9 Flowers for Mother Mary and 9 Gifts for Needy

Mangaluru: St Joseph Church, Jeppu, prides itself on actively involving children in various social service activities. These initiatives aim at instilling in them the values of service, compassion, and empathy towards those in need.

The parish council, led by Fr Maxim D’Souza, encouraged the children to play a significant role in this initiative named “9 Flowers for Mother along with 9 Gifts for My Needy Neighbour,” which included spreading awareness, collecting, and sorting essential items. It was heartening to see their enthusiasm and commitment to find ways to make a difference in others’ lives.
It was inspiring to see how enthusiastically they participated and how much they learned from these experiences. All the collected essential items were donated by the children to St Joseph’s Prashanth Nivas, Jeppu, and Mother Theresa Convent, Falnir, Mangalore, for the poor and needy. The church hopes to continue organizing similar social service activities to encourage the children to grow into compassionate and socially responsible individuals.

The Novena of the Nativity feast of Our Lady was a time of deep spiritual reflection, prayer, and celebration with special prayers dedicated to Our Lady daily for 9 evenings at the church, and the whole community was encouraged to attend and participate. The daily masses had specific intentions for the Nativity of Our Lady, and the homilies focused on the significance of this feast. During novena days, snacks were served, which were sponsored by various donors.

On the feast day, we organized a Marian procession around the church premises. The statue of Our Lady was beautifully decorated with flowers, and the procession was accompanied by hymns and prayers. It was a solemn and joyful event, and many parishioners actively participated in the procession. After the Mass, sugarcane (sponsored by Mr Louis Santos, Jeppu) and a sumptuous breakfast were served to the devotees.