AROUND THE WORLD DEVOTION TO SAINT MARY: E-PILGRIMAGE IN THE MONTH OF MAY

Ave Maria Gratia Plena

My Mom dedicated a bouquet to the Statue of an Indonesian version Dewi Maria (Virgin Mary) dressed in Kebaya and Batik sarong, housed in The Holy See Embassy to Indonesia in Jakarta

            In 431 AD, the Council of Ephesus proclaimed the first Marian dogma: Mary is the Mother of God. Starting in 1830, the invocation, “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you,” which rose up toward heaven, repeated thousands of times in the hearts of thousands of Catholics all over the world. On December 8, 1854, Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception: by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, Mary is without sin from the moment of her conception.

            These rites have led to the round-the-world devotion to Saint Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, which is celebrated annually in the month of May. During this month, Catholics would recite the Hail Mary prayer, conduct rosary with family, pray the Novena as well as frequently attending the Holy Eucharist in church. 

            As far as I could remember, my parents would take me for a pilgrimage in the month of May. Regardless whether it is a short pilgrimage to a Grotto of Saint Mary in Jakarta close to our home, or a rather distant one in Sendangsono, Central Java. To my family, as in other Catholic families, a pilgrimage during the month of Mary is necessary to deepen our relation to God The Almighty through the intercession of Mother Mary.

            Given the occurring COVID-19 pandemic, it is not foreseeable to conduct a physical pilgrimage during this month of May 2020.

            However, I am a firm believer that nothing is beyond our reach when we work our best, put all our hearts and minds in it and pray to God for His blessings. Indeed, when one wide door is closed, two equally large windows would be opened. Therefore, we must not let this pandemic to prevent us from conducting electronic pilgrimage, namely e-pilgrimage. 

            With that in mind, JET tries to select limited images of 10 Statues or Icons of Virgin Mary which I am blessed to have visited and prayed for the past few years. Five well known statues and Grottos in Indonesia, while five others are located in the Northern Hemisphere, including France, Italy and Switzerland. 

            So, my Catholic brothers and sisters, do not feel helpless if you are unable to conduct factual pilgrimage to the holy shrines and church. As in most meetings which are held virtually, it is time to conduct virtual pilgrimage with sincere mind and honest prayer to God. 

            Now, let's embark on JET's e-pilgrimage via Instagram (@JETANDJUNG) as well as Twitter (@JETFABDIPLOMACY) and Facebook Page (JET's Fashion Diplomacy). 

Catatan Kecil Untuk Rekans Diplomat dan Sahabats Fashionista:

Bagi umat Katolik, bulan Mei adalah bulan devosi untuk Santa Maria, Ibunda Kristus. Hal ini dapat dilakukan melalui doa Rosario, doa Novena dan peziarahan/kunjungan ke Gua Maria.

Meskipun Pandemi COVID-19 menghambat mobilitas, namun umat Katolik masih dapat melakukan devosi bulan Mei melalui peziarahan elektronik. Kunci peziarahan secara daring (online), sebagaimana juga dengan peziarahan secara aktual, adalah menghaturkan doa tulus kepada  Tuhan Yang Maha Pengasih, memohon berkat dan mujizat-Nya dalam setiap aspek kehidupan kita, dan agar kiranya peziarahan kita, meskipun elektronik, berkenan kepada-Nya. 

Bunda Maria, Ibunda Kristus, Ibunda Umat Manusia, doakanlah kami.

1st: Statue of Saint Mary Mother of All Tribes in Cathedral Jakarta, Indonesia.

Saint Mary, Mother of All Tribes in Cathedral Assumption of Saint Mary in Jakarta, Indonesia

Wearing ivory colored kebaya with Indonesia Batik sarong and sash, the Virgin Mary's head is adorned with red and white long hair veil to represent the national flag of Indonesia, Merah Putih. The Virgin Mary's kebaya is ornamented with Indonesia's Coat of Arms. 

The statue was unveiled in 2019 during the Month of May.

JET and Mom who is dressed in crimson red-colored Batik blouse. 

2nd: Statue of Pietà in the Cathedral Jakarta, Indonesia. 

The Pietà  statue housed in Cathedral Assumption of Saint Mary in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

The miraculous statue of Saint Mary holding her deceased Son, Jesus Christ. The statue is designed to depict Michelangelo's Pieta located in St Peter's Basilica, Vatican (look below for the epic statue designed by Michelangelo)

Pilgrims and visitors alike to Cathedral Jakarta would stand in awe with this beautiful yet solemn shrine.

The left foot of Saint Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ (The Pietà) in Cathedral Jakarta. After attending Holy Mass in Cathedral Jakarta, pilgrims and church-goers would caress the left foot of Saint Mary as a sign of devotion.  

3rd: Statue of Saint Mary in Cathedral Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia.

When you are travelling to Bali, don't miss a pilgrimage to Cathedral Church in Denpasar.

There you'll find a Balinese inspired statue of Saint Mary holding the Cathedral church.

Grateful as JET got to celebrate the 2019 Palm Sunday Holy Mass in this historical Cathedral.

4th: Statue of Saint Mary in Tomohon, North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia.

In Tomohon, an easy car ride of 30 minutes from Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, a blessed statue of Saint Mary stands inside the Grotto. 

Flocks of pilgrims would light candles in front of the statue and say their prayers in weekdays and weekends.

Nearby the Grotto in Tomohon, North Sulawesi, there is a Catholic Convent which is managed by the Sisters of Carmelite Order. My Mother's cousin is a Carmelite Nun and she's been serving in this Convent for decades. So grateful to be reunited with you, Auntie Nun.

Carmelite Nuns live within the residences inside the Convent's compound and could only be visited by families and friends during limited times in weekends in this public room. 

5th: Statue of Saint Mary in Ganjuran, Central Java Province, Indonesia.

Dijah Marijah Iboe Gandjuran (Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Ganjuran, Central Java).

This epic statue is located inside the Church of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Ganjuran, Central Java. The statue of Mother Mary holding Infant Jesus is made of stone and a reminder to the iconic stupas inside the renowned Buddhist Temple, namely Borobudur. 

Nderek Dewi Mariyah, Ibu Ganjuran, doakanlah kami.

Saint Mary, Mother of Ganjuran, pray for us all.

6th: Icon of Salus Populi Romani in Rome, Italy.

The miraculous icon of Salus Populi Romani, The Protectress of Rome and Romans, pray for us.

Salus Populi Romani is a Byzantine icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary holding the Holy Infant Christ holding a Gospel. The icon is displayed in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. 

The icon arrived in Rome in the year 590 AD during the reign of Pope Gregory I. Pope Gregory XVI granted the image a Canonical Coronation on 15 August 1838 through the Papal bull Cælestis Regina. Pope Pius XII crowned the image again and ordered a public religious procession during the Marian year of 1954. The image was cleaned and restored by the Vatican Museum in 2018.

JET and Mom during a holy pilgrimage to Rome and Vatican in 2019. 

Pope Francis urges Catholics in the world to pray to God, through the intercession of the miraculous icon Salus Populis Romani, to end the current Corona virus pandemic. During an extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing to pray for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, the venerated icon is displayed in Saint Peter's Basilica. 

7th: Statue of Pietà (Virgin Mary Holding His Son, Jesus Christ, after the Crucifixion), in Vatican. 

The larger-than-life statue is located inside the Saint Peter's Basilica, Holy See/Vatican.

Renowned as Pieta, the statue from Carrara marble is one of the world's most celebrated miraculous icon and renowned work of art made in 1498-1499 by Michelangelo Buonarotti. It is an important work of art as it balances the Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism. It is the only piece Michelangelo ever signed. 

With my parents in front of the Pietà in Summer 2019.

The Virgin Mary is represented as being very young for the mother of an approximately 33-year-old son, which is not uncommon in depictions of the Passion of Christ at the time. Various explanations have been suggested for this. One is that her youth symbolizes her incorruptible purity, as Michelangelo himself said:

"Do you not know that chaste women stay fresh much more than those who are not chaste? How much more in the case of the Virgin, who had never experienced the least lascivious desire that might change her body."

8th: Statue of Saint Mary, The Immaculate Conception in Lourdes, France.

The Miraculous Statue of Virgin Mary The Immaculate Conception in Lourdes was founded in the exact Grotto, where the apparition of Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Bernadette took place in 1858.

On March 25, 1858, Saint Bernadette asked the Lady what her name is. The Lady answers "Que soy era l'immaculada Concepciou" ("I am the Immaculate Conception"). 

Bernadette doesn't understand these words. She goes to the priest to repeat what the Lady said, and as not to forget them, she repeats the words during the whole way back. The priest Peyramale was convinced Bernadette is not able to have made it up: the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was at that time a recent dogma in the Catholic religion. Bernadette couldn't have thus understood what it meant. Bernadette, as usual, tells what she's seen and heard. On the way back, she said: "I am happy; I did what I had to do".

After attending the Holy Eucharist held in front of the Grotto, pilgrims, including my parents, were allowed to pray inside the "Blessed Virgin Mary, Immaculate Conception" Grotto. 

A pilgrimage landmark for Catholics, the Grotto in Lourdes is set as an example to Grottos/Caves of Virgin Mary in all parts of the world, including the ones in Indonesia, namely Gua Maria Sendangsono and Gua Maria Kerep in Central Java. 

It is during the 9th apparition of Virgin Mary to Saint Bernadette, on Thursday, the 25th of February 1858 that the Lady says: "Go drink to the fountain and wash" and added "You shall drink of the water of the spring, wash in it and eat the herb that grew there". Bernadette digs a hole in the grass, at the place she was standing. The source will spring out from this hole.

The springs kept producing water from the day when Blessed Virgin Mary pointed to Saint Bernadette. 

9th: The Statue of The Crowning of Saint Mary in Geneva, Switzerland.

The enchanting Statue of Saint Mary in the Notredame du Geneve (Church of Our Lady of Geneva).

The church that I frequently visited for Sunday's Holy Eucharist when I was posted in Indonesia's Mission to the United Nations, WTO and other International Organizations in Geneva. 

Ma Belle Mere Marie a Geneve, priez pour nous.

My Beautiful Mother Mary in Geneva, pray for us. 

JET wore a Batik Jambi shawl during breezy early Spring. 

10th: The Statue of Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Chapel of Miraculous Medal in Paris, France.

The chapel was built in 1815 and was dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1830 it was privileged with the extraordinary events of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin to Sister Catherine Labouré that marked it forever.

After attending a Holy Eucharist, let's take a wefie with Mom in this Sacred Chapel. 

On the second occasion that the Virgin Mary appeared to Catherine Labouré, She told her to engrave the image of Her apparition on one side of a medal and to have Her initials encircled by twelve stars, to symbolize the 12 apostles, engraved onto the other side; She told Catherine to make various medals to protect and bring good fortune to all those who wore it around their neck. Although these apparitions were an honor, they also bestowed great responsibility upon young Catherine Labouré.  

Catherine Labouré, who later became a saint, was blessed by apparitions in a world truly in need of divine help back then. France at the time was plagued with epidemics and mass deaths, and although not immediate, the medals were eventually produced in hopes of helping the thousands of French people dying of a widespread cholera epidemic. People were cured of cholera and said to have experienced various other miracles upon wearing these medals. Parisians, then, justly began calling them the miracle medals.

Blessed Virgin Mary, we humbly seek your intercession of our prayers to God and ask for the miraculous protection of the world and all her inhabitants during these uncertain times of Corona pandemic. Thank you, Mother Mary.