Mary Mother of the Church Parish, Macquarie Fields commemorated the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a vibrant Multicultural Festival in her honour this month, while the Marsfield community also celebrated its diverse range of cultures.

Macquarie Fields Parish Priest, Fr Linh Nguyen SVD, says the festival began with the solemn procession of the statue of Mother Mary around the parish grounds before the 10am Mass and afterwards there was shared food, fun and live entertainment provided by parishioners from various multicultural backgrounds.

“The solemn procession of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a really wonderful sight to see,” says Fr Linh. “It went right around the parish grounds where the national flags of the many countries of our parishioners were displayed. Parishioners wore their traditional national costumes and the prayers of the faithful were in 10 different languages.”

Fr Linh says that at the end of the Mass, 26 children received their First Reconciliation certificates. They will make their First Holy Communion on the Feast of Christ the King, the closing of the Holy Year of Mercy.

After the Mass, everyone gathered outside for the cutting of the birthday cake to celebrate the birth of Mother Mary. Then parishioners enjoyed lunch from multicultural food stalls, provided by parishioners from various nationalities, while the parish events committee also ran raffles for fundraising.

“Everyone really enjoyed the day, with beautiful weather, fun and good food,” says Fr Linh.

“It’s a significantly important day for the parish, because the parish feast day Mass and multicultural festival is our annual celebration to give thanks to God for the many gifts He has bestowed on Mary Mother of the Church Parish Macquarie Fields, to build up community spirit and enhance the appreciation of unity in diversity in our parish.”

The multicultural theme was also celebrated recently by the Arnold Janssen Chapel community in Marsfield.

Rector of the SVD Marsfield Community, Fr Viet Nguyen SVD, says Multicultural Sunday events began with Mass, with people gathered outside for cultural performances by different ethnic groups. The celebration ended with a multicultural banquet.

Fr Viet says many people wore their traditional national costumes and different cultural groups were involved in the liturgy. The Chinese community offered the gifts and hymns were performed by Vietnamese, Chinese, Indonesian and the Arnold Janssen Chapel choirs. Prayers of the faithful were also offered in different languages and the Lord’s Prayer was said in various languages.

“The AJ Chapel community is a very multicultural community, so the chief aim of our Multicultural Sunday is to give thanks to God for the gift of our multiculturalism and to celebrate our diversity in unity with the Lord and the unity of our faith,” he says.

“It also helps people to acknowledge and respect the differences and God-given gifts of others and therefore to live in harmony with one another and to be closer to each other, while also giving opportunities for ethnic groups to present their cultures and gifts to the wider community.”