J*M*J

The Holy Family in the Nativity scene at St. Michael's Cathedral.

Yours truly often writes J*M*J in honor of the Holy Family at the top of personal letters and (in case you think you’ve seen it all) I happen to know that these two crazy kids have placed their marriage under the patronage of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. It might also interest you to note that the Eucharistic Adoration available on weekdays at St. Michael's Cathedral played a role in their love-story.  

Almost By the Sheep

Shepherds and sheep attend the Nativity scene in St. Michael's Cathedral.

The more we are proud that the Bethlehem story is plain enough to be understood by the shepherds, and almost by the sheep, the more do we let ourselves go, in dark and gorgeous imaginative frescoes or pageants about the mystery and majesty of the Three Magian Kings. 

                  – GK Chesterton

20+C+M+B+11

The Magi adore Our Little Lord in the Nativity scene at a side altar in St. Michael's Cathedral.

If the Magi had come in search of an earthly King, they would have been disconcerted at finding that they had taken the trouble to come such a long way for nothing. Consequently they would have neither adored nor offered gifts. But since they sought a heavenly King, though they found in Him no signs of royal pre-eminence, yet, content with the testimony of the star alone, they adored: for they saw a man, and they acknowledged a God. 

              - St. John Chrysostom

Behold Thy Mother

Statue for the Marian Year outside St. Michael's Cathedral.

The Lord wills to let his face shine upon us through the face of the Mother of God. We serve a Mother who seems to grow more beautiful as new generations rise up and call her blessed.

                    - G.K. Chesterton

For a Lost Cause

The much-loved statue of St. Jude in St. Michael's Cathedral.

O most holy apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honoureth and invoketh thee universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, and of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, who am so miserable. Make use, I implore thee, of that particular privilege accorded to thee, to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of. Come to mine assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolation and succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly (here make your request) and that I may praise God with thee and all the elect throughout eternity. I promise thee, O blessed Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favour, to always honour thee as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to thee. Amen.

Feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

A statue of Our Lord and His Divine Heart in St. John's Chapel at St. Michael's Cathedral.

The Divine Heart is an ocean full of all good things, wherein poor souls can cast all their needs; it is an ocean full of joy to drown all our sadness, an ocean of humility to drown our folly, an ocean of mercy to those in distress, an ocean of love in which to submerge our poverty.

                    - St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

An Endorsement

Statue of St. Joseph and infant Jesus in St. John's Chapel at St. Michael's Cathedral.

I do not remember that I ever asked St. Joseph at any time for anything which he did not obtain for me.  – St. Teresa of Avila

St. Paul on the Love of God

Statue of St. Paul in St. Michael's Cathedral.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.   

                           – Romans 8:38-9

An Urgent Reminder

Statue of Mary and Jesus in a niche at the Lady altar in St. Michael's Cathedral.

It’s your mother’s birthday.

Nativitas gloriosæ Virginis Mariæ ex semine Abrahæ, ortæ de tribu Juda, clara ex stirpe David. Nativitas est hodie sanctæ Mariæ Virginis, cujus vita inclyta cunctas illustrat ecclesias.

St. John

A statue of St. John in the altar to the Sacred Heart at St. Michael's Cathedral.

The beloved disciple. He took part in the Last Supper. Standing at the foot of the cross, he was made guardian of Our Lady by Jesus himself. Upon hearing of the Resurrection, he was the first to reach the tomb. When he met the risen Lord at the lake of Tiberias, John was the first to recognize Him.

St. Edwin of Northumbria

The likeness of St. Edwin of Northumbria on the exterior of St. Michael's Cathedral.

St. King Edwin of Northumbria was converted by St. Paulinus whose likeness is on the other side of the main doors of St. Michael’s Cathedral. After his baptism the king entertained Paulinus for five weeks at the royal villa where Paulinus was occupied from morning to night instructing and baptizing the crowds that flocked to him. 

At Her Feet

This large statue of Our Lady with her hands folded and head bowed in prayer stands in the sacristy of St. Michael's Cathedral. Its placement means that Our Blessed Mother must be the very last thing Father sees before exiting the sacristy to say Holy Mass.

Ah! Queen most worthy of love, I desire to love you in heaven.  There, at your feet, I shall better know how worthy you are of love, how much you have done to save me; and thus I shall love you with greater love, and love you eternally, without fear of ever ceasing to love you.  O Mary, I hope most certainly to be saved by your means.  Pray to Jesus for me.   

                            – St. Alphonsus Liguori

Good St. Anne

A statue of St. Anne looking lovingly at her child Mary in St. Michael's Cathedral.

St. Anne the mother of Our Lady, the grandmother of Our Lord.

While leading a devout and holy life in your human nature, you gave birth to a daughter nobler than the angels, whose queen she now is.

        - Saint John Damascene to St. Anne

St. Paulinus on the Brevity of This Life

St. Paulinus, Archbishop of York, on the pillar beside the main doors of St. Michael's Cathedral.

This is how the present life of man on Earth...appears to me... You are sitting feasting...in winter time. The fire is burning on the hearth in the middle of the hall and all inside is warm, while outside the wintry storms of rain and snow are raging - and a sparrow flies swiftly through the hall. It enters in at one door and quickly flies out through the other. For the few moments it is inside, the storm and wintry tempest cannot touch it, but after the briefest moment of calm, it flits from your sight, out of the wintry storm and into it again. So this life of man appears but for a moment.   

            – St. Paulinus, Archbishop of York

St. Anthony's Psalter

A detail of the book which the statue of St. Anthony holds in St. Michael's Cathedral.

Ever wonder why he’s frequently pictured with a book and associated with the return of lost or stolen objects?  His prayerful intercession caused the return of a wayward novice (who had departed religious life as a thief, having stolen St. Anthony’s own Psalter!).  The novice and the book, which is preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna, miraculously came back to St. Anthony.

St. Anthony of Padua, pray for us who remember you on your feast day.

St. Thomas the Believer

Statue of St. Thomas (the Apostle, a.k.a. Doubting Thomas) at the Sacred Heart altar in St. Michael's Cathedral.

And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to you. Then he saith to Thomas: Put in thy finger hither, and see my hands; and bring hither thy hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.  

Thomas answered, and said to him: My Lord, and my God.

                                - John 20: 26-29

Behold Thy Mother (Jn. 19:27)

Statue of Mary in a high niche in the narthex of St. Michael's Cathedral.

With your substance you have fed that same Jesus who every day gives me life, your life, O Mary, that very life which He owes you.  Every drop of His blood you gave Him so that it should be mine.  With your virgin milk you fed Him so that He might die on the Cross and open the gates of heaven for me.  My beloved Mother, it is to you, then, that I owe the happiness which I enjoy in contemplating Him.  

    – Servant of God, Concepcion Cabrera de Armida

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony and the Child Jesus in the nave of St. Michael's Cathedral.

Devotions to St. Anthony: Tuesdays, 5:10 pm, before the exposed Blessed Sacrament. Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament follows, as does the 5:30 Mass.

The base of this statue used to house a relic of St. Anthony until…

Wouldn’t it be nice if they would bring his relics out for the faithful to venerate on his upcoming feast day, June 13^th?

St. Matthew

A statue of St. Matthew sits in a niche at the side altar to the Sacred Heart in St. Michael's Cathedral.

And when Jesus passed on from hence, he saw a man sitting in the custom house, named Matthew; and he saith to him: Follow me. And he rose up and followed him. And it came to pass as he was sitting at meat in the house, behold many publicans and sinners came, and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. And the Pharisees seeing it, said to his disciples: Why doth your master eat with publicans and sinners? But Jesus hearing it, said: They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill. Go then and learn what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I am not come to call the just, but sinners. 

                           – Gospel of Matthew 9:9-13

Mine by Mercy

Statue in honour of the Marian Year outside St. Michael's Cathedral.

Hail Mary, beloved Daughter of the Eternal Father. Hail Mary, admirable Mother of the Son. Hail Mary, faithful Spouse of the Holy Ghost. Hail Mary, my Mother, my loving Mistress, my powerful sovereign. Hail, my joy, my glory, my heart and my soul. Thou art all mine by mercy, and I am Thine by justice... 

                  - St. Louis Marie de Montfort