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Praying and honouring the Blessed Virgin Mary during the month of May has been a Catholic tradition for hundreds of years. This devotion to Mary is especially meaningful to IHMS because of her prominence in the school’s name, and in the order of Sisters who own and operate the school.
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| One student from each class carried either an icon or a statue of the Blessed Mother |
In the past, St. Nicholas School (the school that eventually became Immaculate Heart of Mary School in 1962) held an annual “Crowning of Mary” ceremony every May. Since the custom of Mary crownings has fallen out of vogue in recent decades, IHMS has replaced it with a different form of veneration – a prayer service and rosary walk.
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| Students praying in the back lane during the Rosary Walk for Mary |
| This was the 18th consecutive year that IHMS has initiated a prayer service and rosary walk for Mary. This year’s prayer service was held on Friday, May 24 with students and staff gathering in the school gym at 9:00 a.m.. immediately after the morning’s opening exercises.
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As usual, the students sat on the floor facing a temporary altar that was set up in the center of the gym. The altar held various statues and icons of Mary that were collected from prayer corners from each of the different classrooms.
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With the students quietly sitting on the gym floor, Mr. Picklyk welcomed everyone and began the prayer service by projecting the words to the song “O Maria”, which the students sang.
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| The words to the song “O Maria” (in Ukrainian) on the gym wall |
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Sister Ruth Aney, SSMI then read a passage from the Gospel According to Luke about Mary’s visitation from the angel Gabriel (the photo to the left depicts a Byzantine era icon of the Angel Gabriel). The passage described Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she will be giving birth to the Son of God. |
Next, grade 6 student Kristen S. and grade 7 student Conor R. read a set of petitions, after which everyone replied: “Oh Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us”.
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Since everyone was gathered for a Rosary Walk, most students brought their own rosary beads from home. Mr. Picklyk spent a few minutes talking about how to pray the rosary – 10 “Hail Marys” followed by an “Our Father”. Students who forgot to bring a rosary from home were told that they could keep track by using their 10 fingers.
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Mr. Picklyk then called a preselected student from each grade to approach the altar and receive either an icon or statue of Mary. These students had volunteered to carry an icon or statue while leading their class on the walk around the school.
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| A grade 1 student with the icon he carried on behalf of his classmates |
The procession began with the Kindergarten and grade 8 students (who paired up together), followed by the grade 1 and grade 7 students (who also paired up together), followed by the rest of the grades. Charles C., a grade 8 student, led the procession with Ms. Paulic and one of her kindergarten students. Anton A., the school’s student council president, followed behind carrying a large icon of the Blessed Mother.
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| Some of the IHMS staff members praying during the walk |
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Basically, the students walked through the playground and around the school twice. The entire walk lasted about 10 minutes. During the walk, the students recited the rosary, and continued to do so for 2 complete laps around the school.
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After the second lap, everybody filed back into the gym to finish off the rosary and to sing “Ava Maria” as a closing hymn.
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| After completing two laps around the school, students and staff reassembled in the gym to finish off the rosary as a group and to sing a final hymn |
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