Marian Day celebrations on the first Saturday of each month began in June and run throughout October at the Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate in Guelph, Ont. There, each instalment will see various past and present bishops lead attendees in Mass, confession, reflection and a special rosary procession dedicated to Mary.
It has been 10 years since the Marian Days adoration service began. Auxiliary Bishop Wayne Lobsinger started the initiative in 2014 during his time as pastor at St. Thomas the Apostle parish in Hamilton's Waterdown neighbourhood.
“It was the call of Our Lady of Fatima to have the first five Saturdays of devotion and so this began as a response to that call from Our Lady as a way for the diocese to take part. The plan was that we were only going to do it once before Bishop Douglas Crosby saw its effects and told us to keep going,” Lobsinger said. “St. Thomas has a big beautiful property with stations of the cross on the grounds and a rosary garden and we thought ‘How do we use this now?’ Marian Days became the obvious way for us initially.”
Although the events were postponed for two years from 2020-2021 due to complications stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the event returned to the Diocesan Marian Shrine in 2022 and has continued since.
While the itinerary has changed slightly over the years with some past events adding in catechetical teaching sessions, this year's events focus on the core aspects: the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, confessions, Mass celebrated by a bishop, an outdoor rosary procession and a coffee and tea social afterwards.
Lobsinger says that even after a decade of celebrating, Marian Days continues to grow in popularity.
“When we started, we were getting about 200 participants and now we are seeing anywhere from 500 to 600. We see everyone from seniors with their walkers and canes to families with young children and their strollers going through the procession,” he said. “It is just beautiful to see all these Catholic people who are making an effort to come and give their time, effort and love back to Our Lady.”
The outdoor rosary procession that takes place at 11:30 on each first Saturday morning is the highlight of the ceremony, a physically active act of adoration that separates the Marian Days initiative from other rosary circles in parishes across the globe. Participants walk the outside path of the cathedral while praying the rosary and carrying a statue of Our Lady of Fatima before ultimately congregating for blessings and singing in front of a second statue of Mary that looks out over Guelph.
“It is all about the public nature in which we go outside where people can see us and make that public profession. When we walk around, pray the rosary and carry the statue of our Blessed Mother, it is a statement that people can visually see whether they believe or not,” Lobsinger said. “People outside have to at least stop and think about it because it is not something they see too much. As Catholics, we do not have many public manifestations of our faith anymore, yet here is one that people gather and wish to be a part of - that is an important thing.”
Following Lobsinger as July’s celebrant, Bishop emeritus Matthew Ustrzycki is set to preside at the next Marian Day event on Aug. 3 followed by Crosby and Peterborough Bishop Daniel Miehm for September and October respectively.
Regardless of who conducts each event in the future, Lobsinger hopes of Marian Days continue to serve as a powerful public expression of honour towards our Holy Mother and to the Catholicism as a whole for many years to come.
“It is a wonderful experience to come and be with other Catholics as we make this public declaration of our faith. Sometimes today we are so afraid to let anybody know about that faith, but this is a chance to be with other Catholics, without hurting or harming anyone, just to publicly say — ‘We believe.’ I think that is a powerful thing to be part of.”
For more information on Marian Days, see https://hamiltondiocese.com/events/2024/05/marian-days/.