To the Band of Brothers: Our Lady of Belen Edition

The 25th year of the 21st century has not seen an edition of “The Band of Brothers.” While most may have experienced relief from the respite, a small number of masochists have asked what has happened. I don’t really know. Maybe there was nothing to say. Perhaps I was just waiting for the right moment. Maybe, January 21st, the great feast day of Our Lady of Belen, was the right moment. So, in order to sound the alarm and ring the bells on this blessed morning when the Belen Jesuit community pauses to recognize our patroness, I have decided to flood your inboxes with this email.

It’s a good idea to remind you why the Virgin Mary, under the title of Our Lady of Belen, is our patroness in the first place. When Queen Isabella II of Spain issued the royal charter in 1854 for the establishment of a Catholic school in Havana, Cuba, the Jesuits, who answered the call, took over a building formerly occupied by the convent and hospital of Our Lady of Belen. Instead of reinventing the wheel and as a way of recognizing the religious order that had built the original building, they kept the name. It only made sense from that moment forward to ask Our Lady of Belen to keep her eyes fixed on the school. 

And fixed her eyes have been. Through ups and downs, revolutions and dictatorships, exiles, five campuses, two countries, and even a pandemic, Our Lady has remained staunchly at the helm, ensuring our band of brothers not only survives, but thrives. This year in particular, we celebrate 170 years of thriving. Our story is unique and, while I am sure other Jesuit schools have great stories to tell, ours is definitely extraordinary.

The greatest bit of advice ever given in the Scriptures can be found issued from the mouth of the Blessed Mother. In the story of the wedding feast at Cana (John 2:1-12), the wine runs out and the bride and groom are scrambling to figure out what to do. Mary, numbered as one of the many guests who was present, notices what is happening and comes to the rescue. She goes to her son and informs him. He sheepishly asks her what the problem has to do with him. Mary, paying little attention to her son’s comment, turns to the servants and says what I consider to be the most powerful statement in the New Testament: “Do whatever he tells you” (v.5).

That’s it. The Christian faith is summarized in a simple, succinct, yet powerful statement: “Do whatever he tells you.” It’s not “do whatever I say,” it’s not “do whatever you can.” Her advice is to listen to Jesus and do what he says. These five simple words strung together summarize the theology of every document produced over two thousand years by every theologian, pope, and council in the history of the Catholic Church. Even the Mass, the single most important religious activity that defines the very nature of the Church, is a response to this Marian mandate. Since Jesus, in the Last Supper found in all four gospels, said, “do this,” “eat this,” “drink this,” “take this,” then Mary’s words apply.

Mary’s care over Belen is not coincidental. I strongly believe God, in His infinite wisdom, knew we needed her very powerful intercession. Most Jesuit schools have St. Ignatius as their patron. Others have St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Francis Xavier, John de Brébeuf, Jacque Marquette or any number of other worthy Jesuit saints and missionaries. But we got the Blessed Mother. You can add up the prayers of all those Jesuit saints and their prayers still don’t reach the heels of the powerful prayers of Mary. This, along with the hard work of dedicated Jesuits, alumni, faculty, and staff, helps explain seventeen decades of success. 

Our Lady of Belen… pray for us!