The lone remaining relative of my parents’ generation died Saturday, August 5. My Aunt Marianne was the surviving widow of my dad’s baby brother Jack. My dad was the fifth of seven children, and he and all his siblings married and had many children of their own; I am the fifth-youngest of 37 first cousins. (My mom was third of four and the only one to have children.) Five of my generation have died: one in infancy, two as young adults, and two in their early retirement years. While we are a friendly family, we’ve long since stopped having family reunions. The funerals of my parents and my aunts and uncles have been the reason that we’ve gathered over the past couple of decades. As of this writing, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to fly back to Belding, Michigan, for Aunt Marianne’s funeral. After Uncle Jack, the penultimate elder, died, I had it in mind to make it back for Aunt Marianne’s funeral, hers being the last.
Rest eternal grant to Marianne, O Lord, and let light-perpetual shine upon her. May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
+++++++
August 15 is the Feast of Saint Mary the Virgin in the Churches Catholic. We venerate her with this title; the Romans celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary; and the Orthodox the Dormition of Theotokos. I’ll not write today about these differences; what I will say is that for a congregation such as ours, with the name All Saints’ and with an Anglo-Catholic piety and practice, any Marian feast is a step above the major feasts of the apostles and saints on the calendar. Mary is the Queen of Heaven and thus Queen of All Saints, by virtue of being the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, who in the Incarnation is both fully human and fully divine. One can argue the relative rank and status of the apostles (which is an apostolic thing to do, as James and John wrangled for seats on the right and left hands of Jesus), but only Mary was chosen to be the vessel of the Incarnation. Mary’s “Yes” to God through the Archangel Gabriel put God’s whole plan in motion. For this we give thanks.
Mass for the feast is Tuesday, August 15 at 7:00 PM. I hope to see you then!
God’s blessings and peace,
Dan+
Kommentit