Basilica of Saint Mary Podcast

Father David Dufresne, a Parochial Vicar at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Alexandria, VA, talks about the power of going on a pilgrimage and, more specifically, shares about leading a walking pilgrimage next May in Spain, on the Camino de Santiago, the Way of Saint James.

For more information, click here and here.  

Erin Cardinal and Ruth Kelly are today's guests. They are Basilica of Saint Mary parishioners and members of an apostolate called Walking with Purpose (WWP), a Catholic Bible study program that aims to bring women to a deeper personal relationship with Jesus. Erin and Ruth talk about about wonderful the WWP community is  and how it has helped them grow in faith and fellowship. 

WWP will host an open house for the women of the parish on the morning of Oct. 6, 2021, from 9:30-11 a.m. in the Lyceum Auditorium, and the evening of October 7 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the Lyceum. WWP will meet weekly after that with breaks for the holidays and will wrap up during Holy Week. 

Daycare is available for the morning session only. To register, please click here or email Mindee Arritt for information at [email protected]. Your Bible study guide must be purchased separately here.

Father Edward Hathaway, Rector of the Basilica of Saint Mary in Alexandria, VA, gives a homily during a Mass at the Basilica for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. It was recorded on September 19, 2021.

Award-winning Catholic author, Mike Aquilina, is our guest in today's ninth installment in our Year of Saint Joseph podcast series, which we release on the 19th of every month. He shares about his relationship with Saint Joseph and explains what's involved in a consecration to Jesus' foster father.

The Basilica of Saint Mary will embark on a parish consecration to Saint Joseph, starting on September 30, 2021 and concluding with the actual consecration to Saint Joseph on November 1.

Click here to learn more. 

David Elliott, the Basilica of Saint Mary Music Director, has created the Saint Gregory Children’s Choir School, a four-year program of comprehensive musical training and immersion into the Catholic choral tradition for children, ages 8-12. Children do not need to be a student at the Basilica School of Saint Mary or a parishioner at the Basilica. No prior musical training is required.

In the podcast, he gives an overview of the school and shares why he created it. To learn more about it, click here. Or email David at [email protected]

Our Lord reminds us that whatever we do for the poor among us we do for Him. We hear Him with our hearts and minds, but the daily demands of life can leave us without the opportunity to respond in a most personal way. Becoming a volunteer and/or making a sacrificial donation to our parish’s St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Society is that opportunity.

On the podcast, two of SVdP leaders, Jim Larocco and Pete Bautz, share amazing stories about how the society helps those in need and why the needs lately have been so great.  

What makes SVdP unique among all charity providers in Alexandria is that we go to the people who call for help, visiting them in their homes, confirming their need, listening to their challenges, and showing them in the most real way that they are not alone and not forgotten by Our Lord. It is an extraordinary gift to be able to touch someone’s life in this way. 

Please join us for our upcoming open house at 314 Duke Street in Alexandria, VA, on September 27, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. to learn more. 

Father Joseph Townsend, a Parochial Vicar at the Basilica of Saint Mary in Alexandria, VA, gives a homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time. It was recorded at the Basilica on Sept. 12, 2021

To celebrate the Dante Year (this year is the 700th anniversary of the great poet’s death), Nora Hamerman shares a presentation on Sept. 21, 2021 at the Basilica of Saint Mary's Lyceum from 7:30-9 p.m. to help us travel through his vision of the Afterlife among the Blessed, joined by masterful artists, such as Sandro Botticelli and Salvador Dalí, and the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer, and the music of Giuseppe Verdi.

Heaven is a very busy place in The Divine Comedy, where the poet deals with astronomy, politics, and history, and affords readers a chance to meet the founders of the great religious orders while showing no patience for clerical corruption.

Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/giulio-fazio/reverie-dete
License code: F4FHN9F4N3NRCV1Z

Lisa Dolan is a Basilica of Saint Mary parishioner, whose husband, Navy Captain Robert E. Dolan Jr. died during the Sept. 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon. She has been extremely busy lately, but was kind enough to take the time to record into her phone her memories of her husband and the tragic day of 9/11. She talks about her strong faith and the strong faith communities of the parish and Basilica school and why we can never forget what happened on that day. 

Dan Ermer is a Basilica of Saint Mary parishioner and one of the leaders of the That Man is You! (TMIY!) apostolate at the parish. TMIY! honestly addresses the pressures and temptations that men face in our modern culture, especially those relating to their roles as husbands and fathers. The program harmonizes current social and medical science with the teachings of the Church and the wisdom of the saints to develop the vision of man fully alive.

In this episode, Dan talks about what led him to join the group and how it's deepened his faith life, transformed him into becoming a better man and led to more authentic friendships with other men of faith.