Magnificat - Mary's House in Ephesus, Turkey

The ferocious wildfires in Maui have destroyed most of Lahaina, but miraculously, the Maria Lanakila Church remains standing. This event reminds me of how Mary's House was spared during a 2006 fire  in Ephesus that wiped out 1,200 hectares of forest but stopped just meters away from Mary's House. 

I'm sharing my writeup as a testament of Mary's greatness. This is part of MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES, a book I edited.  

2024 Update: A Catholic religious book that I collected and edited has a new edition - MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES gathers 24 people's accounts of Marian sites wherein they found comfort, solace, and sometimes miracles. The pilgrim sites include familiar shrines in Lourdes, Vailankanni, Guadalupe, Fatima, Ephesus, as well as lesser known ones including several in the Philippines (Antipolo, Manaoag, Odlot, Caysasya and more).  It is available from Amazon.

Mother Mary, pray for us!

FINDING PEACE IN MARY’S HOUSE

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

 

            IN 2006, my husband and I were on a cruise to the Baltic. We had a one-day stop in the port of Kusadasi, Turkey and we took a day tour to Ephesus, where we saw the ruins of this great Roman city. We also visited the Basilica of St. John, where the traditional tomb of St. John’s was located under the central dome. Although now in ruins, the Basilica made me understand that this site was where John the Beloved and Mother Mary had settled, after Christ’s Crucifixion. I recalled how Christ had entrusted Mary to John, and John to Mary, with His words: “Behold your mother. Woman behold your son.”

Magnificat - Lahaina's Maria Lanakila Catholic Church Survived Maui Fires

 

Maria Lanakila Catholic Church in Lahaina remains standing following horrific wildfires. Some are calling its saving an "act of God."  from New York Post  https://nypost.com/2023/08/12/historic-lahaina-church-stands-miraculously-untouched-by-maui-wildfires/

I am happy to share the news that Lahaina's Maria Lanakila Catholic Church, Maui, Hawaii seems to have survived the recent wildfires.  

 

Maria Lanakila is a Marian Site featured in the book I edited, MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES which has an imprimatur by then Archibishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Tagle.  I am sharing the article by Millicent Dypiangco about Maria Lanakila, indeed a place where prayers are heard and answered.  

 2024 Update: A Catholic religious book that I collected and edited has a new edition - MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES gathers 24 people's accounts of Marian sites wherein they found comfort, solace, and sometimes miracles. The pilgrim sites include familiar shrines in Lourdes, Vailankanni, Guadalupe, Fatima, Ephesus, as well as lesser known ones including several in the Philippines (Antipolo, Manaoag, Odlot, Caysasya and more).  It is available from Amazon.

*** 

AT MARIA LANAKILA, OUR PRAYERS WERE HEARD AND ANSWERED

Millicent Dypiangco 

THE IMPACT of my visit to the Marian site of Maria Lanakila did not occur in one instance. There were no apparitions of the Virgin that appeared to me, nor were there dramatic changes within me at any given moment during our visit. Rather, I would call the influence of this site as prompting a perpetual transformation that continues to exert its power over me to this day.

My first visit to Maria Lanakila was in January 2001. It was actually my very first visit to Hawai’i, to the island of Maui, taken on a family trip with my husband and his parents and youngest brother. It would be the first of many future family trips taken with the Dypiangco clan. I say “clan” because we have now grown to be a family of sixteen…who make it a point to go on a family vacation every other year…together…thanks to Mom and Dad. Prompted by the idea to finally visit what many call “paradise,” I for one was very excited to visit Hawai’i, and to finally go on the real honeymoon that Joe and I never went on after our wedding eleven years prior…complete with my husband’s parents at that!

As I do on my vacations, I try not to have any expectations of the place so that I may be pleasantly surprised at each turn. Pleasantly surprised was exactly what I was at each spot we visited. I experienced the peace and serenity of Hawai’i, particularly the island of Maui, which swept me right off my feet and made me want to linger, savor, and soak in every single experience.

From the very first greeting of Aloha, something stirred in me and I knew that this place was going to be special. I think that the first impression of this place for me was its simplicity, and how for me, felt as if I had finally gotten what I have been craving for so many years. The simplicity and purity of the island melted away all the stress from my body. I felt it from that first day, that first meal of kalua pork, as I sat gazing at the blue Pacific from the shores of Lahaina Village. I think that the only thing that broke that pattern was the row of hotels that lined Kanapali where we opted to stay. However, it only acted as our home base as we explored everything else that Maui had to offer.

Of course, we could not go on a vacation without spending time at mass on Sunday. And it was our practice to attend mass that led us to Maria Lanakila. Maria Lanakila stood in its simplicity in the residential area of Lahaina. Its architecture reflected the ease and purity of what surrounded it. It drew me in.

Upon entering this little church, I immediately felt at peace. My frame of mind had totally changed. My mind was quieted as I sat in the pew and reflected before, during, and after the mass. The hectic life that I lived in Los Angeles was forgotten and I gave thanks. Thanks for the opportunity to finally be here in “paradise,” thanks for the family who had accompanied me, thanks for my health, my home, my livelihood. I was grateful for many things and I made sure that I said those prayers of gratitude. Most especially, I prayed for the one thing that weighed very heavily in my heart. I prayed for a child. Despite all the blessings that I have received, I knew that there remained an emptiness in me. And that emptiness was to bear a child, to become a mother, and to love like I have not loved before.

Guest Blogger: Lynley Ocampo: Mama Mary Answered My Prayer

 

2024 Update: A Catholic religious book that I collected and edited has a new edition - MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES gathers 24 people's accounts of Marian sites wherein they found comfort, solace, and sometimes miracles. The pilgrim sites include familiar shrines in Lourdes, Vailankanni, Guadalupe, Fatima, Ephesus, as well as lesser known ones including several in the Philippines (Antipolo, Manaoag, Odlot, Caysasya and more).  It is available from Amazon.

The book was issued an Imprimatur by Archbishop Antonio G. Tagle D.D. of Manila and Nihil Obstat by Rev. Fr. Rufino C. Sescon, Jr. Chancellor. 

Bishop Leopold C. Jaucian, SVD. DD, Bishop of Bangued, Philippines praises the book as follows:

 Profoundly Marian and beautifully written by the contributors as these are personal experiences! To our fellow devotees and would-be-devotees of the Blessed Virgin Mary, you will surely fall in love with Magnificat: Mama Mary's Pilgrim Sites, and love Our Blessed Mother ever more."

This book is part of the Marian Collection at the  Marian Library of the University of Dayton, Ohio.

*** 

I was thrilled to hear back from a contributor, Atty. Lynley Ocampo, a lawyer from Cebu City, who emailed me to say her prayer has been answered with the help of Mary:

"I am happy to announce that my family and I have moved to our new home in ____. This was an answered prayer -- as I mentioned in MAGNIFICAT .. more than two years in the making. We moved in last 12 June, significantly as if to declare our independence from abusive and oppressive landlords/landowners. Bittersweet, as we’ve spent almost 80 years - beginning with my grandmother, mother, down to the more recent generation - in our old place."  

She included two photos of their beautiful pristine and airy home and said, "Our new home."

I am sharing the original article Lynley Ocampo wrote for the book, MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES, wherein she attests to religious changes in her after visiting our Lady of Odlot in the Philippines. Please read the excerpt with her writeup:

Mary Is With Us: Our Lady of Lourdes, France

During this difficult time of Coronavirus, I will be sharing excerpts from the book, Magnificat: Mama Mary’s Pilgrim Sites, a collection of 24 testimonies by people whose lives were changed by Mama Mary. I hope that these articles remind us that Mary is with us during this difficult time. May you find solace in these personal testimonials. ~ Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, editor of Magnificat.

2024 Update: A Catholic religious book that I collected and edited has a new edition - MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES gathers 24 people's accounts of Marian sites wherein they found comfort, solace, and sometimes miracles. The pilgrim sites include familiar shrines in Lourdes, Vailankanni, Guadalupe, Fatima, Ephesus, as well as lesser known ones including several in the Philippines (Antipolo, Manaoag, Odlot, Caysasya and more).  It is available from Amazon.

~~~

Our Lady of Lourdes

FRANCE – The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

In 1858 the Virgin Mary appeared to sickly 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous at a wooded grotto near the Gave River. In 1872 the neo-Golthic Basilica of the Immaculate Conception was built above the grotto, which itself is a lovely shrine. Since then, many more places of worship were built, including the Rosary Basilica and the underground Basilica of St. Pius X. Not to be missed: the sanctuary's nightly candlelight procession led by a statute of the Virgin Mary carried by white-robed priests. Holy spring water said to have healing effects flow from rows of spigots near the shrine and pilgrims come to bathe in its waters.

~

THE GIRL IN WHITE

Brian Ascalon Roley

The Little Boy

WHEN IT became clear that my little boy could not walk unassisted, my mother began to suggest that we bring him to Lourdes for a cure.

“I don’t know,” my wife said, when I related to her the idea. “Europe’s hilly and the streets and buildings are old. It isn’t so easy to travel with a disabled child.”

“My mother and father would help. I’d carry him.”

“And you believe in that stuff?”

Mary Is With Us: The Maryam Monastery of Lake Tana, Amhara , Ethiopia

During this difficult time of Coronavirus, I will be sharing excerpts from the book, Magnificat: Mama Mary’s Pilgrim Sites, a collection of 24 testimonies by people whose lives were changed by Mama Mary. I hope that these articles remind us that Mary is with us during this difficult time. May you find solace in these personal testimonials. ~ Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, editor of Magnificat.

2024 Update: A Catholic religious book that I collected and edited has a new edition - MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES gathers 24 people's accounts of Marian sites wherein they found comfort, solace, and sometimes miracles. The pilgrim sites include familiar shrines in Lourdes, Vailankanni, Guadalupe, Fatima, Ephesus, as well as lesser known ones including several in the Philippines (Antipolo, Manaoag, Odlot, Caysasya and more).  It is available from Amazon.

 

 ~~~

ETHIOPIA – The Maryam Monastery of Lake Tana, Amhara

The following article presents an extant and almost unheard of story of Joseph, Mary, and the Child Jesus, except in the African Christian country of Ethiopia. The Holy Family returned to Nazareth but it took them awhile to travel back. They stayed in the premises of Lake Tana, Tigray province of Ethiopia, where a body of apocryphal gospel stories document the miracles associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary raising Jesus from infancy to early childhood. Ancient trade routes show Tigray, Ethiopia as the natural crossing point for traders on their way to the land of Israel by way of the narrow straits of Aden and then following the south-north trade routes to Jordan and thence to Galilee. The effect of participating on this one-of-a-lifetime pilgrimage is a real revelation!
~

THE MARYAM MONASTERY: LAKE TANA, AMHARA, ETHIOPIA

Penélope V. Flores

Introduction

THE BIBLE doesn’t tell me anything. Why do we have such a lacunae of materials concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus? Why do we get only a Bible picture of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph on the Flight to Egypt? And after that, the next Bible incidence we hear is an almost adult 13-year-old Jesus in the Jerusalem Temple discussing theology among the learned priests. What happened during the infancy years up to his being a teen? The big black hole seems to have swallowed Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus in his infancy and childhood days.

Mary Is With Us: Our Lady of St. Maryam Dearit, Keren, Eritrea

During this difficult time of Coronavirus, I will be sharing excerpts from the book, Magnificat: Mama Mary’s Pilgrim Sites, a collection of 24 testimonies by people whose lives were changed by Mama Mary.  I hope that these articles remind us that Mary is with us during this difficult time. May you find solace in these personal testimonials.  ~ Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, editor of Magnificat.

2024 Update: A Catholic religious book that I collected and edited has a new edition - MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES gathers 24 people's accounts of Marian sites wherein they found comfort, solace, and sometimes miracles. The pilgrim sites include familiar shrines in Lourdes, Vailankanni, Guadalupe, Fatima, Ephesus, as well as lesser known ones including several in the Philippines (Antipolo, Manaoag, Odlot, Caysasya and more).  It is available from Amazon.

 

 ~~~

St. Maryam Dearit

ERITREA – Shrine of St. Maryam Dearit, Keren

Eritrea’s Christian population is composed mainly of Orthodox and Catholics. Italian influence is evident in the churches of the latter, especially at the Asmara Cathedral where a replica of a miraculous painting of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii continues to attract visitors.

Mother Mary is deeply revered here and it is common practice to add “Mariam” to Eritrean surnames. An example is Gebremariam, which means “servant of the Virgin Mary.”

Christians and Muslims often make pilgrimages to the city of Keren, where a miraculous bronze statue of our Lady is enshrined inside the trunk of a huge Baobab tree.
~

WHEN THE BLACK AND RED SEAS MEET

Aimee Gaboya Ortega-Lucero

TRAVEL became an opportunity when I worked for the United Nations and I did just that -- reaching no less than the “ends of the earth.” This prerequisite, among others, motivated me to join peacekeeping missions when my desk job at its New York Headquarters, as well as my personal life, became stale and confining.

Mama Mary Is With Us: Our Lady of Medjugorje

During this difficult time of Coronavirus, I will be sharing excerpts from the book, Magnificat: Mama Mary's Pilgr4m Sites, a collection of 24 testimonies by people whose lives were changed by Mama Mary.  I hope that these articles remind us that Mary is with us during this difficult time. May you find solace in these personal testimonials.  ~ Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, editor of Magnificat.

2024 Update: A Catholic religious book that I collected and edited has a new edition - MAGNIFICAT: MAMA MARY'S PILGRIM SITES gathers 24 people's accounts of Marian sites wherein they found comfort, solace, and sometimes miracles. The pilgrim sites include familiar shrines in Lourdes, Vailankanni, Guadalupe, Fatima, Ephesus, as well as lesser known ones including several in the Philippines (Antipolo, Manaoag, Odlot, Caysasya and more).  It is available from Amazon.

 

 ~~~


Our Lady of Medjugorje

BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA – Medjugorje

Medjugorje is a town located in western Bosnia and Herzegovina, close to the border of Croatia. "Our Lady of Medjugorje" is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary who pilgrims believe has been appearing to Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic, Ivan Dragicevic, Mirjana Dragicevic-Soldo, Ivanka Ivankovic-Elez, Jakov Colo, and Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti since June 24, 1981. In March 2010, the Holy See announced that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was forming an investigative commission, composed of bishops, theologians, and other experts, under the leadership of Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's former Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome. Medjugorje has become one of the most popular Marian pilgrimage sites in the world and has turned into Europe's third most important religious place, where more than 1 million people visit each year.

A MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE WITH OUR LADY

Linda Yamamoto

I HAVE been to several Marian pilgrimages such as Fatima in Portugal, Lourdes in France, and Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina. All of them were life-changing experiences and were very significant in my spiritual journey to a closer relationship with Jesus and Mary.

Aloy Polintan Reviews Magnificat: Mama Mary's Pilgrim Sites (edited by Cecilia Brainard)

Book Review by Aloy Polintan

Book: Magnificat: Mama Mary's Pilgrim Sites

Collected and Edited by Cecila Manguerra Brainard

Anvil, 2012, softcover, 168 pages, ISBN 9789712727115
Available in Amazon Kindle

This book collects 24 Marian devotees’ accounts of their experiences in Marian pilgrim sites. The sites are found in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, India, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United States, and there are eight Pilgrim sites in the Philippines. The book includes short write-ups of other international pilgrim sites and some Catholic Prayers. The book has an Imprimatur issued by Archbishop Tagle of Manila.

Flash Book Review No. 95 by Aloy Polintan (twitter: @PolintanAloy)
"And whatever form Mother Mary chooses to make herself known to me, be it as visible as an apparition or a subtle whisper, I knew I would receive her presence with wonder and gratitude."

This collection of personal essays on encounters with Mama Mary in Marian pilgrim sites around the world, culled and curated by critically acclaimed writer and editor Cecilia Brainard, brings us into a journey of bewilderment and adoration, having us amazed at how people of different ages, professions and cultures responded to the invitation to ask for Mary's intercession in their lives' aspirations and circumstances, as well as drawing us back and forth to recognizing how miracles attributed to Her can change our perspectives, and thus deepen our faith.

We are brought to various sites with one driving force: to make Mary known to us. And this book is special because Filipino writers based in the Philippines and those assigned to jobs abroad or those who chose to live permanently overseas come together for a purpose: to find a home, more so in these most unhomely of times.

"I have come to appreciate the resilience of immigrants who have come before me, undaunted by the challenges of a homeland, armed with little more than faith, yet secure in the knowledge that God would become manifest wherever their journeys end."

Each essay is laid out with nothing but the assurance that the Holy Spirit is at work in the writer's life and his or her writings. We get a glimpse of the contributors' private lives, particularly the periods in their earthly journeys when journeying of the spirit was much needed and have always been at hand. After the trial, there was triumph. After sharpenings, there was transformation. After sicknesses and deaths, there was hope energizing those left and bereft. And all of these testaments were rendered with ardor, research, gracefulness and conviction.

"The psychological change in me is not only spiritual, but also richly emotional, creative and transformative."

These days when hope for healing is bordering on paranoia and restlessness, may this book, published by Anvil in 2012, serve not just a pinch, but a grip to a path "worthy of belief".

Bio: Aloy Polintan is the Senior High School Department Coordinator at the Divina Pastora College in Gapan, Nueva Ecija, Philippines

More informaton about Magnificat: Mama Mary's Pilgrim Sites:

Contributors are: Lucy Adao McGinley, Cecilia Manguerra Brainard, Angelita Caluag Cruz, Maria Ciocon, Celeste, Ma. Ceres P. Doyo, Millicent Dypiangco, Ma. Milagros T. Dumdum, Penelope V. Flores, Almira Astudillo Gilles, Ma. Teresita Herrera-Tan, Fe Aida Lacsamana-Reyes, Jaime C. Laya, Guia Lim, Linda Nietes-Little, Ma. Teresa Z. Lopez, Aimee Gaboya Ortega Lucero, Lynley Salome R. Ocampo, Ma. Cristina Padilla-Sendin, Marsha C. Paras, Rev. Dr. Sebastian Periannan, Brian Ascalon Roley, Julia H. Wolski, and Linda Yamamoto.

Praise for Magnificat
“This is another outstanding book by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard. Profoundly Marian and beautifully written by the contributors as these are their personal experiences! To our fellow devotees and would-be devotees of the Blessed Virgin Mary, you will surely fall in love with Magnificat: Mama Mary’s Pilgrim Sites and love Our Blessed Mother even more.” (Bishop Leopoldo C. Jaucian, SVD, DD, Bishop of Bangued, Philippines)

“The devotion to Mama Mary is strong in the hearts of every Filipino.” (Father James B. Reuter, SJ)

“The Magnificat has always been a testament to God’s paradoxical dealings with his people. This book assembles a tableau of witnesses to how a fleeting visit with Mary can turn into a life-changing introduction to her Son. Through their stories the author offers their readers the distinct possibility of setting the stage for a personal, if vicarious, epiphany.” (Father Dionisio M. Miranda, SVD, President, University of San Carlos in Cebu)

“Running as a leitmotif in all the essays in this book is the writers’ palpable love for Mama Mary. Each writer has undergone a change in his or her life or outlook following a visit to a Marian site. Some may have experienced a “miracle,” or felt consoled and renewed; others a deepening of spirituality, or an epiphany, an insight into the divine. Although we know that Jesus is the only Way to the Father, it is our belief in the power of Mary’s intercession to her Son, borne out of the Bible’s Cana story, that makes us all turn to Her, whom Her divine Son will never refuse. Kudos to Cecilia Manguerra Brainard for putting together an engaging collection of stories that magnify the humble handmaid of the Lord.” (Erlinda E. Panlilio, Writer and Editor)



Tags: book review, Marian, Mama Mary, Catholic, religion, Christianity, anthology

Call for Submissions - Religious book on Marian Sites

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

This is a call for submissions of creative nonfiction for an anthology tentatively titled, MAMA MARY’S PILGRIM SITES. The book will be edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard and published in the Philippines by Anvil. Contributors will receive copies of the book as compensation for the use of their work.

The manuscript should be approximately 1,300-2,000 words. This should be emailed to palhbooks@gmail.com.

The book will collect true accounts of pilgrims’ visits to Marian sites. The anthology will be something like a “tour guide” to other devotees of Mary who are interested in visiting Marian sites.

The editor is looking for well-written religious essays about people’s experiences when they visited Marian sites, in particular sites where Mary has appeared or where miracles have occurred because of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some of the questions that should be addressed are: Why did the person make the visit? Where is the Marian site located? What is the history of the site? What did the person do while at the Marian site? What did the person experience while there or after the visit? Did the person experience any emotional or physical healing? Did the person experience any psychological change as a result of the pilgrimage?

Some Marian sites follow: Fatima, Lourdes, Medjugorje, Knock, Pontmain, Pellevoisin, Giertzwald, Beauraing, Banneux, Paris, Rome, La Sallete, Guadalupe, Syracuse, Vellankani (India), Montserrat, La Vang (Vietnam), Zaragoza, Ephesus, Loreto, Czestochowa, Philippine-sites, and many more.

Some writers have promised to write about: Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima, Velankanni, Ephesus, Ethiopia, Our Lady of Pillar, Medjugorje, Greenbay - the book will try not to duplicate Marian Sites.

The publisher is Philippine-based; contributors with a Filipino connection are preferred.

Deadline for submission is October 15, 2011. Early submissions are welcome. Please send your manuscript and bio (approx. 150 words) in people-friendly narrative form. Be sure and include your contact information.

*
ABOUT THE EDITOR: Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is the award-winning author/editor of over a dozen books. (http://www.ceciliabrainard.com)