Bengaluru: The Konkani Kulvar Ulsoor celebrated Monti Fest (Nativity of our Blessed Virgin Mary) at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Cambridge Road, here on Tuesday, September 8, with a Holy Mass in Konkani at 8.00 am.
The blessing of the new paddy by Fr Arun Prashanth D’Souza SJ was held outside the church and was brought in a procession with the Konkani hymn “Sakkad sangatha melyan”. Children led the procession with beautiful flowers and gathered around the Grotto of our beloved Mother Mary to honour her.
As the choir sang the beautiful Konkani hymn ‘Moriyek hogolshiyam’, the children showered colorful flowers on our dearest Mother Mary.
Fr Arun Prashanth in his introduction explained about the importance of Monti Fest.
This was followed by the Holy Mass in Konkani which was celebrated by Fr Arun Prashanth D’Souza SJ. In his message, he stressed on family values and urged to keep the Mangalurean Konkani culture alive. Throughout the Mass, the melodious Konkani choir played a major role in enriching the spirituality of the event, led by Bernadette Lewis and Marian D’Souza with their dedicated team.
At the end of the Mass, merit students Racheal Cressida D’Souza and Anna Rachel Menezes were awarded with a memento and certificate while Nithal Olivera was awarded with a scholarship cheque by the parish priest Fr Norman Bernard.
Parish priest Fr Norman Bernard, Asst. parish priest Fr Vijay and guest priest Fr Arun Prashanth D’Souza were honoured with a shawl by the office bearers of Konkani Kulvar.
After the Mass, Laura Menezes delivered the vote of thanks. President of Konkani Kulvar, Dr Ajith Benedict Rayan expressed his gratitude to all those who contributed generously and actively took part in the celebrations.
Breakfast was served in the church hall followed by the distribution of the blessed new paddy (Noven) and sugar cane in the true traditional Mangalorean way.
There were around 200 devotees gathered for this feast and they cherished every moment of this celebration as this event reminded everyone of their good old days in Mangaluru.
On the whole, Monti Saibinichem Fest was celebrated by Konkani Kulvar in a very grand and traditional way, with the support of all the members and their families.