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How much do you spend to give yourself a birthday party? The birthday party of your loved ones? How much would you spend for the birthday of Mother Mary, the Mother of Christ? What gift would you give her?
What gift would Blackstone founder Steve Schwarzman give Mother Mary? For his 60th birthday party, he spent US$3 million.
What gift would Sir Philip Green, CEO of the Arcadia Group, give Mother Mary? He spent US$20 million for his 60th birthday extravaganza in Mexico.
If he were a close friend of Mother Mary, what gift would the Sultan of Brunei give her? He spent US$25 million for his 50th birthday gala.
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It was Mother Mary’s birthday last September 8.
Back in August, I thought the best gift that my family and I could give the Blessed Mother was the holding of a Children’s Rosary Learning Journey at the Faithful Shepherd’s Garden
As published in our website, we charge Php500.00 or US$11.36 per person for a half-day session which includes venue and equipment rental, snack, lunch, rosary learning kit, rosary booklet, handouts, facilitator’s fee, certificate, and miraculous medal.
Some responses trickled in, but there were not enough warm bodies so we could cover the costs. I prayed with more feeling. Lo and behold, an e-mail from someone who’d like to remain anonymous said he was donating two hundred dollars (US$200) so that some kids could join the Children’s Rosary Learning Journey!
It was up to me to find the beneficiaries. So I offered the sponsorship to two parishes, but there were crinkles in the communication line. By the last week of August, I was worried that no guests would be attending Mama Mary’s birthday party.
That’s when we thought of inviting a small school with 600 students in
Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila. Being a small school, it didn’t have layers of bureaucracy.
Serendipitously, the school’s name is Miraculous Medal School. One of the
facilities at the Faithful Shepherd’s Garden is the Grotto of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal.
Immediately, the school’s Head of Academics accepted the sponsorship with humility and gratitude. We told him that the US$200 sponsorship would cover the fee for 17 students and teacher chaperones. The exchange rate was 44 pesos to one dollar.
He didn’t ask me about other costs such as transportation or other concerns such as parents’ permission. When he accepted the sponsorship, he took care of the rest.
August having been a stormy month made stormier by relentless southwest monsoon rains (habagat), we had to clean up and do minor repairs at the Faithful Shepherd’s Garden from September 4-7.
On the morning of September 8, two vans carrying fifteen students and teachers of Miraculous Medal School pulled up at the Faithful Shepherd’s Garden. The students are officers of the Student Council. They were welcomed by the soothing melody of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.
Fruit-picking was supposed to be the last activity. But the ripe yellow-green guavas were irresistible. Everyone squealed with delight that the guava trees were laden with fruits up to the lowest branches touching the ground. Even the school principal discarded her poise and
ego at the gates, went under the trees, and started picking and eating the rain-washed guava fruits.
When everyone had calmed down from the excitement of guava-picking and eating, we said our opening prayer and got acquainted. The conversation activity called, “Fixing a Broken Heart” was an instant hit.
Then we revisited the stories of divine love in the Joyful and Luminous mysteries, memorized the ten mysteries through pictures, and learned the “Joyful Rap.” It was awesome observing the teachers and students perform the “Joyful Rap.” There was no generation gap!
After the morning snack, we re-traced the origin of the Holy Rosary through the lives of St. Dominic Guzman and Blessed Alan de la Roche. Then we focused on the origin and meaning of the Hail Mary prayer. Finally, the participants worked with their hands by making one-decade rosary bracelets.
We said the Angelus at 12 noon, then had a simple lunch of chicken adobo, mustard and radish salad dip, boiled native egg, and rice cooked with pandan leaves.
At 12:45 p.m., the participants got ready to pray around the Rosary Garden. Student prayer leaders were assigned and everyone wrote individual petitions in his/her Rosary Booklet.
Each student prayer leader took care of one decade and read out thanksgiving and petitions for world peace, the healing of Mother Earth, bridging of family relationships, good health, good grades, and abundance for all.
As we were praying the first Glorious Mystery in the Rosary Garden, it started to rain. So we all huddled under the grass-roofed Grotto of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. We concluded the Rosary Learning Journey by offering white roses to our Blessed Mother. In the background was Andrea Bocelli’s rendition of Ave Maria.
The participants from the Miraculous Medal School were a dream group. They were united, supportive of one another, receptive, responsive, open, cheerful, positive, and energetic. Most of all, they were articulate and creative. They jumped into the Rosary Learning Journey like fish who had been longing for water.
Their gift for Mother Mary’s birthday was their total, humble, and joyful presence. It was the perfect gift!