By Anthony Barich
ST MICHAEL’S Catholic Primary School in Bassendean hopes a new initiative of placing a statue of Mary in each classroom will help re-evangelise parents and bring them back to Mass.
The initiative by Bassendean parish priest Fr Jim Shelton also saw each of the 235 students receiving a set of Rosary beads, which were produced by two Perth Vietnamese women as part of a global network of Rosary-makers.
All school students gather twice a week to pray a decade of the Rosary – a practice Fr Shelton hopes will inspire them to take it home to promote family prayer.
“The older generations go to Mass, but there is a whole generation missing there, and hopefully this will help reconnect them with their faith, and Mary,” Fr Shelton said.
School principal Laurie Bechelli, who took over this year after three years as principal of St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Northampton in the Geraldton diocese, said it is an important way to bridge the gap between the school and its adjacent parish, St Joseph’s.
“We’re reaching out to school families to encourage them to become involved in the parish and come back to Mass,” Mr Bechelli said. “Prayer is such an important part of a student’s formation.”
Each classroom has a prayer table, on which sits a white statue of Mary.
The women who made the sets of Rosary beads – Nuong Nguyen and Ha Huynh – are members of Marian apostolates in the Archdiocese, and ordered the beads from Kentucky-based Our Lady of Rosary Makers, which are famous throughout the United States for creating and teaching how to make Rosaries.
Ha Huynh’s older sister Sa Huynh, based in Williamsburg, Virginia, in the US, has with her sister been making Rosaries for Catholic missions.
Having made thousands of sets of Rosary beads, they mobiise their forces together whenever anyone in Australia or the US needs a large consignment of Rosary beads. They have already provided several parishes and schools in Perth with Rosaries.
Nuong Nguyen said that whenever Mary appeared in Fatima and Lourdes, Our Lady asked the world to pray the Rosary, “so it must be important”.
“If the Mother asks for it to be done, we just do it. So let’s promote what Our Lady wants, and become her instrument,” said Nuong, who supports the Marian Movement of Priests.
Ha Huynh, who is with the Vietnamese Catholic Community’s Legion of Mary, said that when she first started making them it was a struggle, but praying during the process helped her in a tangible way.
“When I first started I sometimes prayed to Mary ‘please help me finish these so I can finally get to bed’, but once it’s learned, it gets easier,” she said. They now take 15 minutes each to make.
Both Ha Huynh and Nuong Nguyen are happy to teach priests, teachers or lay people from throughout the Archdiocese who want to learn. They can be contacted on 08 9382 2236.