INTRODUCTION

By 1999, East Timor is 92% Catholic. However this was not so in 1975 when the Catholic population was only 20%. In 24 years, East Timor turned Catholic, though already in 1985, during the diocesan assembly, it was seen that there was need for a deepening of faith. At that time, the sole diocese comprised of the whole of East Timor.

 

DEVOTION TO THE MOTHER OF GOD: OUR LADY OF FATIMA

The Catholic faith during the Portuguese occupation, during the Indonesian occupation and now that East Timor is independent, has always been colored by a great devotion to the Mother of God. In must be remembered that our Lady appeared in Fatima, Portugal. Devotion to Our Lady of Fatima developed very deep roots in East Timor. And it shows itself specially in the months of May (the month of the first apparition) and October (the  month of the final apparition). In these months, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima goes from house to house each night, and members of the community gathered to say the rosary together, and where priests are available, Mass is said. The 13th of these months are celebrated with greater solemnity, either with a parish Mass or a general procession with the bishop, the clergy, the religious and the faithful taking part.

A MARIAN NATIONAL EVENT: PILGRIMAGE OF THE STATUE OF MARY IMMACULATE 1987

The Apostolic Administrator, Mons. Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, SDB took office on the 13th of May 1983. He saw right from the start the ravages of guerilla warfare in the territory. Just a few months after his taking office,  there was a massacre in the village of Lalerek Mutin (Viqueque),  just some 7o km from the capital. He personally went there to see the common grave and the scattered clothings of the victims in the vicinity of the massacre. In separate occasions, Indonesian soldiers and even civilians were killed.

It took him some time to be able to visit the whole territory, not only  the main population centers, but also the remote and far-flung villages and hamlets. Everywhere, he felt the need for peace.

Inspired by the promise of Our Lady of Fatima to the three visionary children, namely, that the war was going to end soon, he decided to implore the Lady of Peace through a territory-wide pilgrimage. He decreed that the Statue of Mary Immaculate  in Fatu-Besi (Ermera),  invoked  as the Pilgrim Virgin (Virjen Peregrina) make a tour of the territory. At that time, the sole diocese had no cathedral, (the cathedral was bombed in World War II), so the statue started from the church of Motael in Dili, which functioned as the cathedral. The long distances between towns were done on a truck, while the relatively short distances between population centers were done on foot. The statue stayed some days in the principal towns and just a few hours in some villages. People from villages and population centers that were far from the route of the pilgrimage went to the nearest towns, waited along the way or even built temporary chapels along the way where the statue stopped for the veneration of the faithful. When the statue stopped, Mass was said with confessions held beforehand. All along the way, people recited the Rosary and sang Marian hymns.

Many times along the way, people waited for the arrival of the statue, sometimes very late at night or even at early dawn. Meanwhile, people also prepared food and drinks for the faithful travelling with the statue, many of whom came from far away.

The Indonesian military and police were informed of the purpose of the pilgrimage, namely to pray for peace. They willingly cooperated and declared a cease-fire. Thus, even the guerilla fighters came down from the hills and forests without their arms, and even volunteered to carry the statue on their shoulders, saying, “Our Lady is our Mother, too.” Other guerilla fighters, doubting the ceasefire, stayed along the way but far from the road.

Sometime after the apparition at Fatima, World War I ended. The promised conversion of Russia came only in 1989, 72 years after the apparition. It also took sometime before peace finally came to East Timor, but Our Lady’s trip around the territory inspired hope for peace in the hearts of the Timorese who took part in it.

 ANOTHER MARIAN NATIONAL EVENT: THE CELEBRATION OF THE 5OOTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST MISSIONARIES IN EAST TIMOR

On November 30, 1996, St. John Paul II created the diocese of Baucau, and in 2010, Pope Benedict XIV created the diocese of Maliana. Both were cut off from the diocese of Dili.

In commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the first missionaries in East Timor, the three bishops, together with their respective curias, decided to repeat the 1987 Marian pilgrimage. This time, however, it was not to ask for peace, but to give thanks for the gift of faith. Also, this time, the statue was not alone in its travel around the country. It was accompanied by the Youth Cross.

At the end of the 1984 Jubilee Year, Saint John Paul II entrusted a wooden cross measuirng 3.8 meters with the words: “My dear young people, at the end of this Jubilee Year, I entrust to you the symbol of this jubilee year…the Cross of Christ. Take it to the ends of the world and proclaim that only in Christ’s death and resurrection there is salvation and redemption.” Since then, the Youth Cross was carried around the world, with thousands of youth gathering together with the pope to celebrate the World Youth Day.

At the end of the diocesan youth congress of 1993, the national delegate for youth and the parish priest of Baucau had a casuarina tree cut and fashioned into a cross. Before the final blessing of the Mass, Bishop Belo blessed it and handed it to the youth of Baucau, who in turn handed it to the youth of Maliana, the site of the next youth congress. Since then, the Youth Cross, commonly known as “Cruz Jovens” was handed from parish to parish each year.]

At the occasion of the 500th anniversary of Christianization (2014-2015), the Statue of “Virjen Peregrina” and the Youth Cross toured all the parishes and quasi-parish of East Timor. The pilgrimage was an occasion for deepening of the faith, revival or strengthening of Christian life, mass baptisms and regularization of marriages, communal celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation and, of course, the Eucharist. The climax was the concelebrated Mass at Tasi Tolu with the three bishops, majority of the clergy and people participating.

 

MARIAN DEVOTIONS

Mary as Patroness

Some parishes and chapels have Mary as their patroness under some title: Immaculate Conception, Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Fatima, Mary Help of Christians, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Mary Queen of the Apostles, among others. And the feast is celebrated with great solemnity with enthusiastic participation of the  faithful.

 

Personal names

Parents name their children after Mary under some title or other. Maria is a very common name among girls. Often, we also come across names like Imaculada, Auxiliadora, Fatima, Lurdes, Maria do Carmo. Some boys have Maria after their first name.

 

Angelus and Regina Coeli

Church bells ring three times a day and people stop to pray the Angelus or Regina Coeli, whether at home, in school or at work. In out compound where young people come to play basketball, volleyball or chamber football, all play stop when the bell rings at 6 in the evening for this prayer.

 

Marian shrines and yearly pilgrimages

There is a yearly pilgrimage at the diocesan shrine of Our Lady of Aitara. It usually starts on Friday sometime in the middle of October and ends with the solemn Mass and procession on Sunday with the bishop of Baucau presiding and almost all the parish priests concelebrating. The other two dioceses usually send their representatives also.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Ramelau, in Ainaro which was inaugarated on October 7th 1997, is also a place for pilgrimage.

On the 24th of May, devotees of Mary Help of Christians flock to the national shrine. Because many are government employees, the members of the Association of Devotees of Mary Help of Christians (Associação dos Devotos de Maria Auxiliadora, in short ADMA) recently moved the pilgrimage to the Sunday nearest the 24th of May.

Many parishes have a grotto or a shrine dedicated to Our Lady.

 

Domestic oratory

In many homes, there is a domestic oratory around which the family gathers for prayers. Almost unfailingly, there is also a statue or a picture of Our Lady, either alone or together with Jesus and Joseph and some other saints. Many homes pray the rosary every night around this domestic oratory.

 

Radio Timor Kmanek and Radio Laleia

The national Catholic radio network “Radio Timor Kmanek” and the parochial radio network of Laleia in the diocese of Baucau broadcast the recitation of the Rosary every evening. Some community radio stations do the same.

 

The recitation of Lauds and Vespers

A few parishes have introduced the recitation of Lauds and Vespers on Sundays, encouraging the faithful to participate. The absence of the breviary in the local language prevents more widespread participation, although there has been some effort done to publish one. But the existing one still needs a lot of correction and editing. Unfortunately the recitation of the divine office in honor of Mary is still something to be desired.

Many boarding houses run by religious, specially girls’ dormitories, have introduced the  practice.

 

Wearing of the Rosary

            It is a common sight everywhere to see people with the Rosary hanging from their neck. In many private vehicles, and even in public transport like microlet and buses, the Rosary hangs from the rear view mirror.

 

CONCLUSION

Trusting filial relationship of Love

In East Timor, devotion to Mary expresses itself in a trusting, filial relationship to a loving Mother. Like the prayer of St. Bernard, East Timorese “run to her protection, and implore her help” knowing that she always comes to their aid.

 

Towards a more oblative love

There is a need to move to a more oblative love like St. John Paul II’s “Totus Tuus, Maria”. His whole life was a gift to Mary. He lived for Mary and did a lot to do things for her. We may say that St. John Paul II sang “Everything I do, I do it for you.”

There is a need to catechize the faithful to do something everyday for Mary. The Salesian tradition of giving a nosegay everyday during the months of May and October as well as during the novena for the solemnity of Immaculate Conception and Mary Help of Christians moves along this line. Here are some examples: “Today, be more punctual at your duties,”  “Help a companion in his studies,” “Visit a sick person,” “Say a good word to your brother or sister.”

 

Imitation

Another direction to be developed is imitation of Mary. There is a need to catechize the faithful that true devotion must lead to imitation. The first thing to imitate in Mary is her readiness to listen to God’s word, keep it in her heart and live by it despite the difficulties and sufferings it may involve. Another trait to imitate is Mary’s concern and effective action for others, as is shown in her visit to Elizabeth and the wedding at Cana. And most of all, her oneness with her Son, from the time she said “Fiat”, especially in his passion and death, “She stood at the foot of the cross” and also with her Son’s Mystical Body “Mary was with them” at Pentecost after his ascension into heaven. Devotion to Mary must lead to a deeper friendship with her Son.

(Rolando Fernandez SDB)