by reciprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore

Mysore, Jan 3: The annual feast of Infant Jesus will be celebrated at the Infant Jesus Shrine in Pushpashrama, R.S. Naidunagar, on Jan. 6 with a concelebrated high mass by Rev. Dr. Ignatius Pinto, Archbishop Emeritus of Bangalore, at 5 pm.

An inter-religious prayer service and candle light procession will begin at 6.30 pm.

The Shrine, which was blessed on Jan. 4, 2004 by Rev. Thomas Antony Vazhapilly, the Bishop of Mysore, is open for worship from 6 am to 10 pm. Besides masses and prayers, the Carmelite fathers are available at the Shrine round-the-clock for blessings, confessions and counseling.

This year, the feast day services will be in the following languages: English-7 am; Konkani-8 am, Malayalam- 9 am, Kannada -10 am, Tamil-11.30 am and the solemn evening service at 5 pm. The uniqueness of this festival is the inter-religious prayer service at 6.30 pm, which will be followed by candle light procession by the people of all faiths to show the solidarity.

The Shrine has a celestial setting with a beautiful garden and an exotic layout. There is a guesthouse newly built for the pilgrims. Besides, a multipurpose hall and an open ground for weddings and other functions, a vast open space is also available for parking.

The Carmelite fathers run a Social Welfare Centre, where they offer computer education affiliated to MICE at a very reasonable cost. They offer scholarship to poor children for their education. Shortly they will open a tailoring centre for unemployed women.