By Ms Sophiya Bhabor and Mr Vimal for BIS Mumbai

There is a specific grace in honouring Our Lady in the Salesian World. All the Salesian institutes have a specific time from July 16 till August 15 to do so. Don Bosco Bhavan, Alirajpur had its own privilege to honor Our Lady. The evening was blessed as the boarding boys along with the parishioners gathered in the school hall to spend quality time through various Marian activities like Hymns, Slogans, Marian games and much more on August 15, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in the school hall. There were 135 participants including boarding boys, parishioners, youth, disciples’ sisters and the Salesians. Prior to the program ten teams were divided and a place had been allotted to the teams in order to get ready on time. The teams had been asked to prepare slogans, hymns, and decorate the given places before the program initiated.

Holy Mass was celebrated by Fr Xavier Bandya in the Chapel. During his sermon Fr Bandya said that devotion to Our Lady is an essential part of the faithful’s life but along with that they also have to inculcate the virtues of Our Lady, especially her readiness and willingness to receive the word of God and to act according to the word of God. Her lifestyle itself was a beautiful example which helped society to understand the love of God. Soon after the Holy Mass, a statue of Our Lady was taken in a procession which included singing and praying the rosary while bringing the statue in the school hall. After that the faithful dispersed to get ready for the evening program in honor of Mother Mary.

The program began with a moment of silence and grace. Later in the evening, activities on the theme of Our Lady were undertaken like dressing up like Our Lady with newspapers, sketching the portrait of Mary, making rosaries with confetti and thread, solving puzzles of Our Lady, singing Marian Hymns, a quiz, and a slogan by each team.

All the participants had a good experience as they gained knowledge about Our Lady through the activities organized by Fr Cyril, the Disciples Sisters - Sr Asha and Sr Jeevan along with Mr Sonu Bobhor - the Warden, Ayush Awaya and Aman Tirkey. Points were given to each teams according to their performances, which showed how the participants contributed through their skills in various ways. The evening concluded with prize distribution and a vote of thanks followed by delicious dinner for all.