honor Mary and the coming of the Christ Child,” she said.
While most of the event’s participants were ministry members, a couple of people were from other churches in the Worcester Diocese. Maureen Coghlin, a member, was glad that she had invited her sister-in-law, a member Christ the King Parish in Worcester. Both ladies enjoyed the event. And they found it to be a meaningful way to spiritually share the Advent season with Mrs. Coghlin’s beloved husband who passed away eight years ago on Dec. 10.
Kurt Brenner, the ministry’s chairperson, was also happy that he attended the gathering.
“I enjoy getting together with our ministry and sharing our faith through prayer,” he said. “We often attend adoration and other events – like novenas – at our church; it’s just another way for us to come closer to our God.”
While there were neither crowds nor pageantry present at this humble gathering, hope, peace, joy and love were reflected in every small but mighty detail. And the event even bore a slight resemblance to the very first Advent, when Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, revealed, “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, behold, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy” (Luke 1:43-44).
