Mangalore: Thousands Flock Infant Jesus Shrine to Celebrate Annual Feast
Stanley Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Jan 14: The annual feast of Infant Jesus was celebrated at Infant Jesus Shrine, Bikarnakatte here on Saturday January 14 with solemnity and fervour.
The solemn Eucharistic celebration was held at 6 pm, presided over by Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza, the bishop of Mangalore. The preacher was Fr Praveen Leo of St Joseph’s Seminary.
There were at least 13,000 people for the evening mass alone. Leading to the feast was the Novena, with masses being celebrated and special prayers offered for various intentions on each of the nine days beginning on January 5. Devotees of all faiths thronged the Shrine and received blessings.
The diocese of Mangalore is celebrating the 125th year of its foundation this year. In thanksgiving to God for the gift of faith that He has given and in view of reinvigorating commitment to Christ, the theme chosen for the Feast was 'Glowing with Faith, Lamps of Light'.
Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza was the main celebrant of the feast Mass. On each novena day, a theme based on faith was reflected upon, taking as an example and model, one of God’s Chosen in the Bible, beginning from Abraham: Father of Faith to our Forefathers who professed their faith even during the time of Tippu’s persecution. There were also special prayers offered for a special intention.
There were seven masses on each day of the novena, 4 in the morning and 3 in the evening. The evening masses were telecast live on TV and the internet. Devotees came in large numbers for all the masses on all days. The largest crowds were present for the 6 pm open-air Konkani mass. Especially on days when there were special prayers conducted for children (day 3) and for the sick (day 10) the faithful came in great numbers and placed themselves at the feet of Infant Jesus, trusting completely in His mercy and generosity.
In the celebration of this feast, apart from looking after the spiritual needs of the people, the Carmelite Community (OCD Fathers) took a step in promoting the social cause of caring for the sick by organizing a blood donation camp on January 12. The response of the people was tremendous. In thanksgiving to Infant Jesus for the gift of life, many came forward to donate their blood that they may help another to live.
Inorder to cater to the needs of the faithful on the feast day on January 14, there were seven masses celebrated in the morning. Four of them were in Konkani and one each in English, Kannada and Malayalam. The 10:15 am mass was particularly celebrated for the sick, and there were special prayers for them. At 1:30 pm, an inter-religious prayer service was conducted in Kannada by Fr Vijay Kumar OCD. The celebrants were Frs Nelson OCD, Joy Painandath (St Joseph’s seminary) and Biju (Betharam Fathers), Abraham SVD (Mulky), John Sequeira OCD, Andrew D’Souza (Bondel), Maxim Noronha (Bishop’s House) and Vijay Kumar OCD. There were an average of about 2000 people at every mass.