A Mid-Winter Marriage

On this date 170 years ago, January 27, 1846, an event occurred that, but to a few, would produce little in the way of fanfare or notice. A man only six weeks and a day shy of his 38th birthday would marry a woman from a nearby village who was 15 years his junior. It was on this date that my great great grandfather Josef Havel married Anna Jodl. Josef was born and raised in Dolni Chrastany, house #18, and that is the location in which it is believed he would live with his spouse Anna and raise their family. I suppose one could look at this marriage as similar to the part of “Fiddler on the Roof” where Tevye wants his daughter to marry the much older butcher Lazer Wolf. Of course, Lazer Wolf, as portrayed in film, looked much older than 38. 

18 Dolni Chrastany.  Photo by Mary B. Hovel

 Economic and financial circumstances had much to do with timing of marriage as did love. Marriage was in a sense, sometimes at least, more a matter of convenience than of love in the hard scrabble times of the mid-19th century. Josef, not unlike much of the population at the time, made his living off the land. Farming in Bohemia was different than farming in the United States at that time, particularly the Mid-west. The most visible form of this difference was in the pattern produced by land tenure. Today plat maps of southern Bohemia are still marked by long narrow lots commonly used to divide property among children. A strip of land from the street or house back was created, rather than giving chunks. Over generations it became less pragmatic to farm the long narrow strips of land. Farming was hard work and a labor intensive operation. Anna and Josef had a large family to raise and feed—they would produce 9 children ranging over 20 years.

Plat map of Dolni Chrastany
Source:  http://nahlizenidokn.cuzk.cz/mapa.aspx?typ-IKU&id-642959

Marriage at middle age was not unprecedented. For example, Josef’s great great grandfather married later in life. Available documents appear to begin in 1694, but a review of Simon’s hometown, Lhotka (also Lhota), did not produce any prior marriages or children he fathered for the decade prior to 1703. A death record for Simon Havel places his death in 1749 at age 81, meaning that he was about 35 years of age on the day of his marriage on 8 July 1703 to Elizabetha. Unlike Josef who was born to a farm family (and would himself farm) 105 years after Simon’s marriage to Elizabetha, Simon was a weaver and a tenant. Humble beginnings for the family.  Elizabetha and Simon would produce, at least from what I found, six children. At some point the family inherited, married into, or purchased land. The farming business for the family likely commenced with Josef’s great grandfather, Matheo Havel. We do not know, at least at present time, if Matheo was a land owner or a tenant. Josef’s father, Frantisek obtained the Dolni Chrastany property by his marriage to Teresa Jiral, daughter of Mathias Jiral and his wife Katerina. Frantisek was born in Lhotka, the same village in which Simon lived and where he and Elizabetha raised their family.

Marriage record of Josef and Anna Havel.  Last entry on page.
Source:  digiceskearchivy.cz

While Simon was married in the summer, an interesting and likely purely coincidental pattern emerges with some of his descendants. June is now one of the major months for a wedding. June, however, would not be the preferred month for many of my direct Hovel ancestors. Working back in time we find the following:

Person                                                  Relation                                            Wedding date                                   

Thomas & Antoinette  Hovel                                                                        27 October 1990              

Roy & Mary J                                      Parents                                              25 January 1947                                

Rudy & Ida                                          Paternal grandparents                       4 Feb 1913                                          

Martin & Amelia                                 Paternal g grand                                30 Jan 1877     

Josef & Anna                                      Paternal gg grand                             27 Jan 1846                                         

Frantisek & Teresa                             Paternal ggg grand                            25 Oct 1796                                        

Matthai & Marie                                Paternal gggg grand                         17 Feb 1765                                        

Matheo & Agnete                             Paternal ggggg grand                        21 Oct 1735                                         

Simon & Elizabetha                           Paternal gggggg grand                       8 July 1703                                           

Marriage record of Simon Havel and Elizabetha, 8 July 1703
Source:  digi.ceskearchivy.cz

From the above table we see that only Simon was married in the summer. What more is interesting is that midwinter weddings were preferred from the mid-1700’s to mid-1900’s. Of the six noted marriages during that time span, all but one, Frantisek and Teresa’s, occurred during January or February. All of the grooms were, or in case of my father, had been a farmer. Perhaps it was better to be married during the winter when the crops had been brought in, and before the snow melt and they have to think of and do spring chores. Or, it could be purely coincidental. A small sample does not a pattern make. Whatever it was, from Josef and Anna to Roy and Mary J., the date of the year for the four marriages would occur within ten days of one another, even though they occurred two centuries apart. The three dates in January were less than a week apart.

Josef Havel birth record
Source:  digi.ceskearchivy.cz

Josef and Anna’s marriage in the mid-winter of 1846 would be the last for the direct family members in Bohemia. In 1868, with Josef at age 60, a common retirement age today, he and Anna would, with their eight surviving children, take the long journey to the United States. Of their nine children, one is buried in the old country having died a few years after his birth. Like Josef and Anna, all others are buried mainly in the prairie soils of northern Iowa, with one in southern Minnesota. The move to the United States may have been brought about by the potential difficulty of further dividing land from which to make a viable living. There would be changes. Much of the family would change the surname spelling to be “Hovel”, rather than “Havel or Hawel” as it is spelled in the records found in Bohemia. Family would spread from Iowa and southern Minnesota. Family members would move from farming to a variety of working and professional class occupations.

Citizenship Declaration for Josef Havel
Source:  State of Wisconsin Archive Center, UW-Whitewater

Did this couple, 170 years ago, who with their children were born in the hills and valleys of southern Bohemia,  dream that they would pack up and move to live out their lives and be buried in the deep fertile soil of Iowa? Life produces patterns, some purely by coincidence, others determined by station or aspects of life. We do know that choices made 170 years ago can set a course for future generations. The marriage of Josef and Anna shows this.  So does their decision to emigrate to the United States. The past informs the future. That is why we study history.

Anna Hawel gravemarker
Bohemian Cemetery, Cerro Gordo County, IA
Source:  Iowa Gravestone Project
Her Husband is buried in the same cemetery
Notice the different spellings, of Havel and Hawel

 

Mughals, Mosques and Mausoleum

On this date in 1666, 350 years ago, the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent, died in Agra, India at the age of 74. Shah Jahan would reign during what is called the Golden Age of Mughal architecture. His thirty year reign (1628-1658) would see the construction of one of the world’s most iconic buildings, but would also presage the decline of the empire.

Shah Jahan and his favorite wife

Shah Jahan (b. 1592) was reportedly a descendant of one of history’s most notorious and feared conquerors, the man who founded the Mongol Empire--Genghis Kahn (1162-1227). Shah Jahan would take a page out of the Genghis Kahn playbook when he added to the empire by conquering part of Persia. In 1648 Mughals occupied part of Persia, but the conquest was temporary as it would be back in Persian hands before the end of the decade. Shah Jahan is considered by many to be the ideal Mughal Emperor, after all he was more tolerant than some other emporers of the Hindu practices of his subjects. In his practice of Islam, he was more orthodox than the highly regarded third emperor Akbar, but less orthodox than the son who would succeed him. Much of the world was (and is) in wonder of the splendor and opulence of royal courts, and Shah Jahan’s royal court would have well pleased royal watchers of the 17th century. It is said the Mughal court reached its apex during his tenure as emperor. His efforts at conquest and re-conquest would put the empire on the verge of bankruptcy. While the empire would grow to its greatest extent during the rule of his son Aurangzeb, it was also during his son’s reign that the empire would start its decline.

Pearl Mosque

However, the architectural marvels built under his reign were anything but representative of decline. Under his reign the Red Fort at Delhi was constructed, he made additions to the Red Fort at Agra, and he had constructed the Pearl Mosque and the Great Mosque. Yet, the crown jewel of his construction was a mausoleum for his third, and most treasured spouse, Mumtaz Mahal who died in childbirth in 1631. The couple was married in 1612. She gave birth to 14 of his 16 children. The mausoleum he constructed is of course one of the world’s most iconic structures, the Taj Mahal. The marble of the main structure is such that it reflects the hues of the sunlight or the moon light. Its four facades are almost identical. In 1983 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and today is visited by millions of a persons a year. Shah Jahan himself would die within site of the magnificent tomb he had constructed for his most favored wife.

Red Fort at Delhi

Shah Jahan took ill in 1657, and this would set off a level of palace intrigue only the Borgia’s (and possibly the Cardinal’s in the Vatican) would be able to outdo. Four of his sons tried to outdo the others to claim rule of the empire. In the end one son, Aurangzeb, would depose a brother who was the anointed successor and a child born to Shah Jahan's beloved Mumtaz, to take control of the empire in 1658. Like Pope Celestine, who had resigned in the 13th century, and essentially imprisoned by his successor Boniface VIII, Shah Jahan would spend his final years in the Red Fort of Agra.  Apparently Aurangzeb had either power issues, or Daddy issues, but possibly both.  Is there a greater disgrace than to be imprisoned by your own offspring to avoid you claiming the rule after an illness?  Shah Jahan was tended over those last eight years by one of his daughters. At least one of his children had some semblance of decency. He would look out his window at the monument he had built for his wife. Shah Jahan’s name is a footnote in history. The Taj Mahal is history.  His greatest achievement to empire builders may be his ruthless son who succeeded him, but to most others his glorious achievement is a the mausoleum for his most treasured spouse. Power is fleeting, life is momentary, marble is durable.

Taj Mahal

What Super Bowl

It was on this date that the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl. This game was held at the Los Angeles Coliseum before a crowd of less than 62,000, not nearly portending the rage today. In a few weeks the NFL will play Super Bowl 50 at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the 49ers. The NFL was in its 47th year and the AFL was in its seventh season. The leagues would merge for the 1970 season. In 1966 the NFL had 17 teams, and the AFL nine.  The merger required some long standing NFL teams to become part of the new AFC conference. The NFL has under gone changes with new teams added, and of course teams moving from one city to another.   The former Baltimore Colts left in the dark of night for Indianapolis. The Raiders have been in Oakland, to LA, back to Oakland, and perhaps now back to San Antonio, TX, after attempting to relocate once again to LA. 

Jimi Taylor on a run for the Packers

As any general manager of a football team knows, it can be difficult to find the proper player. The draft is replete with bad picks (think Justin Harrell and Tony Mandrich of the Packers, both number ones), and there are those who were picked late in the draft that are good football players (think Bart Starr and Tom Brady, or Willie Wood who was undrafted and “found” by Lombardi). In its beginnings, the AFL was able to cobble NFL castaways and form some decent teams that were competitive within their league. Perhaps the genius of Lombardi was not only finding talent, but finding those who could work in his system and for him as well. For years the NFL had success in keeping at bay other leagues that attempted to form, but it was unable to do so with the AFL. The teams would end up in a bidding war for talent, even though they had tacit agreement to not sign players under contract with another team. The New York Giants broke the unwritten policy and a feud ensued. That led the NFL to negotiate with the AFL in 1966. The result was that they would form one league at the completion of the 1969 season, and that they would play a game between the two conference champions. LA did not know they would receive the game until December 1, 1966. Heck, at that time they did not even have a specific date. The game date was not set until almost two weeks later. It was not really known as the Super Bowl, rather it was called the First AFL-NFL Championship Game. Some reports say that Lamar Hunt, the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs coined the name, and wanting to use “Bowl” as a takeoff of the popular college bowl games (think Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl). Some say that the game was referred to as the Super Bowl by one of the two broadcast crews. The term Super Bowl was not official until the 1969 game. It was the only Super Bowl to be broadcast on two networks. CBS, which had broadcast rights to the NFL, and NBC which had the rights to the AFL.

 

Starr going back to pass
Right Guard Jerry Kramer's ring from Super Bowl 1 is now for sale

It was a fitting match. The Packers were one of the premier teams in the NFL at the time, having won a number of NFL championships in the decade, and the Chiefs were owned by the man who had started the AFL. Lombardi was under pressure from the whole NFL to demonstrate the superior play of the NFL. The Chiefs saw the game as the ability to compete with the top NFL team. Green Bay was 12-2 during the regular season and KC was 11-2-1. The quarterback for each team was the top rated passer in their league for that season. They were both well balanced teams with good offenses and good defenses.  Perhaps showing the adage that defense wins championships.  The Packers top receiver exacerbated an injury early in the game which led to his replacement—Max McGee seeing significantg action. As an aging star, with little reps in the regular season, Mcgee did not expect to play.  Max had been out the whole night, so the story goes, and was likely working off a stupor. Yet, he would end up playing magnificently having 7 receptions for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns. Those numbers would be great today, but back then the pass happy offenses we see today had yet to materialize.  Even the rules were much different for blocking.  The game was close at the half, and at that point the Chiefs had outgained the NFL champions (181 to 164 yards). The halftime score was GB 14, KC 10. The Chiefs were highly encouraged by their play and their coach is quoted as having said at the half that he thought they would win the game. In the Packer locker room the team knew they had not played to their potential, and a probably a polite Willie Davis noted that the coach “was concerned.” However, Lombardi believed the game plan sound, and with some tweaks to the plan and better execution the Packers could do better. 

McGee works off a drunken stupor to catch a touchdown pass

The Chiefs looked like they were moving the ball on the opening drive when a pass by Len Dawson was intercepted by Willie Wood who returned it 50 yards to the five yard line. It was the momentum builder the Packer needed. The play and turning point of the game. On its first play from scrimmage Elijah Pitts would score on the five yard run. Packers 21, Chiefs 10. For the rest of the game Kansas City only crossed midfield one time. In the third quarter KC looked like the 2015 GB Packers against Arizona a few weeks ago only gaining 12 yards for the quarter. McGee, quickly recovered from the night before was a star of the game. His 37 yard catch a highlight catch is played to this day. Paul Hornung would be the only Packer to not play. He chose not to go in for even one play for fear of aggravating a pinched nerve in his neck.

 

Kansas City QB Len Dawson under pressure

For the 2015 season and as Super Bowl 50 (they finally got rid of the Roman numerals) approaches both the Packers and the Chiefs have playoff games this weekend. However, the Packers, for the latter half of the season have been playing as if they have had the pinched nerve--in the whole team.  The Chiefs play at the defending champion New England Patriots, and the Patriots are slightly favored by most accounts. Green Bay, on the other had goes back to Arizona. They lost to Arizona 38 to 8 in the penultimate game of the regular season. Of the eight teams in the playoff this weekend, the Packers are considered the lowest ranked team, and the team with the least ability to win. One computer model gives them only a 34% chance to advance to the conference championship next weekend, a 14% chance to get to the Super Bowl and only a 7% chance of winning the Super Bowl. The next lowest chance of winning a playoff game is said to be Pittsburgh at 42% (over Denver). Kansas City is given odds of 49% to advance to the AFC Championship game, 27% of making it to the Super Bowl and 14% of winning the Super Bowl.

Sports Illustrated cover

The odds of having Packers and the Chiefs meet in Super Bowl 50 are pretty slim. More due to Green Bay than Kansas City. However, games are played and odd things happen in playoff games. The Packers found that out last year against in the NFC chamnpionship game, and Minnesota found that out last week against Seattle. It is more than talent, mechanics and scheme, it is also about emotion, drive and heart. The 1980 US Olympic hockey team was destroyed by the Soviet Union before the start of the Olympics, but yet they beat them a few weeks later at Lake Placid.  In every match they won, they came from behind in order to win the gold medal. The Packers may only have a slight chance of advancing to the Super Bowl, but they have a shot.  Predictions are that they will not be blown out this Saturday.  Whatever the outcome tomorrow against Arizona, one hopes that the organization will have learned to better evaluate players to advance the success of the team.  Packer QB Aaron Rogers says the pressure is on Arizona, and I hope the outcome is not as it was 49 years ago when the pressure was on the Packers and they ended up dominating the Chiefs.  Lombardi found talent to make a run at titles for five years, three being consecutive years.  He may not have had a perfect season, but he knew how to win when it mattered--Championships.  He would take his Packer team to Super Bowl 2, with a 9-4-1 regular season record.

Images from Google

It Wasn't the Play Calling

For decades the Green Bay Packers have been able to count on support from their fans. The teams between Lombardi and Holmgren were, to put it pleasantly, rather mediocre. But, the fans endeared. It would take the Packers 29 years before they would win a Super Bowl following their Super Bowl II victory. Support of the fans is even evident in away games, where some stadiums seemingly have more Packer fans than those for the home team. Fan support has allowed for a major increase in Packer facilities. Lambeau Field just completed another expansion and renovation this year, after having a major expansion and renovation completed in 2003. With its standing room only areas, stadium capacity is apparently second only to New Yorks’ Metlife Stadium for regular season capacity. The Packers are now looking to further increase their presence through acquisition of land to build a more robust full-time entertainment venue—the Ttiletown District. This district will include a large plaza, a four-star hotel, a health care facility; and of course it would not be Wisconsin without an expanded restaurant with its own brewpub. However, the Titletown District becomes meaningless unless the Packer organization can field a competitive team.

Proposed Titletown District
Source:  Google Images

Given the team’s performance over the last three months of the season, having lost six of their last ten games, including three at home, one can wonder if they actually have a competitive team. But for the Hail Mary pass at Detroit, it would be even worse. It is more than play calling as their offensive performance since Head Coach Mike McCarthy took over play calling duties has been lack-luster as well. Since the Lombardi era, the Packers have failed to produce consecutive championships, and only in the 1990’s returned to a consecutive Super Bowl. For over three months we hear the same words: the fundamentals need to be better, the team needs to play better. All generalities which are easier said than done, and if they are easily accomplished why have the issues not been corrected? The unsaid issue is poor player performance, which can be related to several factors. In some cases the players lack the natural ability, some may be playing with nagging injuries, and some after receiving a fat paycheck see their production fade. Yes, Jordy Nelson has been injured all season, but if he is the reason Aaron Rogers should provide his MVP awards to Nelson. The Packers lack the talent in the front office to any longer find the necessary talent to appropriately build the team, whether through the draft or by free agency. The front office has over paid players who a year or two later we find our now rather pedestrian. The team has had its share of injuries, but so too did the last Super Bowl squad. That last Packer Super Bowl team had a mantra of next man up, that mantra no longer works. Heck, even some starters lack proper ability. The head coach claimed at the beginning of the season that the offensive line is the best he has had. With 47 sacks, and a pass protection rank of 23 and even lower for the run game I hope he is no longer making that claim. The play of the line is integrated with play elsewhere. One sports columnist said that without Jordy Nelson, the Packers have the slowest receiving corps in the NFL. No wonder receivers can’t get open. That affects line play.

Lambeau Field
Source:  Google images

With slow receivers, teams now play man-to-man coverage and are able to load along the line of scrimmage with one safety back. This prevents the ability to run the ball, and allows more defenders the opportunity to blitz the quarterback on pass plays. The Packer offense is predicated on receivers being open at the end of the QB drop back, but this year they are not. It is a system, according one analyst, that uses isolation routes meaning the onus is on the receiver to use speed and technique to get open, but that is not occurring. The wide receivers lack the capability to get open. In fact, this season Davante Adams finished as the sixth lowest graded receiver in the NFL!  He is not a second or third string receiver, but a starter.  Of all receivers on the team, only Jones (brought in due to Nelson’s injury) had a positive grade. It is quite apparent that the Packer organization has not fit the players to the scheme, and they continue to run the same scheme.

 Green Bay v. Vikings Jan. 3, 2016
Notice how no receivers are open, and Rogers is almost out of time to throw
Source:  Peter Prisco, NFL Analyst from CBS Sports

Not accustomed to this, Rogers looks at coming pressure and misses the few opportunities available. Defensive pressure then gets to him. Rogers himself was sacked 46 times this past season, thirteen in the last three games, where he lost three fumbles (two for touchdowns) and threw two interceptions. Even the use of a two tightend set during the last Viking fame failed to assist the running game. Use of misdirection and screen or draw plays has also failed to provide suitable offensive production. Their coaching staff must realize this, but yet all we hear is the same old, same old. The Packer defense has never been one of the better units in the NFL for the past few years, and the more the defense is on the field, the more tired they get and production will drop. The three plays and out of the Packers offense has placed the defense on the field with little time to rest. The Packers are pathetic on third down efficiency. For the 2015 regular season the Packers ranked 28 of the 32 teams in third down efficiency. In the last three games their efficiency was even worse.

Packers at Arizona, here a receiver is open but A Rogers misses him
and instead thows an imcomplete pass to the receiver at the top of the image.
Source:  Peter Prisco, NFL Analyst from CBS Sports

Sports media types claim this team, not unlike the 2010 team, can make a run for the Super Bowl. After all, the argument goes, the 2010 team won the Super Bowl at the Jerry Dome (AT&T Stadium) by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like the 2010 team, this team has to play away in at least two games to advance. The 2010 team was a 6th seed, this team a 5th seed. Both entered the playoffs with 10 wins and 6 losses. Yes, there are some similarities, but there are also glaring differences that the sports media overlooks. In 2010 the six Packer losses were all close games, with the total point difference of those six losses being less than 20 points. My goodness just two weeks ago, Dec 27, the 2015 Packers lost to Arizona by 30 points alone. Total point difference this year for the losses is 72. There are other differences as well. The once much vaunted Packer offense, which ranked 6th in overall offense in the 2014 season ended the 2015 regular season ranked 23rd. In 2010 the offense total rank was 9th—in the top ten as compared to the bottom ten this season. There is an old saying that defense wins championships, and as strong as the Packer offense was in 2010, the defense was even better as it ranked 5th overall. This year while the defense finished better than the offense, it still came in at a middling 15.

Titletown Entertainment District site plan
Source:  Google images

The point of all of this is that the personnel of the team is not where it needs to be, and as a result the production of the team is significantly decreased. The Titletown District may all turn out really nice, improve the area, but the Packers need to focus on their core business—football. They cannot enjoy living in the past. The mediocre nature of the team, I believe goes all the way to a front office more focused on brick and mortar development than the team on the field. It is a general manager who has, quite frankly blown the ability of the team to develop through the draft and make proper decisions for extended contracts for veterans. If Ted Thompson is still with the team after the end of the season, the Packer organization will have proved that they are taking their fans for granted. That they do not care about a winning product on the field. Five years ago, with its last Super Bowl win, the press and talking heads were praising Ted T. If he gets the praise for building a team, he should get the scorn for having failed to keep that team competitive. Yes, we Packer fans are resilient, and we are loyal. However, if you are at a game that is a loss you may just want to get home and not have a beer and dinner within the Titletown District. Few fans fork out money for sport apparel for a losing team. The Board of Directors need to focus the energy of the organization on its core product, so that there can be more titles to Titletown, and that the city, team, and fans do not only have to live dreaming of past glory.  After all, if another team surpasses the team in the number of titles, than the Titletown name is a farce.

Anyway, Go Pack Go!

Hail Mary

A few weeks ago the Green Bay Packers defeated the Detroit Lions on a play commonly referred to as a "Hail Mary."  The last second desperation pass apparently received its name from former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach in 1975.  When asked about a last second long pass to Drew Pearson, Staubach, a Roman Catholic, said: "I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary."  Prior to that point, the play was called an Alley-Oop.  With Staubach's phrase the play now had a different name and one that has entered the lexicon related to last second desperation passes in football.  However, the term may actually derive from Notre Dame, when during a game in 1922 one of the lineman, act who was a Presbyterian, suggested praying the Hail Mary, and what followed was a touchdown against Georgia Tech.  The term Hail Mary is now being used for any last ditch effort.

Magnificat from St John's Bible
Source:  Google images

Mary is perhaps most recognized in Roman Catholicism, but she has more mentions in the Koran than in the Bible.  In the Bible, Mary speaks four times, and the only extended portion of speech is Magnificat uttered in her early pregnancy.  This occurs during Mary's visit to her relative Elizabeth who is pregnant with who would turn out to be John the Baptist.  Today, January 1, Roman Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God.  The Virgin Mary goes by an assortment of names, and a recent article in "National Geographic" (December 2015) began with a list of a variety of names.  She has more monikers, than I have nicknames for my wife.  January 1 is a Holy Day of Obligation in the United States, although one would not know so by attendance at mass.  It plays second fiddle to the Christmas celebration of the birth of Christ a week earlier. Without Mary would there have been the birth of Christ?  I suppose God could have chosen another woman for the role.  Protestants often think that Catholics revere mary more so than God, but for Catholics it is to her for intercession in prayers.  Get to God through Mary, or the saints, so the thinking goes.

Mural at the Church of the Visitation, where Mary met Elizabeth

If Protestants desire biblical evidence of intercession, one only need to look to the gospel of John where he relates the story of Jesus and his mother at a wedding in Cana.  When the wine runs out a rather embarassing situation for the bride and groom, not to mention the bride's father who was probably footing the bill the story unfolds.  In the account, Mary goes up to Jesus and simply says, "They have no wine."  In a rather curt reply which only a few sons would be able to say to their mother and not get the evil eye (or worse) Jesus responds "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?  My hour has not yet come."  It is here it gets interesting, his mother plays the best of Marie Barone when she then says to the servants "do whatever he tells you."  Jesus cannot simply not do anything, what would his mother say.  She did not ask, she commanded his action.   Jesus tells the servants to fill six large water jugs standing nearby and to fill them with water.  After they are filled, Jesus tells them to draw some out and taste it--it not just wine, but a really good wine.  John makes a point of relating that the guests were perplexed that the best wine was saved for last. If anyone doubts the power of a mother with her son, they only need to read this account, or think of the Ray and Robert Barone.  It is intercession of Mary with Jesus her son that Catholics believe.

Excavated water jug, thought to be the type used at the Wedding in Cana
Photo is of a jug found at the location of the wedding reception

The article in "National Geographic" related various stories of intercession to the Virgin Mary, but I note two.  First, is the story of a man from Boston who was given just months to live, due to cancer engaging much of his body.  At the urging of some friendds he went to Medjugorje, which is in Bosnia and Herzegovnia.  A week after his return to the US a CT scan showed his cancer had shrunk to almost nothing. Since that visit in 2000, the man has returned 13 times.  The second story was the Vatican recognized appearance of Mary to some girls in a small village in Rwanda.  On August 15,  1982 Mary first appeared to one and the two other girls.  The horrible vision imparted to the girls is what they saw during the genocide 12 years later.  The Blessed Virgin's appearance at Medjugorje has not yet been approved by either the local Bishop or the Vatican.  The varied Bishops of Medjugorie, according the article, do not give credence to the reported apparitions.   Of the 2,000 appartions reported since 40 AD, only 28 have been approved by the local Bishop, and even fewer by the Vatican.  The faithful are not required to believe in apparitions.  In the case of the man from Boston, while his doctor noted the disapperance as being rare, it was statistically possible.  In that sense, what happened to Mr. Boyle of Boston will likely never meet the rigourous standards set for a miracle by the Vatican. Yet, that does not mean a miracle did not occur.  In Mr. Boyle's mind one did, and to him that is what is important.

Statute in courtyard of the Church of the Visitation
Depicts Mary (l) greeting Elizabeth who is pregnant with John the Baptist

Fatima, and Lourdes are perhaps the largest shrines celebrating appartions of the Virgin Mary.  In Mexico, Mary appeared to a peasant farmer in December 1531.  The overly skeptical Bishop of the region did not believe Juan Diego when first told and like the doubting Thomas wanted a sign.  Being the good lady that she is, the Virgin Mary instructed Juan to go to the top of the hill and pick roses, even though roses would not grow in that climate during December.  Juan pickes and filled his cloak with roses and when he went back to the Bishop, he opened his cloak.  Roses would stream out, but so to an image of the Virgin Mary on the cloak--the only time she has left tangible evidence.  National Geographic reports that the cloak still is in remarkable shape.  As noted in the National Geographic article, the garment has survived nitric acid that was spilled on part, and went undamaged when a bomb was placed in the flowers below the garment in order to destroy it.  The altar nearby was not so lucky.  Evidence of the divine, to a believer yes, to a nonbeliever or a skeptic no.

Cave where angel purportedly appeared to Mary and Joseph and
ordered them to flee due to the slaughter of the innocents

The article in "National Geographic is titled: "Mary: The Most Powerful Woman in the World." While Mary has the ear and mind of God, and bore the son of God, I do not think of it as power, rather as opportunity.  Mary is a mother to all of humanity and like any mother she sacrifices herself for her children.  What Mary does is give opportunity. We have the free will to decide whether or not to use the opportunity.  It is up to us to determine whether or not we wish to believe.  One of the places I visted in the Holy Land in spring of 2013 was the Milk Grotto.  Located not far from the place of birth of Jesus it is here that the Holy Family took refuge during the slaugther of the innocents, and before heading to Egypt.  Here Mary fed the infant and some of her milk spilled to the limestone floor.  Some believe that the crushed limestone has helped either heal them or allow them to bear a child.  There are many written testaments at the small office to that effect.

Church at Cana recognizing the site of the miracle of turning water to wine

However, as the Friar at the Milk Grotto it is not limestone, it is faith. Sometimes we need a tangible item on which to assist.  While many may like to think that God is on their team's side, that is probably not the case.  The Rogers Hail Mary pass was completed due to practice, the arm strength of Rogers, and quick thinking on the part of a person who was not the intended receiver.  But, there was also faith on both ends of the football. One of the Rwandan women who received that vision in 1982 notes that Mary only asks us to love her as much as she loves us.  Spoken like a true mother.

Photos by the author in Spring 2013