BIS #1456 MARIA ASHIANA INAUGURATES MARIAN MONTH

BIS Correspondent
LONAVLA, JULY 18, 2009:
July 16, 2009, served as the inauguration day of the Marian month at Maria Ashiana, Lonavla. All the boys came together on the stage to light the lamp to Our Lady and together sang the bhajan “Mata ki Mahima”. One of the boys, Chandan gave his little sermonette on Mother. He said, A mother is a sea of love and mamta, when thinking of Mother Mary, he said, “I thought of my own mother and I began missing her, but I will do well and go back to see her. Father said, Mother Mary is looking after all the boys who come to Maria Ashiana, it is true, in one year from the streets, I have completed my SSC and now doing my training and also have just got admission for my NIOS STD XII to be completed in the next two years”

The beautiful and pious ceremony came to a fitting end when, Fr. Barnabe shared his own experience of his miraculous escape from lightning in Lonavla and how Mother Mary has always taken care of him ever since those days. He encouraged the children to talk to Our Lady as a Mother, when they have tensions, when they have a doubt of their future, etc.

The previous evening the boys at Maria Ashiana were enthused with decoration of the statue of Mother Mary. The boys were told what they were to expect each day: moments of celebrating their own talents, participating in competitions and most importantly giving a small speech on the virtues of a Mother. They were reminded that they are rough diamonds and are polished by these occasions to prove they are worth more than the rags they pick through these competitions.