Sat, Dec 15, 2012 - Litany Lane Blog: Inspiration, Sirach 48:1-11, Psalms 80:2-19, Matthew 17:10-13, St Maria di Rosa, Brescia Italy, Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary

Saturday, December 15, 2012 - Litany Lane Blog:

Inspiration, Sirach 48:1-11, Psalms 80:2-19, Matthew 17:10-13, St Maria di Rosa, Brescia Italy, Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary

Good Day Bloggers!  Happy Advent!
Wishing everyone a Blessed Week!
Year of Faith - October 11, 2012 - November 24, 2013

P.U.S.H. (Pray Until Serenity Happens). It has a remarkable way of producing solace, peace, patience and tranquility and of course resolution...God's always available 24/7.

The world begins and ends everyday for someone. The "Armageddon" is a pagan belief inspired by the evil one to create chaos and doubt in God. Trust in God, for He creates, He does not destroy and only God knows the hour of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ's second Coming, another chance at eternal salvation.  Think about how merciful God truly is as he keeps offering us second chances. He even gives the evil one a multitude of chances to atone. Simply be prepared by living everyday as a gift: Trust in God; Honor Jesus Mercy through the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist; and Utilize the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have flaws but we also all have the gift knowledge and free will as well, make the most of it. Life on earth is a stepping to our eternal home in Heaven. Its your choice whether to rise towards eternal light or lost to eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes from this earth to Purgatory and/or Heaven is our Soul, our Spirit...it's God's perpetual gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...

"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012

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December 2, 2012 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:

Dear children, with motherly love and motherly patience anew I call you to live according to my Son, to spread His peace and His love, so that, as my apostles, you may accept God's truth with all your heart and pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you. Then you will be able to faithfully serve my Son, and show His love to others with your life. According to the love of my Son and my love, as a mother, I strive to bring all of my strayed children into my motherly embrace and to show them the way of faith. My children, help me in my motherly battle and pray with me that sinners may become aware of their sins and repent sincerely. Pray also for those whom my Son has chosen and consecrated in His name. Thank you." 

November 25, 2012 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:

“Dear children! In this time of grace, I call all of you to renew prayer. Open yourselves to Holy Confession so that each of you may accept my call with the whole heart. I am with you and I protect you from the ruin of sin, but you must open yourselves to the way of conversion and holiness, that your heart may burn out of love for God. Give Him time and He will give Himself to you and thus, in the will of God you will discover the love and the joy of living. Thank you for having responded to my call.” ~ Blessed Virgin Mary

November 02, 2012 Message From Our Lady of Medjugorje to World:

"Dear children, as a mother I implore you to persevere as my apostles. I am praying to my Son to give you Divine wisdom and strength. I am praying that you may discern everything around you according to God’s truth and to strongly resist everything that wants to distance you from my Son. I am praying that you may witness the love of the Heavenly Father according to my Son. My children, great grace has been given to you to be witnesses of God’s love. Do not take the given responsibility lightly. Do not sadden my motherly heart. As a mother I desire to rely on my children, on my apostles. Through fasting and prayer you are opening the way for me to pray to my Son for Him to be beside you and for His name to be holy through you. Pray for the shepherds because none of this would be possible without them. Thank you." ~ Blessed Virgin Mary

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Today's Word:  Inspiration  in·spi·ra·tion  [in-spuh-rey-shuh n]

Origin:  1275–1325; Middle English inspiracio ( u ) n  < Late Latin inspīrātiōn-  (stem of inspīrātiō ). See inspire, -ation

noun

1. an inspiring or animating action or influence: I cannot write poetry without inspiration.

2. something inspired, as an idea.

3. a result of inspired activity.

4. a thing or person that inspires.

 

Theology .

a. a divine influence directly and immediately exerted upon the mind or soul.

b. the divine quality of the writings or words of a person so influenced.

 

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Today's Old Testament Reading -  Psalms 80:2-3, 15-19

² over Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh; rouse your valour and come to our help.
³ God, bring us back, let your face shine on us and we shall be safe.
¹⁵ protect what your own hand has planted.
¹⁶ They have thrown it on the fire like dung, the frown of your rebuke will destroy them.
¹⁸ Never again will we turn away from you, give us life and we will call upon your name.
¹⁹ God Sabaoth, bring us back, let your face shine on us and we shall be safe

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Today's Epistle -   Sirach 48:1-4, 9-11

¹ Then the prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch.
² It was he who brought famine on them and decimated them in his zeal.
³ By the word of the Lord he shut up the heavens, three times also he brought down fire.
⁴ How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah! Has anyone reason to boast as you have? -
⁹ taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses;
¹⁰ designated in the prophecies of doom to allay God's wrath before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob.
¹¹ Blessed, those who will see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love; for we too shall certainly have life.

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Today's Gospel Reading - Matthew 17: 10-13

And the disciples put this question to him, 'Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?'
He replied, 'Elijah is indeed coming, and he will set everything right again; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of man will suffer similarly at their hands.' Then the disciples understood that he was speaking of John the Baptist.

Reflection

• The disciples have just seen Moses and Elijah before Jesus in the Transfiguration on the mountain (Mt 17, 3). In general, people believed that Elijah had to return to prepare the coming of the Kingdom. Prophet Malachi said: “Look, I shall send you the prophet Elijah before the great and awesome Day of Yahweh comes. He will reconcile parents to their children and children to their parents, to forestall my putting the country under the curse of destruction!” (Mal 3, 23-24; cf. Eccl. 48, 10). The disciples want to know: What does the teaching of the Doctors of the Law mean, when they say that Elijah has to come before?” Because Jesus, the Messiah, was already there, had already arrived, and Elijah had not come as yet. Which is the value of this teaching of the return of Elijah?

• Jesus answers: “Elijah has already come and they have not recognized him; rather, they have treated him as they have wanted. In the same way, they will also make the Son of Man suffer”. Then the Disciples understood that Jesus was speaking of John the Baptist.

• In that situation of Roman domination which disintegrated the clan and the familiar living together, people expected that Elijah would return to reconstruct the community: to reconcile the parents to their children and the children to their parents. This was the great hope of the people. Today also, the neo-liberal system of communism disintegrates the families and promotes the masses which destroy life.

• To reconstruct and remake the social fabric and the community living of the families is dangerous because it undermines the basis of the system of domination. This is why John the Baptist was killed. He had a project to reform human living together (cf. Lk 3, 7-14). He carried out the mission of Elijah (Lk 1, 17). This is why he was killed.

• Jesus continues the same mission of John: to reconstruct the life in community. Because God is Father, we are all brothers and sisters. Jesus joins together two loves: love toward God and love toward neighbour and makes them visible in the form of living together. This is why, like John, he was put to death. This is why Jesus, the Son of Man, will be condemned to death.
  

Personal questions
• Placing myself in the position of the disciples: does the ideology of consumerism have power over me?
•  Placing myself in the position of Jesus: Do I have the force to react and to create a new human way of living together?

Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.

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Featured Item of the Day from Litany Lane

Our Mother of Perpetual Help Ipad Cases by LitanyLane

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Saint of the Day:  St Maria di Rosa

Feast Day:  December 15
Patron Saint:  Handmaids of Charity

^{Saint Maria di Rosa}

Maria Crocifissa Di Rosa (1813–55) was the founder of the Handmaids of Charity in Brescia, Italy, in 1839. She was both beatified and canonized by Pope Pius XII.  She was born as Paolina Francesca di Rosa on November 6, 1813, in the city of Brescia, Italy. First educated in a convent by the Visitation Sisters, she left school after the death of her mother when she was seventeen years old to take care of her father, who ran a saw mill with numerous employees. She helped the women and girls working there. During the cholera epidemic in 1836 she worked in the hospital in Brescia. She founded a school for the hearing impaired and created programs to assist women in poverty. Her dedication led to her nomination as mother superior. Her spirituality was grounded in the imitation of Christ’s suffering on the Cross. This was the basis of her teaching and contemplation. In her love of the crucified Christ, she translated her dedication to him towards the suffering members of his Mystical Body. In 1840, at age 30, taking the name of Maria Crocifissa di Rosa, she founded a new religious congregation, the Handmaids of Charity, whose chief apostolate was the care of the poor, the sick and the suffering. Papal approval was granted in 1850. Mary died at Brescia in 1855. She was beatified and canonized by Pope Pius XII in 1954.

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.

 

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Featured Items Panel from Litany Lane

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Today's  Snippet  I:   Brescia,  Italy

Brescia, Italy

Brescia (Lombard: Brèsa [ˈbrɛsa]; Latin: Brixia) is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan. Brescia is known as the Lioness of Italy (Leonessa d'Italia) after ten days of popular uprising against Austrian rule during the Spring of 1849.

The city is the administrative capital of the Province of Brescia, one of the largest in Italy, with about 1,200,000 inhabitants. The ancient city of Brixia, Brescia has been an important regional centre since pre-Roman times. A number of Roman and medieval monuments are preserved, among the latter the prominent castle. The city is at the centre of the third-largest Italian industrial area, concentrating on mechanical and automotive engineering and machine tools, as well as the Beretta arms firm. Its companies are typically small or medium-sized enterprises, often with family management. The financial sector is also a major employer, and the tourist trade benefits from the proximity of Lake Garda, Lake Iseo and the Alps.

The plan of the old town is rectangular, and the streets intersect at right angles, a peculiarity handed down from Roman times. The area enclosed by the medieval walls is larger than that of the Roman town, which occupied the north-eastern quarter of the current "Centro storico" (the old town).

Ancient era

Remains of the Roman Capitolium.

Various myths relate to the founding of Brescia: one assigns it to Hercules while another attributes its foundation as Altilia ("the other Ilium") by a fugitive from the siege of Troy. According to another myth, the founder was the king of the Ligures, Cidnus, who had invaded the Padan Plain in the late Bronze Age. Colle Cidneo (Cidnus's Hill) was named after that version, and it is the site of the medieval castle. Scholars attribute the founding to the Etruscans.

The Gallic Cenomani, allies of the Insubres, invaded in the 4th century BC, and used the town as their capital. The city became Roman in 225 BC, when the Cenomani submitted to the Romans. During the Carthaginian Wars, 'Brixia' (as it was called then) was usually allied with the Romans. In 202 BC, it was part of a Celtic confederation against them but, after a secret agreement, changed sides and attacked and destroyed the Insubres by surprise. Subsequently the city and the tribe entered the Roman world peacefully as faithful allies, maintaining a certain administrative freedom. In 89 BC, Brixia was recognized as civitas ("city") and in 41 BC, its inhabitants received Roman citizenship. Augustus founded a civil (not military) colony there in 27 BC, and he and Tiberius constructed an aqueduct to supply it. Roman Brixia had at least three temples, an aqueduct, a theatre, a forum with another temple built under Vespasianus, and some baths.

When Constantine advanced against Maxentius in 312, an engagement took place at Brixia in which the enemy was forced to retreat as far as Verona. In 402, the city was ravaged by the Visigoths of Alaric I. During the 452 invasion of the Huns under Attila, the city was besieged and sacked. Forty years later, it was one of the first conquests by the Gothic general Theoderic the Great in his war against Odoacer.

Middle Ages

The castle of Brescia.

In 568 (or 569), Brescia was taken from the Byzantines by the Lombards, who made it the capital of one of their semi-independent duchies. The first duke was Alachis, who died in 573. Later dukes included the future kings Rotharis and Rodoald, and Alachis II, a fervent anti-Catholic who was killed in the battle of Cornate d'Adda (688). The last king of the Lombards, Desiderius, had also been duke of Brescia.

In 774, Charlemagne captured the city and ended the existence of the Lombard kingdom in northern Italy. Notingus was the first (prince-)bishop (in 844) who bore the title of count (see Bishopric of Brescia). From 855 to 875, under Louis II the Younger, Brescia become de facto capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Later the power of the bishop as imperial representative was gradually opposed by the local citizens and nobles, Brescia becoming a free commune around the early 12th century. Subsequently it expanded into the nearby countryside, first at the expense of the local landholders, and later against the neighbouring communes, notably Bergamo and Cremona. Brescia defeated the latter two times at Pontoglio, then at the Grumore (mid-12th century) and in the battle of the Malamorte (Bad Death) (1192).

During the struggles in 12th and 13th centuries between the Lombard cities and the German emperors, Brescia was implicated in some of the leagues and in all of the uprisings against them. In the Battle of Legnano the contingent from Brescia was the second in size after that of Milan. The Peace of Constance (1183) that ended the war with Frederick Barbarossa confirmed officially the free status of the comune. In 1201 the podestà Rambertino Buvalelli made peace and established a league with Cremona, Bergamo, and Mantua. Memorable also is the siege laid to Brescia by the Emperor Frederick II in 1238 on account of the part taken by this city in the battle of Cortenova (27 November 1237). Brescia came through this assault victorious. After the fall of the Hohenstaufen, republican institutions declined at Brescia as in the other free cities and the leadership was contested between powerful families, chief among them the Maggi and the Brusati, the latter of the (pro-imperial, anti-papal) Ghibelline party. In 1258 it fell into the hands of Ezzelino da Romano.

In 1311 Emperor Henry VII laid siege to Brescia for six months, losing three-fourths of his army. Later the Scaliger of Verona, aided by the exiled Ghibellines, sought to place Brescia under subjection. The citizens of Brescia then had recourse to John of Luxemburg, but Mastino II della Scala expelled the governor appointed by him. His mastery was soon contested by the Visconti of Milan, but not even their rule was undisputed, as Pandolfo III Malatesta in 1406 took possession of the city. However, in 1416 he bartered it to Filippo Maria Visconti duke of Milan, who in 1426 sold it to the Venetians. The Milanese nobles forced Filippo to resume hostilities against the Venetians, and thus to attempt the recovery of Brescia, but he was defeated in the battle of Maclodio (1427), near Brescia, by general Carmagnola, commander of the Venetian mercenary army. In 1439 Brescia was once more besieged by Francesco Sforza, captain of the Venetians, who defeated Niccolò Piccinino, Filippo's condottiero. Thenceforward Brescia and the province were a Venetian possession, with the exception of the years between 1512 and 1520, when it was occupied by the French armies under Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours.

Modern era

Map of Brescia in the early 18th century.

Brescia has had a major role in the history of the violin. Many archive documents testify that from 1585 to 1895 Brescia was the cradle of a magnificent school of string players and makers, all styled "maestro", of all the different kinds of stringed instruments of the Renaissance: viola da gamba (viols), violone, lyra, lyrone, violetta and viola da brazzo. So you can find "maestro delle viole" or "maestro delle lire" and later, at least from 1558, "maestro di far violini" that is master of violin making. From 1530 the word violin appeared in Brescian documents and spread throughout north of Italy.

Early in the 16th century Brescia was one of the wealthiest cities of Lombardy, but it never recovered from its sack by the French in 1512.  It subsequently shared the fortunes of the Venetian republic until the latter fell at the hands of French general Napoleon Bonaparte; in Napoleonic times, it was part of the various revolutionary republics and then of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy after Napoleon became Emperor of the French. 

In 1769, the city was devastated when the Bastion of San Nazaro was struck by lightning. The resulting fire ignited 90,000 kg of gunpowder stored there, causing a massive explosion which destroyed one-sixth of the city and killed 3,000 people.  After the end of the Napoleonic era in 1815, Brescia was annexed to the Austrian puppet state known as the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. Brescia revolted in 1848; then again in March 1849, when the Piedmontese army invaded Austrian-controlled Lombardy, the people in Brescia overthrew the hated local Austrian administration, and the Austrian military contingent, led by general Haynau, retreated to the Castle. When the larger military operations turned against the Piedmontese, that retreated, Brescia was left to its own resources, but managed to resist recapture by the Austrian army for ten days of bloody and obstinate street fighting that are now celebrated as the Ten Days of Brescia. This prompted poet Giosuè Carducci to nickname Brescia "Leonessa d'Italia" ("Italian Lioness"), since it was the only Lombard town to rally to King Charles Albert of Piedmont in that year.

In 1859, the citizens of Brescia voted overwhelmingly in favor of its inclusion in the newly-founded Kingdom of Italy.  The city was awarded a Gold Medal for its resistance against Fascism in World War II. On May 28, 1974, it was the seat of the bloody Piazza della Loggia bombing.

Main sights

Piazza della Loggia, with its Venetian influences.

• Piazza della Loggia, a noteworthy example of Renaissance piazza, with the eponymous loggia (the current Town Hall) built in 1492 by the architect Filippino de' Grassi. On May 28, 1974, the square was the location of a terrorist bombing.
• Duomo Vecchio ("Old Cathedral"), also known as La Rotonda. It is an exteriorly rusticated Romanesque church, striking for its circular shape. The main structure was built in the 11th century on the ruins of an earlier basilica. Near the entrance is the pink Veronese marble sarcophagus of Berardo Maggi, while in the presbytery is the entrance to the crypt of San Filastrio. The structure houses paintings of the Assumption, the Evangelists Luke and Mark, the Feast of the Paschal Lamb, and Eli and the Angel by Alessandro Bonvicino (known as il Moretto); two canvasses by Girolamo Romanino, and paintings by Palma il Giovane, Francesco Maffei, Bonvicino, and others.
• Duomo Nuovo ("New Cathedral"). Construction on the new cathedral began in 1604 and continued until 1825. While initially a contract was awarded to Palladio, economic shortfalls awarded the project, still completed in a Palladian style, to the young Brescian architect Giovanni Battista Lantana, with decorative projects directed mainly by Pietro Maria Bagnadore. The façade is designed mainly by Giovanni Battista and Antonio Marchetti, while the cupola was designed by Luigi Cagnola. Interior frescoes including the Marriage, Visitation, and Birth of the Virgin, as well as the Sacrifice of Isaac, were frescoed by Bonvicino. The main attraction is the Arch of Sts. Apollonius and Filastrius (1510).
• The Broletto, the medieval Town Hall, which now hosts offices of both the Municipality and the Province. It is a massive 12th and 13th century building; on the front, the balcony where the medieval city officials spoke to the townsfolk from; on the north side, still standing one (Lombard: Tòr del Pégol) of the two original city towers, with a belfry still hosting the bells used of old to call all hands in moments of distress.
• In Piazza del Foro, as mentioned above, the most important array of Roman remains in Lombardy.
• The monastery of San Salvatore (or Santa Giulia), dating from the Lombard age but later renovated several times. It is one of the best examples of High Middle Ages architecture in northern Italy; it now hosts, after a decade-long renovation, the City Museum, with a rich Roman section; one of the masterpieces is the bronze statue of a winged Victory, originally probably a Venus, converted in antiquity into the Victory by adding the wings; it is said to be in the act of writing the winner's name on her shield (now lost). Also very interesting, one of the very few places in the world where the remains of three Roman domus can be visited on their original site simply by strolling into one of the Museum halls. In 2011, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of a group of seven inscribed as Longobards in Italy. Places of the power (568-774 A.D.).

• Santa Maria dei Miracoli (1488–1523), with a fine façade by Giovanni Antonio Amadeo, decorated with bas-reliefs and a Renaissance peristilium 
• The Romanesque-Gothic church of St. Francis of Assisi, with a Gothic façade and cloisters.
• The castle, at the north-east angle of the town, on top of Colle Cidneo. Besides commanding a fine view of the city and a large part of the surrounding area, and being a local favorite recreational area, it hosts the Arms Museum, with a fine collection of weapons from the Middle Ages onwards; the Risorgimento Museum, dedicated to the Italian independence wars of the 19th century; an exhibition of model railroads; and an astronomical observatory.
• Church of Santi Nazaro e Celso, with the Avero`ldi Polyptych by Titian.
• Church of San Clemente, with numerous painting by Alessandro Bonvicino (generally known as Moretto).
• Church of San Giovanni, with a refectory painted partly by the Moretto and partly by Girolamo Romanino.
• Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo (currently closed for renovations), the municipal art gallery; it hosts works of the painters of the classical Brescian school, Romanino, Bonvicino, and Bonvicino's pupil, Giovanni Battista Moroni.
• Biblioteca Queriniana, containing rare early manuscripts, including a 14th-century manuscript of Dante, and some rare incunabula.

The city has no fewer than seventy-two public fountains. The stone quarries of Rezzato, 8 km east of Brescia, supplied marble for the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome.

The Piazza del Foro (Forum Square) marks the site of the Roman-time forum: on the short north side, on the side of the Colle Cidneo (Cidneo Hill), stands a Corinthian temple with three cellae, which was rediscovered starting in 1823. This temple complex, built on top of an earlier, smaller temple dating from Republican times, was probably the Capitolium of the city; it was erected by Vespasian in 73 AD (if the inscription belongs to the building^[1]). During excavation in 1826, a splendid bronze statue of a winged Victory was found within the Capitolium. It was likely hidden in late antiquity to preserve it from one of the various sackings that the town had to endure in those times.

The Capitolium had been used to house the Brescia Roman museum. This has been relocated to the nearby Santa Giulia (St Julia) complex, a former powerful nunnery. During the period of Lombard domination, the convent was headed by Princess Anselperga, daughter of King Desiderius.

In the area various other Roman remains are visible, although not open to the public. Among these, on the south side of Forum Square, are scanty remains of a building called the curia, which may have been a basilica.

East of the Capitolium, and in antiquity attached to it, stands the imposing Roman theatre. Now only part of it is visible because of a palace built in Renaissance times on the slopes of Cidneo Hill. In time it slid down to cover the entire Capitolium-theatre area. The theatre was renovated and used for public performances in the early 20th century, but it has now long been closed to the public.

References:

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.

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Today's  Snippet  II:   Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary

Visitationist monastery in Śródmieście, Warsaw

The Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary or the Visitation Order is a Roman Catholic religious order for women. Members of the order are also known as the Salesian Sisters or, more commonly, as the Visitandines.

The Order was founded in 1610 by Saint Francis de Sales and Saint Jane Frances de Chantal in Annecy, Haute-Savoie, France. The special charism of the Visitation Order combines gentleness with a valiant spirit; initiative with communal support; dedication to prayer with presence in the world; a contemplative life with an apostolic dimension. The order's motto is "Vive Jésus" (French for "Live Jesus").

The Order spread from France throughout Europe and to North America. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1914,

The convent of Georgetown was the first house of the Visitation founded in the United States.... The Visitation of Georgetown founded that of Mobile 1833 and in the same year that of Kaskaskia [Illinois], which was transferred to St. Louis in 1844. In 1837 it founded the Visitation of Baltimore, that of Frederick [Maryland] in 1846, and Philadelphia in 1848. These various convents founded others, and at present there are in the United States 21 houses of the Visitation in relation with Annecy.

Today the Order numbers approximately 3,000 Sisters in 168 monasteries located in most countries of the world. In the United States there are 12 monasteries in two federations. Six are dedicated to the contemplative lifestyle, and the other six (Georgetown, Frederick, St. Louis, Mendota Heights, Wheeling, Brooklyn and Minneapolis) add apostolic monasteries to their contemplative life.

Visitation schools in the United States

In 1799, three sisters in the order were given permission by Archbishop Leonard Neale to start a girls' school located next to Georgetown University, called the Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School. In 1816, the Visitation Convent, Georgetown was founded with Teresa Lalor as superior. In 1846, 11 of the Georgetown Visitation sisters relocated to Frederick, Maryland to carry on a school began by the Sisters of Charity in 1824, which from that date became the Visitation Academy of Frederick - which is still operating today and had an important part in Civil War history when it was occupied in September 1862 (until January 1863) by Union Troops and became General Hospital #5 following the Battles of South Mountain and Antietam.

In 1833, the sisters were granted permission by Bishop Joseph Rosati to travel to St. Louis and begin another school, now called Visitation Academy of St. Louis. They settled in Kaskaskia, Illinois, but moved into St. Louis proper in 1844. The sisters were once again offered a location to establish a new school in 1848 in Wheeling, West Virginia, and the school was named Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy. Bishop Thomas Grace of St. Paul, Minnesota, asked the sisters to open a school in 1873, and the Convent of the Visitation School was founded. All four schools are still operating and are all-girls schools.

Visitation schools in other countries

In 1835, the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary of Dietramszell acquired Beuerberg Abbey (Kloster Beuerberg), in Eurasburg, Germany. Between 1846 and 1938 they ran a girls' school and a home for nursing mothers at Beuerberg Abbey, and afterwards an old people's convalescent home. The abbey still belongs to the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary.

References:

1. ^ ^{a b} Visitation Order
2. ^ Jeanne de Chantal biography at Catholic Forum website, accessed online December 11, 2006.

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