‘The Rosary is a weapon against the evils and the forces against us,’ the shepherd of Arlington, Virginia, told the Register.
October is the Month of the Rosary, and when the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary rolls around each Oct. 7, Bishop Michael Burbidge can always be found at one of the many Catholic schools within his Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, praying the beautiful Marian prayer with students.
“What a beautiful experience,” the bishop told the Register. “We know that Pope Leo has asked all of us throughout this month to pray the Rosary with a specific intention, the intention of peace; peace in our world, especially in these turbulent times, but also peace in our own country, in our own hearts.”
Bishop Burbidge gathered with students at St. Thomas More Cathedral School in Arlington to pray together this Oct. 7.
“It was so wonderful to see our young children with their rosaries, praying with such devotion, such simple joy, childlike faith,” the bishop told the Register.
“And I was just inspired to pray with them, and that’s all I did. I did not lead the Rosary. I just prayed with them, and it was a very powerful moment, and I encourage all of us to embrace that invitation Pope Leo has extended to us.”
Longtime Marian Devotee
It was in seminary that Bishop Burbidge grew in his Marian devotion. “The Rosary is a weapon against the evils and the forces against us,” the bishop told the Register. He also looks to his patron saint. “I have a great devotion to St. Michael the Archangel.”
But it was as a child himself that the shepherd of Arlington learned the Rosary, first witnessing the love his grandmother had for it, praying it “three, four, maybe five times a day. She just loved praying the Rosary,” Bishop Burbidge recounted to the Register.
“That’s something, as a child, you just cannot ever forget, and you knew there was something special there. So along with my grandmother, certainly my own family, in Catholic school, I really learned the importance of turning to Mary as one of the special gifts her Son gave us from the cross — his mother to be our mother, someone who accompanies you and is your friend, someone who protects you. So I’ve always had that sense of Mary walking side by side with us; and to honor her, to meditate upon what her Son has done for us, has continued to be a great joy and is so essential in the life of every priest, especially because she is the mother of priests too, and we need her powerful intercession.”
All for Inclusion
Bishop Burbidge is an advocate for students, especially those with special needs. He has been working indefatigably to make sure all schools within the diocese are inclusive of students with disabilities.
“It’s very dear to my heart. When I came to the diocese almost nine years ago, I was so overjoyed in knowing that at all four of our Catholic high schools, any person with disabilities had access to our schools and not just finding some space for them in school: They were part of the school: full inclusion,” the prelate told the Register, “walking side by side with the fellow students, having lunch together, going to class together, being part of the activities together. And so my goal has been to build upon that. Our actual diocesan goal is that every school should have open arms and the ability to embrace children with learning or intellectual developmental disabilities, and we’re getting there. Because this is the gospel of life; this is a mandate.”
And the entire student body feels the rewards, as Bishop Burbidge told EWTN Radio:
“I cannot tell you what our young people with developmental, emotional learning disabilities bring to our school. They are the gift to us, and they lift up the rest of the students in such a way and bring out the best in them.”
Champion of Unity
Looking ahead to November, when Bishop Burbidge will join his brother bishops for their annual fall meeting, the first gathering together since Pope Leo XIV was elected, the prelate is clearly focused on the words of the new Roman Pontiff, with eyes on unity.
“I think the unity for which Christ himself prayed for — ‘Father, that they may be one,’ [that] is, we are one, you and me, and I and you — is something we’re all praying for within our Church, within our world, within our country, within the assembly of bishops,” he said. “That unity is so important, and that unity is only achieved when we are able to speak to each other in truth and in love and with respect and with mutual listening.”
“But unity doesn’t mean that we tolerate each other. It doesn’t mean we just give in,” Bishop Burbidge added. “It doesn’t mean we just agree on everything, right? But speaking to one another truthfully and not to fear or lack courage to say something that may be difficult or may be sensitive. And you know, very often, the bishops’ meetings allow us to do that, sometimes in public session, sometimes in executive session, sometimes in fraternal [gatherings] when we meet as regents and sometimes privately at lunch or whatever.”
The bishop says he loves getting together with his “brother bishops.”
“I love having these kinds of conversations, even though sometimes it may be difficult. And I would say, I think that the average Catholic parishioner, if they saw the way that bishops engaged with each other, prayed with each other, treated each other, conversed with each other, I think they’d be very proud of their bishops. Doesn’t mean we don’t disagree; doesn’t mean that we don’t sometimes fiercely disagree, but I think they would be very proud of how we are. All of us are working to reflect that unity for which Christ prayed and which our Holy Father is encouraging us to embrace.”