SOMETHING is apparently missing this month in the Saint Raymund de Peñafort building—the life-sized images of the Blessed Virgin Mary annually gracing the college’s hallways every September are nowhere to be seen.
In Pax Christi in Regno Christi in AB: Tranquility through Mary, Our Quest for Peace, the Arts and Letters Pax Romana unit, together with the Communication Arts Students Association, temporarily breaks tradition by withholding their distinctive showcase of Marian effigies to give way for a more participative celebration of the feast of the Blessed Mother.
AB Pax Romana President Lea Reyes said that they are trying “something new this year,” with activities lined up from September 8 to 11 such as photography, poster making competition, evening prayers, and film screenings for the spectators to engage in the celebration.
“This exhibita aids us in acknowledging the Blessed Virgin Mary as our guide in living God’s word,” Reyes said. “This encourages the students to liberally express their devotion to the Blessed Mother.”
Out with the fancy dresses
Instead of designing life-sized images with elaborate ornaments, large prints of Marian images sourced from various Catholic websites were displayed in the Saint Raymund de Peñafort lobby, including the Lady of Guadalupe, the Madonna of Czestochowa, the Lady of Perpetual Help, and the Lady of Fatima, among others.
“We handpicked the images and only chose those which have stories to tell,” Reyes said. “We prioritize the birth of the Holy Mother since she is the greatest among the saints—their Queen.”
Even though such images lack the grandeur bragged by the extravagant costume designs during the past years, the prints were juxtaposed with the photography and poster-making competition entries, nonetheless providing attraction to the Marian exhibit.
Unifying the 12 photo entries are themes of friendship and purity, while the six posters featured the different faces of the Holy Mother, placing emphasis on the prominence of the Holy Queen.
“This is our new way to allow the students to openly show their veneration to the Blessed Virgin,” Reyes said. “It also deepens their understanding of Mary’s role in their lives.”
Such sense of competition and free participation had also set the AB Marian exhibit apart from the other colleges.
The exhibit also braced the studentry for October, the Month of the Rosary, through in-depth discussions on the differences of the Dominican rosaries with the traditional and a rundown on the four mysteries.
“By praying the rosary, one promotes peace in the society, and as harbingers of peace, we become agents of social change,” Reyes said.
