Independence Day 2020 Celebrations at Most Holy Redeemer Church, Derebail

Independence Day 2020 Celebrations at Most Holy Redeemer Church, Derebail

Mangaluru: The Feast of the Assumption of Mary celebrates the belief that God assumed the Virgin Mary both body and soul into heaven following her earthly life. When the entire nation was gearing up for the 74th Independence Day celebration, the parishioners of Most Holy Redeemer Church got together for the celebration of the Feast of Assumption of Mary our Mother and the celebration of 74 years of freedom of our Mother Land.

The celebration commenced with the Eucharistic celebration at 8:00 am Rev Fr Gratian Alvares celebrated the mass. In his homily, he said that Mary is our mother if she received the privilege then we too by following her footsteps can receive this divine opportunity.

This was followed by the Independence Day celebration organised under the leadership of Catholic Sabha Derebail. The programme commenced with a prayer song. Mr Victor Correa was the emcee for the ceremony. The guest of honour was Rev Fr Gratian Alvares. The national flag, which is a symbol of the nation’s pride, was respectfully hoisted by Fr Gratian. The national anthem was then sung. Fr Gratian addressed the gathering on this special day. He spoke on the significance of the day. Sweets were later distributed to all.

The formal programme came to an end by a vote of thanks given by Juliet D’Silva, President of Catholic Sabha. The parishioners who participated in the day’s events followed norms and COVID protocol prescribed by the government. For the benefit of the parishioners and in order to facilitate the COVID protocol, other masses were held at 5 pm, and 6 pm on 14th and 7 am on the 15th.

Report by Loretta Anthony