‘How They Love Mary’ Book Chat w/ Father Edward Looney @ our Digital Café as part of the Live Record for 'The Rosary: A Mini Series' Project
Fr. Looney joined members of the Rosary Podcast team at our Digital Café, to talk about miracles, podcasting, divine inspiration, and how devotion to praying the Rosary would change us all...
ETERNAL WISDOM
“Mary says, Pray the Rosary every day for peace in the world…”
“If everyone prayed the Rosary, the world would be a different place…”
-- Fr. Edward Looney on what Mary wants us to do
“I wish I had a voice strong enough to call all the world’s sinners to love the Blessed Virgin Mary!
But that is beyond me.
So I asked my beloved guardian angel to do it for me…
I would like to reach all people to bid them to love Jesus and Mary.”
— St. Padre Pio (words engraved on his death bed), San Giovanni Rotondo
“No man is an island, / Entire of itself; / Every man is a piece of the continent, / A part of the main.”
~ John Donne
THE ROSARY HOUR PODCAST NEWSLETTER [2nd edition]
GUEST CONTRIBUTOR: FR. EDWARD LOONEY (USA)
20 novembro / November 20: Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
A Collaborative Article by: Dr. Bailey and the Rosary Hour Podcast Writing Team
ABOUT THIS **NEW** LIVE RECORD PREMIERE on YOUTUBE:
Fr. Edward Looney visited The Rosary Hour Podcast from Wisconsin in the United States of America, to chat about his book How They Love Mary and how he loves Mary through his projects. Click here to watch session #5.
Our conversation took place on the Memorial of the Sixth Apparition of Our Lady of Fátima, also known as the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun which Father Looney discusses in this *NEW VIDEO* and which occurred on Oct. 13, 2022.
Click here to listen to our ‘Book Chat’ about How They Love Mary published by Sophia Institute Press on our Digital Café channel on YouTube.
Given the significance of the Oct. 13 Memorial, 105 years after that miraculous Church approved supernatural event, our podcast team1 took the opportunity to ask Fr. Looney about:
why Mary appears
how she wants us to respond
how we can be inspired by how others have loved Mary.
As he notes in the introduction to his book, Father Looney loves Mary
“through [his] research, reading, and writing” because “it’s a way I get to know her more and share with others why they ought to love her too” (p.3).
How They Love Mary provides 28 short accounts of how holy men and women have approached Mary and devoted themselves to loving the Blessed Mother, and it explores how we can learn from their example.
Fr. Looney explained how his podcast of the same name allowed him to further develop and promote the idea of a book about devotion to Mary. See the Apple Podcasts link below to listen to his show.
Fr. Looney made an effort to write about Marian devotion from a broad perspective and wished to include holy men and women from around the world.
The format of 28 stories makes How They Love Mary a useful monthly devotional: it reminds us of how Mary reaches out to us in her “great concern for humanity”, in a kind of spiritual intervention which allows all of her children to take refuge in her Immaculate Heart.
Remembering Our Lady’s apparitions and understanding the meaning of Marian Feast Days is an important way to remember her messages, and the hope and love she continues to extend to us.
“… Jesus has to be the object of our love as a result of the apparition at Fatima…”
– Fr. Looney on how the Mysteries of the Rosary help us fall in love with scripture, the story of Jesus, and Jesus himself.
In this exclusive Digital Café interview, Fr. Edward Looney updates our readers on his upcoming projects. Click below to listen to him read “The Mystical City of God” in a year:
Please join us in welcoming Fr. Edward Looney to the Digital Café.2
GUEST BIOGRAPHY:
Fr. Edward Looney was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Green Bay June 6, 2015. He serves as Pastor of St. Francis and St. Mary Parish, Brussels and St. Peter/St. Hubert Parish, Lincoln/Rosiere.
Fr. Looney fostered a lifelong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary at a young age when he joined the parish community for the Rosary after daily Mass. While growing up, he regularly watched The Song of Bernadette and was mesmerized by the story of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Marian pilgrimage has been central to Fr. Looney’s life. During the summer of 2005 as a high school sophomore, Fr. Looney made a Marian pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (Champion, WI). This pilgrimage opened the door of his heart to discern more seriously a priestly vocation.
He has visited Marian shrines all across the world: Lourdes, Fatima, Knock, Beauraing, Banneux, Pontmain, and Rue du Bac.3
Fr. Looney began writing books while still in seminary, first penning a children’s book called The Story of Sister of Adele. He published other books including Breakfast in Bethlehem, Praying the Rosary with Sister Adele, and A Novena to the Queen of Heaven. Tan Publishing ceased publishing the above mentioned titles. TAN Books recently published Father Looney’s Shrine devotionals as Our Lady of Good Help: A Prayerbook for Pilgrims.
His more recent books have reached the status as Catholic best sellers: A Rosary Litany and A Heart Like Mary’s, and A Lenten Journey with Mother Mary.
Fr. Looney’s writings have been featured in the pages of Catholic Digest and Missio Immaculate, in addition to the web on Catholic Exchange, Aleteia, Church Pop, and Homiletic and Pastoral Review.
Fr. Looney formerly served as Godly Counsel for EWTN’s Morning Glory, and now is a regular contributor to Relevant Radio’s Morning Air.
He has traveled across the country delivering various Marian presentations at conferences and parishes.
A member of the Mariological Society of America, Fr. Looney has published in theological journals on topics related to Mariology including the Marian Spirituality of Thomas Merton (The Merton Seasonal, 2013) and Chiara Lubich (Marian Studies 2015), Fr. Daniel Lord, SJ (Marian Studies 2017) and on the Wisconsin Apparition (Marian Studies, 2011 and Chicago Studies, (2016). Fr. Looney has other research projects in the works and other articles pending publication.
FOOTNOTES:
About today’s Digital Café interview team:
Karen Rocha is the Senior Executive Producer of The Rosary Hour Podcast and the Co-Founder of the RHP Digital Café. Karen is a mother of 2 based in Hamilton, Ontario. She has pilgrimaged to Fátima, Portugal two times in the last 5 years.
Dr. Tina Bailey is the RHP Digital Café Host, an Author/Editor of The Rosary Hour Podcast Newsletter, and RH Podcast Writer/Contributor. She is a mother of 3 based in the Niagara Region of Ontario, Canada; her background in Health research and ongoing spiritual study inform her wellness educator practice.
Today’s LIVE RECORD discussion is led by founding members Karen Rocha & Tina Bailey, both of whom were part of the original conversation with Fr. Anthony who encouraged this Rosary prayer group to find a way to use the podcast medium to share with others the Rosary prayer in a unique way.
Last March 15 2022, the Rosary Hour Podcast group started this discussion about raw materials to imagine a School for Our Lady — under the founding Spiritual Direction and teachings of Reverend Father Anthony Gramlich, MIC (Rector of the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy, https://thedivinemercy.org).
Father Anthony mentored our team, brainstorming with various concepts regarding the nature of prayer, while exploring ideas of encounter in his experiences with missionary outreach. He invited our group to use our collective creative skills as educators, scholars, researchers, writers, artists, professionals to rediscover the Rosary as an invitation to those who may not yet pray, and/or might not know why they pray. He taught us about Patrick Peyton, St. Louis de Montfort, St. Faustina & God’s unfathomable Divine Mercy as introduced by Fr. Chris Alar, MIC.
Watch Fr. Anthony’s LIVE RECORD lessons on The Rosary: A Mini Series.
THE "‘LIVE RECORD’ BEHIND THE SCENES SUPPORT TEAM:
The following experts in drama, television, music, journalism, storytelling, communications, education, parish life, and action research have generously provided their talent, artistic support, feedback, encouragement & advice:
Dramatic Director / Voice over: Godric Kim;
Communications & Research: Izzy Nunziato & Rembrandt;
Mentors: Dr. Blythe Kaufman & Donna Marie Cooper O’Boyle
Creative Thinktanks: Dan Krbvk; w/ Amelia Grace
Spiritual Direction & Theological Support: Fr. Charles Nahm (Opus Dei)
Parish leaders on the Camino de Santiago in Porto, Portugal: Tomé Alexandre.
Music: David Braid (Canada)
TE DEUM
Thanks to the souls @ Holy Rosary where the pastor led talks on the Synoptic Gospels. Fr. Peter’s talks/sermons touch on importance of praying scripturally & with the profound wisdom of the Saints. We invite you to listen to Rev. Fr. Turrone in today’s sermon.
Today, Fr. Peter helped us to understand the difference between the Kingdoms of the Earth (historically, weaving from the past and present) and contrasts that with God’s Kingdom of Peace, Love, Justice and Mercy as a means to understand the significance of why Christ’s Reign as King of the Universe is one of great hope, and worthy of our desire to be part of; reminds us of how we get there; he reiterates where we find this Kingdom and reminds us of our responsibility to tell others about it. In short, we are called in our times to tell others the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Holy Rosary Live Streams First Saturday Rosary & Mass Devotions, inviting others to unite in prayer & repair the blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Join them in making an Act of Consecration to Jesus through Our Lady. Save-the-dates & show “How You Love Mary”.
Listening to & supporting today’s conversation w/ Fr. Looney is ‘Live Record’ Prayer Curator, Christine Pérez who enjoys listening to dynamic discussions at the Digital Café.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen on Fátima and Oct. 13, 1917.