{"id":4424,"date":"2008-08-05T07:56:46","date_gmt":"2008-08-05T12:56:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theanchoressonline.com\/?p=4424"},"modified":"2017-03-16T19:11:18","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T19:11:18","slug":"if-its-tuesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/08\/05\/if-its-tuesday\/","title":{"rendered":"If it's Tuesday…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u2026I\u2019m not in Belgium<\/a>, but I\u2019m probably itching to get home. Not exactly a world-traveler type. Although I\u2019ve always wondered about visiting Ephesus.<\/p>\n


\nBethlehem Crypt at St. Mary Major, burial spot of the fascinating St. Jerome<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Today is the day we remember the Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica<\/a>, in Rome. When I was a little girl the nuns told us it was built to honor the naming of Mary as the Theotokos<\/em>: the God-bearer.<\/p>\n

Here is what my breviary says about it:<\/p>\n

After the Council of Ephesus (431) in which the mother of Jesus was proclaimed as Mother of God, Pope Sixtus III erected at Rome on the Esquiline Hill a basilica dedicated to the honor of the holy Mother of God. It was afterward called Saint Mary Major [In Latin, <\/em>Basilica Sancta Mari\u00e6 Majori<\/em>s, in Italian, Santa Maria Maggiore<\/em> \u2013 admin] and is the oldest church in the west dedicated to the honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jason at American Inquisition<\/strong> has a most interesting<\/em> and informative piece on the basilica and its history<\/a>:<\/p>\n

St. Mary Major, however, is a \u201cmajor\u201d basilica of the Church and, as such, is a kind of \u201cmother church,\u201d if you will, for the entire Church throughout the world. Mary Major is one of four such major basilicas and, along with the other three, St. Peter\u2019s, St. Paul\u2019s Outside the Walls and St. John Lateran, represents something that universally encompasses the Church. St. Peter\u2019s, for example, represents the primacy of St. Peter as head of the Church; St. Paul\u2019s Outside the Walls represents Paul as the Apostle to the Gentiles, that is, to all of us. St. John Lateran is actually the Cathedral of Sts. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist and so represents for us the bridge between the Old Testament and the New found in Christ Jesus, as both proclaimed the Word of God, John the Baptist as the last of the Old Testament prophets and John the Evangelist as the great writer of the fourth Gospel.<\/p>\n

\u2026The Basilica dates back to the 5th century and is the oldest church in the West dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and thusly is a powerful reminder not only of the importance of Marian devotion in our own spiritual lives, but also that Marian devotion has been an integral part of the Church practically since its earliest days. The question that naturally arises, of course, is, \u201cWhy should we have a devotion to Mary in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Jesus answers that question for us in the Gospel reading today. When He is told that His mother is blessed because of Her physical connection with Him, that is, literally being His mother, Jesus replies that that is not, in fact, why She is blessed. He responds, \u201cRather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.\u201d<\/em> So, Mary, though blessed to be the mother of God, is truly blessed because of Her great devotion and fidelity to the word of God and Her faith and trust in Him. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There\u2019s more<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And more pics here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2026I\u2019m not in Belgium, but I\u2019m probably itching to get home. Not exactly a world-traveler type. Although I\u2019ve always wondered about visiting Ephesus. Bethlehem Crypt at St. Mary Major, burial spot of the fascinating St. Jerome Today is the day we remember the Dedication of St. Mary Major Basilica, in Rome. When I was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,96,165,209,213],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholicism","category-faith","category-mary","category-prayer","category-questions-about-catholicism"],"yoast_head":"\nIf it's Tuesday...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"...I'm not in Belgium, but I'm probably itching to get home. Not exactly a world-traveler type. 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