I was a Redemptorist as a seminarian in Singapore from 1985 to 1988. I am here today to share a particular aspect of the Redemptorists; the Marian spirituality.
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer – Congregatio Sanctissmi Redemptoris – that’s why professed members of this religious order sign off with the initials CSsR – popularly known as the Redemptorists. The Redemptorists, founded by St. Alphonsus Ligouri have the motto “With him is plentiful redemption”. They have a primary mission, to Preach the Good news to the Poor, which gave rise to the strong charism of preaching among the Reds. In 1866, Pope Pius IX asked the Reds to make Mary known; which started the additional devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help (OMPH). This supplementary mission has resulted in thousands of people being drawn to devotions to OMPH all over the world.
In Singapore, the Novena Church draws 14,000 people in total every Saturday to 10 sessions of the Novena. Every year, on the 1st Sunday of Sept, about 30,000 faithful come together to honour our Blessed Mother at the annual procession. For those of you who have not had the benefit of the novena experience, here are some pictures for your benefit. This was last year’s theme. The picture which is at the shrine of Our Lady in Novena Church is carried in procession. Notice the crowd and see if you capture the fervent prayer. Over 100,000 families in Singapore sign up to be consecrated to the intercessory care of our Blessed Mother. The statistics are awesome and it is no surprise that the novena is so well known in Singapore. It is a little known fact that 75 years ago, the Novena started in Singapore in 1 small parlour with less than 20 people (including the Redemptorists who were members of that community). How did it happen?
It was a conscious process of growing in faith; of deepening the relationship with our blessed mother; the Marian Spirituality. If we could sum up the process: Learn, Pray, Live & Novena Experience.
Learn – the Redemptorists develop their Marian spirituality by attending special Marian classes while in the seminary and reading books.
Pray – in daily prayer, the Divine Office, a special prayer to the Blessed Mother is included even though it is not part of the standard office prayer. Every Redemptorist is encouraged to make his own 15-decade rosary while in the novitiate. It is a labour of love but nevertheless painful process over 3 months during which time, the novice starts to appreciate our Blessed Mother and starts praying the Rosary.
Live – the Redemptorists live it by sharing with each other, their own experiences of grace through the intercession of our Blessed Mother right from the seminary. Mary has a very special place in the life of every Redemptorist community. As they progress in formation, final year seminarians onwards start preaching the novenas and giving special Marian retreats.
The 1st 3 arrows pertain to the way Redemptorists develop their Marian spirituality.
The last block, the Novena Experience is how the faithful developed their own Marian spirituality, together with the Redemptorists who serve their community. Faithfully, the community attended the novena to be nourished by the sermons of the Redemptorists. They were encouraged to write letters of petitions. As they experienced graces through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, they wrote letters of thanksgiving. In Singapore, Novena Church alone receives a few hundred letters weekly and in the week preceeding the annual procession, over 600 letters are received by Our Lady. The letters encourage everyone within the community.
When they prayed, they prayed with great fervour – for example, the 1st row of the faithful today kneels more than 10 feet away from the microphone used by the priest during the benediction. The volume of the prayers of the people in the 1st row is picked up by the microphone and reverberates throughout the speakers of the whole church, encouraging everyone to be even more fervent in prayer.
This same formula of growing the Marian spirituality has worked all over the world. How does it apply to us?
Learn – we can grow in our knowledge of our Blessed Mother by attending faith formation sessions, learning from the sharing during our own novena sessions and maybe even researching the internet for the right materials.
Pray – Let us be faithful to the Rosary and include a special Marian prayer when we pray as a family.
Live – while it may seem awkward, let us share with our own families, accounts of faith we hear at the novenas when we reach home or our own faith experiences. In our BECs, have the confidence to share with other members.
Through our own Novena Experience let us deepen our Marian spirituality:
Pay close attention to the sharing by members of our own Marian Devotion Group. It will also enrich your knowledge and deepen your faith.
We are all here for a reason. Many of us have special intentions – make a point to write letters of petitions to our Blessed Mother. When your prayers are answered, make a pledge to write letters of thanksgiving. This will greatly encourage our community.
Today, let us pray to our Blessed Mother with greater fervour. I invite each and every one to commit to pray for 1 extra person to come to this Novena. Let the Novena Experience of SFX draw people to Jesus through Mary - that by the time SFX celebrates its 50th anniversary, we will need to have 2 sessions of the Novena every Saturday with 1,000 people attending each session.
Let us now pray to this same mother who has helped grow the faith and fervour of the community in Novena Church in Singapore over the last 75 years and all over the world for the deepening of our own Marian spirituality.
Let us, as a community, pray in a loud voice and with great fervour, the powerful prayer of the Memorare…(the sharer continued with the presentation of the Novena…)
