This year, St. Andrew Church Bandra used the Novena in honour of the Nativity of Our Lady to focus on the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy jelling the invitation of Pope Francis to the entire Catholic Church to refashion itself as a place not of judgment or condemnation but of pardon and merciful love. The Novena was structured as as a journey with saints of mercy leading up to Mary, Mother of Mercy. The corporal works of mercy was the unifying and dominant idea during this novena that was held from 30 August to 08 September 2016.

 The Church windows were designed to nurture ‘LIGHT’ through the stained-glass image of the chosen saint. Each day, the journey encouraged review and heartfelt reflection to both, grasp what is going on in our own hearts and give us the zeal to be more merciful in our thoughts, actions and prayers.

Saints, in their time, were often ordinary people who chose to do ordinary things in extraordinary ways – their compass being the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Their lives enriched all they could reach and today encourage and inspire us with faith, hope and love.

The daily PowerPoint presentation focused on the chosen Saint of the day and explained how the core of their spirituality displayed a specific corporal work of mercy.

The Saint Glass project encouraged the participation of all children, cells and communities of the parish to make the saints come marching through the mighty walls of our church, touching lives and hearts with God’s mercy and inviting us to do likewise.

The saints in the spotlight were:

Day 1 – God of Mercy

Day 2 – St. Andrew

Day 3 – St. Vincent de Paul

Day 4 – St. Francis of Assisi

Day 5 – St. Peter Claver

Day 6 – St. Teresa of Calcutta

Day 7 – St. John Bosco

Day 8 – St. Catherine of Siena

Day 9 – Divine Mercy devotion

Feast Day – Mary, Mother of Mercy