SIC’s Marian exhibition a success

PETALING JAYA: In just the first hour alone, more than a hundred parishioners had already streamed to the Marian Exhibition at the Rooftop of Costantini Community Centre in St Ignatius Church (SIC). The event was opened by SIC Parish Priest, Fr Andrew Wong CDD and Assistant Parish Priest, Fr Lawrence Ng CDD at 10.00am on Sunday Oct 8. Also at the opening were Fr Martin Then CDD and Bro Joseph Lim CDD, together with event organisers comprising ministries and BECs. The exhibition was held in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the apparitions in a mountainous region in the middle of Portugal, known as Fatima, where the Mother of God appeared six times to three young children.

Anchored by the theme Mother Mary is in the Heart of Every Disciple, the event showcased the four Marian Dogmas (Perpetual Virginity, Mother of God, Immaculate Conception and Assumption) and 12 apparitions of which nine have been approved by the Catholic Church. Visitors were able to attend talks on various Marian topics, view video screenings and movies, hand in prayer petitions, pray the rosary as a community and take in the beautiful decorations, artwork and figurines.

Various groups started to visit the exhibition, including a delegation of 40 from the Chinese Apostolate of St Joseph Church in Plentong, Johor, on Oct 15. Another group of 20, included six priests from Hualien Diocese, Taiwan, whom Fr Francis Ng CDD, Fr Stephen Ng CDD and Fr Augustine Lee (Parish Priest, Sacred Heart Church, Bentong, Pahang) were happy to meet. There were also 40 residents and caregivers from the Little Sisters of the Poor, more than 20 residents from Sri Seronok Retirement Village, as well as parishioners from the Church of the Holy Rosary, Kuala Lumpur.

Visits from groups continued on Oct 19 with 25 parishioners from the Church of Jesus Caritas (JCC), Kepong, and eight from the Church of St Aloysius, Mantin, Negeri Sembilan. Another JCC group who visited on Oct 21 got a bonus as they were able to catch up with Fr Lucas Ng CDD who was their Assistant Parish Priest for a short while. Fr Ng had just returned from the Vatican as part of a delegation of Congregatio Discipulorum Domini (CDD) priests who met His Holiness Pope Francis, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the founding of CDD by Cardinal Celso Costantini in 1927 and the start of the process for his beatification. On the same day, the SIC Single Adult Ministry (SAM), Family Life Ministry (FLM) and a Bahasa Malaysia group led rosary prayers. FLM Singers also added a musical touch with renditions of various Marian hymns.

Several priests enhanced the exhibition by giving talks. They included Fr Michael Chua who spoke about the Role of Mary in the Life of the Church and as First Disciple, Fr VA Michael who shared about Mother Mary and celebrated the 6 pm Mass on Oct 15. Fr Then and Fr Stephen Ng gave a talk in Mandarin titled Mother Mary Navigates Us to Jesus Christ and Guadalupe respectively. Amongst the visitors on the final two days were Archbishop Julian Leow and Fr Mari Arokiam.

Fr Wong declared the exhibition closed at a Thanksgiving Mass at 6.00pm Oct 30. He hoped that attendees know more about Mother Mary now through this event. Central to its success were the dedication and hard work put in by committee members, volunteers from various SIC ministries and BECs, and donors.

About 7,000 visitors attended the three-week exhibition. Visitors came from as far as Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam, and locally from Johore, Malacca, Pahang, Penang, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak and Terengganu. Many commendations were received including one for bringing Mother Mary to the parishioners and another for beautiful, informative and interesting displays. The exhibition has indeed touched many in various ways.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online