Rain Dampened the Colourful Celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary
Mangaluru: Unexpected heavy downpour on Thursday 4 October evening dampened the celebration of Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary held at Valencia Church, and a procession was planned after the mass from Valencia Church to St Anthony’s Charitable Institution- but the procession had to be cancelled on the planned route since there was no sign of rain stopping, whatsoever. The celebration would have been glamorous and fervent if not for the unexpected surprise rain- but the Catholic faithful with determination carried on with the celebration inside the Valencia Church, with devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary.
The month of October is known as the month of Rosary in the Catholic Church. On the occasion of Rosario Cathedral Church completing 450 years the years 2017-2018 has been dedicated to the devotion of Our Lady of Rosary in the Diocese of Mangaluru. In this context, St Anthony’s Ashram Jeppu; St Vincent Ferrer Church Valencia; St Joseph Church Jeppu and St Rita Church Cascia joined together in celebrating the Rosary feast on 4th October, at the St Vincent Ferrer Church Valencia Church.
It was well planned after the mass at Valencia Church, to have the devotion of Rosary to be observed during the procession by reciting and singing the Rosary. Also added to the celebration was a decorated statue of Mother Mary along with tableau depicting the different apparitions of Mother Mary that would add beauty and devotion to the procession. And as planned at the end of the procession at the Jeppu Ashram there would be a preaching highlighting the importance of family prayer. Besides this various Associations would also sing hymns in honour of Mother Mary. But all these prior had to be rescheduled due to rains, and the preaching and adoration of Blessed Sacrament was held only at the Valencia church.
In spite of the heavy downpour, thunder and lightning people in hundreds enthusiastically participated in the celebration not minding the inconvenience, who had gathered at Valencia Church. The Religious Institutions like Prashanth Nivas, Holy Rosary Convent, Gerosa Convent, Roshni Nilaya, also collaborated in this devotion promoting programme. Most Rev Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Mangaluru celebrated the Festive Mass at St Vincent Ferrer Church at 5 pm. The Bishop in his message said, “There is a beautiful custom among the Catholic families of Mangaluru to pray Rosary in the evening before taking supper. Soon after the prayer of Rosary the younger ones in the family ask blessings from the elder ones. It is a prayer which keeps and binds the families together”. He asked the people present to keep this beautiful tradition going and not to neglect for any reason.
After the mass, Fr Clifford Fernandes, professor of St Joseph Seminary Jeppu preached a homily. He preached on the theme, ‘Mother Mary help us to reach Jesus our Lord’. After saying a small rosary, the adoration of Blessed Sacrament was done by the Bishop, following which since the rain had reduced a bit, it was decided to have a short procession. MCC Mayor Bhaskar Moily flagged off the procession, and the decorated statue of Our Lady of Rosary was taken in a procession accompanied by tableau depicting the Apparitions of Mother Mary. All along the way, the devotees prayed Rosary. The procession took a short route from the earlier planned one, by moving from Valencia Church, and taking a U-turn near Valencia Circle and then culminating at Valencia Church.
The celebration was organized by St Vincent Ferrer Chruch Valencia; St Joesph Church Jeppu and St Rita Church Cascia, all from Mangaluru diocese. Fr Onil D’Souza-Director of St Anthony’s Ashram Jeppu; Fr James D’Souza-Parish Priest and Fr Joswin- assistant Parish Priest of Valencia church respectively, Fr Harold Mascarenhas of Cascia church were present. MLC Ivan D’souza who joined in the celebration expressed his good wishes. Fr Francis D’Souza, the administrator of St Anthony Charitable Institutes also graced the occasion, and Fr Thrishan, the Asst Director of the St Anthony’s Institutes proposed the vote of thanks. St Anthony’s Ashram Jeppu; Prashanth Nivas Jeppu, Holy Rosary Convent Jeppu, Jerosa Convent Jeppu and Roshini Nilaya Valencia joined the celebration of thousand people participated in the programme.