Five-day long annual feast of St Lawrence Basilica Attur comes to an end
Karkala: The five days annual feast of St Lawrence Basilica, Attur-Karkala came to an end with the last Mass of the festive days at 8:00 pm on Thursday, 26th January. From the first day of the feast on Sunday , 22th January to the fifth day on Thursday, 26th there were altogether 41 Masses including the solemn festive Masses.
Thursday, 26th January was celebrated by the parishioners of Attur as their parish feast day dedicated to Our Lady of Guide (Giad Saibinichem Fest). According to an account, before Attur parish came to be dedicated to St Lawrence, the original church had Our Lady of Guide as the patroness. To honour Our Lady of Guide, the feast on Thursday has been dedicated to her. On Thursday, 26th January, the parishioners attended the feast Mass at 10:00 am in large numbers along with other pilgrims.
The Rector of the Basilica Fr George D’Souza distributed candles of honour the members of the parish council, gurkars, presidents of the parish associations and the sponsors of the feast Mass. The feast Mass at 10.00 am was offered by Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo Bishop of Udupi Diocese along with Fr George D’Souza Rector of the Basilica, Fr Vijay D’Souza Assistant priest of the Church, Fr Stephen D’Souza director of Liturgy commission of Diocese, Fr Denis D’Sa PRO of the Diocese and other priests.
The five days of the annual feast of St Lawrence have been quite hectic. Lakhs of devotees and pilgrims who poured into the Shrine for these five days had a smooth ‘darshan’ of the saint and could attend one festive Mass or the other without any hassle. There were no untoward incidents of theft, chain snatching or any other incidents reported.
The smooth conduct of such a massive confluence of pilgrims belonging to different religions and walks of life was possible because of the thorough planning, preparation, and logistics which are worth understanding.
There were regular announcements at different intervals both in Konkani and Kannada for all the five days practically round the clock. The announcement was handled by George Castelino and his team.
A large number of priests offered Masses, preached homilies, heard confessions, distributed Holy Communion, blessed the sick and helped the Rector of St Lawrence Shrine, Fr George D’Souza as coordinators of various committees.
A number of devotees from different corners of Karnataka and neighbouring states of South India had come to the Shrine. With great devotion, they partook in the Holy Masses. The visitors were seen devoutly visiting the relic of St Lawrence, confessing their sins, visiting the pool at the shrine and receiving flowers and Holy water at the shrine. After every Mass, there was a special prayer for the sick in Konkani as well as in the Kannada language. A number of priests and deacons laid hands on the devotees and prayed for their health and happiness.