Editor's Desk: Litany for a Saint

By Michael F. Flach
^{HERALD Editor}

My dear friend Tony DelPopolo, a member of St. John Parish in McLean, is best known to local Catholics for his biographical studies of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare and Christopher Columbus. He most recently finished writing a volume entitled "Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Blessed Mother of the Americas."

DelPopolo, a retired college professor, has composed a litany in memory of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. His earlier litany to Our Lady of Guadalupe was put to music by Dr. Peter Patente of Fort Washington, Md.

DelPopolo’s litany to Mother Teresa reads, in part:

Mother Teresa, who answered the call to serve Christ, (pray for us); obeyed God’s will to serve the poor; left the world to tend Christ’s indigent; dedicated her vocation with love and care; wore a humble habit — a sari of white and blue; cared for the poor and needy of India; ran a worldwide charity from her slum home; was named "Blessed Saint of the Gutters of India"; provided spiritual strength to the weak; shared her humanitarian heart of love and care; helped the poor and destitute; loved the lonely and the dying of Calcutta; loved the "poorest of the poor" in Calcutta; loved with faith and action and not just words; loved all with care and divine providence; loved and lived the old-fashioned Catholic way; loved Christ’s poor who are ever with us; loved saint and sinner and non-believers; showed us the way to comfort and console the needy; bore witness to the poor and homeless; inspired non-believers to be holy in prayer; possessed the alchemy of good works; fed the poor in need of nourishment; quenched the thirst of the poor; dampened the brows of the sick with care; shared spiritual charisma with both poor and rich; helped the hopeless and dying as a prayer; heartened the mentally ill and distressed; cared for the needy with a divine touch of God; found spirituality in her goodness to mankind; found joy and trust to love and care for the poor; performed God’s work well — both simple and severe; dedicated to her vocation with love and care; served the needy, not as work, but as love and care; possessed a humanitarian heart for the needy; lived a life of fervent faith expressed in loving deeds…

DelPopolo plans on delivering his litany to the Missionaries of Charities convent in Washington, D.C. Copies of the litany are available by writing to Cavalier Publishing House, P.O. Box 7462, McLean, Va. 22106.

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Some key pro-life events loom ahead. Holy Family Church in Dale City is hosting a Life Issues Seminar from A-Z on Saturday, Oct. 4, beginning at 9 a.m. The annual Life Chain will take place on Sunday, Oct. 5, from 2-3:30 p.m. at locations throughout Northern Virginia. Contact your parish pro-life coordinator or the Diocesan Office for Family Life (703/841-2550) for further details.

Oct. 5 also is the date for Respect Life Sunday, the beginning of the U.S. bishops year-long pro-life effort. The Respect Life Program — which started in 1972 — combines prayer, pastoral services, advocacy and education. Nearly every Catholic diocese in the U.S. participates in the effort.

Among this year’s pro-life handouts is a piece by Dr. John T. Bruchalski, a local pro-life OB/GYN who directs the Tepeyac Family Center in Fairfax. His article, "The Contraceptive Revolution and Its Fruits," discusses the unintended consequences of contraceptives, sexually-transmitted diseases, side-effects and what he calls "STDs of the soul." The article will appear in the HERALD’s Oct. 2 edition. — M.F.F.

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