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Memorial Font for Mia and Laine (St Hilary’s Church, Mississauga, Ontario Canada)

Posted in Condolences and Memories, Home, Laine's Ammachi and Appachen, Memorial Service | 1 comment

Ammachy and Appachen commissioned a bowl and stand in honor of Laine and Mia.  Two sister butterflies.  The font was dedicated on Sunday, November 2, 2014.

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The following were the words spoken by the congregation and rector:

 

Dedication and Blessing of Holy Water Font

to the Glory of God

and in memory of Mia and Laine Mammen

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Presentation

Molly and Mammen Mathai:

We present to you this Holy Water Font to be set apart for the service of Christ’s holy Church.

Celebrant:         All things come from you, O Lord;

Congregation:  And from your own gifts do we give to you.

Celebrant:        Prosper the work of our hands;

Congregation:  Prosper our handiwork.

Celebrant:        Show your servants your works;

Congregation:  And your splendour to their children.

Prayer

Celebrant:      Let us pray.

Gracious God, we thank you that you have put it into the hearts of your people to make offerings for your service, and have been pleased to accept their gifts.  Be with us now and bless us as we dedicate this Holy Water Font to your praise and glory and in memory of Mia and Laine Mammen, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  AMEN.

We thank you, Father, for the water of baptism.  In it we are buried with Christ in his death.  By it we share in this resurrection.  Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit.  Therefore in joyful obedience to your Son, we celebrate our fellowship with him in faith.

Sanctify this water + that all who enter this holy place and recall their own baptism, may be reminded that they have become inheritors of the glorious kingdom of your Son Jesus Christ our Saviour.

O God, whose blessed Son has sanctified and transfigured the use of material things: +Bless and receive this Holy Water Font which we offer, and grant that it may proclaim your love, benefit your Church, and minister grace and joy to all those who use it; through Jesus Christ our risen Lord.  AMEN.

Almighty God, we remember before you today all those we love but see no longer, and especially your faithful servants Mia and Laine; and we pray that, having opened to them the gates of larger life, you will receive them more and more into your joyful service, that, with all who have faithfully served you in the past, they may share in the eternal victory of Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN

 

Words spoken by Appachen:

Fr Paul, Rev Jacqueline and fellow members of St Hilary’s,

A short story of two little girls and the Holy water font.

The sweet memory of our two little granddaughters, Mia and Laine, both of them died almost at the same age, is still so fresh in all of us.

Some of you will remember the name Mia Mammen; our church prayed for her for a few years while she was sick. She was our son Binu and his wife Anna’s 2nd child and the sister of Mathew. At the age of 6, on the 24th of June 2010, she passed away after a long and complicated illness.

A third child, Laine Mammen, was born on the 17th of Aug 2007, to Binu and Anna. She grew up as a really vibrant girl, and it looked like Laine came to this world to make the family to go forward in a new direction. Laine was full of life and was multitalented. During her short life in this world, she mastered many things to be active and happy. She enjoyed all kinds of outdoor activities, from gardening to skiing. Laine loved arts and crafts, coloring, pottery work and in making small dress for all her dolls.

Another hobby was helping her mom Anna, or her grandmother Molly in the kitchen. There is a video, showing her explaining how to make dumplings.

A week before Laine died, she put all her five ‘my little ponies’ on the steps of their staircase, started singing to them and also making a video using her mom’s phone. She was making a CD for her nanny.

She was a darling at her school among the other students and teachers and also was an active little girl at the church. In fact she copied her brother Mathew in everything he did and she adored him.

Something everybody liked about her was her love and kindness to others. If Laine happened to see anybody upset or sad, she would be there, and in her own way to cheer up that person with a joke.

Sometimes she would make a conversation even to strangers about her sister Mia saying that Mia went to heaven and she really missed her.

More than anything Laine was a girl who believed in prayer. When she could read, she started reading the bible with her dad every evening before bed. When she fell sick in February, during her last 4-5 days, she asked her dad to read to her. The irony was that he finished the last word of the Children’s bible the evening before she died. Whenever we visited them in SF, she wanted Molly, to be with her to pray and to sing at least one song at bedtime. Laine talked with us about her tummy pain and asked us to pray for her. Laine died so unexpectedly on the 24th of February 2014. She was 6 1/2 years old.

Laine was so close to both of us, always called us over the phone. We wanted to have a fitting memorial for Laine, and thinking of her character and personality, we thought the memorial should be at the church where we worship. We talked with Fr Paul and discussed many ideas and at last decided about a Holy Water Font. After getting the approval from the wardens and the advisory board, we met with Fr Paul, Pat, Sonia, Alison and Frank to design this project.

The decision was to commission an artist to make the ceramic bowl and Frank to make the pedestal to match with the other furniture of our church. Laine was a colorful girl who loved rainbow and butterflies, there was no coloring for her without a rainbow. We suggested the artist at the Living Arts to color the bowl in such a way that should reflect the colors of our church and also the colors of Laine.

Molly and I join Binu, Anna and Mathew in extending our sincere thanks to Fr Paul, Pat, Alison, the wardens, the advisory board and our bishop for their support in this memorial.

Our sincere thanks to Frank for the wonderful work he did in making that pedestal with its beautiful column. Many thanks to the artist Ishrat and the co-ordinator Megan of The Living Arts for their patience in producing this ceramic bowl.

Molly and I really appreciate Fr Paul for his understanding, kindness and prayers during our hard days that followed and also for his support and advice from day one onwards until the day this memorial became a reality.

Over 500 people attended Laine’s funeral service, and all of them saw, a double rainbow that appeared just above the church!

We wish and pray that this Holy Water Font will be a blessing for all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Comment

  1. What a beautiful addition to the church and even more beautiful words from Mia and Laine’s Appachen. Thank you for sharing this.

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