A walk of faith and beliefs

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

I think the last procession I attended was five years ago. Attending processions is a form of therapy for me. Attending the Marian procession today at Kannapolis, North Carolina was food to my spiritual longing.

Over a hundred devotees of Mama Mary attended the procession that was held after the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament inside the Performing Arts center where the Spanish tract of the Marian Congress was held.

I was into my spiritual world with the devotees praying the rosary and singing adoration songs to our Lady. The statue of Mama Mary was dressed in white with thick white sequins and was carried by four men.

I walked past the devotees hoping to get a good picture (by the way I was able to touch the dress of the Lady) when I saw the woman wearing a terno who I'm sure is a Filipino.

I smiled and she smiled back and we started talking. She gave her name as Aida Gamalo and I was surprised because I wanted to interview a Fil-American. I counted it as a blessing, yet another example of how God works in mysterious ways.

Me at right with a devotee

I missed the retreat and English seminar track because I don't have a ride. Sherrlyn Tamayo-Siplon and I couldn't make the time. But anyway, talking to Aida as if I was talking to a nun at the time, I learned about her commitment to Marian evangelization.

She said Marian evangelization is what's needed by the world these days. Aida introduced Mama Mary as her companion and she said they travel together whenever there's a Marian Congress in town.

It struck me when she said that there are miracles but she wants to focus on the vision of Mary. “She wants us to be united and to pray for her son Jesus,” Aida said.

It was interesting to me to listen to her talk because she told me that our Muslim brothers believed on Mama Mary- their version of Mary is named Miriam.

“With all these problems we encountered now- we have in our Lady the common grounds among the believers of the mother of Jesus,” Aida said.

While the procession was a short walk because we just covered the small block of space around the Performing Arts Center, I considered it to be a long, fruitful walk of faith and beliefs. This is what devotion to Mary is all about - bringing us to Christ. 

“To stay close to Mary is to stay close to Christ - it is one and the same thing because she is so at one with her Son. They cannot be separated. In our lady I am reminded of my own mother,” Aida said.

What a blessed weekend for me.