Grand Rosary Rally 2023: United in Faith and Justice

Elizabeth Seton School-South (ESS-South) held its Grand Rosary Rally along with the Marian Procession on Friday, October 13, 2023, celebrating the theme: Unity of Prayer, Rosary for Equality, Peace, and Justice. This event showcased the power of prayer and the importance of working towards equality and justice during the Rosary Month.

The Marian Procession, along with the karakol, started at the Catherine Seton Square, traveled across the street of the school, and ended at the ESS-South Chapel with Grades 4 to 12 attendees.

The selected Grade School students, dressed in diverse cultural attire from around the globe in celebration of United Nations (UN) Month, led the rosary. After each mystery, selected High School students performed an interlude about inequalities and issues in the world.

Blind followers were shown in the first dance bit for The Agony of Christ in the Garden, but towards the end, someone reaches for Jesus while the song “Upuan” by Gloc-9 ft. Jeazell Grutas plays in the background. 

With The Scourging at the Pillar, protestors were shown being slandered on social media for exercising basic human rights. With this, the song “Kulay Rosas” was sung by Althea Aboga from 10-Maragondon during the act—a song depicting hope for a better future.

Charlize Bautista, a student from 9-Immaculate Conception, delivered a spoken poetry piece for the third mystery. The audience heard about the issue of people struggling under leadership full of unfulfilled promises. The Crowning of Jesus with Thorns is the atonement for the sins of pride, the sin many “leaders” bear and practice, and an issue the poem tackled deeply.

The fourth mystery, The Carrying of the Cross, played the song “Balita” by Gloc-9, and a performance of farmers rallying for their land being stolen by the rich to build more buildings showcased another prevalent issue in the present.

“Gising na Kaibigan Ko” by Gloc-9 was sung by Megumiko Yamada from 5-Lam-ang for the fifth sorrowful mystery, The Crucifixion of Jesus. The song talks about opening people’s eyes to the issues of the world, being aware and making a change.

This activity, according to Sir Jaymar Morong, the Subject Area Coordinator of the Christian Catholic Formation Department, aimed for Setonians to come together as a symbol of hope and unity—bridging differences in nationalities, cultures, and backgrounds and celebrating the profound ideals of justice, equality, and freedom that unite us all as one human family.