By Purushottam Nayak

Raikia, May 7, 2020: A teenage girl in Odisha uses art to spread the devotion to Mary during the nationwide lockdown time.

Meghanjali Majhi, a resident of Raikia village in Odisha’s Kandhamal district, has intensified her efforts especially during May, the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.

“I realized family Rosary and devotion to Mother Mary especially in May, are powerful weapons to fight the on-going pandemic,” the 13-year Catholic girl told Matters India.

The lockdown began on March 25 to contain the spread of Covid-19 that has killed hundreds of thousands all over the world.

Majhi says she found encouragement from Pope Francis’s letter inviting Catholics to “rediscover the beauty of praying the Rosary at home in May and contemplating the face of Christ with the heart of Mary, our Mother.”

The Odisha girl says the Rosary is “an important aid in my spiritual journey. I have a special devotion to Mother Mary but was helpless due to the lockdown.” Mary has been the mediator for her good health, study, and success in life, she added.

The lockdown has prevented her from going to the forest to collect fresh flowers for Mother.

She got the idea to use drawing to show her devotion to Mary after hearing the story of Saint Catherine of Bologna (1413-1463) from her parents.

Her parents had told her that the Italian Poor Clare nun, who was a mystic, served God through creative spirit, talents, and music-related faith.

Even her parents have been an inspiration for her to imbibe Marian devotion. She began the drawing on May 1 while praying Rosary in the family.

She is the fourth among five children of Julian and Santojini Majhi.

She is now an eighth grader of St Catherine’s Girls’ High School, the Daughters of Charity sisters manage in Raikia parish under the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.

“I am proud of her faith in Christ and creative interest to show devotion to Mother Mary in the time of lockdown,” says Charity Sister Saraphina Kandulana, the school’s assistant headmistress.

The nun said she was good in study, art, singing, and dancing.

Maji’s teachers and classmates too started encouraging her after her art talent became public.

“I was astonished to know that she shows her devotion to Mary through her drawing every day,” said Bimola Montry, a woman catechist at Our Lady of Charity Parish, Raikia.

Majhi draws flowers to offer to Mother Mary daily. She names the flower as a lockdown flower.

Lincoln Majhi, her brother, says his sister “puts her heart and mind” while drawing the flower to seek Mary’s help. “She believes her prayer will be heard through Mary,” said the youth who works as an associate at Amazon India at Kalyan, Mumbai.

Majhi has also learned that the devotion of the Rosary was started by Saint Dominic de Guzmán (1170-1221), the founder of the Dominican order. The Blessed Mother had promised the saint that whoever faithfully prays the Rosary will receive special protection and graces.

The teenage girl believes the world will manage to eradicate the Covid-10 pandemic through unceasing prayers through Mother Mary.

“I am proud of my daughter. I thank God for blessing abundantly our family through Mary,” her mother told Matters India.