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TWENTY-FOUR
THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
JULY 9, 195$,
OUR LADY OF THE ATONEMENT FEAST: AMERICAN MADONNA
(By Titui Cranny, S. A.)
GRAYMOOR, GARRISON, N.
Y.—America belongs to Our Lady.
Cathedrals, shrines, churches, and
chapels are dedicated to her. Col
leges, academies, schools, and in
stitutions are named after her. Re
ligious communities are pledged
to her honor. Some of the very
towns and places in our country
bear her holy name. Since the time
of Columbus who sailed on the
Santa Maria and named ( an is
land in honor of the Immaculate
Conception, down to the novenas,
Rosary Rallies, and the TV shows
of our day, the faithful have ev
er displayed a deep love for
Mary.
Almost a hundred years ago,
Fr. Xavier McCleod of Cincin
nati, a convert Protestant minis
ter, felt the pulse of this devo
tion, when he wrote: “We are
prepared to believe that there
is no Catholic country in Europe,
that there never has been a
country in which reverent love
and earnest heartfelt devotion
for the Blessed Mother was more
deeply rooted, more ardently
cherished, or more fervently and
fruitfully practiced than this
same North America.’’
A significant contribution to
love for Mary is the distinctive
title and devotion which began
here in America: Our Lady of
the Atonement. If originated at
Graymoor, New York, fifty-years
ago under Father Paul James
Francis, S. A. and Mother Lu-
rana Mary Francis S. A., the
founders of the Franciscan Friars
and Sisters of the Atonement.
Today it is celebrated by these
religious communities and their
associates on July 9.
A most unusual detail about
this name is that it originated
outside the Church. When Fath
er Paul and Mother Lurana con
ceived it in 1900 they were still
members of the Anglican com
munion. Thus it is probably the
only title for the Mother of God
now approved and blessed by the
Church, which began outside the
One Fold.
The little group of the Society
of the Atonement entered the
Church on October 30, 1909.
They received permission to re
tain their religious habit, their
name, their object as a coimmu
nity to work and pray for Chris
tian Unity. They were also al
lowed to keep their special name
for Our Blessed Lady. They were
also allowed to promote an as
sociation in her honor: The Ros
ary League of Our Lady of the
Atonement.
This title, Our Lady of the
Atonement or Our Atonement
Mother, obviously refers to Ma
ry’s part in the mystery of Cal
vary. he cooperated with Christ
in such a way as to be the Co-
Redemptrix of the human race.
For just as Jesus suffered on the
altar of the Cross, so Mary suf
fered on the altar of her heart.
Or as the writer from the Middle
Ages, Arnold Bonneval, has
said: “Jesus and Mary offered
their sacrifice similarly to God;
Jesus in the Blood of His body,
Mary in the blood of her heart.”
Father Paul delivered his most
eloquent sermons on Our Lady of
the Atonement. “Her claim to
this high title,” he asserted,
“rests most solidly on the fact
that she consented to become,
and became the Mother of the
Redeemer; that she suffered
with Jesus during His Passion;
and that all graces merited for
mankind by Christ have come
to us through Mary.”
There is another aspect in this
teaching about Our Lady of the
Atonement. Father Paul declar
ed that the name also means Our
Lady of the At-one-ment, Our
Lady of Unity, for it is Mary’s
part to bring men to the unity of
. the Church. “When we address
her as Our Lady of the Atone
ment,” he would say, “let us
think of her as ‘Our Lady of
Unity,’ and let us consecrate our
selves afresh at her altar to con
tribute what lies within our
power of prayer, sacrifice, and
charitable endeavor to bring our
separated brethren into the Uni
ty of the One Fold under the
One Shepherd.”
As Our Lady of the Atone
ment Mary wears a red mantle
in honor of the Precious Blood
of the Atonement by which she
was preserved free from origin
al and actual sin. Thus the red
mantle is a. symbol of the mys
tery of the Atonement. In the
throne of hot arm Mary holds
the Christ Child who bears a
cross in His hand, for as Father
Paul used to say, “He is not the
Child of Bethlehem,, but the
Child of the Atonement.” Four
angels surround the Mother and
Son, holding the instruments of
Calvary.
In the providence of God this
title has grown and developed
slowly but surely in various
parts of the world. The Sisters
from Graymoor, following the
inspiration and example of their
foundress, teach the children of
Our Lady of the Atonement in
their catechism lessons; the Fri
ars emulate Father Paul in writ
ing and preaching about her. It
is a high-ranking feast for them
(double of the first class) ap
proved by the Sacred Congrega
tion of Rites in 1948. It is a feast
that is celebrated by the Society
of the Atonement in their 75
houses in America, their fifteen
foundations in Canada, and in
Ireland, Rome, Japan, and Assisi
as well. More and more of the
faithful are becoming aware of
this new and distinctive title
which originated here in Amer
ica.
In various parts of the world
there are religious houses and
chapels dedicated in honor of
Our Lady of the Atonement.
Some of them are: a retreat
house for men in Nova Scotia;
the Friars’ Novitiate in Valley
Falls, R. I.; a parish and school
in Kinston N. C.; the Sisters’
convent in Rome; an orphanage
in Edmonton, Alberta; the cen
tral house of the Friars in Yoko
hama, Japan. And so the number
continues to grow. But the larg
est church of all is that of Our
Lady of the Atonement in Bag
uio, Baguet, Philippine Islands
under the direction of the Scheut
Fathers from Belgium. It was
built in 1919 through funds col
lected in the United States by
Father Paul.
It is surely providential that
this title for Mary should have
originated at Graymoor. For
■liere also began the worldwide
crusade for Christian Unity, the
Chair of Unity Octave now an
nually observed each January
18-25. Father Paul began this
movement in 1908 as an Anglic
an, and through the grace of
God and the love of Our Lady,
he and his followers entered the
Church not long after. Father
Paul always believed that Unity
would be achieved in direct pro
portion to man’s love for Mary.
She would be the bridge uniting
East and West and bringing
home the prodigal and erring to
the One Fold.
It is the prayer of the Friars
and Sisters of the Atonement and
their associates that many of the
faithful will observe the feast of
Our Lady of the Atonement on
July 9. They hope too that many
will come to know and love Ma
ry under the Atonement title and
carry that knowledge and love
to others.
Finally we may turn to Father
Paul, as the Apostle and Knight
of Our Ladj* of the Atonement,
who said these words just twen
ty-five years ago: “Let us look
up to her all radiant on her
throne, our beautiful Mother of
the Atonement, apparelled in the
crimson robe of the Precious
Blood, interceding at this mom
ent for the Atonement At-one-
ment; and may we never cease
to unite our prayers with hers
that the scales may fall away
from the eyes of our separated
brethren and that they may un
derstand that the Great Shep
herd whom Our Lord appointed
as His Vicegerent on earth
is their Father and their Shep
herd.” (July 9, 1930)
MARRIAGES
o-
HUFF-HARPER
-O
f
-O'
o
ATHENS, Ga.—Miss Winona
Ann Harper, daughter of Mrs.
John Woodwald of Monroe, Ga.,
and the late Henry G. Harper and
Mr. Benjamine Elton Huff, son of
Mr. and Mrs. James H. Huff of
Monroe, Ga., were married June
14th at St. Joseph’s Church in,
Athens. Rev. Father Walter Don
ovan officiating.
O O
SPALDING-GOWEN
O-
-O
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. —•
Miss Anne Wakefield Gowen,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles
Latimer Gowen of St. Simons
Island, and Jack Johnson Spald
ing, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hughes
Spalding of Atlanta, were mar
ried June 25th in St. Williams
Chapel at St. Simons. Rt. Rev.
Msgr. Joseph G. Cassidy of At
lanta officiating.
PLAN NOW TO ATTEND
NINTH REGIONAL CONGRESS
Til© Confraternity Of Christian Doctrine
and
FORTIETH ANNUAL CONVENTION
The Catholic Laymen's Association of Georgia
General Oglethorpe Hotel, Savanna!
October 21, 22, 2% 1955
REGISTRATION AND RESERVATION
NINTH REGIONAL CONGRESS, CCD
FORTIETH ANNUAL CONVENTION, CLA OF GA.
General Oglethorpe Hotel. Savannah
October 21, 22, 23, 1955
Name: _.
Address:
City & State:-
Please Reserve Room at Hotel Yes.
No_
Note: Please enclose Registration Fee of $1.00 and mail to Monsignor
McNamara, 222 East Harris Street, Savannah, Georgia, (brothers, Sisters
and Students 50c. Mail not later than October 5, 1955.)