Bronx Parish Celebrates Daughters of Mary Day

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For the last year and a half, members of the Daughters of Mary at St. Lucy’s in the Bronx have been enthusiastically creating colorful Rosary beads, mantillas, bookmarkers and Bible covers.

Group members, comprised of mothers and their daughters, crafted the items by hand as a parish fund-raiser. The Daughters of Mary made more than 500 Divine Mercy rosaries, 500 John Paul II rosaries, and other rosaries in honor of St. Lucy, Our Lady of Fatima and Blessed Mother Teresa.

They sold them in the church plaza on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 27, at the parish’s first-ever “Daughters of Mary Day.”

The handmade items aren’t the only things the mothers and daughters are constructing. “The mother-daughter participation helps their relationships,” said Catherine Cruz, coordinator of the Daughters of Mary. She should know—she and her mother, Magdalena Cruz, organized the group 12 years ago.

Angela Pena and her daughter, Anell, are members of the group. “It’s just a special time,” Ms. Pena told CNY. “With the hectic lives we live today, you do have some time as a family but it’s usually either schoolwork or school-related. This enriches our spirit.”

She added, “It’s more than just the everyday things that we do like going to the movies or shopping. It’s very important for us to get to spend time as Catholics.”

Anell, 12, echoed her mother, saying, “It brings us together with the same purpose, and it helps us learn more together. It also gives us more understanding about God.”

Anell also enjoyed creating the religious items for people alongside her mother. “When we were making them, we all learned together,” she said. “It makes me really happy that we are making stuff people are going to pray with.”

Each Saturday, the Daughters of Mary attend 9 a.m. Mass, followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, recitation of the Rosary, and after that, a time for socialization and craft-making during the group meeting. There are 12 mothers and 16 daughters involved. Father Louis Anderson, parochial vicar, is spiritual director of the group. Father Nikolin Pergjini is the pastor.

Most of the girls, whose ages range from 7 to 18, attend public schools. They are a diverse group of Puerto Rican, Italian, Haitian, Mexican, Nigerian and Hispanic heritage, to name just a few.

Ms. Cruz said, “The girls learn to pray the Rosary and learn about the teachings of Jesus. It’s also like a support group where they come together and share their faith.” The group focuses on Mary’s obedience, faithfulness, love and joy as she lived her life.

“There is the relationship between mothers and daughters and everyone and the Blessed Mother,” she added. “We are all her daughters. She is the mother of us all.”

Ms. Cruz said the girls “support each other in trying to be faithful Catholics at an early age.” It is a great forum for the girls to vent frustrations about things that happen at school and the distractions and peer pressures that affect youths and to ask questions regarding their faith, she added.

“They love it so much they look forward to it. It’s spiritual and joyful and gives the mothers and daughters a special time to hang out together,” she said.