October 1981 Print


The Marian Pilgrimage to St. Mary's

 
The Third Year

by James S. Taylor

Crowning of Mary's Statue

IT RAINED most of the day on August 13th, the first day of the third annual Marian Pilgrimage to St. Mary's. But, as those who have attended the pilgrimages the last two years know, it always rains on one of these three days set aside in honor of the Mother of God's Assumption into heaven. In any case, the spirits of the arriving pilgrims and the St. Mary's staff there to greet them were not dampened by the summer showers. Only among a few of the newer staff members was the concern voiced that the evening's Living Rosary procession would have to be cancelled, and these comments were met with a firm reply from the more experienced that Our Lady would see to it the rain would stop by then!

The pilgrimage was marked by a hard-earned and well-deserved efficiency built on two years' experience and allowing for new features throughout the three days. Beginning on Thursday afternoon, tours of the campus were conducted by Mr. David Yockey of St. Mary's Academy. In addition to teaching English and acting as the Academy librarian, Mr. Yockey has also become somewhat of an authority on the history of St. Mary's College. Within the comfortable (and dry) confines of one of St. Mary's two buses, Mr. Yockey was able to conduct his informative tour from one end of the campus to the other several times during the pilgrimage.

Perhaps the biggest hit among the accommodations this year was the streamlined and air-conditioned Hospitality Room managed by the ladies of the Sacred Heart League at St. Mary's. Here the visitors found a selection of home-made pies, sandwiches, and doughnuts, as well as plenty of hot coffee, cold juices, and milk. Tables and chairs were set up for visiting and there was hardly a time during the day or evening when people were not seen there relaxing and talking with one another on all the topics that concern traditional Catholics the world over.

A much better stocked bookstore (also air-conditioned) greeted this year's pilgrims, and the bookstore hours were extended all day long, allowing for another location for lively conversation.

Not the least of the improvements were: the efficiency of the registration line; the beautification of the campus grounds, especially the abundant selection of flowers; the refurbished shrines to Our Lady; the addition of statuary and a larger organ for Assumption Chapel; and the delicious food and professional service by the kitchen staff of St. Mary's.

The first official function of the first day was the offering of Low Mass at 5:00 p.m., followed by a get-acquainted dinner in the Bellarmine Hall cafeteria. There, Father Hector Bolduc introduced the head table consisting of Father Joseph Collins, Headmaster of St. Mary's Academy, and five of the seminarians of the Society of St. Pius X from Ridgefield, Connecticut, and Ecône, Switzerland.

Priests watching crowning

In welcoming the pilgrims, Fr. Bolduc explained the mission of St. Mary's in the world today, especially as a center where yearly pilgrimages can be held and Catholics can join together in setting aside a few days to honor the Mother of God. He assured the audience that they could feel confident in coming to St. Mary's for these reasons since Our Lady herself had appeared on the property over one hundred years ago, and that her heavenly intercession has not ceased; that she still desires greatness for this location. As witness to this desire are the very details of how the Society acquired the property of St. Mary's. Father Bolduc told the crowd how he had buried a Miraculous Medal before the statute of Our Lady on the campus of St. Mary's, then went to Phoenix, Arizona, to discuss the site with the real estate company who were then handling the property. Father told them he was interested in obtaining the College, but there was one problem: he had no money. The businessmen were somewhat stunned. But Father suggested to them an alternative: they should GIVE the property to the Society. He explained to them they could consider it a donation and perhaps it would be valuable to them for tax purposes, too. They went into a closed discussion on the proposal and emerged with their answer, a response that even surprised Father Bolduc: Yes, they said, they would give Saint Mary's College to the Society!

It is clear Our Lady wants this property in the hands of the Society and traditional Catholics. Father continued. She wants St. Mary's to be a center of true renewal of the Church in America, he said. He reminded everyone that similar miracles were associated with the founding of the Academy and the College, all attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Emerging from the cafeteria, although the air was warm and damp, indeed the rain had ceased, and it was obvious the Living Rosary procession would be held outside after all. However, Our Lady left some discomfort (perhaps lest the inconvenience of this "Vale of tears" be forgotten) in the form of gnats, chiggers, and mosquitoes, which, after the long rain, seemed to thrive in the dark, moist air. Thus began a kind of "Battle of the Bites," but as mentioned earlier, the spirit and goodwill of the pilgrims was remarkable, and more jokes than complaints were made about these little annoying pests.

Just before 9:00 p.m. the crowd assembled around the Blessed Virgin's statue in Our Lady's garden, while in the twilight of the warm summer evening the procession began from the chapel led by Father Bolduc and Father Collins, then the members of the Living Rosary, each simply dressed in gowns of gold to represent the Our Father beads, and blue for the Hail Mary's, and each carrying a large votive candle. Once the Living Rosary had encircled the statue of Our Lady and the several Marian hymns were sung, the Rosary was recited. Solemnly, but with the joyful knowledge that came in realizing that this year's pilgrimage was officially underway, the crowd returned to the Chapel for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

After Benediction, as in the previous evenings of past pilgrimages, it was not uncommon to see several groups of visitors around the campus—talking, listening, laughing, on into the night. It was a peaceful sight, to see these gatherings of men and women, and often children, standing and talking with one another. It is a sign of the peace of Christ's Presence among these Catholics who have held fast to their Faith.

Friday, August 14th, on the Vigil of the Assumption, the day began with Low Mass at 8:00 a.m. followed by brunch served later in the morning. At noon, Father Bolduc gave his talk on "Responsiblity of Parents toward the Education of their Children" to a full house in McCabe Theatre. (St. Mary's College will make this speech and others available on cassette tape or in transcript form—please write to St. Mary's for information.)

The remainder of the second day included a talk by St. Mary's Academy Headmaster, Father Joseph F. Collins, on the Academy and Catholic education in general; a procession to the Grotto, the Gazebo, the statue of the Sacred Heart; then, after dinner, the outdoor Stations of the Cross were made around the spacious quadrangle, followed by Rosary and Benediction in the Chapel.

When the Angelus Bell sounded on the morning of the Feast of the Assumption, it was more than the signal to rise and prepare for the High Mass at 8:00 a.m., it was the summoning of the special attention of the soul of each pilgrim to the noble purpose at hand: to give honor and praise to the Mother of God and to dwell upon the amazing fact of her Assumption, body and soul, into Paradise. This day represented the center of the pilgrimage, and as the sacred ceremonies of the Latin Tridentine Mass unfolded beginning with the Introit: "A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun . . .", to the Postcommunion: ". . . we pray Thee that by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, assumed into heaven, we may be brought to the glory of the Resurrection," a mood of hope and confidence pervaded the Chapel; supernatural hope and confidence, the graces that pass through the motherly hands of her who held the Source of all grace, all hope, all confidence. Christianity is known by its miraculous resiliency throughout the stormy centuries—2,000 years—precisely because of this supernatural character of hope and confidence in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds. It is also this hope and confidence that has always seemed mere foolishness to the proud and incredulous world.

It was in this spirit that in the afternoon the Assumption Chapel was filled once again, as the pilgrims either made for the first time or renewed their Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary according to St. Louis Grignion de Montfort. With Father Bolduc kneeling before the main altar and leading the congregation in the ceremony, the Consecration began: "O Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom! O sweetest and most adorable Jesus! True God and True Man, only Son of the Eternal Father, and of Mary, always virgin . . ." and continued, "In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and mistress . . . "

The pleading and tender words of this singular pledge to the Mother of God echoed from the collective voice resounding in the Chapel, rising to Mary and the throne of God from the hearts of the faithful gathered from many locations, from long distances, and in many cases, as a result of hardships and sacrifices, just so they could knee among those of the same faith in the undisputed presence of the Blessed Sacrament, to utter in unison with a true priest of the New and Eternal Testament: "O admirable Mother, present me to thy dear Son as His eternal slave, so that as He has redeemed me by thee, by thee He may receive me!"

Another procession was then made to the statue of the Blessed Virgin in Our Lady's Garden where the Living Rosary had been said. Here, the larger of two gold crowns commissioned by Father Bolduc and designed and executed in France, was publicly unveiled for the first time. The crowd shifted positions several times, trying to get a look at the crown as it was carried up the ladder to the top of Our Lady's statue. Once in place, it could be seen that it was studded with varied and colored stones, but was not in the least gaudy; it was elegant, regal, and yet profoundly simple; a true symbol of the soul of Mary.

Then the priests, seminarians and crowd moved in procession back to Assumption Chapel for the second crowning of the newly arrived statue of Our Lady of St. Mary's, also commissioned by Father Bolduc in France. Using the donated stones and jewelry left from the completion of the first crown, the artist designed a second crown, smaller and created to fit exactly the wood statue of Our Lady. Father Bolduc gently placed the crown on her head.

Priest crowning Mary in Assumption Chapel

Observing these solemn ceremonies, it was easily grasped and vividly understood how naturally the Coronation and the Queenship of Our Lady follows from the fact of her glorious Assumption. Christ is King and Mary is, by rights, Queen of Heaven and Earth. No amount of thoughtful ceremony or costly monuments in her honor will ever be excessive in showing to the world her proper dignity as the Mother of God. Woe to those at the Second Vatican Council who attempted to alter the Church's full teaching on Mary so as not to offend the Protestant Observers. Woe to those who have removed her statues and pictures and altars from her Son's churches.

Later in the afternoon, Rev. Mr. Stephen DeLallo, subdeacon, addressed an audience of parents and young people on the subject of religious vocations, especially vocations to the priesthood. Mr. DeLallo gave an accurate and sometimes amusing description of life in the seminary, and more seriously described how the spiritual life is developed as one approaches the Sacrament of Holy Orders. During this third and final full day of the pilgrimage more visitors had arrived throughout the morning so that by the time of the evening's banquet the smaller of two gymnasiums was quickly filled to capacity.

The kitchen staff of St. Mary's excelled once again and served a full roast beef dinner to all the guests in a record fifteen minutes, then worked among the crowd offering refills of coffee and water, and even seconds of roast beef.

When the meal was finished and Father Bolduc returned to the microphone for his final address of the pilgrimage, it did not take him long to establish his theme—the theme of the entire cause of the traditional Catholic movement the world over.

"We have determined that we deserve something better in life, that our children deserve something better in society," he began, after stating that our world had fallen into an unprecedented moral corruption.

"We have determined that Catholics have an occasion to stand up for the Faith and truly live the Bible; truly have to live the teachings of the Church; truly have to live all the doctrines holy Mother Church has given us . . . we have come to St. Mary's because St. Mary's holds a promise for us."

"Today, there are those, through their own corrupt philosophies, who would prevent us from attaining salvation of our souls through the means God Himself gave, that is, through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Our future here hinges on the Mass. It is our life! We either stand with the Mass or die without it. There is no grey area. It is black and white. You cannot live without the Mass."

"Our forefathers fought and gave their lives for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which we are being prevented today from offering in all the churches which we built in this country—which you built, which your fathers built. You are being prevented from worshipping in the churches you were baptized in, that you were confirmed in, that you were married in, that you have supported most of your lives. And you are being persecuted by those who were born, baptized, confirmed, married in those same parishes. And you are being persecuted by the priests and bishops who were confirmed and consecrated and ordained in these same parishes by the same Mass and the same sacraments that they would attempt to deprive us of—it is not just! It is not right! It is not Catholic! We have the right to the sacraments. We have the right to the Mass. We have a right to save our souls!" At this point, the otherwise quiet and attentive crowd burst into Father's words with thunderous applause. A distinct message was contained in that spontaneous display of emotion: all the anguish, the heartbreak, the frustration of watching the self-destruction of the Church since the Council was released now in joyful confidence; that in spite of all the signs of destruction, the spirit of the true Church could still be given a clear voice in the world, just as the Church has always done in time of travail in the past. "No one has a right to deprive us of that which we have been taught from our infancy is our heritage . . . we will not compromise!" Father said.

After a long and detailed comparison of Our Lord's Passion and its essential relationship to the Mass, Father Bolduc concluded, saying: "What is it that we, who are but a small handful, should be persecuted to the ends of the earth for our beliefs; that we should have to be the object of gossip, of falsification, the ruination of our name and character; the object of ridicule, even the disrupting of our holy services . . . why? My dear friends, you have that answer, because you know that Christ was persecuted—and because He was persecuted, we can expect nothing less."

"You will be persecuted, my dear people; because things are so bad in the world today, God demands persecution, He demands suffering, He demands sacrifice. And from whom does it please Him to receive this? From the faithful! It isn't a punishment He's giving you. It isn't a punishment He's giving me. It is an honor that He's given me. It is an honor to suffer for Jesus Christ!"

And now the mood of the crowd changed once again. They were more quiet. It seemed that the graces of the past three days, the peace and the attentive stillness that comes in properly honoring God and His Mother and all holy things, had settled over the banquet hall.

"Oh, that we should have the opportunity in this world to suffer enough," Father began, "so that we could expiate for all the sins of mankind, including our own, so that when Jesus Christ calls us, we could flee immediately to heaven. That, my dear people, is what we long for . . . Catholics should love death, not hate it, because for us it is the beginning of eternity, it is life everlasting, it is free from suffering, free from persecution . . . if we remain strong, if we follow the true Mass. It all comes back to the Holy Mass."

"I tell you this, my dear friends, one day you will know the beauty and the glory of what Christ speaks about when He talks to us about the ecstasy of heaven, about being able to see clearly through a dark mirror, of having before us the Beatific Vision, and I tell you that depends entirely upon the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Nothing else! Take that with you . . . because one day, as certain as I stand before you today, there will be pilgrimages like this made to this spot, paying homage to those who suffered . . . to you! There will be a plaque raised in that courtyard and it will say: back in 1979 a group of Catholics founded this organization which is thriving today and which was important in saving Holy Mother Church. And they shall come and kneel and pray before it, for you!"

Then Father Bolduc delivered what must be considered the essence of not only this pilgrimage but the ultimate meaning of the entire Catholic experience as contained in this vision:

"And more important for you, and on a day in the not too far distant future when Almighty God calls you unto His own, a reckoning which we all must face, if you have been faithful to His Mass, if you have loved it to the extent that He loved you to die for it, you shall not fear to meet Him, you shall not fear to stand before the judgment seat of God. On that day your soul will burst with a fervor of love when you see at that moment of death a choir of angels being led by our Holy Mother coming as she has promised, to envelop us in her mantle, and bring us before the Seat of her Son, to stand there, to hear echoing in your ears the hosannas, the cries of the alleluias from the multitudes and multitudes, unknown, uncountable, like the grains of the sands of the sea . . . to be able to stand there before the Beatific Vision, before Jesus Christ Himself, with all the choirs of angels, to be able to see on that day, Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, to be able to know the love that floods into the heart at that moment that we are right, and to be able to hear resound in our ears those words from Almighty God: Welcome into my kingdom, good and faithful servant; your faith has saved you." The crowd stayed on their feet long past the normal time for an ordinary standing ovation, offering a roar of applause not only for Father Bolduc, but for the figure of the traditional priesthood, for His Grace Archbishop Lefebvre, and for all that is good and noble and true of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

Statue of Mary holding Jesus

And thus the 1981 Marian Pilgrimage came to a close. There was still a great deal of visiting to be done—exchanging addresses and phone numbers usually for making contact with the traditional Mass—in fact, there was still that evening's Benediction yet to come and the next morning's Sunday Mass.

But most of the pilgrims would soon be returning to their homes by way of car, bus, train or plane, to the different areas of the United States where as members of the Mystical Body they assisted in various ways the task of helping to keep the Church in this country alive.

Like the departing visitors from past pilgrimages here, they would return refreshed and rejuvenated for the battle ahead; strengthened by the sacraments, edified by the good example of fellow Catholics holding fast to the Traditions given them by the Church of their youth, and united by the graces that pass through the wise and loving hands of their spiritual Mother in heaven, Mary, their Queen.