The Church also based on the May 13, 1917 apparitions of Mary at Fatima in Portugal to further affirm the month of May as a Marian month.
According to Rev Fr Henry Ssebwana, the vice rector of Bukalasa Minor Seminary in Masaka diocese, on May 13, 1917, three young girls, Lucia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Morta were herding sheep when they saw a woman “brighter than the sun, shedding rays of light clearer and stronger than the rays of the sun.”
The lady is said to have asked them to devote themselves to the Holy Trinity and to pray “the rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to war”.
The month of October is dedicated as the Most Holy Rosary primarily because October 7 is the feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary – the day on which the church in Europe registered victory against the Muslim Turks in 1571.
The Turks who controlled vast Muslim lands in the Middle East were expanding into Europe forcing Pope Pius V to call on the Christian princes of Europe to rally to defeat the Islamic threat.
In addition, he called for special processions and public recitation of the rosary, asking the intercession of the Virgin Mary leading to the defeat of the Muslim army at the Battle of Lepanto.
“During those months, we pay special homage to Mother Mary by saying the rosary daily and the litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, seeking for her intercession,” Fr Ssebwana said.
The litany of Mary is a special prayer recited after the rosary. It was composed and first used by pilgrims at the Marian shrine in Loreto, Italy in the 16th century and approved by Pope Sixtus V in 1587.
Besides the two months, the Church also has other special days dedicated to the glorification of Mother Mary. One such a day is August 15, which is the feast day for the Assumption of Mary into heaven.
The Roman and Orthodox Catholic Churches believe that on this day, the Virgin Mary’s body was taken up into heaven at the end of her earthly life.
“The Assumption of Mary into heaven is one of the major feasts of the Catholic Church and on that day, the church allows moderate processions to give reverence to Mary because of her role as Mother of God,” Fr Ssebwana said.
Some of these processions were witnessed in Kampala with a priest holding the statue of the Virgin Mary in an open-roof car, followed by a brass band and devotees.
“It is a long-held tradition that Christians move with the statue of Mary… because at the time there were fewer households, a priest would move with the statue of Mary and visit households which we call ‘Mary visiting homes’. It could also be done by small Christian communities of about 10 households who move around with it [the statue] showing the significance of Mary in the church, and also praying for her intercession,” Ssebwana said.
During the processions, the devotees invoke Mary through recitations of the rosary and litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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