Nobena Ladies
We are thrilled to present this first album with songs from Leblon Kanta, a collection of sacred Chamorro hymns, performed a capella by Carmen Camacho Rojas. Recorded during the pandemic, this album is dedicated to Our Blessed Mother for her guidance and love for the people of the Mariana Islands. On behalf of the Nobena Ladies, we encourage other women of all ages, fluent or not, living away or at home in the Mariana Islands, to learn the prayers and songs of our beloved homeland and our people. This is just one way to help perpetuate our culture and our language.
The Nobena Ladies meet online to pray the daily rosary, sing, offer intentions, and talkstory. We also come together, in larger groups, to promesa (dedicate) the nobena for San Jose, San Antonio, Santa Karmen, Santa Teresita, and Santa Maria Kamalen. Some are fluent in the Chamorro language and the nobena practice, others are actually re-learning, and a handful of younger members are learning to tucha i nobena for the first time!
Si Yu’us Ma’ase,
In February 2020, my mother-in-law, Rosario Sholing Bautista, fondly known as “Charing” from Toto Village, Guam, passed away at age 86. It was the beginning of the COVID pandemic and many dear relatives and friends were heartbroken as they were unable to fly to O‘ahu where she was buried with her husband, Benito “Benny” Cruz Bautista. Instead, our family hosted the Chamorro-Catholic traditional lisåyo (rosary) online for eighteen nights. The techa (prayer leader) was Charing's younger sister, Gloria Sholing. After the nightly rosaries had ended, our relatives decided to continue to pray daily for the first responders and a cure for COVID. Hence, the Nobena Ladies were born.
