MORE than 50 children celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel on July 16 at Infant Jesus Parish in Morley.
It was the first time the parish, which is under the care of the Discalced Carmelite Friars, has held the children’s event for several years.
The majority of the children, who were aged between 2 and 14, were either from the parish or the Infant Jesus Primary School.
They took part in a variety of activities and games, including learning the 13 titles of Mary, performing a Marian hymn, and listening to stories about Mary.
At the conclusion of the activities, the children each presented a flower at the foot of a statue of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the parish church.
Parish priest Father Sunny Abraham OCD told the children that Mary was not only the mother of Jesus, but also the mother of all followers of Christ.
“Whatever your problem, whatever your difficulty, Our Lady will keep you, just like she kept her son Jesus, in her arms,” he told them.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey was the main celebrant at a Mass to celebrate the feast day at the Carmelite Monastery in Nedlands.
The feast day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel commemorates the presentation of the brown scapular by the Virgin Mary in a vision to St Simon Stock in the 13th century.
Although the feast day was initially only celebrated by the Carmelite order, Pope Benedict XIII extended it to the universal Church in 1726.