Marian devotion unifies hundreds at Asia-Pacific Islanders pilgrimage
WASHINGTON (CNS) — As three choirs sang a modern-day arrangement of the “Memorare” together May 11, a Vietnamese father, mother and daughter in traditional “ao dai” attire walked reverently to the front of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington and placed an ornate crown on the statue of Mary to the left of the altar. “She is indeed a pillar of faith,” Msgr. Vito A. Buonanno, the shrine’s director of pilgrimages, remarked afterward. “We come as a people … diverse, yet united. … On this day in Mary’s house, we give her honor.” On the very top of the baldachin altar in the national shrine is a statue of Mary, and just behind, in the north apse, can be seen the face of the mosaic “Christ In Majesty.” Listening to the pilgrimage director speak about the importance of going to Jesus through Mary, one could see the concept played out literally in the architecture and art of the “house of Mary” shrine. Msgr. Walter R. Rossi, the shrine’s rector, estimated that about 20 different communities from across the nation turned out for the “Asians and Pacific Islanders for Mary” pilgrimage. After a semi-circle of young men and women with blue and white outfits and glittering light blue and pink head bands from the St. Andrew Kim Korean Catholic Church in Olney, Md., played traditional Korean “buk” drums, the pilgrimage began with a procession in the Upper Church.
