A Marian Year for our Diocese! Great News!

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I attended a Legion of Mary Curia Meeting yesterday and received the great news that the Bishop of our Diocese has decided to make this a Marian Year for our Diocese. The same Indulgences which Pope Francis has granted for this year are offered in his letter, but this additional emphasis on Mary was such Great News to my ears! Let me quote from our Bishop’s letter:

2017: A Marian Year for Diocese OF Charleston SC: Celebrating the Mother of Our Lord:

In celebration of 100th year anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, I have decided to declare 2017 a Marian Year of the Catholic Diocese of Charleston SC. It is my hope that we will use this year to spread the devotion of our Lady and join in her mission to bring others closer to Her Son, Jesus. Although Pope Francis did not declare a Marian Year, he has provided three ways to get indulgences during this special anniversary year of the Fatima apparitions…

…although we will have planned events during this Marian Year, I ask each of you to look at ways your family can privately celebrate the Mother of God.

In the words of St. John Paul II at the close of the Marian Year before 2000, "In fact Mary “shines forth on earth…a sign of certain hope and comfort to the People of God’ (Lumen gentium n. 68) in the midst of the difficulties of this world. She is the mother of the pilgrim Church to which she continues to give birth, constantly inviting people to accept God and Promise as she did with the help of the Holy Spirit to be Gospel missionaries.”

Our Lady of South Carolina, Mother of Our Joyful Hope and Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

Most Rev. Robert E. Gugliemone
Bishop of Charleston

Thank you Lord for inspiring our Bishop to honor Mary our Mother in this way.

For more on the three ways to gain indulgences see HERE