Media Release
Mangaluru, Mar 4: The religious priests, brothers and sisters of the city's CRI (Conference of Religious in India) unit celebrated 'The Day of Recollection and Consecrated Life' on Sunday, March 3 at St Anne’s Friary, DMRC Hall, Jail Road in the city. The entire time was devoted to personal prayer, reflection, confession and sharing.
Fr Melwyn D'Souza, Capuchin, president of CRI unit, welcomed the gathering. Sr Gracy Mathias UFS led the prayer service and created a devotional atmosphere. The speaker of the day Fr Melwyn Pinto SJ, Director, Fathima Retreat House, shared his reflections on the topic 'The challenges of consecrated life today' with scholarly insights and a few real-life examples. He shared the history of the beginning of the consecrated life and invited the religious gathered to appreciate the wonderful roots that every religious order and congregation has. He said, "It is so very necessary to be vigilant and be aware of our failures and seriously work on mending our brokenness with the mercy and generous love of God."
The talk followed with a silent Eucharistic adoration during which the Sacrament of Reconciliation was administered by the priests present. The concelebrated Mass was presided over by Fr Paul Melwyn D'Souza, Capuchin, the guardian of St Anne’s Friary and the CRI president of Mangalore Unit. The homily was preached by Fr Derick D'Souza, Capuchin. In his homily, he emphasised the role of every person in the community towards building one another’s life. “The positive attitude and energy will bring a lot of positive growth in the religious community. Let us make all possible efforts to shun the unnecessary criticism and negative influence and build happy communities," he said.
The choir was led by Fr Jawahar Cutinho. The Apostolic Carmel sisters and Ursuline Franciscan sisters rendered their melodious voices.
On this joyous occasion Fr Ben, Capuchin’s new book release was held. The new book 'Laudato Sii', which contains the new and multiple tunes for the hymns for the Divine Office and Liturgy of the hours was composed by Fr Ben. Fr Roshan Menezes, a Capuchin and the Episcopal Vicar for the religious in the diocese of Udupi introduced Fr Ben to the gathering. Fr Jayaprakash, the principal of Pompei Collage, Kirem introduced the musical contributions and works of Fr Ben. Fr Peter Cyprian, Capuchin released the book.
All the executive members of CRI, Mangaluru, collaborated to make the day a memorable and meaningful one. Sr Grace Lobo compered the entire celebration. A tasty lunch was served to all the 600 plus participants of the event.