We held an online meeting via Zoom on the 19th of December. The topic of the meeting was ‘Holy Night – Remembering the Virgin Mary.’ We had esteemed guests and a colorful program filled different activities and performances. The meeting was hosted by Mukaddes Kocabiyik who also organized the previous Christmas’ interfaith event on Jesus and Mary.
The meeting started with a recitation of Quran. Fatima recited Surah 66 At-Tahrim which talks about Maryam’s (Mary) spiritual importance as a devout follower of God.
The meeting continued with Dr. Zeki Saritoprak’s short lecture on Mary’s birth and her childhood. It was remarkable to see how she was able to keep herself strong in a community dominated by patriarchy. Her faith was something to behold.
Melike Durmaz recited a poem from Patty Griffin titled ‘Mary.’ It filled our hearts with love as we once again remembered the devotion of Mary. Dr. Glorius Fealing kept uplifting our spirits with a beautiful performance of ‘The Song of Mary Medley.’ Her beautiful voice washed our ears from all dirty sound stains.
One of our regulars and the host of the Interfaith and Intercultural dialogue radio show, Imam Mujahid Ramadan also joined to the meeting. He contributed with his beautiful remarks on the importance of Mary. He emphasized how the love of Mary and of her family can bring Muslims and Christians together. Our long-lasting friend and scholar, Dr. Rosalie Marinelli took the microphone to make some very important remarks on the Virgin Mary and her role. She praised the meeting as a great opportunity for dialogue and understanding.
Unfortunately, Dr. Craig Considine couldn’t able to participate in the meeting as was planned. But he sent a very valuable video in which he gave some very important remarks on the role of Mary and the vital significance of co-understanding between Christianity and Islam. You can find Dr. Considine’s video on our Instagram account.
After several remarks from our participants, we ended the meeting with smiling hearts. We enjoyed this short celebration of Mary a lot. It was a meeting of both pleasure and learning. We hope to repeat such meetings in future, preferably onsite as we miss our dear friends a lot. We wish everyone a blessed and merry Christmas. May it bring joy to everyone.
