Mangalore: Joyous beginning to centenary celebrations of St Sebastian Church
Pics: Ramesh Pandith
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Jan 20: Grand festival mass, felicitation ceremony, formal inauguration and cultural programmes marked the launching of the centenary celebrations of St Sebastian Church, Bendore, this evening with reverence and traditional gaiety. The formal inauguration of the year-long gala centenary celebrations was held at the church premises in the presence of a sea of people, comprising religious leaders and laity. Bishop of Bellary Dr Henry D Souza, who celebrated the festal mass with other priests, presided over the inaugural function that was held soon after the formal mass.
The celebrations were in tune with the centenary theme of ‘towards deeper faith and fostering brotherhood’ and Bishop Henry D Souza in his presidential address emphasized on the need to promote fraternity and brotherhood among people of all faiths. Speaking on the occasion he said “we should not what is our goal and in which direction our society is moving. We should also try to know what kind of values we are practicing and promoting within the family and also in the society, values that help our growth and promote brotherhood”.
Bishop Henry D Souza also asked the people to accord special attention to family life, family values and called upon people to expand their families. “If there are good families there will be a good community which in turn would result in a good society” he said. Quoting Alexander who had said “if there is a way to success I will find and if there is no way I will make it”, he called upon people to find newer ways to achieve the goal they have envisaged. He also asked the people to remain steadfast in their faith when faced with difficulties and not to buckle whenever their faith is tested.
Commending the people of Bendoor Parish for their achievement in the last 100 years, he said they deserve a pat on their back and asked the assembled people to pat their own back for their stupendous accomplishments and the grand way in which they have been celebrating the centenary year.
Fr Henry Sequeira, Chancellor of Mangalore diocese, who participated in the inauguration as a representative of the Bishop as the chief guest, inaugurated the logo of the year amidst the symbolic release of yellow-while balloons in the air by children and to the deafening noise of bright crackers and the tune of Harry’s band.
Fr Henry also symbolically inaugurated the ‘medical fund’ to mark the centenary celebrations, by opening the mouth of the big ‘baan’ (vessel) kept on the dais. The medical fund aims to collect Rs. 1 crore in the course of the centenary year and the interest accrued from this will be used for taking care of the poor and needy patients of the parish.
Fr Henry Sequeira who spoke on the occasion lauded the efforts of the parishioners for starting this novel ‘medical fund’. He said “this medical fund is like a memorial to mark the centenary celebrations of the parish and it is in your hands to make it a true memorial by surpassing the collection of Rs. 1 crore”.
He called upon the people to strengthen their faith and keep alive the spirit of family life in their households.
Volunteers who collected donations from the assembled gathering poured the collected money in the ‘baan’ kept for the purpose.
Sr Welberta B S, mother superior of Bethany Convent who was also the chief guest also stressed the need to promote peace, harmony and brotherhood in the society. Pointing out that Bendore church has always been in the forefront in cultural and creative fields she said there is a vacuum in the political field, which the parishioners try to fill in the coming days. “We need to involve ourselves more actively in political field to assert ourselves”, she declared.
Ronald Francis Walder, the Vice President of the parish gave information about the ‘medical fund’, which was symbolically inaugurated to mark the centenary of the parish.
Lovina John, Secretary, read the annual report of the parish. Parish Priest of Bendore Fr Antony Michael Serrao welcomed the gathering.
The formal inauguration function began with the singing of the centenary song by the Parish Choir ‘geet hen Bendore Firguzgaranchen, jublevacha ullasak gavnchen’ and the choir was trained by Fr Michael Santumayar.
Bishop Dr Henry D Souza also gave the cup to the ‘Lotus zone” of the parish for winning the highest points and the 1st place in the various competitions conducted by the parish to mark the centenary. Lotus won the 1st place by garnering 153 points as against 114 points accrued by the Zenia zone. Jasmine zone with 75 points won the third place.
Assistant Parish Priests of Bendore Fr Paul Crasta, Fr John Baptist, Ronald Walder, Convener of the cultural committee of the centenary celebrations Oswald Pais and Secretary Lovina John were also present on the dais.
Oswald Pais presented the vote of thanks. Leslie Rego compered the programme. The formal inauguration function was followed by a variety of cultural programmes. The church ground was filled with enthusiastic parishioners who enthusiastically participated in the entire programme.