If possible, have your local community hold an activity such as a prayer service or faith-sharing experience related to the life of this venerable lay woman who has inspired our Marianist Family.

MLNNA has a ready-made prayer service, written by Joanne and Ray McCracken, on its web site. Visit www.mlnna.com for resources on Marie Thérèse.  

Have you seen your friends wearing porcelain clay Marianist medallions, and have you thought, “I’d like one of those”? If so, here is the answer for which you seek: Hart Street Pottery.

Hart Street carries three different styles of Marianist crosses—the MLNNA logo, which appears in the masthead of this MLNNA E-News; the traditional, which consists of a cross with an M through the bottom of it; and the newly designed cross of the SM Province of the United States that is pictured above.

Each medallion is handmade of high-fire porcelain clay and glazed insert and strung on a 32” braid. (Each medallion sells for $2.25.) To order medallions, call toll free 800/805-7222 or in the Forth Worth area call 817/429-7222. You can also order by email: hartst@sbcglobal.net. 

Here is a sample from the guide.

• St. Theresa of Lisieaux, when speaking about Mary, said: “For a sermon on the Blessed Virgin to please me . . . I must see her real life. . . . They show her to us as unapproachable, but they should present her as imitable, bringing out her virtues, saying that she lived by faith just like ourselves giving proofs of this from the Gospel.”

• What do you think that Mary as a first century Jewish woman would have looked like? What were her values? What situations might have been difficult? What situations might have brought her joy?

(Ray developed the guide on behalf of MLNNA and the North American Center for Marianist Studies.)

• Immigration Reform: Contact your representative and senators to support comprehensive and humane immigration reform. For background, read the MSJC statement on immigration reform, visit MSJC on the web, and visit Justice for Immigrant (www.justiceforimmigrants.org).  

• Dead Man Walking: Rent the video and view it with your community. Then use the “Reflections on Dead Man Walking” faith-sharing booklet to discuss the issue for one or several gatherings. Booklet available from the MSJC office— apsjustice@hotmail.com—or from RENEW International (www.renewint.org).

• The Adèle Social Justice Project is looking for young adults in the Washington/Baltimore area to participate in a social justice immersion/reflection weekend in Washington, D.C., Oct. 6-8. If you know someone who might be interested, contact Laura Libertore at asjplibertore@yahoo.com or 937/254-5445.

On October 15, 2006, the Marianist Family around the world will gather in a spiritual piligrimage with our sisters and brothers in France around the shrine of Our Lady of Verdelais, a place dear to Blessed Chaminade. At fourteen years of age he suffered a leg injury that stubbornly refused to heal.

His brother, Jean Baptiste, suggested that William Joseph have recourse to the Virgin Mary, “who is never invoked in vain.” William eagerly and happily took up his suggestion, and the two brothers vowed to make a pilgrimage to Notre Dame de Verdelais if the Blessed Virgin would obtain the cure they were seeking from her goodness.

The healing occurred so quickly that William Joseph always regarded it as miraculous. A short time later, he and his brother were able to walk on pilgrimage to Verdelais, about fifty miles (80 km) from Mussidan, where they thanked the Blessed Virgin for her favor.

A document has been prepared for distribution among our communities in preparation for the World Day of Prayer. Please click on the following link for the English version. French and Spanish versions of the document can be accessed through the 'Quick Links' at the side of this E-News.