Our Lady of the Bowed Head

A Carmelite friend has drawn to my attention to the beautiful story of Our Lady of the Bowed Head. This story begins in Rome in 1610 when a Carmelite friar by the name of Dominic of Jesus and Mary, was charged with inspecting an old property to see if it might be suitable for conversion into a monastery. As he walked around the grounds, he passed a pile of trash. In this pile he found an old oil painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  He could not believe someone had thrown such a beautiful picture of the Blessed Mother in the garbage. Friar Dominic wrote that the first thing he did was to apologize to Mary. He said, “I am sorry, dear Mother, that someone has treated thy image in such a terrible manner. I will take it back to the monastery with me and fix it up, and I will give thee the homage which thou so rightly deserve.”  He then took the picture back to the monastery, restored it, and  hung it in his cell.  One day when he was cleaning his cell, the sunlight happened to land on the picture. Dominic thought there was dust on the painting and went over to clean it.  As he proceeded to dust the picture, Our Lady’s face began to move, and she smiled at the priest. They had a conversation, and then the apparition of Our Lady vanished - and Friar Dominic knew he had to share the painting with everyone. It was placed in the Oratory of St. Charles located next to the Church of Santa Maria de la Scala until Dominic’s death in 1630. Then it was loaned to the Duke of Bavaria, Maximilian. Later it was loaned to Emperor Ferdinand II and then returned to the Carmelite Fathers after Ferdinand’s death in 1655. In 1901 a new church was built in Vienna and the image was given a place of honor there. During World War I the picture was carried in great processions through the streets of Vienna to St Stephen’s Cathedral, where thousands prayed before it for peace. Emperor Franz Joseph I had it brought to Schönbrunn Palace so that he too could pray for peace before it.  Today it is in the monastery church of Vienna Dobling. On September 2 1931 it was solemnly crowned by Pope Pius XI – the 300th anniversary of its arrival in Vienna.

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Theresa K, Fr Jon B, Catherine

Siena, Elara – sick children

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David OCDS – housebound

Sophia – blind infant

Joy Smith OCDS – seriously ill

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Lucia – Overwhelmed by weariness

 Mark – brain infection

 Defence of the unborn and the elderly

 RIP Martin Gilham, Sue Burton, little Matthew (six years old, died of cancer)