“I am the Lady of the Holy Rosary.” These words were spoken to Lucy on the 13th of October. Ever since that day, the month of October has been dedicated to our Blessed Mother. We, as her daughters, kept up this month by animating the rosary. We also prayed the missionary rosary.
October, also being a month dedicated to the Missions, we didn’t leave any stone unturned in making this month a special one. We began by interceding to the patroness of missions – St. Teresa of Lisieux.
We read the lives of our very own FMA who left their homeland and came to work in India. We shared their stories of courage, resilience, zeal and their indomitable spirit, not forgetting their generosity, simplicity, and humility. All of them, though no more with us in body, are with us in spirit, etched in our minds and hearts.
We wrote letters of admiration and appreciation to our Sisters who are currently serving as missionaries in various parts of the world.
The ‘Word of God’and ‘Mission’ are inseparable. There can be no mission without the Word of God. To remind ourselves that the Word of God must be given its due place in our lives, we conducted a Bible service wherein we enthroned the Bible. We read a couple of passages from the Bible and reflected on them.
During the month we set aside a week to pray for the missions. Each day we prayed for the mission and our missionaries in different continents.
During the Triduum, before the conclusion of the missionary month, we read and reflected on the life of three of our FMA sisters namely-Sr. Antonieta Bohm- ‘From the hands of the Madonna the miracle of life’, Sr. Laura Meozzi- ‘A pioneer in Poland –escape from war or save lives?’ and Sr. Maria Romero – ‘Place your hand, my Mother, place it before mine.’
We concluded the month with a candlelight procession, carrying the statue of our Blessed Mother amidst prayer and hymns to her, for the missions. Whether we are chosen to go overseas or not, let us take a leaf out of the books of our pioneers and be zealous and brave as we practice the ‘da mihi animas cetera tolle’ wherever we are.