In preparing a homily for the 5:30pm today; I learned that while this feast was added to the Church calendar by Pope Pius XII in 1954, Mary as Queen was celebrated from almost apostolic times. As Mary is the mother of Jesus and He is our King, she is a Queen. In biblical times, the mother of the king had great authority and influence, so of course, we see those gentle qualities in Mary.
Marie, Maggie and I had breakfast at S.H. on Sunday morning and then headed to Immaculate Conception church for the 9:30am Mass. We sat with the Fitzpatricks and their children and grandson. Father Larry was the presider and gave a great homily. He also baptized two little girls and the ceremony was a nice addition to the Mass. One thing he did, which I had never seen, was to have the all the children come up and sign the two girls with the sign of the cross on their foreheads. The children were delightful and the little girls enjoyed each blessing.
After Mass, we said goodbye to the family and headed home. We left around 11:30. It was a beautiful day and except for two slow downs, we made great time. We stopped and ate (a structed meal that we had brought with us) and still we back at SBS by 4pm. The girls went home and I unpacked, which took awhile. I ate some fish for supper and went to bed early.
This morning I went over to the hospital and anointed a lady I know from Knollwood, who fell and broke her hip. She is having surgery later today. Then I went to the Newman Book store and got some information for a book I am thinking about that could be used for a nine week course on Church History. Then I went over to the Shrine and visited with Robin Pajak, school secretary from St. Michael’s. She brought me some flyers and tickets for a fundraiser that the school is having on October 1st. I am hoping that some people here might want to support the school.
I had a nice surprise in that Kevin Potter, a friend from St. Mary’s days called me. He is living in Virginia now and we had a great talk and made plans to get together in September. Fr. John Bohrer also called to wish me a happy vigil to my birthday. I am going to call him this evening and catch up.
I went to the grocery store and bought some foods that I will use for the next few days till Humberto, our cook, and I have a better chance to talk and figure out what I need him to prepare for meals. He was most agreeable when we talked. Today, I used my food and kept structured – my only exercise was walking but I have the info about the pool and the senior program. I think I’ll send this off now.
What does a “structured” birthday cake look like???? 🙂