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RC DAILY MEDITATIONS

November 22, 2024

Legionary Parish in France Elevated to a Minor Basilica

Legionary Parish in France Elevated to a Minor Basilica

/ Legionaries of Christ, Regnum Christi News, Weekly Message Blog

The church of Notre-Dame de Boulogne, located in Boulogne-Billancourt in Hauts-de-Seine, France, will soon be elevated to the rank of minor basilica, following the decree signed in Rome by Pope Francis on June 29. The Elevation Mass will be celebrated on Sunday, January 12, 2025, at the beginning of the Jubilee Year for the Universal Church.

It will be presided over by Bishop Matthieu Rougé of Nanterre, in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio in France, Bishop Celestino Migliore. The parish priest, Father Roger Villegas, LC, becomes the rector of the basilica.

Last March, Bishop Rougé presented this proposal to the conference of French bishops, during their plenary assembly. After it was approved, a request was submitted to the competent Roman Dicastery.

Fr. Roger Villegas, LC, parish priest, Mgr. Yvon Aybram, episcopal vicar of the diocese of Nanterre in charge of diocesan sanctuaries, as well as representatives of the municipality of the city of Boulogne-Billancourt, all collaborated in this work.

“ The day after the decree of elevation was signed in Rome, we learned the good news ,” says Fr. Villegas, “that day we were celebrating the diaconate ordination of Fr. Jérôme Dejoie, a member of our community of the Legionaries of Christ [now serving at the formation center in Cheshire, CT]. It was a beautiful wink from the Lord who confirmed the primary vocation of our parish – a sanctuary and place of pilgrimage – and the mission of our religious community particularly as we are attached to the Petrine ministry.  ”

The first basilica of the diocese of Nanterre, Notre-Dame de Boulogne becomes the 176th church honored with this title in France. “It is a joy for the entire Church in Hauts-de-Seine” stated the diocese which has desired since 2020 that Notre-Dame de Boulogne regain its original vocation of being a diocesan sanctuary. The church is a very old Marian sanctuary. The first pilgrimages, dating back to 1304, were then as important as the road to Santiago de Compostela.

“This church is not just a place of worship. It is also a Marian sanctuary, a beacon where tenderness and faith are transmitted ” said Msgr Matthieu Rougé in 2019, on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the founding of Notre-Dame de Boulogne, “a fountain where residents could constantly recharge their batteries.”

During the episcopate of Msgr Gérard Daucourt, Bishop of Nanterre from 2002 to 2013, Notre-Dame de Boulogne had been promoted as one of five sanctuaries of the diocese of Nanterre with the aim of renewing the missionary momentum of the Church. Today, this sanctuary serves as a center of evangelization and radiates not only for faithful pilgrims, but also for the inhabitants of the local communes and neighborhoods. The goal is to put the parish back at the “center of the village” as ” a fountain where the inhabitants could constantly recharge their batteries,” according to the words of Saint John XXIII, who came as a pilgrim to Notre-Dame de Boulogne-sur-Seine when he was apostolic nuncio in Paris.

Originally published in French here Une nouvelle basilique en France | ZENIT – Français

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Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Ask a Priest

“Ask a Priest: What If My Girlfriend Wants Me to Cut Ties With My Brother?”

/ Ask a Priest
Q: My girlfriend doesn’t want me to attend my brother’s wedding. For context: My girlfriend and I have been dating for almost three years, and she has been one of the most loving and caring people I ever met. We practice the sacraments together. Even though we are young (she is in her late teens, I’m in my early 20s), we often envision ourselves getting married and forming a family someday. There has been one problematic topic, however, and that is my brother. My girlfriend doesn’t like his coarse language or inappropriate jokes. One time, at a family gathering, my girlfriend was teasing me about something, and I playfully shrugged off her insistence. At one point, my brother snapped and exclaimed, “He said no!” as he reached for and pulled her leg. She decided that was the last straw — she had enough of him. Later, she told me that after we are married, she wants me to cut contact with him except in times of emergencies. Now, my brother and I have always been extremely close growing up. He helped me a lot when I was little. Sure, he has his shortcomings, just as I have mine. To break off ties with him seems extreme. Yet, my girlfriend doesn’t want me to attend his wedding. I don’t want to hurt her, but I fear I’ll be haunted if I don’t attend the wedding. What should I do? – E.

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC

A: It’s understandable that your girlfriend is offended by some of your brother’s behavior.

The solution, in part, is that your brother needs to grow up and be more considerate of others.

Your girlfriend might need to mature a bit and be more reasonable, too. The insistence that you cut virtually all ties with your brother seems extreme and not very Christian.

We are all a work in progress. One of the ways we grow in our own faith is by patiently bearing with the faults of others and helping them. We do that through our example and prayers and, occasionally, a bit of fraternal correction.

It might be good to have a heart-to-heart talk with your girlfriend and let her know that you love her and your brother, and that you don’t want to exclude either from your life.

You might point out, too, that boycotting his wedding (I’m assuming it is a Church-approached event) isn’t a realistic option for you, for various reasons, including family solidarity.

In any case, marriages tend to involve a “package deal.” The spouses still have their families of origin, and these families remain a part of their lives.

This is something that you and your girlfriend will need to understand if the day comes when you two decide to marry. Count on my prayers.

 

“Ask a Priest: What If My Girlfriend Wants Me to Cut Ties With My Brother?” Read More »

Regnum Christi Spirituality Center Uncle Eddy

St Cecilia

/ Uncle Eddy

Dear Ophelia,

Your sadness is understandable, but unnecessary and self-indulgent.  Feeling inferior to the “aristocratic” type of student that seems to populate your college is a case of false humility.  OK, maybe that college does cater to America’s unofficial aristocracy, but what does it matter? You may have grown up in the slums, but you are the daughter of the King of kings!  You have not just earthly royal blood flowing through your veins, but heavenly royal blood: the divine life itself. And that’s the truth. And knowing that will help you act in accordance with what ought to be the true standards of nobility: honorable, Christian behavior, not fancy pedigrees and rich parents.  Today’s feast day can inspire you to leave behind your false inferiority complex and start again your efforts to live in accordance with your true identity. Cecilia was noble both by birth and by behavior, so she can help teach you also to be noble both by baptism and behavior.

She was of a noble Roman family, and she grew up Christian in a time when Christians were frequently and violently persecuted.  She was notably devout and vowed her virginity to Christ when she was still a teenager. Of course, her father had other plans for her and insisted on her marrying an up-and-coming nobleman by the name of Valerian.  She couldn’t do anything to avoid the wedding, but during the festivities, as the families were feasting and dancing, she stole away by herself and sang to her heavenly spouse in the silence of her heart (which is why she is the patroness of music).  That night, when she and Valerian withdrew to their nuptial quarters, she took her courage in her hands and told her husband that she was a Christian, and that she had a guardian angel who would protect her virginity, and that if he (Valerian) were to touch her in the way of marriage, the angel would be displeased and make him suffer, but if he respected her, the angel would love and protect him as well.  Valerian expressed his doubts and asked to see the angel. Cecilia promised that if he believed in the one true God and was baptized, the angel would appear to him. So he went to the bishop (Pope Urban, probably) to be baptized, and when he returned, sure enough, he saw the angel standing beside his wife. The angel crowned them both with wreaths of roses and lilies. Soon thereafter, Valerian’s brother, Tibertius underwent a similar sequence of events, and they were both called before the civil magistrates and ordered to worship the pagan gods.  They refused and were martyred. Other officials were sent to induce Cecilia to give up her faith, but when she converted them the authorities ordered her as well to be executed, with a song of love for Christ upon her lips.

Some fashionable modern historians doubt the story’s historicity, but today the whole Church celebrates the memorial of St Cecilia, virgin and martyr, noblewoman by birth and even more noble by her purity, fidelity, and generosity.  So when the devil tries to make you sad by reminding you of your humble earthly origins, turn to St Cecilia, and together with her, sing to your royal, heavenly Spouse, and just watch the devil slink away.

Your devoted uncle, Eddy

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Alex Kucera

Atlanta

Alex Kucera has lived in Atlanta, GA, for the last 46 years. He is one of 9 children, married to his wife Karmen, and has 3 girls, one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way. Alex joined Regnum Christi in 2007. Out of the gate, he joined the Helping Hands Medical Missions apostolate and is still participating today with the Ghana Friendship Mission.

In 2009, Alex was asked to be the Atlanta RC Renewal Coordinator for the Atlanta Locality to help the RC members with the RC renewal process. Alex became a Group Leader in 2012 for four of the Atlanta Men’s Section Teams and continues today. Running in parallel, in 2013, Alex became a Team Leader and shepherded a large team of good men.

Alex was honored to be the Atlanta Mission Coordinator between 2010 to 2022 (12 years), coordinating 5-8 Holy Week Mission teams across Georgia. He also created and coordinated missions at a parish in Athens, GA, for 9 years. Alex continues to coordinate Holy Week Missions, Advent Missions, and Monthly missions at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cumming, GA.

From 2016 to 2022, Alex also served as the Men’s Section Assistant in Atlanta. He loved working with the Men’s Section Director, the Legionaries, Consecrated, and Women’s Section leadership teams.

Alex is exceptionally grateful to the Legionaries, Consecrated, and many RC members who he’s journeyed shoulder to shoulder, growing his relationship with Christ and others along the way. He knows that there is only one way, that’s Christ’s Way, with others!