Magnificent

Being educated in a Franciscan school with a strong devotion to Mother Mary, we would always go all out in celebrating her Nativity. It would always start with a mass at Lourdes Church, then there would be a program right after. There were talks, song performances, and sometimes, even a short play about the life of Mary.

As early as our Freshman year, our Christian Living teacher - Ms. Dominguez - would talk about the important role of Mary in the Catholic faith, and how we can show our devotion to her. To her, every month was rosary month, and she taught us to ask for Mary's intercession for anything and everything. (Including our Algebra exams! And yes, I needed intercession for those!)

On September 8, they'd also bring out our school's image of Mother Mary and put it near the AV room door which was the center of the school. And we'd always be amazed because that image looked so much like a school mate of ours named Ruby Rose Brillo. She was known as Lourdes School's Mother Mary and she would always play that role during our Nativity plays.

And of course, I remember all the beautiful Marian songs that would be sung in school on September 8. The most common one being "Immaculate Mother." Hearing this song still brings back memories of the beautiful interiors of Lourdes Church in Retiro Street.



And of course, "Magnificat." The song and the message of the song captures the love, humility and devotion that Mother Mary had. Every time I hear this song, I remember all those teachings imparted to us - by our grandparents, parents to our teachers - of how magnificent Mother Mary really is.


(I wish I could find that upbeat version that we'd usually sing in school.)

Happy Birthday, Mother Mary!