Mangalore Seminary Marks 'Seminary Day'

by Rupesh Madtha and Anil Crasta

Mangalore, Dec 4: St Joseph’s Inter- Diocesan Seminary in Mangalore marks its utmost red-letter day of the year as it celebrates the ‘Seminary Day-2008’ with myriad feelings of joy on Thursday, 4th of December. The esteemed institution has over 130 years of history in priestly formation under the motto “Administri Salutis” which means ‘Ministers of Salvation’. It has formed around 1800 priests for the Church of India and abroad. The annual day celebration provides an opportunity to the Josephites to thank God and enliven the family spirit. To the alumni of the institution it is an occasion to persist in link with the alma mater. It is also a chance to the Seminary to manifest itself to the people associated to it and to the people in the vicinity.

The whole event was begun yesterday, 3rd December 2008, with the cultural programme at 6.00 pm in the evening for which people of the environs thronged in multitude.  

In the dawn, on 4th December 2008, the whole Josephite community gathered en masse in the Seminary Chapel where the concelebrated Holy Eucharist was presided over by Rev. Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza, the Bishop of Mangalore. In his homily, Bishop Aloysius exhorted on the following points:

 i) This being the Pauline year, never tire in seeking Jesus through listening to, reading and studying Sacred Scripture, through prayer and individual meditation, through the liturgy and all daily activities.

ii) Seminary formation is a time dedicated to discernment, in which priority must be given to the constant search for a personal relationship with Jesus, an intimate experience of His love.

iii) Referring to the priorities of priestly life, he said that sowing the Word of God in the field of the world must be taken seriously for the Word of God carries eternal life. It is Christ word that can change the human heart and renew the world.

iv) The bishop expressed concern about a certain culture that spreads the idea of a self-sufficient humanity, and as a result, it believes the presence of God to be irrelevant. Therefore, the religious experience runs the risk of being considered a subjective choice, something that is neither essential nor decisive for one's life. He gave a call to fight against ego-centrism and encouraged the seminarians to inculcate the spirit of altruism.  The meaningful liturgy helped the community to lift their grateful hearts and minds up to God.

The programme in the evening was commenced at 5.30 pm for which Rev. Dr Joseph Pandarasseril (Auxiliary bishop of Kottyam) was the Chief Guest and was presided over by Rev Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, the Bishop of Mangalore and the Chairman of the Board of Administration of the Seminary.

The celebrations started with the prayer song by the students of Pre-Philosophy.

The Rector Fr Victor Machado extended a warm welcome note to all the esteemed guests of the day. A special welcome was accorded to the President and the Chief Guest with garlands and then he introduced the latter. Bishop Pandarasseril, an alumnus of the very same institution was ordained a priest in 1987 and was consecrated a Bishop on 28th October 2006 .The Rector expressed the felicitations to the Bishop with legitimate pride on behalf of the Seminary.

The Josephite choir then performed a symphony by name The Judgment Day. The simultaneous act out of the same piece embellished the whole performance.

This was followed by the creative presentation of the report of the eventful academic year in the formation house. The descriptive report by Fr Rector explicitly informed about the Vision and the Mission of the Seminary, the personnel and the activities those oriented towards the various aspects of priestly formation. In his report, the rector also mentioned that currently there are altogether 242 students in the seminary hailing from 26 Dioceses, 5 Religious Congregations for Men and 3 Religious Congregations for Women and 1 Laity. Out of these, 205 are Resident students. Break-up of Theology. Philosophy and Pre-Philosophy sections is 144, 57 and 41 respectively. Indeed, he tacitly avowed that all the achievements were only with deep thought, hard work and God’s help.

The Chief Guest bishop Joseph Pandarasseril, reminisced the good old days in this alma mater and enthused the audience with his sparkling message. In his message, the bishop invited the seminarians to be sincere to self and to be loyal to the church. He further called the seminarians to rise above the challenges of the present context through Christ’s message of love and brotherhood. He emphasised the need of holiness and sanctity in committed life. He challenged the community to shine through holiness and called them to be fervent in witnessing the Lord..

The presidential presence of Bishop Aloysius added lustre to the unique evening.

A Kannada play Kshithijadaache by the members of the Kannada Academy appealed the audience to live a meaningful life beyond the horizons by breaking the boundaries of eccentric egoism that has taken the place of established principles of humanity in today’s world.

The Beschi Tamil Academy through a multimedia presentation depicted the life witness of a Christian faithful of India named Devasahayam.

The Seminary Day without a classical English drama cannot satiate the appetite of its audience. Therefore, The Martyrs of the Catacombs was a delicacy served on the day.

The Marthoma Malayalam Samajam pictured the stark reality of the suffering face of contemporary India in Bharata Marile Piatha.

Finally, with the Seminary Anthem the whole event came to the grinding halt.

Deacons Anil Crasta and Stephen D’Souza compeered the ceremony. Fr Peter Paul Saldanha logistically coordinated the whole task. On both the days, the function was arranged in the open-air within the Seminary precincts. Indeed the well-attired creativity and the beautifully arrayed variety of the programmes amply thrilled the audience. The acute talents of the staff and students turned out to be the pigment that added new hues to the whole event. The Josephites were delighted by the smooth success of the day, which was the fruit of sedulous preparations that had got under way a few months back.

The support and encouragement of many well wishers played the cue card for the success of the programme.