Ave Maria! Statue of Our Lady of Lourdes Installed at St Agnes Special School Campus
Mangaluru : During the time when Mangalorean Roman Catholics are gearing up for the big family feast of Monthi Fest, which is the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 September, the Apostolic Carmel nuns managing the St Agnes Special School, Bendore-Mangaluru received a special religious gift from one of their well-wishers and philanthropist Max Rasquinha, a Mangalorean but settled in Texas, USA. And the gift was a six-feet fibre cast statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, which will find a permanent place in the grotto which will be built within few months in the School premises.
Regarding, Our Lady of Lourdes, it is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in honour of the Marian apparitions that occurred in 1858 in the vicinity of Lourdes in France. The first of these is the apparition of 11 February 1858, when 14-year old Bernadette Soubirous told her mother that a “lady” spoke to her in the cave of Massabielle (a kilometre and a half (1 mi) from the town) while she was gathering firewood with her sister and a friend. Similar apparitions of the “Lady” were reported on seventeen occasions that year, until the climax revelation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception took place.
In 18 January 1862, Pope Pius IX authorized Bishop Bertrand-Sévère Laurence to permit the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lourdes. On 3 July 1876, the same Pontiff officially granted a Canonical Coronation to the image that used to be in the courtyard of what is now part of the Rosary Basilica. The image of Our Lady of Lourdes has been widely copied and reproduced in shrines and homes, often in garden landscapes. Soubirous was later canonized as a Catholic Saint.
That was a little bit of history pertaining to Our Lady of Lourdes. On Friday, 6 September, the AC nuns, teachers and 300 plus students of St Agnes Special school were anxiously waiting for the The statue of Our Lady of Lourdes to be installed in the premises of St Agnes Special School, well before the rains could dampen the mood- and everything went on well, few minutes before the mother nature showered its blessings in the form of rain. The School band welcomed the dignitaries, namely Philanthropist Max Rasquinha, John Samuel- a NRI and a well-wisher of the school, Sr Olivia AC- Director of the School Vocational Training Centre, Sr Maria Anita AC- Joint Secretary of the School, Sr Maria Shruthi AC- Principal of the School; and Fr Pius James D’souza- OCD-a Episcopal vicar.
Sr Maria Shruthi AC welcomed the dignitaries, and mentioned that it was Max Rasquinha’s dream to have a grotto at the school, with the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, and now his dreams have come true, where this statue at the moment will be installed near the entrance of the school office, and at the side of the Yesu Prema Niketan AC convent. After the statue was taken in a short procession from the main school building, it was installed near the side of the convent. Fr Pius D’Souza OCD, conducted the prayers, blessed the statue and garlanded it with flowers. Everyone joined in singing a hymn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and thus ended a joyous religious ceremony, short and sweet.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean donor of the statue Max Rasquinha said, “I always wanted to have a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes in a grotto at St Agnes Special School, a school for the differently-abled children and adults who are very dear to my heart. The 6-feet statue made out of fibre shipped from Rajasthan will be full of inspiration to the students, staff and Sisters at this school. Devotion and prayers should be practiced during our daily life, and I am sure that this statue of Our Lady of Lourdes will bless all those who walk into the premises of this School and convent”.
Teacher Ms Philomena D’mello compered the proceedings of the ceremony. Concluding this report with a prayer and a Hymn -” Our Lady of Lourdes, we come to you like little Bernadette at the grotto. We pray with childlike trust in you. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, when you appeared in Lourdes, you made it a holy sanctuary where many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and corporal. We pray with confidence for your holy intercession. Bless and guide all those who walk into the premises of St Agnes Special school”.
Thank you so much, Alfie, for your wonderful write-up on the installation of the statue of our Lady of Lourdes at St. Agnes Special Education School at Bendore on September 6, 2019. What a lovely blessing for all the children of Special Education to have the presence of the Grotto of our Lady in the very school compound so that with the Lady’s blessings the children will continue to thrive in their daily struggles of life.
May the Lady of Lourdes comfort these children and their parents who visit the school every day and are being nurtured so well by the well trained faculty members and the loving A.C. Nuns. May God help them all.