More about Visual and Concrete Elements

Popular devotions thrive on things you can see like statues of the saints, things yon can touch like relics, popular hymns people love to sing to express their simple faith. The Church recognizes that it befits us, as human beings, to pray with our body, our senses, our feelings, and not only with our mind.

A good example of this: vocal prayers. Let us say: the Rosary. When we say the Rosary we use not only our lips, but our imagination also to think of the events in the life of Jesus and Mary on which we meditate. Images like that play an important part in our prayer life. The Son of God became a man precisely to make himself visible, so as to help us rise through visible realities to invisible ones.

I want to reflect on that today by sharing how many devotional practices in the Church are "popular" precisely because they appeal to our senses, our emotions, and help us to pray.

Visible Elements in the Piety of the Church

A most popular example: Nativity Scene at Christmas time. It appeals to children, it appeals to adults too. It helps us reflect on the fact that Jesus entered our world as a baby, like all of us. He truly became a man like us. He was the son of Mary. Like all statues, the nativity set helps us to lift up our thoughts to the higher realities they signify. It puts us in a prayer mood. Not surprising that nativity sets are so popular.

The Stations of the Cross are another example of a popular devotion. I still remember vividly, when I was a student at College de Montreal, it was customary to make a brief visit to Our Lord in the chapel after supper, before going to recreation. Then 12-15 of us stayed a little longer and made the Stations of the Cross every evening. This devotional practice left a profound impression on my life with Jesus.

At St. Anne’s as you know, we have a very special ceremony of the Way of the Cross on Good Friday. It is much more elaborate and draws multitudes every year. Fr. Sauval introduced this celebration which highlights the "Descent the Cross." Let me explain.

The large crucifix in the upper church has a corpus that is easily detachable On Good Friday evening, there was in ancient times a sermon on the passion, later the famous Oratorio "The Seven Last Words of Christ" by Dubois, with meditation. Finally, in recent years we have a meditation on the Stations of the Cross. At the 13th station, the body of Christ is taken down from the cross, laid on a stretcher, then carried in procession around the church, accompanied by children who carry the instruments of the passion on cushions: the crown of thorns, the nails and hammer, etc. It is very moving and realistic. The body of Christ is carried to the chapel behind the main altar. There, the faithful come to kiss the feet of Jesus. Appropriate songs are sung by the choir that move the faithful in the depth of their soul, As noted, our big church fills up every year with people who come from all over to assist at a devotion, eminently popular and touching.

Statues of saints in the upper church. I often tell visitors when I give them a guided tour of the church: notice you have a lot of statues in the lower church. The atmosphere is that of a shrine. People pause before this or that saint to pray. In the upper church, the statues are high above the congregation. There are many more statues in the main church: 28 statues of saints and 17 of angels. But people do not stop to pray before them. What the architect wanted to express was one general idea: the communion of saints. When the faithful are gathered at worship on earth, they are one with the saints and angels in heaven. A beautiful thought.

Now, the most precious statue of all: the large statue of Saint Anne. This magnificent statue is a wood carving made at an art studio in Belgium. It was the dream of the first Dominicans to have a large statue of St. Anne that would be a likeness of the one venerated in their beloved Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre in Canada. And so it is. It stands almost 6 feet tall. The statue was received in the old wooden church on Hunter Street and solemnly blessed on the 30th of July 1893. The statue was shipped to Chicago in September of that year and displayed at an art exhibit that was part of the Second National Catholic Congress. The statue evoked much praise from critics who saw it. And for the "Canadians" of Fall River, it had a great sentimental value, because of their great devotion to St. Anne de Beaupre. It helped keep that devotion alive.

The whole church of St. Anne, whose construction was conceived by Father Sauval, is a glorious monument to the honor of Saint Anne. Father Sauval had a vision that one day it would draw multitudes of pilgrims who would come to venerate St. Anne. It would become as frequented in the United States as St. Anne de Beaupre in Canada. While it never became quite as important as the Canadian shrine, it has in its heyday attracted thousands of pilgrims every year. To this day, people come here to find an oasis of peace with the Lord, and a place where they can quench their spiritual thirst. They still come numerous to pray to Good Saint Anne for healings and other needs.

Other popular devotions in Catholic life. Just a brief mention.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart. Speaks to the heart of Catholics. The image of the Sacred Heart speaks of the love of Jesus symbolized by his heart. A popular devotion because it's part of our culture.

As part of our Popular culture, is the Bible in pictures. Its roots go back to the Middle Ages when the common people could not read and had no books. So artists created for them what has been called "The Bible in Stone." Carved in the Stone of Cathedrals were scenes from the Bible: Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood, Moses and the commandments, the great Prophets and Kings of Israel like David, etc. People became familiar with the Bible stories by reading "the Bible in stone." As this Bible was explained to them, they learned to know and love God and to keep his commandments. That's popular religious culture, a way of promoting popular devotion.

We have already mentioned the Rosary as a popular devotion. The beads themselves offer something tangible and are an aid to prayer.

Another popular devotion that has largely fallen into disuse since Vatican II: Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. That's too bad because it is so devotional and people love it. Many elements make it prayerful: popular hymns, incense, the blessing itself with the monstrance. It is really Jesus who blesses his people.

Conclusion. Popular devotions have nourished the faith of people for generations. They speak to the heart of ordinary people and should be preserved carefully.

Devotions Novena Index