Devotion to the saints, those holy men and women who have gone before us on earth and are now with God in heaven, has been a vital part of Catholic culture and practice from the earliest centuries of the Church. In particular, we venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary. We honor her as the mother of God, the mother of the Church and our mother, as well.

Depictions of the Blessed Virgin as an aid to prayer have appeared on frescos in the catacombs of Rome, on icons and on statues and paintings in churches throughout the world and over the centuries. Many of our most beautiful Catholic hymns are about Mary, reflecting the affection Christian people have always had for her. She is not a remote figure, but close to us as our model of faith, intercessor and Blessed Mother. In all of these roles, she leads us to Christ.

Mary is often called the first and most perfect disciple of Jesus. She believed in the message of an angel even though she did not know how it could be. In response to her kinswoman Elizabeth’s cry of “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” at the Visitation, she responds with the beautiful prayer, the Magnificat: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my savior” (Lk. 1:46-47). Mary is a model of faith, and we draw on her example for courage and strength as she accompanies us during life’s challenging times and big transitions.

In the Gospel according to John, we see Mary as intercessor when she subtly advocates for the bridal party at the wedding feast of Cana. She says just two things: “They have no wine” (Jn. 2:3) and “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn. 2:5). Despite protesting that His hour has not yet come, Jesus turns water into wine at the behest of His mother. Following the ancient practices of the Church, Catholics often ask Mary to go toGod on our behalf. That is what we do when we say such treasured Marian prayers as the “Hail Mary,” the “Hail! Holy Queen” and the “Memorare.”

Mary is the ideal intermediary because she is close to the Lord and close to us, a mother to both. She became the mother of God Incarnate when she told the angel Gabriel at the Annunciation, “May it be done unto me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38). She became the mother of the Church and its members when Jesus said to her at the foot of the cross, “Woman, behold your son” and to the beloved disciple, “Behold, your mother” (Jn. 19:26-27). Later, she was with the other disciples in the Upper Room (Acts 1:13) as a part of the early Church community in Jerusalem.

There are many ways in which the faithful can devote themselves to Mary, including the rosary, the Angelus, Mary gardens, Marian pilgrimages and May crownings. And since her assumption into heaven body and soul, the Church has found many apparitions of Mary worthy of belief, generating special devotions and feast days to Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Guadalupe and others.

In my own life and in my ministry as priest and bishop, I have always felt close to the Blessed Virgin and valued Marian devotions as a means to follow her to Christ. Last June 19, on the bicentennial of the founding of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, I was pleased to re-consecrate our local Church to Jesus through Mary culminating a 33-day pilgrimage during which a blessed statue of Our Lady of Fatima was carried to 36 parishes across the archdiocese. This March 25, I again called upon Mary, asking her to watch over our archdiocese. We can be sure of Mary’s maternal care as we strive to be faithful disciples and joyful witnesses.

Holy Mary, Mother of God and our mother, pray for us!

April 2, 2022

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today the Holy See announced that Pope Francis has appointed Father Earl K. Fernandes of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati the thirteenth bishop of the Diocese of Columbus. Father Fernandes will be consecrated and installed on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. We will miss his incredible intellect, unflagging energy, and concern for all people, but know that these traits will serve him well as he expands his ministry to shepherd the faithful people of Columbus.

Bishop-elect Fernandes has ministered to the people of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in many ways since his ordination to the priesthood on May 18, 2002. Over the past 20 years, he has served as dean, pastor, parochial vicar, seminary academic dean and associate professor, high school teacher, retreat leader, and regular contributor to The Catholic Telegraph and other publications. Father Fernandes also served on the staff of the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. for three and a half years. Through all his assignments, Father Fernandes has been an ever-joyful witness to the goodness, beauty and truth of the Catholic faith.

Please join me in congratulating Bishop-elect Fernandes on this joyous news. Let us keep our beloved brother in prayer as he starts this new ministry.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr

Archbishop of Cincinnati

A PDF of this letter is available here.

Our traditions have a way of bringing us together, uniting people from different regions, backgrounds and ways of life behind a common passion – the love of our shared faith. Each year, we see an example of this as faithful Catholics from our archdiocese and surrounding dioceses gather to “pray the steps” at Holy Cross-Immaculata Church in Mt. Adams on Good Friday.

Events such as these can help us appreciate the profound, lasting unity rooted in our shared Catholic faith. Sacred Scripture teaches us of this unity; it is fostered through our participation in the Eucharist; and ultimately it is fulfilled in our shared redemption through Christ’s Resurrection.

Scripture often reminds us of how our faith unites us in Christ: “For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another” (Rom. 12:4-5).

God made each of us for some definite purpose. And although He granted us each a specific set of talents and asks us to discern our vocations accordingly, nothing we accomplish would be possible without sharing those gifts with one another. We each have a role to play in the Church, and the Church, as God’s Kingdom on earth, accomplishes Her mission only to the degree that we each contribute our unique gifts and talents for the good of one another. We need one another; this is why God gives us the Church. No one of us can return to the God who created us on his or her own. We have to make that journey together.

At every Mass we renew our awareness of Christian unity and strengthen the bonds of charity and faith which unite us in our common mission. The Eucharist – Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity – is the source and summit of our existence as Christians (cf. Lumen Gentium, 11). Everything we do and all that we are comes from Christ and His love for us, and we enter into that mystery most profoundly through the Church’s liturgy.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with and through his Church” (CCC 1069). The Lord who has conquered sin and death lives gloriously with His Father in heaven, and He also lives and works through His Church. Together we are united to form the Body of Christ. And the heart of that Body is the Eucharist.

While the Eucharist remains the heart of the Body of Christ here on earth, the mystery of the Lord’s Resurrection unites the faithful in our redemption from sin and offers us a shared hope that we might participate in His Resurrection at the end of time.

Many things in this life foreshadow the joy of the perfect, lasting unity we will experience in heaven. Living in that joy, united together in our faith, is our great hope as Christians. This Easter, may we unite as witnesses to the risen Christ and share with each other the hope of eternal unity with God and, in Him, with one another.