June 2002

Hello dear friends,

Welcome to the June issue of Emmaus’ Journey. At about this time of the month, school will be over for many of our readers. I know some of you will be graduating soon and others will be preparing to enter into the next grade. My sincere congratulations to you may God guides your path as you begin your new journey.

Dear friends, after so many long months of being bombarded with school works, essays, final exams, stress, peer pressure, and personal problems, etc., wouldn’t you like to step away from it all for a little while so that you can just relax and be at ease by yourself? Wouldn’t you like to just rest your body and spirit and not having to worry about meeting deadlines, obligations or putting up a front.for any one? Wouldn’t you enjoy being in the Presence of The One who had always loved and accepted you regardless of your past failures? That special Someone is Jesus! Friends, perhaps this summer, Jesus is calling you, yes you, by your name, and He’s longing for you to come to Him: " .Come to me all you who work hard and carry heavy burdens and I will refresh you.learn from me that I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest." (Matthew 11:28,29). May I suggest that you go to a retreat this summer? What’s a retreat? (you might ask). A retreat is a vacation with the Lord! It’s a chance for you to get away from your ordinary routines, away from your usual environment, family and friends, away from the "busyness" of daily life, so you can rest and be rejuvenated by the Lord. In a retreat, you don’t have to worry about studying, doing household chores, homework or any other daily responsibilities; all your physical and spiritual needs will be provided for you. What is required of you is only that you come with a willingness to spend this time with God and to allow God to speak to you from the depth of your heart. There are so many wonderful things God wants to tell you and to show you, but He needs for you to quiet down. In the silence of your soul, God will gently come and whisper his loving words to you. With the help of the retreat director (usually a priest, a religious), you’ll be guided in prayers and taught how to listen with your heart to what God is saying to you. More importantly, you’ll be able to recognize God’s Presence in your life. You’ll see how God’s loving hands are always at work, whether in your struggles, heartaches or joy. You’ll come to realize that you’re not alone, that He’s always with you, that He loves you immensely and He’s constantly working to bring you the greatest good.

As for me, I have received so much blessings and graces from all the past retreats that I have attended. Although the retreats did not take away the problems in my life, but from those retreats, I began to see my problems in a different light. I realized that each problem can be a tool to help me become a better person and to grow more in wisdom and holiness. I felt more hopeful and more ready to tackle those problems. I relied much more on God’s power to help me through each problem, one step at a time. Friends, as you’re planning your summer vacation this year, please consider a retreat as part of your vacation time as well. I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed when you vacation with the Lord. I pray you’ll make that call, Jesus is waiting for you! Also, in this month’s column, you will find an article about Our Blessed Mother Mary under the title of "Our Mother of Perpetual Help" whose feastday is on June 27.

Until next time, enjoy the summer heat but don’t forget the sunblock!

Tess Nguyen

* Smile, Jesus wants to vacation with you!

The Mother of Perpetual Help story begins in the fifteenth century, when, according to legend, a merchant stole a miraculous painting from a church on Crete and set sail across the Mediterranean. Nearly shipwrecked in a wild storm, he made landfall and eventually brought the stolen painting to Rome.

There he became ill. Upon his deathbed he revealed the secret of the painting to a friend, begging that the icon be placed in a church for public veneration. The merchant died, the friend having promised to fulfill his wish. But the friend’s wife so loved the image that she refused to part with it.

After the friend died the Blessed Mother herself intervened, appearing to the couple’s six-year-old daughter. Referring to herself as the Mother of Perpetual Help, Mary asked the child to tell her mother and grandmother to have the icon venerated in a church between the churches of St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. At the time the church of St. Matthew the Apostle was found in that location, and with much reluctance, on March 27, 1499, the child’s mother obeyed Mary’s request.

Over the next three hundred years, the icon’s beauty and wonder-working powers attracted the devotion of the people. When in 1798 Napoleon’s troops nearly destroyed the Church of St. Matthew, the icon moved with its Augustinian caretakers to a nearby monastery. Then in 1819 the Augustinians took the painting with them to the Church of St. Mary in Posterula. As Our Lady of Grace was already venerated there, the Mother of Perpetual Help was placed in a private chapel, forgotten by all except Brother Augustine Orsetti, who ensured that one of his altar boys, Michael Marchi, knew the icon’s story.

In 1855 the priests of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, known as the Redemptorists, acquired the lands of the Villa Caserta, which included the spot where the Church of St. Matthew the Apostle had been located. There they constructed the Church of St. Alphosus. Becoming interested in the history of their land, the Redemptorists turned up the story of the Mother of Perpetual Help icon. Michael Marchi, then a Redemptorist novice, remembered what Orsetti had said and directed his confreres to the image. On April 26, 1866, Pope Pius IX granted the Redemptorists custody of the painting, telling them to make the Mother of Perpetual Help known throughout the world. Thus the icon was retrieved, cleaned and installed in the very spot between St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran that the Mother of Perpetual Help had chosen as her sanctuary centuries before. Her feast was established on June 27.

With help from Mary herself the Redemptorists have indeed made her known throughout the world, and Our Mother of Perpertual Help now has shrines in Boston, New York, and St. Louis; Haiti, where she is the country’s patron; Satiago, Chile; Curitiba, Belem and manaus, Brazil; Tequisquiapan, Mexico; Belfast and Limerick, Ireland; Torun and Krakow, Poland; Singapore; and Manila, Philippines. The perpetual novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, which was first established in St. Louis in 1927, has helped spread the devotion and attracts hundreds of thousand of people in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand

The painting itself depicts the Madonna and Christ child, with Saints Michael and Gabriel in attendance. All are identified by Creek lettering. The two angels are holding the instrument of the Passion: the cross, the spear, the crown of thorns and the sponge. The child, having been shown this vision of his future, has in his fright rushed into Mary’s lap. He is still staring at the cross with fear, and his sandal has fallen of his right foot, a detail that emphasizes how quickly he has run to his mother.

Though she has taken hold of his hand to comfort him, she is staring out of the image at the observer, her sorrowful eyes drawing all her children into her perpetual care and protection. The star on her forehead emphasizes her role as Mother of God and Mother of All People. At the same time, with the hand with which she is holding her child’s hand, she directs the observer to focus on Jesus, the Son of God. As always, Mary guides the faithful to her son, her mission being to bring all people to Christ, the source of all salvation.