279. The Assumption of the B.V.M. Setbacks
Thunder, lightning, hail and brimstone was let out of the heavens just two hours before the villagers were to take the statue of Our Lady shoulder high out in the streets.
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| Fr Matthew Blesses the statue |
That was it, I thought to myself, no procession today for the feast of the Assumption, Patroness of the village- they had won.
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| At The Consecration |
Who are they? They are the ones who take out Our Lady only at Christmas time to place her in the crib and then put her away for the rest of the year as if she had nothing to do with Jesus coming on earth. They are the ones who say Catholics use idol worship practises with regards to Our Lady and so on and so on.
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| The Mass was concelabrated by newly ordained priest Fr Matthew and Fr Fabio |
But the affection that Catholics have for Mary stems from the fact that she is the queen of saints, that she is the Mother of God, and that Jesus openly gave her to us to be our Mother and consequently reigns in our homes, because to put it plainly she is the queen of the kitchen sink.
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| However, even though the rain had gone, the brolly stayed up- just in case... |
And that is why we take her shoulder high through the streets, because she is the Lady of our village, the Lady of our homes and as long as she remains such our youth do not need to fear the poisonous needle, white powders and pretty coloured pills that drive such youngsters crackers and end up inside the wreck of a car at the dawn of the next day they will never see.
Fr Matthew who was recently ordained said Mass today, assisted by Fr Fabio who periodically returns to his home town. At the end of Mass, because there had been bad weather, Fr Fabio said there would be an attempt to take the statue out through the streets of the village and as the men of the parish were putting the statue on their shoulders I slipped out the side door so I could take a snap shot of when the procession came out of the main church door.
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So as not to tempt fate, we took a short cut and only went round the church. |
Alas, it was raining and I noticed our car mechanic arming himself with an umbrella to cover, at least Fr Mathew, who was holding the icon of Our Lady in his hands.
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| Fr Matthew blesses the people with the icon |
But as soon as the procession came down the church steps and paused for a moment at the bottom, waiting for the parishioners to catch up, the rain had gone... not a single drop came down from the sky- no longer was there a cold drizzle making an impact on my hot bare arms.
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| Homage |
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| Waiting to pay their homage |
When Our Lady comes to earth, she always leaves a sign.
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| A remembrance photo of Fr Matthew's visit with the altar servers |
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| A remembrance photo of Fr Matthew's visit with the choir |
We do this every year, but every year is different.
