Monday, October 08, 2007 The October medal By Miguel Antonio N. Lizada Kuya's Chair
Maria sa puso ninuman
Ika'y tala ng kalangitan,
Ningning mo a walang pagmamaliw,
Inang sinta, Inang ginigiliw
-- "Stella Maris," Jamie Rivera
WHEN the final buzzer signaling the Ateneo Blue Eagles' defeat rang, I slumped to my seat and sobbed almost the same way I cried when the Blue Eagles defeated the Green Archers a few days back.
This time however, it was not tears of joy but of anguish. I could not properly sing "The Song for Mary," the alma mater song of the Ateneo de Manila University as I found myself constantly wiping my tears.
In fact, the only line I managed to enunciate was "Win or Lose... it's the school we choose" and after that, it was back to my hagulgol.
The day was September 30. The eve of the month of October, the month of the holy rosary, of Mother Mary. The cruel irony could not have been more bitter.
Amidst all the frustrated cries, the "sayang," the "pucha" and the "why, oh why's" a song suddenly and inexplicably popped in my head. It was the first line of Stella Maris "Kung itong aming paglalayag, inabot ng pagkabagabag, nawa'y mabanaagan ka, hinirang na tala ng umaga."
The song Stella Maris has a special place in my heart. When I was a college freshman, this was my prayer before every major activity and major exam. The image the song evokes is interesting; when I hear it I always imagine a sailboat sailing under a clear starry albeit windy night sky.
The song evokes a sense of offering, a submission of the will to the love and grace of Mother Mary, an offering founded upon by a sense of reverence and trust.
Ateneans have always placed keen emphasis on Marian devotion and this month, Ateneans all around the country pay a special reverence to Mary. I can now vividly recall my Grade School days in the Ateneo de Davao when Monday Assemblies (led my Mr. Pons Montecillo, Mrs. Rose Cementina and Fr. Oscar Millar SJ, then administrators and Headmaster respectively) would stretch from its normal length because we had to recite one mystery of the Holy Rosary.
And who could forget the traditional Living Rosaries, an activity done by Grade School and High School students alike? Living Rosaries. When dozens of students would form a human rosary and lead the community into prayer.
Unique also to an Atenean/Jesuit exercise of worship is the October Medal. A miniature medal of Mother Mary tied to a light blue ribbon, the October Medal is worn by Ateneans on the month of the Holy Rosary.
I have never "missed" an October Medal ever since I was in Grade School. It is for me an affirmation not just of my being an Atenean but of my being a devout Catholic as well - a person who shares in the mission of being living and loving Christian, a mission informed and enriched particularly through the Marian devotion.
Looking back to that fateful basketball game, I do not regret crying for a loss. I however wish that I was not so overwhelmed by emotion that I forgot to sing the most important line in our alma mater song "Mary for you. For your White and Blue."
More than a basketball game, more than getting an A's in college report card, what is indeed more glorifying and fulfilling is the feeling that one truly believes, that one lives and loves, that one has faith as strong as someone like Mother Mary. Whether one is Blue or Green.
