“Hodegetria” is a Greek term that translates to “She who Points the Way.” The Blessed Virgin Mother is shown presenting Jesus Christ. Her fingers are purposely elongated, to point to Jesus Christ as “The Way.” The earliest prototype version of the Hodegetria icon dates from around the mid-6th Century, C.E., but it is probably lost for all time. This particular representation is the Icon of the Panagia “Hodegetria” (Byzantine Museum, 15th Century).
Holy Mary of Nazareth, Mother of the Word Incarnate and, therefore, properly called Mother of God, I/we turn to you in prayer, petition, and praise.
I/we do so in complete and total confidence, knowing that no person in all of human history is closer to the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In God’s Plan of Salvation, you have a unique, unequaled, and irreplaceable position and mission. That is why, in Biblical faith, “all generations call [you] blessed.” (John 1:48).
You were the first Christian: the first to hear the Good News of The Gospel of the coming of God fully and completely into human history; you were the first follower of Jesus Christ (even though it was Jesus who first “followed you around”) because he was conceived, lived and breathed inside your body for nine months. Because of you, Blessed Virgin Mother—and only you— God’s plan, by the power of the Holy Spirit, was made possible—” and the Word was made flesh” (John 1:14).
You, Blessed Mother, gave Jesus his flesh, his body, his human nature (and, who knows, maybe, even the color of His eyes, the shape of His nose, and the sound of His laugh).
In God’s Plan of Salvation, God’s Word (God’s Son—the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity) had to become human—to be “made flesh.” In God’s Plan of Salvation, the Savior, the Most Holy Redeemer, the Messiah, had to be not only Divine but human as well. That, Blessed Mother, could not have happened had you said “NO,” instead, of your famous “YES”—the most important affirmative response in history: “Be it done onto me according to your word.”
Sometime, Blessed Mother, it is said that we Catholics tend to treat you as if you were Divine, but nothing could be further from the truth. The whole meaning of the foundational mystery of The Incarnation is that you, Blessed Virgin Mother, had to be human. The Divine Son of God could only become human—be incarnated—if he had a human mother. And, of course, you, Blessed Mother, had to be a Virgin because God, not a man, is the Father of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Were you not a virgin, Blessed Virgin Mother, God’s revelation would not have been made clear, would not have been, in fact, “revealed.” Redemption has taken place precisely because Jesus is both God’s Son and your son, Holy and Blessed Mary of Nazareth.
Blessed Virgin Mother, I/we turn to you to “ground “ my/our Christian prayer, because the New Testament introduces Christianity through you, as beautifully rendered in The Angelus: “The angel of The Lord declared onto Mary/And she conceived of the Holy Spirit/ Be it done on to me according to your word—And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” (Luke 1. 26:38).
So, I/we begin my/our prayer with. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.” (The best-known Catholic prayer of all, declares Catholics know very well that you, Blessed Mary, are not Divine/not God because we ask you to pray for us…To whom could you pray to if you were God? To yourself? Of course, not. You, Blessed Mary, pray to God for us because you are human. And you pray like all Christians do: to the Father, through Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, because that is how all Christian prayer works—including yours, Blessed Mother, except that your prayers are more powerful than any human being who has ever lived, because of your unique relationship with the Father, with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit.
So, Blessed Mother —also our Mother and Mother of the Church— please pray for me/us … now and at the Hour…. One of the Icons of you, Blessed Mother, and the Child Jesus is called, “She Who Points the Way.” This title is wonderfully meaningful. You were not only the first Christian but also the Perfect Christian— because, among other things, you were born free from Original sin, by God’s mercy, because of the future merits of being the mother of Jesus Christ, your Savior— and because you always point to Jesus, never to yourself. So, Blessed Mary, keep pointing me/us towards Jesus, today and every day, because you more than any human being knows He “is the Way, the Truth and the Life.” … So, pray for me/us “now and at the Hour.”
I/we ask you,especially, to bless and protect our families and friends, our doctors, nurses and all those caring for the sick and elderly at this time of COVID-19. Amen.
P.S. (Postscript),
Blessed Mother, while you’re at it, would you also keep reminding all of us that you were not some weak, timid, submissive, person (as some Christian art can imply) but a strong, fearless woman of great faith, justice, and solidarity. Your famous Magnificat— which Martin Luther, the founder of Protestantism, insisted in 1521 had to be sung daily at Vespers in all his Protestant Churches— powerfully proclaims God as a God of social justice: “ He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.”
Scripture scholars, Blessed Mother, have wisely pointed out that in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, the most robust and strong hymns are always sung by women, which should not surprise us at all. Therefore, it should not surprise us either that your Magnificat is the strongest (yet gentlest, stressing God’s preferential option for the poor) canticle/song in the entire New Testament—which “Saint Luke puts on [your] lips as the first song of liberation in the New Testament.” ( [Catholic] Dictionary of Fundamental Theology. Page 583). This same Dictionary, Blessed Mother, declares: “ Our age needs a theology of freedom and liberation that will faithfully echo Mary’s Magnificat as preserved in the memory of the Church.” From the Dictionary’s mouth, Blessed Mother, to God’s and your ears!
Finally, Blessed Mother, Pope John Paul II summed it very well: “Mary is totally dependent on God and completely directed toward Him and, at the side of her Son, she is the most perfect image of freedom and of the liberation of humanity and of the universe. It is to her as mother and model that the church must look in order to understand in its completeness the meaning of [ its] own mission.” (Redemptoris Mater /Mother of the Redeemer).No. 37
Today marks the anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge which opened to traffic on May 24, 1883. To celebrate, the Trivia Today team put together these five fascinating facts you may not know about the Brooklyn Bridge…
27 People Died Building The Bridge Though the Brooklyn Bridge was a feat of engineering for its time, it came with a cost. 27 people lost their lives during the 14 years that the bridge was under construction. Many died as a result compression sickness (otherwise known as the “bends”), contracted while constructing the bridge towers’ foundations under the East River. However, the most bizarre death was actually the first one: John Roebling, the bridge’s designer and chief engineer, died suddenly of a freak accident just weeks before construction kicked off. While he was taking a compass reading at the East River, a boat smashed into his foot and crushed some of his toes. Two weeks later, Roebling was dead from tetanus.
There’s a Bunker And Wine Cellar Built Into The Bridge Those looming towers aren’t just for show—inside, there are several secrets from the bridge’s 135-year-long history. Up until World War I, the city rented out space within one of the towers for wine storage. And in 2006, maintenance workers discovered a Cold War-era fallout shelter still fully-stocked with supplies. Workers found large canisters of water, boxes of crackers, medical supplies, and paper blankets all intended to protect a select few in the event of a nuclear attack.
A Female Engineer Completed the Project Emily Warren Roebling, Washington Roebling’s wife, stepped in when her husband became ill and took over as a liaison of the project for her husband by overseeing the management, construction and design of the bridge. Progressive for times, she later earned a certificate in law from New York University, which didn’t allow women to attend law school. A plaque located on the bridge honors John A. Roebling, Washington Roebling, and his wife, Emily.
A Rooster Made the First Trip Across the Bridge Emily Warren Roebling, with a rooster in her lap, was the first person to travel across the Brooklyn Bridge. This was one week before the bridge was officially opened with attendees such as President Chester A. Arthur and the Governor of New York Grover Cleveland attending the ceremony. The rooster rode along as a symbol of luck and victory.
The Name of the Bridge Changed Over The Years The span across the river from Brooklyn to Manhattan was first called the Brooklyn Bridge back in 1867. It was also called the Great East River Suspension Bridge and the Great East River Bridge. In 1915, the name was officially changed to the Brooklyn Bridge.
Irish republican groups have been expressing their support for Basque political prisoner Patxi Ruiz, who has been hospitalised with kidney failure after a hunger and thirst strike which began on May 11. A Basque support group, the ‘Movement for Amnesty and Against Repression’, said the activist is still able to walk on his own but has warned that his condition is very serious and there is a “real risk of death”.
Patxi Ruiz has been on hunger and thirst strike in the Murcia II prison in southeastern Spain in a protest against the harsh and inhumane conditions faced by prisoners. He is one of several political prisoners held in Spanish jails as a result of the struggle for Basque independence, which has parallels with the Irish freedom struggle.
The campaign to highlight the deteriorating situation faced by Basque political prisoners is currently focused on the danger presented by the Covid-19 virus. Prison actions have been met with oppressive treatment by the Spanish authorities, and their degrading and inhumane medical treatment escalated the protest into the current hunger strike.
It is understood Mr Ruiz is still continuing to maintain his hunger and thirst strike in hospital in Murcia after he was taken there against his will by a court order.
In a statement released by the IRPWA, Irish republican prisoners expressed “full solidarity” with Mr Ruiz and those who have mobilised inside and outside prison.
The prisoners, housed in Portlaoise, Maghaberry and Mountjoy jails, also expressed their full support to the Basque people and their right to independence.
“Sharing not only similar ideological and philosophical similarities, the Irish and Basque Political Prisoners share the similar histories of mistreatment within the jails,” they said.
“From forced isolation to assaults, to inhumane and degrading cell conditions, there is also the constant attempt to criminalise our respective struggles.
“Internationally, anti-imperialist Political Prisoners have a history of using any tool available to them in the struggle not to be criminalised.”
They called on organisations such as Amnesty International and the Red Cross to not “sit idly by” while Mr Ruiz suffers.
They also took a swipe at Ireland’s “trendy left”, who they said express support and call for action for political prisoners in other countries, but are “nowhere to be seen when the equivalent demonstrations are held on their own doorstep for Irish political prisoners”.
Another prisoner at Maghaberry, republican socialist Paddy O’Neill, fasted for 24 hours on Thursday in support of Mr Ruiz.
Pádraic MacCoitir of Lasair Dhearg spoke of Irish hunger strikers Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg, and saw many similarities between them and the plight of Patxi Ruiz.
“The screws in English gaols treated the prisoners very harshly and they were supported by doctors and nurses as they force-fed those on hunger strike,” he said.
“Patxi Ruiz was taken to the prison hospital a number of weeks ago for serious injuries and whilst there the doctors and nurses didn’t treat him properly. They have been verbally abusing him and he has embarked on the hunger and thirst strike seeking better treatment.”
Sinn Féin’s Seán Crowe expressed concern following Mr Ruiz’s hospitalisation. “The Spanish administration must immediately move to resolve the issues at the heart of this situation before Patxi’s condition deteriorates further,” he said.
“We are now almost a decade into a peace process in the Basque Country and it is way past time that the Spanish government commenced a process to address outstanding issues regarding a lasting peace settlement; including the issue of Basque political prisoners.”
The 32 County Sovereignty Movement said Mr Ruiz and his comrades had been “pushed to their limits” over the years. They said members of the ETA armed group had received “nothing but brutal treatment from the Spanish and their lackies in the Basque country.
“Most of the political prisoners find themselves in jail as a result of tactics not seen since the time of Franco, political parties have been banned and their members imprisoned, newspapers have been closed down with editors and journalists tortured, Basque language academics are prosecuted and the list goes on. These things are not happening in some far away country many years ago, its happening today in an EU country.
“We more than anyone know where this could lead, not just for our comrades and their families but for the wider societies in both Spain and the Basque country.
“Have Spain like England learned nothing from their disastrous involvement in other peoples countries? Spain would do well to learn from England’s mistakes in Ireland.”
The chief of the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma has welcomed Irish donations to help two tribes suffering in the Covid-19 pandemic as a sign of the solidarity between the two nations which dates back more than 170 years. The funds are to be used to supply clean water, food and health supplies to people in the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Reservation.
During the Great Hunger in Ireland, when food was forcefully exported from Ireland to Britain while millions of Irish died or emigrated, the Choctaw Nation famously sent $170 to help support starving Irish families against the murderous policies of the British government. The money donated by the Choctaws was distributed in Ireland by members of the Quaker community.
Hundreds of Irish people have sought to repay that old kindness as part of a charity drive, first highlighted by Irish Times journalist Naomi O’Leary.
Many donors cited the generosity of the Choctaws, noting that the gift came not long after the U.S. government forcibly moved the tribe and several other American Indian groups from the southeastern United States. The march in the 1840s across thousands of miles known as the ‘Trail of Tears’ left thousands of people dead along the way.
During the Great Hunger of 1845-1849, Ireland had its own deadly marches when thousands of Irish men, women and children would travel long distances in a desperate search for food. It was in that context that the act of solidarity among suffering nations took place. A sculpture in County Cork now commemorates the act of generosity.
The organisers of the current fundraiser praised “acts of kindness from indigenous ancestors passed being reciprocated nearly 200 years later through blood memory and interconnectedness.”
Gary Batton, chief of the Choctaw Nation Oklahoma, said in a statement that the tribe was “gratified — and perhaps not at all surprised — to learn of the assistance our special friends, the Irish, are giving to the Navajo and Hopi Nations.”
“We have become kindred spirits with the Irish in the years since the Irish potato famine,” he said.
The Navajo Nation has had one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the United States. A high prevalence of diseases like diabetes, the scarcity of running water and homes with several generations living under the same roof have enabled the virus to spread with exceptional speed in places like the Navajo Nation, according to epidemiologists. The Hopi reservation is surrounded by the Navajo Nation.
“It’s great to know that we help them out at one point, now they’re helping back with that favor, so it’s awesome to know that type of history, and I’m sure will be reading about it, writing about it and teaching our young Navajo, younger generation about this connection,” said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez.
Republican Sinn Féin have said a heavy-handed police raid on one of its member’s homes in west Belfast involved a specialist unit from the 26 Counties. Last Sunday, May 17, the party activist opened his front door and was approached by plainclothes PSNI police, who said that they were there to conduct a search of the home.
The activist refused them entry and asked to see a warrant at which they said only “we don’t need a warrant, we have a signed authority by the inspector to search the premises and all those within the home”.
Armed and uniformed PSNI then forced their way into the home, running to each room shouting “police”. The activist’s pregnant partner and seven children were awakened by masked figures standing at the bottom of their beds. They forced everyone out of their beds and down the stairs, where they were searched.
A forensic-type unit of men in boiler suits with military technical equipment then arrived, with two police dogs. Republican Sinn Féin reported the men all spoke with a Dublin accent and were greeted by the plainclothes RUC members. They noted they had great difficulty understanding each other’s accents; they shook hands and were then heard to say they were glad the search unit were “up with us”. Another described it as “cross-border policing”.
They then proceeded to ransack the interior of the home, the gardens and outer perimeter. To the family’s horror, an urn containing the ashes of a deceased child was opened and poured onto a bed. One of those involved told the activist’s five-year old child “we are here for your daddy’s bombs”.
The RUC helicopter flew overhead as neighbours came out of their homes in support of the family. Tensions escalated dangerously to the point where one armed PSNI man drew a gun and aimed at one of the neighbours, who was carrying a stick, before chasing him through the streets.
After four hours, a blender was removed from the house. Still not satisfied, they returned after dark and shone spotlights through the bedroom windows of the home where the terrified children were attempting to get to sleep.
RSF said its members had been subjected to a long-running campaign of “harassment and British political policing” through stop and searches, home raids, and direct violence.
“This intimidation, harassment, psychological and physical abuse will not deter Sinn Féin Poblachtach from our objectives nor will it kill the will of activists to be free,” they said.
“The Republican Movement and Sinn Féin Poblachtach strongly condemn the attacks on our members and their families; we send our support and solidarity.”
