Marian Pilgrimage – A journey through the Door of Faith with Mary
In this Year of Faith, the Mission SONshine wished to do something different in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is on 08 September. This year 08 September fell on a Sunday.
The theme chosen was the Marian Passport – a virtual journey to nine important shrines associated with Our Lady – making it both a unique novena and a great travel experience. It must be mentioned that most of these shrines were sites that had witnessed apparitions of Our Lady. The novena ran from 30 August to 07 September 2013 with each day highlighting a country’s devotion to Our Lady, bringing alive her virtues and promises.
Travel kits, like the ones received on a world travel tour, were specially designed and printed and were distributed to the children on the first day of the novena. Each kit contained a cover sheet with insights into the Year of Faith and a pilgrimage fact sheet. An added appeal was the Marian Passport conceptualized and prepared by Fr. Magi Murzello. This was a diary plus attendance record that aimed at cementing the learning for each day.
Each day, the children received a country data sheet and viewed a multi-media presentation on the lives of children in that country – how they live, dress, their habits, etc. Daily, At the end of each day’s novena, Passport Control (decorated daily based on the country) stamped the attendance in each child’s passport. Cookies, by way of ‘Green Cards’, were the reward for regular attendance allowing the winner special goodies e.g. hamburgers from the USA (Day 5) for attending all 4 prior days. Lucky number prizes were awarded on a daily basis by Fr. Michael Goveas, Parish Priest, along with special prizes for children who had recorded the best entries in their Passport.
This innovative concept boosted attendance to record levels this year. On the last day, children were urged to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount to make the novena a very fulfilling and complete experience.
The themes for each day were:
Day 1 – Our Lady of Czestochowa (Poland)
Day 2 – Our Lady of Lourdes (France)
Day 3 – Our Lady of the Pillar (Spain)
Day 4 – Our Lady of Fatima (Portugal)
Day 5 – Our Lady of Good Help (USA)
Day 6 – Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico)
Day 7 – Our Lady of Kibeho (Rwanda)
Day 8 – Our Lady Help of Christians (Australia)
Day 9 – Our Lady of the Mount (India)
The Marian Passport concept has been shared with other parishes as well: Sacred Heart Church, Vashi (2018), Sacred Heart Church, Santacruz (2022) and St. Sebastian Church, Marouli (2024).
