Doha: Sea of Devotees Gather for Our Lady of Rosary's Feast
Report: Gladson D'Almeida
Pics: Alexis Castelino
Daijiworld Media Network – Doha
Doha, Oct 8: It was as if all roads of Qatar, the tiny oil-rich country of the Arab peninsula were leading to Our Lady of the Rosary church on Friday October 7 evening as a sea of devotees gathered round the Altar in praising and thanking Lord for the gift of Our Lady of the Rosary as the patron of the parish.
The solemn Eucharistic celebration celebrated by Bishop Camillo Ballin, the Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia and concelebrated by parish priest Fr Peter, spiritual of the Konkani speaking community Fr Anand Castelino and others began at 4 in the evening.
Bishop in his homily exhorted the devotees to embrace the values and inculcate the virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary in order to true Christian life. He expressed his joy at the presence of large number of devotees at the celebration and urged the gathering to nurture the unity and strive to build up a strong Christian community in Qatar.
The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was instituted to honour Mary for the Christian victory over the Turks at Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Pope St Pius V and all Christians had prayed the Rosary for victory. The Rosary, or the Psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is one of the best prayers to Mary, the Mother of God.
After the Eucharistic celebration various communities of the parish staged the cultural programmes. Short skits, dances, songs along with spot games that were the part of the cultural evening kept the audience glued to their seats to the end. The Konkani speaking community presented a dance to the tunes of super duper Konkani song ‘Yore Paavsa Yo’ and a traditional Goan Manddo.
Ronnie Vaz, the compere for the evening as usual was at his eloquent best keeping the gathering entertained with his witty comments and spot-on observations on the performances. The programme came to an end with the traditional bingo.
It was also the time to tune up the taste buds as the feast also provided platform for the food fiesta and food stalls by various communities were right places where Doha foodies experienced the enriched tastes of the various cuisines.
The Konkani speaking community food stall was the centre of attraction with traditional sanna-maas, quite of few south Indian chicken, mutton delicacies coupled with yummy desserts such as xira, khir etc. Ever enthusiastic Vivian D’Souza in cooperation and coordination with the Konkani Speaking Committee president and members put in efforts in putting up the food stall.