The Holy Family Convent School in Bambalapitiya is behind the initiative. Its pupils collected dry food, water bottles and stationery. The event included a procession in the schoolyard and the coronation of Our Lady.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – In addition to floral crowns to give to the Virgin Mary for her feast day, the pupils of the Holy Family Convent School, a Catholic Girls educational establishment in Bambalapitiya, a district in Colombo, also collected foodstuffs for flood victims.
Last year too, the school, faced with the tragedy caused by heavy rainfall during the monsoon season, decided to give up part of its floral decorations and donate the proceeds in the form of food to the needy.
The festival took place yesterday in the school courtyard at the end of the month dedicated to Our Lady. Here the girls carried the statue of Mary in procession and sang sacred hymns.
School principal Sister Deepa Fernando told AsiaNews that "the priority of this celebration was to collect dry food, water bottles and school supplies such as pens, pencils and books. We thought that instead of spending money on flowers, the best way to honour our Blessed Virgin Mary was to help people in difficulty."
The girls responded enthusiastically to the school’s initiative and collected many packages of food and stationery. Before the ceremony for the coronation of the statue, the prefect invited those present to pray together.
"Loving Mother,” the prefect said, “we thank you today for all the countless blessings you have brought us in the past year. Thanks to you, our Mother, we have succeeded in achieving all of our goals. And if we are here today, we owe it to you Mother, because all our prayers have been answered through your intercession."
"Today we are here to say with one voice: 'Our Mother Mary, we love you, we worship you and give you thanks for having led us to Jesus and for always being our mediator [...] We want to be as simple as you, filled with the Holy Spirit, dignity and love. Give us a charitable heart and help us be more sensitive to the Word of God in every moment of our life.’"