Community honor s ‘Mother of the Universe’

Priests from several parishes, parish members, and community members filled the Mount Carmel Cathedral Monday night as Little Miss December 8 Queen Kayla Monique Cabrera walked up the aisle and crowned the blessed Mother Mary in celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the patroness of the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa.

“It is her [Mary] love for her son that makes her holy,” Rev. Tinong Daynos II said in his homily. “It is the same love that she and Jesus show toward us.”

Rev. Fr. Ryan Jimenez, Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Chalan Kanoa, presided over the three-hour Mass and Rev. Fr. Isaac M. Ayuyu served as the master of ceremony.

The Immaculate Conception is often referred to as the “dogma of the Catholic Church.”

The annual three-hour liturgical celebration celebrates the belief in the Immaculate Conception. This occasion is recognized universally and is the patronal feast day for Spain, Korea, Portugal, Brazil, the Philippines, and the United States—nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary.

Everyone in attendance later participated in the traditional “Lukao” or Procession of the Blessed Mother, led by parish altar servers, parish members, several organizations, and the students of Mount Carmel School and their band.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception also featured a candle tribute to Blessed Mother Mary, with people raising their candles and singing Abe Nanan Yu’us and exclaiming “Biba” as darkness began to set at the cathedral.

The Mount Carmel community has participated in this annual feast since the ’60s and was present that night to once again share their voices and lead the diocesan community in song, the Liturgy of the Word, Liturgy of the Eucharist, and the procession.

“Mount Carmel has always had a great partnership with the Diocese and this is probably a good example of that,” Mt. Carmel School president Galvin Deleon Guerrero told Saipan Tribune. “Our school was founded under the Diocese, under the Mount Carmel Cathedral, and it is only fitting that we do this every year for Our Lady of Mount Carmel.”

MCS teacher Frances Taimanao has attended the celebration for the past seven years and described the event as “a devotion to faith and a time we can reflect on what we believe in.”

Little Miss December 8 Queen Kayla Cabrera, 8, said she was “happy” to be the Queen during the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Her mother, Zeny Borja, shared that this was the first time her daughter ran for Queen. “She is doing this for the church and her community. Being a Queen is only secondary, the thing that comes first is her service to the church and the community.”

According to Borja, Cabrera currently serves as an altar server and is “always looking for ways to better serve the community through the church.”