"Praise Her With A Flower" has become quite a popular Marian hymn. The music and lyrics were composed by Stephen Derrick Joseph in 1999 for the 50th Anniversary of the Novena in Singapore. It was first sung at the Annual Novena Procession on Sunday, 3rd September 1999.
Growing up in the culture I was in, it is respectful to address elders by their surnames, or simply address them as 'uncle' or 'auntie'. As such, I apologise to Auntie 'Janet' - one of the Novena organists, and a good friend of my parents and our family, as she was always 'auntie' to me. Her name is actually Jeanette Ee nee Fernandez, not 'Janet' as it is captioned in the video. My apologies, auntie, and to the Ee and Fernandez families. Uncle and auntie Ee, my parents and their siblings, were Novena youth from 1949. They continued serving Novena church after starting their families; bringing my sis and I along. The old monochrome photos on the video belong to my parents - and some of their siblings are there in those photos as well. It was great fun, reminiscing and going through all the old photos.
This simple video slideshow is basically a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me, and I'm sure for many of my friends from Novena - especially the altar servers, the (early) Vine and Branches, and St. Alphonsus Choir. It certainly is for my parents who also grew up in and has since been involved with the Novena Church (St. Alphonsus Church, Singapore) until 2012 when they joined me here in Canada.
Thank you, Stephen, for such a lovely composition.
Video produced by Rafael Oei (24 August 2020)
~Praise Her With A Flower~
Music & Lyrics: Stephen Joseph
Copyright: The Redemptorist Community, St. Alphonsus Church, Singapore.