Media Release

Bengaluru, May 28: “The feast of Pentecost calls for holiness. Everyone is called to be holy like the heavenly Father. The church teaches about three aspects of the Trinity. The Creed the faithful recite every Sunday speaks about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”, said Archbishop Bernard Moras on the occasion of the feast of Pentecost at St Patrick’s Church.

“The Holy Spirit takes the faithful into the reality of the work of sanctification. The bible mentions the fruit of the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of human beings to create unity, holiness and a sense of universal mission through a historical succession which began with the Apostles”, he further said.

The Archbishop also touched upon the events such as the birth of the Church, the diversity of languages, the Church’s mission, the preaching of the good news and the beginning of the life of grace among many other aspects and the deeper meaning of the Pentecost. He also spoke about the foundation of the Church, Peter and other Apostles being the pioneers. Pope, bishops and priests remain as their successors, he added.

Pentecost night vigil 2015– ‘A Call to Holiness’:

The Bangalore Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (BCCRS), organized the All Bangalore Pentecost Night Vigil for the fifth consecutive year.

As this year has been dedicated as the ‘Year of Consecrated Life’ by Pope Francis, the BCCRS has also focused this year on the same theme ‘A Call to Holiness’.

The Pentecost Night Vigil saw participation of over 4000 people, which included priests, religious and faithful, from across the various parishes in the archdiocese of Bangalore. People came from far and near using especially arranged vehicles and other means of transport.

People of various language groups such as Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Konkani and English gathered to celebrate the feast of the Pentecost and experience a fresh anointing and outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The move of the Spirit also seemed to have brought about unity and harmony among heterogeneous groups. Prayer services were conducted in at least three languages, catering to the spiritual needs of the faithful.

The night was devoted with sessions of anointed praise and worship, which geared people up for the Word of God. This was followed by the breaking of the Word by anointed priests and lay preachers. The preachers included Fr Jacob Britto (Kannada), Fr Jose Vettiankal (English), Fr Joseph Abraham (Tamil) and Bro Simon Rodrigues.

The preachers both priests and lay persons elaborated on the meaning of Pentecost. In the New Testament, that day the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples of Jesus. Pentecost is the Greek name for the spring harvest festival of the Israelites, which was going on when the Holy Spirit came. The disciples were together in Jerusalem after Jesus' Resurrection and return to heaven, fearful because he had left them. On that morning, however, ‘there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance’. Because of the festival, crowds of visitors were in Jerusalem, speaking many languages, but the disciples of Jesus moved among them and spoke to them all, and ‘every man heard them speak in his own language’ about ‘the wonderful works of God’. Peter then made a powerful speech to the crowds in the city, and many were baptized as new followers of Jesus.

The above sessions were followed by Eucharistic celebration. The Archbishop who presided over the Eucharistic celebration stressed the relevance and importance of the Eucharist in today’s context. Several priests concelebrated the Eucharist. Fr Anthony Swamy, Chancellor and PRO, Fr Sagayanathan, Parish Priest of St Patrick’s were among others present on the auspicious occasion.

In conclusion, Fr Jacob Britto (Spiritual Director BCCRS), thanked the Archbishop for his constant support, all the priests and religious for their contributions and the laity for the participation and warm response to this great feast of the Pentecost. The solemn celebration came to an end with the priests laying their hands on the faithful and blessing them with an infilling of the Holy Spirit.

The feast of Pentecost was regarded a night of great blessings seen and unseen on all the faithful gathered and for the archdiocese of Bangalore as a whole.