James 5:13 says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him SING PRAISE.”

Before the month of the Holy Rosary ended, for the first time in its history, the Religious Family of the Institute of the Incarnate Word Philippines held a rosary-concert for Our Lady of Lujan entitled “Harana para sa Mahal na Birhen ng Lujan”.

“Harana” in English is SERENADE and to give due veneration to our Blessed Mother, as part of the Holy Rosary, 5 choral groups prepared and offered songs to her right before each decade. This made the event much more special for Our Lady as people from the nearby barangays also attended and prayed with the community.

The first to offer their song “Ay Santa Maria” were the sisters from the Institute of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara who called themselves Our Lady of the Angels Chorale.

Before the 2nd Glorious Mystery, inhabitants of Sentro, San Celestino graced the stage and rendered the hymn “O Maria, Virgo Pia” to our dear Mother, the San Celestino SENTRO choir.

The youth from Sitio Papayahan didn’t take the challenge sitting down by venerating Mary and interpreting the song “O Sanctissima” in their own way. They are the Tinig ni Maria Choir.

Of course, our brother seminarians from the Our Lady of Sheshan Scola Cantorum also hymned a song of their own, the only English song of the night: “My Queen, My Mother” before the 4th decade.

And last but definitely not the least, our special guests from Caloocan City, made up of the Mercy Girls, the Maria Goretti Choir honored Mary with the song “Ave Maria” by Jacques Arcadelt.

After finishing the 5 mysteries, all choir groups went back to the stage to sing with the people Salve Regina. Father Diego Ibarra, Rector of the Seminary, gave a short talk about 2 of the most important benefits of praying the rosary: “final perseverance and uniting the family”.

The final part of the rosary-concert was the singing of the Hymn to Our Lady of Lujan in the vernacular by the choral groups while the people lined up and offered their flowers to Mama Mary.

Let us not be shy expressing our love to our Most Blessed Virgin Mary who, in her part, never fails to intercede for us and sings to God our petitions. More Rosary-concerts to come! Viva la Virgen!

 

To see photos of the said event please proceed here

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