By Emilie Ng
CATHOLICS Teresa Gasparin and Josefina Romanelli called on the help of the Virgin Mary when they made their international radio debut last month.
Miss Gasparin and Ms Romanelli are connected to the Brisbane Verbum Dei community, and were chosen to represent Australia in the international community’s special online radio program for the feast of the Annunciation.
The Madrid-based online radio station ran a 24-hour online radio event to celebrate the feast.
Organisers invited representatives from the community’s worldwide branches, including Australia’s two communities in Brisbane and Sydney, to be involved.
Brisbane’s debuting radio hostesses dedicated their hour to praying the Stations of the Cross from Mary’s perspective, and shared their relationships with Mary with thousands of online listeners.
Their Australian program was broadcast in English and Spanish, Ms Romanelli’s native language from her birth country, Argentina.
Miss Gasparin, who has been accepted as a postulant with the Verbum Dei missionary sisters, said her devotion to Mary had grown over the past few years.
“I could see how important it is that Jesus gave us to her to be our mother and that we can call to her to keep us going even when we’re feeling a bit overwhelmed or things just aren’t making sense,” Miss Gasparin said.
“She puts us into perspective and helps us to keep going.”
While Ms Romanelli and many others connected to Verbum Dei call themselves “disciples” of the community, she said Mary was “a true disciple”.
“Mary is a true disciple because she gave a ‘yes’ and she was constant with it,” Ms Romanelli said.
She said Verbum Dei’s weekly School of the Word, which encouraged members to respond in practical ways to the Scriptures, had helped her Marian devotion grow stronger.
Listen to the pairís podcast at http://verbumdeibrisbane.weebly.com/resources.html.
