Mangaluru, Jul 29: A great day in the life of Fr Dr Victor Machado, the parish priest of Holy Cross Church, Cordel was the celebration on Jul 28 of his 75th birthday.

The celebration commenced with a thanksgiving mass. Fr Machado, along with Fr Lawrence Cutinha, Fr Shaun Rodrigues and Fr Lancy D’Souza concelebrated the mass in the presence of a good number of parishioners.

After the Eucharistic celebration, a felicitation programme was held. Michael D’Souza, vice-president of the parish pastoral parishad expressed words of felicitations. Allen Pereira along with the dignitaries on the dais honoured the platinum birthday celebrant with a shawl, fruits, a bouquet, citation and a memento. The youth choir sang a melodious greeting song.
Fr Machado verbalized his sentiments of gratitude, recollecting the marvels that God has done in his life in these 75 years. After the celebration, breakfast was served to all. Lancy Sequeira proposed the vote of thanks and Fr Shaun Rodrigues, compered the felicitation programme.

To make this celebration more meaningful 75 saplings were planted in the campus and lunch was served to 750 inmates of the different Homes for the Aged in the vicinity.