After readers submitted their nominations for this year’s “Herald Angel,” staffers at the Catholic Herald chose to honor Mary Lynne Duncan for her service to the diocese.
In Luke’s Gospel, Christ says that much will be required of those who have been given much. That’s why Mary Lynne Duncan, this year’s “Herald Angel,” feels called to prayerfully walk alongside those in her parish while reaching out to those on the margins in the larger community. “This is a journey we’re all on together and when one of us is struggling, we’re all supposed to be there to help,” she said.
Duncan, 51, grew up in Northern Virginia. She attended St. Leo the Great School in Fairfax and St. Paul VI Catholic High School, then in Fairfax. At Paul VI she met her husband, Dave, and they both attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg. For years, the family has been parishioners of St. Timothy Church in Chantilly.
After the birth of their first daughter, Cassandra, now 20, the couple struggled with miscarriages and infertility for years. They credit the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima for bringing their second daughter, Cecelia, 11, into their home. “I heard of the Our Lady of Fatima statue one morning at St. Tim’s and we signed up for her to come to our home,” said Duncan. “The next year when I was looking through the calendar, I realized that the day that the Our Lady of Fatima pilgrim virgin statue came to our home, our second child was born nine months (after) to the day.”
Duncan now runs a program that allows families at St. Timothy School, where her children have attended, to bring a statue of Our Lady of Fatima into their own homes. She’s also part of a mothers’ rosary group that meets every morning after carpool. They pray for the teachers, administrators, parish priests and seminarians as well as for all the intentions written in the school’s prayer book. “It definitely made us connected, being able to share each other’s joys and challenges and have it centered on the faith,” she said.
Duncan works part time as an occupational therapist, primarily with children with autism. The flexibility of her job allows her to be involved in several ministries, such as serving as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion. She and her husband are part of Teams of Our Lady, a Catholic marriage enrichment group. She participates in the national and Virginia March for Life and volunteers with the Paul Stefan Foundation, a home in Orange for pregnant women and their children. But her latest project is launching a local chapter of Safe Families for Children at her parish.
“It’s a movement to provide support during a crisis before the need for foster care would arise,” said Duncan. A group of families comes together to support a family in need. One family hosts the child. Another supports the parent or parents in crisis. Another supports the host family, providing babysitting, meals or new clothes for the child. “A whole team of people comes together to support this (family) and get them through that crisis but then maintains a relationship in time so that they can avoid future crises or potentially if another one arises, there’s people they know they can trust to have their child in their home,” she said.
Duncan and her family recently hosted a child from Safe Families, and she’s working with her pastor, Father David P. Meng, to launch a network of volunteers at St. Timothy to support more families in need.
“Mother Teresa said the biggest problem with the world today is that we draw the circle of our family too small. And she’s quoted often as saying, your ministry field is in your home. And I think that gets misconstrued a little bit, like I just have to serve my husband and my children,” said Duncan. “But we know Christ called us to the stranger. So, I think if you put her two quotes together, (it can mean that you should) widen that circle to welcome the stranger into your family.”
