At the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace Oct. 2, the Marianist bicentennial anniversary liturgy began with an oli or opening Hawaiian chant.
Marianist Father Martin Solma, head of the order’s U.S. province above, gives the homily at the Mass as local Marianist brothers follow the Order of Worship.
Story and photos by Darlene J.M. Dela Cruz Hawaii Catholic Herald
On Oct. 2, 1817, French priest Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, with three professional teachers, two seminarians and two artisans, started a “congregation” dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Two hundred years later, on Oct. 2, 2017, Marianist priests and brothers around the world marked with liturgies and prayer the bicentennial anniversary of the founding of their religious order, and the graces borne from their far-reaching ministries.
Hawaii’s Marianists commemorated the occasion with a thanksgiving Mass that evening at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.
Msgr. Gary Secor celebrated the liturgy. Concelebrating were roughly a dozen clergy, including several Marianist fathers from Oahu and Maui.
Students and staff from Marianist-run Saint Louis School and Chaminade University were among the nearly 100 faithful in attendance.
Marianist Father Martin Solma gave the homily. The superior of the order’s U.S. province, visiting the Islands, explained the Marianists’ history in Hawaii, from the arrival of the first missionaries in Honolulu Harbor in 1883, to their expansion to St. Anthony parish and school in Wailuku and to the Big Island.
Father Solma tied the bicentennial anniversary to the Oct. 2 feast of the guardian angels.
“If (Blessed Chaminade) could see us here this evening, and the 1,000 Marianists in 26 countries on five continents, I think he would say, ‘Wow!’” Father Solma said. “We entrust our future to the guidance of God’s angels and to the loving heart of Our Blessed Mother, Queen of Mercy and Queen of Peace.”