OUR LADY OF AKITA PRAYER GARDEN'S BLESSING MASS by Archbishop of Jakarta Mgr. Ignatius Kardinal Suharyo
Praise be to God, today Saturday 4th May 2024, a Blessing Mass of Our Lady of Akita Prayer Garden PIK2 was held by the Archbishop of Jakarta Mgr. Ignatius Kardinal Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo and attended by the Board of Directors of Agung Sedayu Group as well as invitees.
After going through a series of construction stages starting with groundbreaking on 25th August 2023, then exactly 65 days later on 30th October 2023 a Blessing Mass for the Completion of Roof Installation was held. On 16th December 2023, the First Mass for Our Lady of Akita Prayer Garden was held, indicating that the entire construction of this prayer garden has been completed and can be used for worship.
Steven Kusumo as CEO of Agung Sedayu Group who was also present at this event said, "Remembering the construction journey of Akita PIK2, we surely have received many blessings. Starting from construction and even planning. It still reminds us of Akita's journey from June 2023, where we met the nuns from Akita, one who whom happened to be an eyewitness to the incident where Our Lady shed tears. Of course, this was an extraordinary divine event and an idea was developed to create a similar Akita in Indonesia, at PIK2."
Archbishop of Jakarta Mgr. Ignatius Kardinal Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo explained, "In the history of the Catholic Church, places of pilgrimage like this have existed since the birth of the church. There is one very important sentence, and that is when Our Lady faced something that she herself did not know, until it was said twice, she kept all the events in her heart and reflected on them. I think that is the attitude of faith of Our Lady everywhere, including Our Lady of Akita."
PIK2 presents the Our Lady of Akita Prayer Garden as a tribute to Our Lady and provides worrship facilities, as well as making it easier for Catholics from Indonesia and abroad to make pilgrimages and offer prayers in this Prayer Garden.
Right next to Our Lady of Akita Prayer Garden PIK2 there are 2 commercial areas. On one side, the Lau Pa Sat area will be built, a shophouse and Hawker Center inspired by Lau Pa Sat in Singapore. And on the southern side there is also the Euro Asia Shophouse, with a facade of typical buildings in Asia and Europe. All of these are complementary facilities around the Our Lady of Akita Prayer Garden PIK2 so that visitors who come from various corners of the country can also enjoy various typical Indonesian and foreign culinary delights after completing their spiritual tour.