Carrying their rosaries, students from St. Anthony of Padua School in Falls Church headed out of their classrooms and onto a grassy field behind the school. They circled around a statue of Mary and, led by students, began to pray in seven languages — English, Spanish, German, French, Swahili, Amharic and Vietnamese.
When they finished the five decades, a balloon rosary was released into the sky to the surprise and delight of the young people. Father Matthew H. Zuberbueler, pastor, said the act was a reminder that all prayers float to heaven.
The school holds a living rosary in both October and May to honor Mary, said Principal Nora Buçaj. “Our Lady just brings us together as a church and she helps us really celebrate unity and our diversity at the same time,” she said. Reciting the prayers in different tongues is a way to celebrate the multicultural student body. “The beauty of (the students’) languages and their cultures, they’re sharing that with each other,” Buçaj said. “We are what it truly means to be Catholic — universal.”
