Our Lady of the Liturgical Life Shrine

On the Birthday of Mary - the Birth of a Shrine

September 8, 2003 was a glorious day for Anawim!  While the whole Church was celebrating the Feast of the Birth of Mary, we celebrated also the blessing of our new Anawim Center in the Philippines.  After more than two years of planning and fund-raising, and seven intense months of construction, the day of the blessing of Our Lady of the Liturgical Life Shrine finally arrived - a day to rejoice in the Lord, and give thanks for his wonderful deeds.  The event marked the inauguration of a new stage in the life of the Anawim Community

Our Lady Preceded Us to Her House

Mary drew so many people to the Shrine that day to show us that she desires it to be a place where her many children can come to be fed by the Word of God and to grow in the Christian life.  From the beginning, we sensed that Mary was guiding the whole project.  It was Our Lady who led us from the old Anawim Center to the new on the evening before the blessing - a candlelight rosary procession was led by the Icon of Our Lady of the Liturgical Life.  Mary preceded us to the new home she had prepared for her Anawim people.

The Community Center and House of Formation Emerge as a Shrine

Many reasons led us to build the new Center - about a mile and a half from our former location:   the need for a permanent center for our Community life; a facility to house and form seminarians in preparation for the Anawim priesthood; a larger chapel and an environment more suited to prayer; and larger offices and community rooms.  Now, we have all these blessings, thanks to the help of our benefactors.  But what we planned and what finally emerged were two different things!  We never thought of our new Center becoming a shrine - that was clearly the Lord's idea, and it took us completely by surprise.

It was our founder, Fr. Francis Marino, who first recognized that we had built something more than a center or even a chapel - that it had the atmosphere of a shrine.  The arrival of the beautiful handmade statues and the installation of the magnificent tabernacle just a few days before the blessing, gave the chapel a truly sacred quality.  At the same time, the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes was set up in the grotto in the garden - and suddenly the setting was that of a shrine.

Two Bishops, Three Priests, and Several Hundred PEOPLE

The blessing was made extraordinary by the presence of two bishops: Bp. Jesse E. Mercado, D.D., of the Diocese of Parañaque, Metro Manila, where the new Shrine is located; and Bp. Jesus A. Cabrera of the Diocese of Alaminos, Pangasinan, who is bishop-protector of the Anawim Community in the Philippines.  Concelebrating the Mass with the bishops were three priests, including our own founder, Fr. Francis J. Marino, S.M., and our director, Fr. Daniel Healy.

Bp. Jesus Cabrera, Bp. Jesse Mercado and Fr. Daniel

Several hundred people packed the chapel and overflowed into the gardens and the street.  Anawim members and their families, friends, workers, neighbors, religious sisters, local government officials - poor and rich alike - all gathered as though in the Heart of Mary to witness the blessing of the new Shrine in her honor.

        Words from our founder, Fr. Francis

Bp. Mercado, Bp. Cabrera and Fr. Daniel concelebrating 

the EUCHARISTIC LITURGY, center of our spirituality

and the continuing presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,

center of our prayer and adoration. . .

Hand-carved wooden tabernacle

In the Sanctuary: Two Anawim Images

At the heart of the chapel stands the altar, newly blessed by Bishop Mercado, in which is enthroned a copy of the Icon of Our Lady of the Liturgical Life.  This mystical image of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, as revealed through the interior life of Mary our Queen Mother, was created by Fr. Francis some forty years ago.  The original is venerated at the Anawim Center in Corning, NY. The icon is a symbolic summary of the Anawim spirituality.  It stands as a “window” into all that the Lord is offering to the residents and visitors of the shrine.  Thus this shrine is fittingly named in honor of Our Lady of the Liturgical Life.  It is the first and only shrine in the world dedicated to Our Lady under this title.

Behind the altar is an extraordinary statuary group depicting the scene of the crucifixion.  Together with Mary our Sorrowful Mother and John the beloved disciple are gathered the anawim, the “poor of God,” at the foot of the cross.  Based on another icon Fr. Francis created several years ago, these statues were carved by a Filipino craftsman.  They invite us to meditate on the sorrow and the new life that we experience at the Cross of Christ.

Our founders, Fr. Francis and Barbara Brennan, contemplate the Anawim Cross on the day of installation.

Toward the Future: Training Seminarians

We know that the Lord's primary concerned is not the construction of physical buildings; his desires is to build up his Body the Church.  He has entrusted our Community with this new shrine and the responsibility to make it a place where people can be strengthened in their call to holiness through their encounter with the Anawim grace.  As a community of priests and laity, our mission is to help all people grow in the interior life, with a special concern for the poor.

A most vital aspect of this mission is the formation of future Anawim priests.  Therefore, a large section of the new Center is set aside exclusively as a residence, library, and community area for our seminarians.  We envision this becoming our international house of formation for all men interested in the Anawim life.  We invite you to join us in praying for priestly vocations to our Community.

If you would like more information about our International Formation Center for Men, please contact:  Fr. Daniel Healy, frdaniel.healy@anawim.com.