It was a welcome pause in a week of record rainfall, but no sooner had the statue of Our Lady returned to St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney after her feast day procession did the heavens – and umbrellas – re-open. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
Around 2,000 attendees scattered to escape the torrents which began the moment the procession concluded, with some exclaiming the timing as “miraculous” and “unbelievable”.
After 170mm of rain in the first 11 days of May, it seemed Sydney’s Catholics were in need of divine intervention to ensure the long-anticipated outdoor procession could go ahead. They got just that.
Mass-goers exited St Mary’s Cathedral for the Our Lady of Fatima rosary procession led by Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP on Saturday in candlelit darkness following the 6pm vigil Mass.
The occasion marked the second annual rosary procession celebrating the feast in Sydney, commemorating the 1917 Marian apparitions reported by Portuguese children Lúcia dos Santos and cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto.
Following Mass, a darkened cathedral was aglow with thousands of candles lit from the flame of the Paschal candle as attendees joined in a rosary recited in Arabic, Croatian, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Malayalam and English.
In his homily, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers had touched on the need for Catholic witnesses to Christ and looked towards Mary as the prime example of such witness.
“When we look to Mary as the first disciple, we follow her in haste,” Bishop Umbers said.
“The message of Our Lady at Fatima, Lourdes, Knock and in other places, is always the same—prayer and fasting. She calls us to live more fully what Jesus has already revealed.
“Mary leads us to Jesus, she convinces us, pleads with us: ‘Believe in my son, follow my son.’
“If we pray the Rosary, we contemplate the life of Mary with Jesus. If we receive the Eucharist duly prepared, we know that it is Jesus we receive into our hearts. In that way, her immaculate heart will triumph.”
FULL STORY
Our Lady of Fatima procession draws thousands to St Mary’s Cathedral (By George Al-Akiki, The Catholic Weekly)
