sodality

Jesuit Sodalities in Dublin

The Sodality of Our Lady was first established in Ireland in 1598 by Father Henry Fitzsimon, S.J.  When it was first established the people as a whole were firmly attached to the faith but defections from the faith, external conformity to Protestantism and assistance at heretical services were not unknown.  The Sodality’s first task was thus the revival of piety and religious practice. Early Sodalities “At a time when it was unusual for Catholics to communicate more than once a year, the Sodality introduced the practice of monthly confession and communion and fervent Sodalists communicated every week. Other Catholic practices such…

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VENERABLE MARIA THERESA GONZALEZ-QUEVEDO

Spain, 1930 – 1950 The Virgin’s Mirror (Courtesy of Ann Ball – www.annball.com)  December 13, 1944 was an exciting day for a number of the students at the Carmelite Sisters of Charity’s high school on the Plaza de San Francisco in Madrid. Recently, a Sodality of Our Lady had been formed, and the girls were to make their consecration and choose their motto that day. Thirteen year old Teresita Quevado wrote out her chosen motto in which she had expressed an immense aspiration: “Mother, may those who see me, see you.” The motto was etched on her medal of the sodality.…

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BLESSED LAURA VICUNA

Chile – Argentina, 1891 – 1904 Willing Young Victim for Love (Courtesy of Ann Ball – www.annball.com)  Beaten and bruised, the young girl was dying of severe internal injuries. Her mother and the Salesian sisters stood by her bedside, praying and keeping watch with her. It was time to tell her secret. As her mother leaned close, Laura whispered, “Mama, I’m dying, but I’m happy to offer my life for you. I asked Our Lord for this.” Stunned, Mercedes Vicuna fell to her knees sobbing. She realized what her daughter meant, and begged Laura’s forgiveness as well as the forgiveness of…

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SERVANT OF GOD, STEPHEN KASAP

Hungary, 1916 – 1935 Sodalist, boy scout, athlete, and Jesuit novice (Courtesy of Ann Ball – www.annball.com)  As the nurse and the priest entered the room where the dying young man lay, they realized he was no longer conscious. His open eyes were fixed on the crucifix and Marian medal in his hands, but he did not see the visitors. They found his final message, scrawled on a paper on the patient’s bedside table: “God be with you! We will meet in Heaven! Do not weep, this is my birthday in Heaven. God bless you all!” The priest anointed him and…

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ELLEN ORGAN

Ireland, 1903 – 1908 LITTLE NELLIE OF HOLY GOD (Courtesy of Leo Madigan – leomadigan@mail.telepac.pt )  William Organ, Nellie’s father, says of his family, “The branch to which I belonged had been settled for generations in and around Dungarvan. I may say they were very humble Catholic folks, whose sole inheritance was that sterling faith, which has survived for centuries of Ireland’s bitter sorrow. Mary Aherne, Nellie’s mother, a native of Portlaw, Co. Waterford, like me, her husband, came of a humble Catholic family poor in world’s wealth, but rich in those gifts of heaven, for the lack of which no boon…

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Sodality Publications

Saint Joseph’s Workshop, the Catholic Literature Guild of the the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Patrick, makes some of its publications available through lulu.com, which you can access here.

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Night Adoration of the Sacred Heart

The Sodality promotes the devotion of Night Adoration of the Sacred Heart. The devotion is an accompaniment to the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in homes.  The devotion originated with Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC., the great apostle of the Enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in homes as a fulfilment of the desire of Our Lord “I will bless the homes in which the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honoured.”  In 1907, he was healed of serious illness while visiting Paray-le-Monial, the scene of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary.  From…

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Sodality Exercises

The Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Patrick meets on the first Wednesday of each month after 11 a.m. Mass in the Church of St. Francis Xavier, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin 1, Ireland.

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