Magnificat Mama Mary’s Pilgrim Sites

Edited by Cecilia Brainard

Anvil, 2012, softcover, 168 pages, ISBN 9789712727115

Avail­able from PALH

Avail­able in Kin­dle

Testament of God’s Love

This book col­lects 24 Mar­i­an devo­tees’ accounts of their expe­ri­ences in Mar­i­an pil­grim sites. The sites are found in Bosnia-Herze­gov­ina, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, India, Mex­i­co, Poland, Por­tu­gal, Spain, Turkey, the Unit­ed States, and there are eight Pil­grim sites in the Philip­pines. The book includes short write-ups of oth­er inter­na­tion­al pil­grim sites and some Catholic Prayers. The book has an Impri­matur issued by Arch­bish­op Tagle of Mani­la.

Con­trib­u­tors are: Lucy Adao McGin­ley, Cecil­ia Manguer­ra Brainard, Angeli­ta Calu­ag Cruz, Maria Cio­con, Celeste, Ma. Ceres P. Doyo, Mil­li­cent Dyp­i­ang­co, Ma. Mila­gros T. Dum­dum, Pene­lope V. Flo­res, Almi­ra Astudil­lo Gilles, Ma. Tere­si­ta Her­rera-Tan, Fe Aida Lac­samana-Reyes, Jaime C. Laya, Guia Lim, Lin­da Nietes-Lit­tle, Ma. Tere­sa Z. Lopez, Aimee Gaboya Orte­ga Lucero, Lyn­ley Salome R. Ocam­po, Ma. Cristi­na Padil­la-Sendin, Mar­sha C. Paras, Rev. Dr. Sebas­t­ian Peri­an­nan, Bri­an Ascalon Roley, Julia H. Wol­s­ki, and Lin­da Yamamo­to.

Praise

“This is anoth­er out­stand­ing book by Cecil­ia Manguer­ra Brainard. Pro­found­ly Mar­i­an and beau­ti­ful­ly writ­ten by the con­trib­u­tors as these are their per­son­al expe­ri­ences! To our fel­low devo­tees and would-be devo­tees of the Blessed Vir­gin Mary, you will sure­ly fall in love with Mag­ni­fi­cat: Mama Mary’s Pil­grim Sites and love Our Blessed Moth­er even more.” (Bish­op Leopol­do C. Jau­cian, SVD, DD, Bish­op of Bangued, Philip­pines)

“The devo­tion to Mama Mary is strong in the hearts of every Fil­ipino.” (Father James B. Reuter, SJ)

“The Mag­ni­fi­cat has always been a tes­ta­ment to God’s para­dox­i­cal deal­ings with his peo­ple. This book assem­bles a tableau of wit­ness­es to how a fleet­ing vis­it with Mary can turn into a life-chang­ing intro­duc­tion to her Son. Through their sto­ries the author offers their read­ers the dis­tinct pos­si­bil­i­ty of set­ting the stage for a per­son­al, if vic­ar­i­ous, epiphany.” (Father Dion­i­sio M. Miran­da, SVD, Pres­i­dent, Uni­ver­si­ty of San Car­los in Cebu)

“Run­ning as a leit­mo­tif in all the essays in this book is the writ­ers’ pal­pa­ble love for Mama Mary. Each writer has under­gone a change in his or her life or out­look fol­low­ing a vis­it to a Mar­i­an site. Some may have expe­ri­enced a “mir­a­cle,” or felt con­soled and renewed; oth­ers a deep­en­ing of spir­i­tu­al­i­ty, or an epiphany, an insight into the divine. Although we know that Jesus is the only Way to the Father, it is our belief in the pow­er of Mary’s inter­ces­sion to her Son, borne out of the Bible’s Cana sto­ry, that makes us all turn to Her, whom Her divine Son will nev­er refuse. Kudos to Cecil­ia Manguer­ra Brainard for putting togeth­er an engag­ing col­lec­tion of sto­ries that mag­ni­fy the hum­ble hand­maid of the Lord.” (Erlin­da E. Panlilio, Writer and Edi­tor)