THE SAN BEDA Student Council Executive Council’s (SCEC) Socio-Religious and Cultural Committee and the Bedan Pastoral Ministry (BPM) led the prayer of the Holy Rosary and a talk entitled, “Marian Path to Peace: Towards the Triumph of Unity and Harmony Through the Rosary,” last November 15 at the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat.
The event started with the distribution of rosaries to those present for the session, along with a celebratory mass of the sections that conducted their recollection.
This was followed by a talk revolving around the theme “Marian Path to Peace” by Dom Francisco Maria Ramos, OSB. He spoke on the timeliness of devoting prayers towards peace due to the recent events happening in Palestine and Israel. He also reflected on his monastic name which “holds a symbolic connection to one of the Three Shepherd Children of Fatima.”
The Head of the SCEC Socio-Religious and Cultural Committee, Arlene Grace Sol, along with its Co-head, Valentin Pura, gave an overview on the planning and execution of the Holy Rosary session.
Pura and Sol commented on the selection of Dom Francisco as the speaker for the event, stating that they “sought a speaker with both knowledge and genuine devotion to effectively convey the significance of the Marian path to peace which is the Rosary, aiming to create a more authentic and impactful connection with the audience.”
After the talk, a prayer of the Holy Rosary commenced, incorporating different languages and dialects in our country. This was done to “foster a deeper understanding and connection with the prayer among the participants” according to Sol and Pura.
The SCEC Socio-Religious and Cultural Committee sought to hold this event to “extend the practice of praying the Holy Rosary beyond its traditional observance month in October.” The organizers also sought to “face the difficulty of engaging today’s generation in traditional acts of piety.” With most students not being in the University on the day the event was held, the SCEC Socio-Religious and Cultural Committee added more interactive and informative methods to “bridge the gap between traditional practices and the preferences of the youth.”
With the celebration of the Holy Rosary, the SCEC Socio-Religious and Cultural Committee hopes to “foster a sense of community and spiritual connection among our Bedan community.” Along with that is the desire to “pay tribute to out institution’s rich religious past.” They also hope to reinforce the value of communal prayer; most especially during this age of distractions, giving a time for students to pause and reflect while letting go of distractions.
The talk and Holy Rosary session served to help with the SCEC Socio-Religious and Cultural Committee’s goal to “have a long-lasting effect on the Bedan community’s spiritual development in a number of ways.”
Sol and Pura concluded by saying, “[W]e pray that the group atmosphere created by the Rosary session fosters a feeling of solidarity and common spirituality among Bedans, creating a nurturing and close-knit community.”