(click on image to see larger version)

Mary for the Love and Glory of God, a collection of ecumenical essays by scholars representing various Christian denominations that were presented at the International Congress of the ESBVM in Pittsburgh, PA, USA, in 2008, has recently been published in the United States by ESBVM USA through AuthorHouse. The contributors to this book focus their attention on Mary, the Mother of Christ, the biblical disciple whose life brings us to the love and glory of God. Contributing authors are Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant, and include: Very Rev. John Behr, Dean of Vladimir’s Seminary in New York; Dr. Robert L. Fastiggi, Professor of Sacred Theology at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit; Sr. Nonna Verna Harrison, an Eastern Orthodox nun and specialist in Patristics and Orthodox Theology; Dr. Maura Hearden, a Roman Catholic scholar and professor at DeSales University in PA; Rev. Jennifer Mary Kimball, pastor of the First Congregational Church UCC in Walton, NY; Dr. Virginia M. Kimball, an Eastern Orthodox theologian and president of the ESBVM USA; Rev. Dr. Donald Charles Lacy, United Methodist Pastor and well-known ecumenical author and lecturer; Sr. Barbara Jean Mihalchick OSBM, a Byzantine Catholic sister and vocation director for the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil in Uniontown, PA; Sr. Mary Catherine Nolan, a Roman Catholic Dominican sister and Marian theologian; Rev. Dr. Edward J. Ondrako, OFM Conv, scholar in residence at the Franciscan International Study Center in Canterbury, Kent, England; and Rev. Dr. Paul Snowden Russell III, an Anglican priest, noted Syriac scholar, and Dean of the St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College, in Berkeley, CA.

In the United States, Mary for the Love and Glory of God is available for $25 through AuthorHouse at www.authorhouse.com, as well as other online booksellers.

The book is easily available to those living in the United Kingdom because the publisher, AuthorHouse, has a location in England. This means that there are no overseas shipping costs. Go to www.authorhouse.co.uk to order. On the website go to BOOKSHOP and search at the top of the screen by title, or author, or ISBN 978-1-4567-5667-3. The cost is £15.95.

Mary for the Love and Glory of God has received good reviews from readers in the U.S.  We would welcome reviews from ESBVM members in the UK on this website under COMMENTS! 

ESBVM USA held a meeting in October 2011 at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. The program included presentations by Dr. Christopher Carr, Roman Catholic Theologian who presented on “Virgin Mary, the Paradigm of Justice”; Most Rev. Leonard Faris, Antiochian priest from St. George Church in Lowell, MA, who spoke on “Mary in the Orthodox Tradition”; and a special presentation by Shobha Ramapriya, a Hindu educator who spoke on the role of women in Hinduism and Hindu understanding of the Virgin Mary.

An interesting meeting is planned for May, 2012, in Washigton, DC. A proposed panel discussion betwen representatives of various Christian traditions – either teaching in or associated with seminaries, or involved in ecumenical work – who will share: (1) their own tradition’s understanding of Mary, the mother of Christ; (2) whether Marian Theology is at all pertinent to seminary or catechetical formation in their tradition; (3) and how Marian devotion/ veneration / or consideration of the Communion of Saints is held in their tradition. The meeting will also include an open discussion by audience members.
More information about the May 2012 meeting will be posted soon on this website. Meetings are usually held the second Saturday in May and October, 9 am to 4 pm. Attendance at the meeting is free. A light lunch is served and donations are welcome.

The next meeting of the Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary – USA will be held on Saturday, October 8, 2011, at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Massachusetts (just outside of Boston). It will be held in Davis Hall, Davis classroom 101 (lower level) from 9:00am to 3:00pm. The schedule will include two speakers in the morning and two in the afternoon. The following speakers are confirmed:

* Rt. Rev. Leonard Faris, Pastor of St. George Antiochian Church in Lowell, Massachusetts, who will speak on Mary, the Theotokos, in the Antiochian tradition.

* Christopher M. Carr, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Theology, Caldwell College, Caldwell, New Jersey, who will present a paper entitled, “Mary: Paradigm of Justice” which posits that the authoritative Marian doctrines found in Scripture and Tradition illustrate all the defining characterististics of the cardinal virtue of justice.

* Shobha Shamu Ramapriya, a Hindu author of children’s books and a teacher of Shloka chanting for children at Shri Shirdi Sai Baba Temple in Billerica, Massachusetts, will make a presentation on Mary and Hinduism.

* An additional speaker will be confirmed shortly.

Light refreshments will be served in the morning and lunch will be provided.

To learn about Andover Newton Theological School, please go to http://www.ants.edu/ants-difference/about/

For directions to Andover Newton and a map of the campus, go to http://www.ants.edu/ants-difference/map/

Please note that Davis Hall is building #7 on the campus map.

If you plan to attend the meeting on Saturday and are going to be in the area on that Sunday, a trip into Boston for church services and sight-seeing may be planned. If interested please send an email to esbvmeditor@hotmail.com as soon as possible.

For further information, please contact ESBVM USA president, Dr. Virginia M. Kimball, at vkimball@assumption.edu

ESBVM learns with sadness of the death earlier today of Joe Farrelly K.C.S.G., longtime and dedicated member of the Society, its Council and Executive. May his soul rest in peace and may Our Lady pray for him.

The funeral is to be at St Elphege [Joe’s parish church], 120 Stafford Road, Wallington, Surrey SM6 9AY. Tel/Fax: 020 8647 5079 on September 22nd 2011 at 10.00am.

The next meeting of the ESBVM USA will take place on Saturday, October 8, 2011, at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, Massachusetts.  Details will follow. If you have any questions, please contact ESBVM USA president, Dr. Virginia M. Kimball at vkimball@assumption.edu or the secretary, Susan L. Fall, at esbvmeditor@hotmail.com.

(click on image to see larger version)

Mary for the Love and Glory of God, a collection of ecumenical essays by scholars representing various Christian denominations that were presented at the International Congress of the ESBVM in Pittsburgh, PA, USA, in 2008, has recently been published in the United States by ESBVM USA through AuthorHouse. The contributors to this book focus their attention on Mary, the Mother of Christ, the biblical disciple whose life brings us to the love and glory of God. Contributing authors are Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant, and include: Very Rev. John Behr, Dean of Vladimir’s Seminary in New York; Dr. Robert L. Fastiggi, Professor of Sacred Theology at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit; Sr. Nonna Verna Harrison, an Eastern Orthodox nun and specialist in Patristics and Orthodox Theology; Dr. Maura Hearden, a Roman Catholic scholar and professor at DeSales University in PA; Rev. Jennifer Mary Kimball, pastor of the First Congregational Church UCC in Walton, NY; Dr. Virginia M. Kimball, an Eastern Orthodox theologian and president of the ESBVM USA; Rev. Dr. Donald Charles Lacy, United Methodist Pastor and well-known ecumenical author and lecturer; Sr. Barbara Jean Mihalchick OSBM, a Byzantine Catholic sister and vocation director for the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil in Uniontown, PA; Sr. Mary Catherine Nolan, a Roman Catholic Dominican sister and Marian theologian; Rev. Dr. Edward J. Ondrako, OFM Conv, scholar in residence at the Franciscan International Study Center in Canterbury, Kent, England; and Rev. Dr. Paul Snowden Russell III, an Anglican priest, noted Syriac scholar, and Dean of the St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College, in Berkeley, CA.

In the United States, Mary for the Love and Glory of God is available for $25 through AuthorHouse at www.authorhouse.com, as well as other online booksellers.

The book is easily available to those living in the United Kingdom because the publisher, AuthorHouse, has a location in England. This means that there are no overseas shipping costs. Go to www.authorhouse.co.uk to order. On the website go to BOOKSHOP and search at the top of the screen by title, or author, or ISBN 978-1-4567-5667-3. The cost is £15.95.

Mary for the Love and Glory of God has received good reviews from readers in the U.S.  We would welcome reviews from ESBVM members in the UK on this website under COMMENTS! 

The ESBVM USA held its Spring meeting in Washington, DC, on Saturday, May 7, at the Holy Rosary Italian Catholic Church. The day began happily with good attendance and quite a few new faces to welcome! In the morning, there were two speakers. In the afternoon, almost the entire number of attendees met at the nearby National Gallery of Art to attend a privately-led tour of Marian art by ESBVM friend Gerry de la Cruz.

The first speaker of the day was Rev. Karen Curry, from the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Rev. Curry presented a full description of Baptist thought on the Virgin Mary, explaining that the focus of Baptist faith and interest is always founded in the “supreme authority” of the Bible. Apocryphal texts and the ancient traditions that surround the life of Mary are “interesting” she said, but not key to Baptist understanding concerning Mary’s importance. At the core of Mary’s importance is the Incarnation, she explained. Mary, a humble and “righteous” woman, responded to God’s call and bore the Son of God. The question period that followed was stimulating and prompted a good exchange with those in attendance. Rev. Curry brought members of her church to the meeting, and everyone later enjoyed the museum tour together.

The second speaker of the morning was Dr. Ramzy Labib, a Coptic Christian from Columbia, Maryland. The fascinating connection that emerged from his presentation was that Coptic Christians also focus their attention on the Incarnation when speaking of Mary. He began his presentation by explaining briefly the history of the Coptic Church and its important two early (patristic) “popes” – St. Athanasius and St. Cyril. Discussion ensued in the question period as to the meaning of the Coptic use of the word “pope.” In his presentation, Dr. Labib explained a series of hymn texts describing Mary’s role in the plan of God, which are central to Coptic Christian worship and demonstrate that they too see her central importance as the woman who bore Christ.

Both morning presentations will be published and distributed to all members of the ESBVM USA and to members in the ESBVM UK when requested. The ESBVM USA has decided that since the United States is such a large country, with members from across the nation, that the publishing of the presentations and a newsletter that is published four times a year will increase the visibility and knowledge of the work of the ESBVM.

In the afternoon tour in the National Gallery, members were able to see some early examples of art representing the Virgin Mary and learned how spiritual meaning was stressed over a presentation of people and places in the realistic and physical sense. Compared with late medieval and Renaissance paintings of the Virgin, members saw that the desire for realism gradually developed and flourished. For example, in the earliest painting, Mary holds Jesus, who appears to be a young man. As realism takes hold, Jesus’ appearance takes on the look of a more realistic infant/child. Tour director Gerry de la Cruz admitted that even though he had been giving tours in the gallery for some time, he had never realized how very many images and statues of the Virgin Mary the gallery presented. One painting could have been purchased for 44 cents, he said! In actuality it had served as the Christmas stamp for the U.S. Postal Service, as had other paintings in the gallery over the years.

Exciting news was announced at this meeting of the newly published ESBVM USA book, Mary for the Love and Glory of God, edited by Dr. Virginia M. Kimball and Dr. Maura Hearden. This book is a collection of the papers presented at the ESBVM International Congress in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, in 2008. It includes papers on a variety of topics written by scholars representing the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Eastern Rite Catholic, Methodist, United Church of Christ (UCC), and Anglican traditions. Copies may be ordered (both in the USA and in Europe) by going to www.authorhouse.com. The book is also available through online sales, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Membership in the ESBVM USA is $20 per year. This entitles a member to the four newsletters per year, ESBVM publications, and a discount on the new book, in addition to supporting the worthy work of the Society. One may subscribe as a member by filling out the membership form found on this website and mailing it with a payment to:

ESBVM USA

1116 Criton Street

Herndon, VA  20170

For more information about the ESBVM USA and its many activities, please email messages to: esbvmeditor@hotmail.com to the attention of Ms. Susan L. Fall, Membership Secretary and Newsletter Editor.

SUNDAY MAY 8TH 2011, 3.30PM

The Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden invites us to its May Procession with the statue of the Black Madonna through the streets of London NW10, praying the Rosary for peace in our world and our city.

On return to the Shrine, the homily will be preached by Fr Terry Davis (San Francisco) and Solemn Benediction will be given.

The Marian Shrine of London
The National Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden
1 Nicoll Road
Harlesden, London NW10 9AX

The nearest rail / tube station is Willesden Junction, but weekend rail and tube services in London are presently heavily disrupted in what feels like an increasingly forlorn effort to upgrade the network in time for the Olympics! Buses to the Shrine include 18, 187, 206, 220, 224, 260, 266 & PR1 – ask for the ‘Jubilee Clock’ stop. Check with the Transport for London web site before traveling.

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

The Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary – USA will hold its next meeting on Saturday, May 7, 2011.

Holy Rosary Italian Catholic Church,  595 Third Street NW, Washington, DC 20001-2703

The Ecumenical Society of the Blessed Virgin Mary (ESBVM), an international society, exists to advance the study of Mary, the Mother of Christ, in Christian biblical and spiritual perspectives, and in the light of such study to promote ecumenical interchange and prayer. Its aim is to show that, in Mary, Christians of many traditions may find a focus in their search for unity.

The meeting will begin at 9:00am, with presentations and discussion in the morning, followed by lunch and a privately-led guided tour of Marian art at the National Gallery of Art at 1:00pm (until 2:30pm).

Speakers will include Dr. Ramzy Labib, a Coptic Christian, who will speak on “St. Mary’s Importance in Coptic Orthodox Theology.” The Rev. Karen Curry will speak on “Baptist Views on Mary.”

For details, please contact ESBVM USA at vkimball@assumption.edu or FRomance@verizon.net.