REMINDER!!!
Adult Faith Formation begins on Wednesday, January 22 at either 1 pm or 6 pm.
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This Week on FORMED
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FEAST OF THE HOLY SPOUSES
JANUARY 23
No husband and wife ever loved one another so much as Joseph and Mary.
~Vunerable Fulton J. Sheen
The Feast of the Holy Spouses is a liturgical feast that celebrates the marriage of Mary and Joseph that dates back to the 15th century. The date of January 23 may have been chosen as the day for the feast due to the mystical visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich. (1774-1824)
In acounts of her visions, Blessed Ann Catherine offers details about the wedding and explicitly mentions the date of the marriage. She writes:
The espousals took place, I think, upon our 23rd of January. They were celebrated in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, in a house used for such feasts.
Another mystic, Venerable Mary of Agreda (1602-1665), also claims to have had visions about the lives of Mary and Joseph. She wrote extensively about her mystical experiences and claims to also have been present at the wedding of Mary and St. Joseph. Her account of the wedding provides detailed descriptions of such things as the dress Our Lady wore, the stateliness and attractiveness of St. Joseph, and the joy experience by everyone in attendance. Venerable Mary of Agreda wrote the following about what she witnessed at the wedding of Mary and St. Joseph:
By divine operation the two most holy and chaste spouses felt an incomparable joy and consolation (on their wedding day). The heavenly princess, as one who is the Mistress of all virtues, lovingly corresponded to the desires of St. Joseph. The Most High also gave to St. Joseph new purity and complete command over his natural inclinations so that he might serve his spouse Mary.
The feast is not on the universal liturgical calendar of the Church. It is celebrated by a few shrines dedicated to St. Joseph and several religious communities dedicated to St. Joseph.
It would be wonderful if the Church placed the Feast of the Holy Spouses on the universal liturgical calendar to serve as a reminder to all men and women of the sanctity of Holy Matrimony.
Everything that refers to that marriage (of Mary and Joseph) happened by an intimate disposition of the Holy Spirit.
~St. Bonaventure
~taken from Consecration of St. Joseph, Donald H. Calloway, MIC
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Thought for the week:
How have Jesus' words changed my life
from the ordinary and expected to the
extraordinary and unexpected?
~Living with Christ
Do whatever He tells you.
I remain faithfully,
Lisa
Lisa