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| Blessing of Mary's Statue |
It has been a while since the parish celebrated Mama Mary's birthday with an evening mass. And so it came, on September 8, 2016, after a 3-year hiatus that the parish celebrated Mary's brithday with a Holy Mass presided by Fr. Al Back, our soon-to-be parish priest. And it was not just the regular mass but a High Mass in honor of our mother.
In Fr. Al's homily, he clearly spelt out the role of our Mother in our salvation. It was because of Mary's fiat that Jesus, the Son of God, came into this world to save us all from our sins. And she, who accepted God's invitation to be the mother of God, is also our mother. Of all the saints and angels in heaven, Mary is only one of three persons whom the church celebrates their birth. The other two are Jesus Christ and John the Baptist. Jesus was from the beginning free from sin and John the Baptist was sanctified and cleansed of original sin upon Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth and as scriptures say 'the child leapt with joy.' As for Mary, her Immaculate Conception, allowed her to be born sinless and was always in a state of grace, was unblemished as the Mother of God.
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| Mama Mary's Birthday Wall of bday cards and petitions |
Father was happy that the Birthday Wall for Mama Mary was full of birthday cards and petitions from parishioners. It was unusual for him to see many parishioners attended the mass when he did not see these many coming to daily masses. He attributed this to the Filipinos' warm devotion to Mama Mary's birthday, just as Filipinos love to celebrate birthday occasions. With all those petitions and well wishes, how can our mother not accede to her children's petitions!
After the mass, the congregation honored Mary with a candlelight procession and the recitation of the rosary as it wend through the streets of Tierra Verde 1. Amidst the threatening rain, the procession went on under a very light drizzle as if it were Mary's tears coming down from the heavens and blessing all.
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| Fr. Al gives his blessing to all |
The evening ended with a prayer and blessing from Fr. Al for all the participants that they may be blessed by our mother.
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