Chart-Topping Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles

The Missouri-based contemplative nuns Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles were named Billboard magazine’s Classical Traditional Artist 2012 and 2013. It’s the first order of nuns to ever win an award in the history of Billboard magazine. The Sisters were recognized for their two bestselling albums, ANGELS AND SAINTS AT EPHESUS, which spent 13 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical Traditional Music chart, and ADVENT AT EPHESUS, which spent six consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the same chart.

Advent at Ephesus

The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles bested a group of popular classical music artists to secure the award, including Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.

“How does a community of Benedictine Sisters who follow the rule of St. Benedict in the most monastic sense, never leaving their Priory in the rolling hills of the Midwest, accomplish this achievement of Billboard’s Classical Traditional Artist 2012 and 2013 for two years and counting?,” said Monica Fitzgibbons, cofounder of De Montfort Music. “Many music industry vets would like to know. It is truly their heavenly purity and FIAT that will provide the clues. We are so grateful that this music is being embraced by many hearts on a wide scaled basis. Congratulations, Benedictines of Mary, and congratulations, world!”

Founded in 1995, the Benedictines of Mary offer their lives in prayer and sacrifice for priests. The work of their hands is devoted primarily to the making of priestly vestments. They also take care of gardens, an orchard and a small farm. The community follows the monastic horarium as laid out in the rule of St. Benedict. They partake of the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and also chant the Divine Office in Latin according to the 1962 Breviarium Monasticum.

USCCB: A Tradition of Advent and Christmas Resources

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) continues the tradition of providing online resources for the Advent and Christmas seasons with daily suggestions for prayer, reflection and action beginning on the first Sunday of Advent, December 1. The content is presented in a clickable calendar format, with each date opening a page of suggestions and links.

The calendars feature audioretreats in English and Spanish for the four Sundays of Advent and the three Sundays of the Christmas season. The retreats were produced by Franciscan Media and made possible by the bishops' Catholic Communication Campaign. The half-hour audio retreats feature music, a Scripture reflection and Q&A from a different bishop each week.

The bishops hosting the retreats are Auxiliary Bishop Alberto Rojas of Chicago, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas, Bishop David J. Walkowiak of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, and Bishop David J. Malloy of Rockford, Illinois. Bishops Rojas, Taylor and Malloy recorded their contributions in both English and Spanish for the first, second and fourth Sundays of Advent, respectively. Bishop Walkowiak is featured in the English retreat for the third Sunday and Archbishop Broglio is the guest for the Spanish retreat for that week.

There are threefeast day Sundays in the brief Christmas season. The retreats for the feast of the Holy Family (December 29) feature Bishop John M. Quinn of Winona, Minnesota (English) and Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros of Brooklyn, New York (Spanish). Auxiliary Bishop Christopher J. Coyne of Indianapolis is the guest for the English retreat on Epiphany (January 5) and Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio L. Elizondo of Seattle is featured in the Spanish retreat for Epiphany. For the final Sunday of Christmas, the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, is featured in the English program and Archbishop Thomas G.Wenski of Miami, the Spanish.

The calendar is interspersed with excerpts from Pope Francis' audiences and homilies from the first year of his papacy and observations on Catholic doctrine and practices from the ForYour Marriage website's "Catholic101" series. Other resources highlighted on the calendars include a Festivalof Lesson and Carols podcast, alist of recommended holiday-themed movies from USCCB, and prayers and blessings from the USCCB publication Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers.
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Francis: A Pope for Our Time (Humanix Books)

As the first Advent season begins and former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio prepares for his first Christmas Midnight Mass, take an incisive look at Pope Francis’s rise through the ecclesiastical ranks all the way to Saint Peter’s Throne. “Francis: A Pope for Our Time, The Definitive Biography,” authored by two highly-esteemed Argentine journalists, provides an in-depth analysis of Pope Francis’ youth, influences, doctrine, and potential to inspire a renewal of faith, not only within the Catholic Church, but the world-over.

From Bergoglio’s coming of age in the Peronist era and his role in Argentina’s darkest period, the Dirty War, to his volatile relationship with the Kirchners, and his views on everything from same-sex marriage and abortion to women’s issues and the crisis of world poverty, this book addresses the all of the key issues facing the new leader of the largest religious organization in the world.
“Francis: A Pope for Our Time” provides a concise look at the history and politics that have consumed Latin America, Argentina, and the Church, breaking the cult of secrecy that has long plagued the region as well as the institution. As Pope Francis has ignited a profound sense of pride in his compatriots, the authors describe the tremendous influence that Latin America stands to bring to the world stage.

This treasury of prayers, now released on Kindle, will help you go to the Lord with courage and pray to receive God's grace.

Known as the “Black Pope” (for his Jesuit garb), the “Pope of the Poor,” and the “Third World Pope,” such monikers exemplify Pope Francis’ commitment to society’s most underprivileged and disenfranchised. In “Francis: A Pope for Our Time,” the authors bring clarity to the man and his work: his dedication to interreligious dialogue, accessibility to his community, and rejection of lavish excess in favor of simplicity that promises to bring real-world leadership to a modern Church desperate to emerge from old-world precepts.

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What is Advent? Glad You Asked.

Advent (Lat. ad-venio, to come to), according to present usage, is a period beginning with the Sunday nearest to the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle (30 November) and embracing four Sundays. The first Sunday may be as early as 27 November, and then Advent has twenty-eight days, or as late as 3 December, giving the season only twenty-one days. With Advent the ecclesiastical year begins in the Western churches.

During this time the faithful are admonished to prepare themselves worthily to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's coming into the world as the incarnate God of love, thus to make their souls fitting abodes for the Redeemer coming in Holy Communion and through grace, and thereby to make themselves ready for His final coming as judge, at death and at the end of the world.

from The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1913

24 Hours That Changed the World : An Advent Study for Youth