Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Dear Good People of Saint Mary,

I hope you got a chance to read the article we reprinted last week on the glorified body and the resurrection of the dead. I think I first read about the qualities of the glorified body when I was a kid and it seemed too good to be true. It seems to be the stuff of superheroes. Which of course is exactly true if you consider our saints to be superheroes.

The three properties I found the most fascinating were agility (the ability to suddenly go somewhere at the speed of thought), subtlety (as when Jesus, after the resurrection, appeared to the Apostles able to pass through doors, not limited by space) and clarity, or brilliance (like Jesus at the transfiguration, bright as the sun).

Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but since the Easter Vigil Mass this year, all the paintings of the saints in the sanctuary of the church are finished. Finally. At times I have made cracks about the unreliable artist who never seemed to get them finished. People would scowl when I would say these things, thinking I was badmouthing somebody, not knowing that the artist was me.

So here’s a quick review. First of all, they are oil on wood panel, and the background, in the tradition of iconography is 24k gold leaf, depicting heaven. The halos of the saints (or their nimbuses), symbols of holiness in art history, are white gold leaf.

We wanted people from the Old Testament, New Testament, family of Jesus and our parish family to be represented. Since the generous donations of the 12 panels ($60K) were a
significant source of funding for the pipe organ and the rededication of our church 22 November 2010, we also wanted also to have saints who have music as a part of their story.

Starting from the top left, you see Miriam, sister of Moses. She sang and played her tambourine when the Israelites came miraculously through the Red Sea, which is for us a sign of our Baptism. Next to the right is King David, of the family line of Jesus, who also played his lyre and danced at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. The third panel is the prophet Isaiah, holding the scroll that Jesus proclaimed at the beginning of his public ministry, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me…today this passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”

As Isaiah is pointing to Jesus on the crucifix from the left, from the Old Testament side,so on the opposite side (top row) we see John the Baptist, the prophet from the New Testament who is pointing back to him. Next is the mother of Mary, Saint Anne, Jesus’ grandmother. We thought it would be great to represent the elderly in our family in this way. Finally, another musical saint, Saint Cecelia (holding a little pipe organ) is the upper right panel. She is the patron saint of musicians, and we dedicated the church on her feastday, Nov. 22.

Bottom far left is Saint Joseph, to whom we entrusted all our parish renovations these past years, and to whom we entrust our families. On the lower far right is Saint Leonie Aviat, the founder of our Oblate Sisters of Saint Francis DeSales. At the dedication of the church, we installed her relic in the base of the altar stone.

The remaining middle four panels were chosen because they are the patrons of the four parishes which have been born from Saint Mary: Saints Jude, Patrick, William of York, and Matthew the Evangelist.

Finally you may notice that they are much more colorful, almost richly dressed despite the reality that most were not wealthy. They are dressed in their Sunday best, wearing their wedding garments to come to the wedding feast of the Lamb in our later days. It is the Mass! We gather as the bride of Christ, the Church, and celebrate with them already having a taste of the beauty of heaven that we hope to share with them one day.

You may notice I worked back into their garments a lot of the gold of the background. In a small way I wanted to indicate their brilliance, the ordered way of beautiful patterns, how the glory of God literally shines through them for us to see. Their garments almost dissolve in the light of heaven as they become witnesses of the beauty of Jesus, in heaven just as they were on earth. So may we also be!

God bless you.

Dear Good People of Saint Mary,

I’ve written a number of spiritual columns lately and I’ve fallen behind on a lot of subjects. I’d like to catch up on a lot of practical matters today, with your patience.

1. TODAY we begin a new, beautiful tradition  at Saint Mary, one which has actually been the general practice of most parishes throughout  the world for years. We will fill our Sunday Masses throughout the Easter Season—when  we celebrate the presence of the risen Jesus— with our children receiving First Holy Communion with their families in the context of the community. The custom of having a special liturgy on Saturday has become so detached from the general life of the parish, and had  become so unlike our customary Sunday parish experience of the Mass that I decided we would seek a more reverent, more family-based celebration of the sacrament. So when you come to Mass and see a family with a child dressed for First Communion, be sure to affirm them, welcome them and tell them they are in your prayers. None of us receives sacraments for ourselves; it is the way that God builds up the Body of Christ, the Church, who we are.

2. Some have taken offense for being asked to wait in the vestibule at Mass after arriving after the First Reading has already begun. We ask our ushers to graciously ask all to wait until the end of the Gospel proclamation, at which time all are invited to come into the church to find seating. The reason for this is very simple: once people are seated and concentrating on listening to the Word of God, it is a major
disruption to be seeking a seat, often having to climb over people to get into the center of the pews. Neither the person climbing, nor the person being climbed over, is hearing anything of the Word of God. We put in a really good speaker in the vestibule, and we ask that everyone wait there until the proclamation is complete. We don’t intend to offend, or cause anyone to feel unwelcome; we just place that
high a priority on attention to the power of the Holy Spirit in the Word of God. At that moment there is nothing more important.

3. For our members who may be elderly or challenged physically where all this standing and kneeling is involved, please know that you  are still welcome to come to Mass and just sit. No one will judge, it is much better that you are here with us! I’ve heard lately from people who said they have stayed away for this reason. When we say, “please stand,” please know that “as you are able” is implied. Kneeling is
good, but God knows about that knee replacement that you are waiting on, or the pain you  have in your back, and would rather you be here with him than deal with hardship alone.

4. About kneeling, another subject is our  confessionals. All confessionals are equipped with both a kneeler and a chair/bench. Either  will do! Please don’t apologize about sitting. That is why you paid for seating in there. And while we are on the subject, please consider opening the little window so you can celebrate the sacrament of reconciliation face-to-face. I promise it is better. But there is only one
handle on the little sliding window and it is on your side. Please know that you are welcome to open it, in fact, I encourage it.

5. Finally, if you need pastoral care please don’t assume that we will hear about it from the hospital, or any of the rehabilitation or care facilities in the area. Most institutions today have a policy that church pastoral care is only allowed when directly requested by the patient. Even then, it is often difficult to get a current listing of all the Catholics who have self-identified as Catholics when they are admitted. If you desire a visit, or if you are in need of anointing or Holy Communion, please call the office and let us know. We have priests, deacons and very dedicated lay people who bring Communion every day to
people who need it. Also please be aware that parishes are responsible for the facilities that are within their boundaries. At Saint Mary we cover Mary Washington Hospital, Woodmont, Heartfields, Hughes, Golden Living, Greenfields, Falls Run and The Crossings with regular monthly Mass and weekly visits from Eucharistic Ministers. We come when requested to other locations. But you must ask! And we kindly ask that you give us reasonable time to respond, if possible. Thanks.

God bless you.