- Saint Therese of Lisieux
At the age of 14, on Christmas Eve in 1886, Therese had a conversion that
transformed her life. From then on, her powerful energy and sensitive spirit were turned toward love,
instead of keeping herself happy. At 15, she entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux to give her whole
life to God. She took the religious name Sister Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Living a hidden,
simple life of prayer, she was gifted with great intimacy with God. Through sickness and dark nights of doubt and fear,
she remained faithful to God, rooted in His merciful love. After a long struggle with tuberculosis,
she died on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. Her last words were the story of her life: "My God, I love You!"
Note: this church was built in 1905, only 8 years after her death.
- Blessed Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus
And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
- Revelation 12:1
So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. The king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a throne brought for
the king's mother, and she sat on his right.
1 Kings 2:19
Note: the office of the queen mother in the Old Testemant is known in Hebrew as the "Gebirah" (strong lady). Scripture mentions the mother's name of 19 of the 21 kings in the Southern Kingdom. In this Bible passage,
King Solomon honors and venerates his mother in recognizing and welcoming her, and in having a throne placed on his right so that she can sit with him. And since in fulfilling this office the queen mother "has the ear" of the king, we see Adonijah bringing an intention to Queen Bathsheba so that
she can intercede on his behalf before King Solomon. Using the concept of typology, Catholics see Jesus as the new, eternal Adam...there are many similariites between Jesus and Adam but Jesus succeeded in all the ways
(and then some!) where Adam failed. Similarly, we see Mary the mother of Jesus as the new, eternal Eve...her "Yes" to God succeeded in all the ways that Eve failed. To Catholics, Mary's "Yes" wasn't just a 'one and done' event
with the angel Gabriel but her 'yes' continued all of her earthly life in taking into her heart all that Jesus did and in following him all the way to the foot of the cross. And Catholics believe Mary's "Yes" continues
in fulfulling eternally the office of queen mother foreshadowed in the Old Testament...she is our eternal Queen Mother, the mother of Jesus, the mother of the Son of God. As Jesus is the 2nd Person of our one and only triune God, in that sense we call her the Mother of God. And not to be worshiped, but to be honored and
venerated as one who eternally 'has the ear' of the King. Catholics pray to her not in worship but in honor and veneration, and like Adonijah we bring our prayers before our Queen Mother...asking her to bring our
prayer intentions before our eternal King. Hence, Catholics continue to speak of Mary to this day and call her blessed in the fulfillment of Scripture (see Luke 1:46-55 below)...she is often referred to by Catholics as the Blessed Virgin Mary
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour;
Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid;
for, behold henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;
Because He who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is His Name;
And His mercy is from generation to generation to those who fear Him.
He has shown might with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones and has exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich He has sent away empty.
He has given help to Israel, His servant, mindful of His mercy -
Even as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to His posterity forever.
Luke 1:46-55
- Saint Cecilia
ST. CECILIA, VIRGIN, MARTYR, PATRONESS OF CHURCH MUSIC
- A.D. 230
Feast day is November 22.
- Angel
With more feminine features, this angel dressed in pink is on the Blessed Virgin Mary side of the church. She can be thought of as representing all choirs of angels,
but a case could also be made for the choir of Cherubim, or even the Seraphim. The Cherubim are known as the protectors of God. In the time of Moses in the Old Testament,
the seat of mercy was between the Cherubim above the ark in the tent of meeting (reflection opportunity: were statues in the holy place, the holy of holies?). According to theologians like Stephen Ray and Scott Hahn,
it was 2 Cherubim whom acutally formed God's seat of mercy by each extending
a wing. Although this statue appears to have only 2 wings (Scripture describes these angels
as having 6 wings with 2 covering their face and 2 covering their feet), it also appears to be holding a flaming torch. And the Seraphim are known as "the burning ones" who closely
worship the LORD, and the glory of God shines through them.
- Saint Aloysius Gonzaga
St. Aloysius Gonzaga (1568-1591) left his powerful family to become a Jesuit priest and died as a young man caring for plague victims.
- Baptismal Font
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" But Jesus answered him, "Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness." Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
Matthew 3:13-17
Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God;
for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him." Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born anew.' The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes;
so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can this be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this?
Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe,
how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
John 3:1-15
- Saint Anthony of Padua
The presence of this statue is a strong indicator that our church was likely founded with the assistance of Franciscan priests. "Tony, Tony, turn around. Something's lost that must be found."
St. Anthony of Padua is one of the Catholic Church's most popular saints. Patron saint of lost and stolen articles, he was a powerful Franciscan preacher and teacher.
He's typically portrayed holding the child Jesus, or a lily, or a book (or all three!) in his arms.
Note: Catholics believe in the communion of saints, which in part means the belief in having access to them in heaven through prayer, and can ask in this manner for their intercession before God.
So we don't worship the saints, just as we don't worship Mary (the mother of Jesus)...here we are asking Saint Anthony for assistance in helping us find something that we have lost.
When we find it, we know that our prayer was answered by God. To expand upon this, Catholics believe that our saints in heaven can pray for us, and thus bring our prayers before God...so one can sometimes read or hear Catholic intentions like
"Saint [so and so], pray for us!" In this same way, the end of the Hail Mary prayer concludes, "...Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen"
- Angel
With more masculine features, this angel dressed in blue is on the St. Joseph side of the church. He can be thought of as representing all choirs of angels,
but a case could also be made for the choir of Cherubim, or even the Seraphim. The Cherubim are known as the protectors of God. In the time of Moses in the Old Testament,
the seat of mercy was between the Cherubim above the Ark of the Covenant in the tent of meeting (reflection opportunity: were statues to be found in the Holy of Holies?). According to theologians like Stephen Ray and Scott Hahn,
it was 2 Cherubim whom acutally formed God's seat of mercy by each extending
a wing. Although this statue appears to have only 2 wings (Scripture describes these angels
as having 6 wings with 2 covering their face and 2 covering their feet), it also appears to be holding a flaming torch. And the Seraphim are known as "the burning ones" who closely
worship the LORD, and the glory of God shines through them.
- Saint Peter
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and
blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and
on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you
the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
- Matthew 16:15-19
Matt. 16:18 - Jesus said in Aramaic, you are "Kepha" and on this "Kepha" I will build my Church. In Aramaic, "kepha" means a massive stone, and "evna" means little pebble.
Matt. 16:17 - to further demonstrate that Jesus was speaking Aramaic, Jesus says Simon "Bar-Jona." The use of "Bar-Jona" proves that Jesus was speaking Aramaic. In Aramaic, "Bar" means son, and "Jonah" means John or dove (Holy Spirit).
See Matt. 27:46 and Mark 15:34 which give another example of Jesus speaking Aramaic as He utters in rabbinical fashion the first verse of Psalm 22 declaring that He is the Christ, the Messiah. This shows that Jesus was indeed speaking Aramaic, as the Jewish people did at that time.
Reference: http://www.scripturecatholic.com/the_church.html
- St. Joseph
St. Joseph, member of the Holy Family with Jesus and Mary. Patron saint of
workers and fathers, please pray for us!
- Saint Paul
For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
- 2 Timothy 4:6-8