By Vernon Khelawan

October is the month of the Holy Rosary and, by extension, dedicated to our Holy Mother. Fortunately, as we prepare to bring the curtain down on the Year of Faith next month, there are myriad opportunities to pay homage to the Blessed Virgin.

One such opportunity to honour our Blessed Mother is the celebrations to observe the patronal feast of the Holy Rosary Church in Port of Spain. Tomorrow at 6 p.m. there will be a live tableau of the Joyful Mysteries at Memorial Park, just a few blocks north of the church. Interestingly, the producers have ensured that our culture will play a major part in the celebration and have included the steelpan and other musical instruments to accompany the church choir in their rendition of the specially chosen hymns and songs, which would certainly enrich the proceedings.

While resolutions are almost always hard to keep, maybe for the month we can resolve to pray the Rosary, if not every day, certainly a few times a week. A gathering of family, neighbours and friends to recite the Rosary and other prayers can go a long way in helping us to keep the ‘Rosary crusade’ going.

Let us encourage greater participation in paying homage to the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, if for no other reason than having our prayers heard for the successful completion of the current restoration of our minor basilica that is named in her honour – the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

We recall a few weeks ago when Papal Nuncio Archbishop Nicola Girasoli, delivering a homily at a Mass to celebrate the patronal feast of Mary Immaculate Queen of the Universe, at Bourg Mulatresse, Santa Cruz, reminded parishioners that when the early Fathers first came to this part of the world, devotion to Mary was one of three pillars of the Catholic faith to which they paid great attention.

Hail, Our Holy Queen!