SR. MARTA HA THI THANH THUY
I first came to know Our Lady through my family; my grandparents and parents taught us, children and grandchildren, to pray morning and evening prayers by reciting memorized prayers and saying the Rosary. I also remember my mother teaching me how to count the beads, but since I didn’t know yet when to move on to the next bead, there were times when I’d be praying and would have to look at my mother’s hand to see which bead she was on, then follow along with my own fingers. At the end of the prayer time, my mother would lead us in singing familiar hymns; for example, in March we would sing about St. Joseph, while the rest of the year we would mostly sing about the Blessed Virgin Mary. Perhaps that’s why I’ve remembered these hymns since I was a child.
In the parish, liturgical ceremonies are organized according to the liturgical seasons. There are two special months dedicated to honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary. One is May, also known as the Month of Flowers. Every Sunday afternoon, each parishioner brings flowers, whether grown at home or purchased, to offer to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Groups take turns dancing to offer flowers to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is very devout and beautiful – a myriad of flowers bloom at the feet of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
October, the Month of the Rosary, involves praying in neighborhood groups within the parish. Where I live, most houses are close together, and nearly all residents are Catholic, so we take turns reciting the rosary and praying at each family’s home. We rotate through the homes until the end of October. On the last day, we gather at the parish’s Shrine of Our Lady to pray the rosary together. We usually recite the rosary at 7:30 p.m. That’s a convenient time since everyone has returned from work. Kids like us looked forward to the time after the rosary, when the hosts would treat us to drinks, snacks like popcorn, candy, and fruit. It was always so much fun. These memories still linger in my mind.
What I want to say is that even before we knew who the Blessed Virgin Mary was or what she was like, we were taught and guided by our grandparents, parents, family members, priests, brothers, sisters, and catechists… Over the years, our faith and love for the Blessed Virgin Mary took deep root in our hearts. At first, we simply followed and imitated, but now we can proclaim on our own: The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God, the Mother of humanity, the Mother of the Church, and the Mother of every one of us. We also sense, to some extent, the “Yes” she spoke long ago—the very moment she was ready to accept the death she might have to endure. She was ready to offer her entire life to God. When she fled to Egypt with Saint Joseph and Jesus, and when she heard the prophecies of Simeon and Anna, how deeply the Blessed Mother must have suffered! Above all, when she stood at the foot of the Cross, witnessing her dearly beloved Son being crucified… oh, who can fully comprehend the anguish she was enduring at that moment… Throughout her entire life, she was always ready to say “Yes,” even when she did not fully understand God’s will.
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