From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Jul 27: The funeral of Bangalore priest Fr S Thomaiar, who turned 64 on July 11, and died at Yangon in Myanmar on July 24 during a visit to attend the Jesus Caritas Fraternity meeting three weeks ago, will be held on July 29.
The mortal remains of Fr Thomaiar will arrive at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru from Myanmar on July 28 around midnight and will be taken straightaway to from the Airport to the Holy Family Church in Ramamurthynagar, where the deceased priest was serving as the Parish Priest, according to Bangalore Archbishop Most Rev Dr Bernard Moras.
The requiem mass for the deceased priest will be offered in the Holy Family Church in Ramamurthynagar on July 29 at 8 am. The coffin will be shifted to the Sacred Heart’s Church in Richmond Road after the mass and kept for public viewing and enable the faithful to pay their last respects and homage.
The funeral service will be conducted at the Sacred Heart’s Church in Richmond Road at 11.30 am and will be followed by burial at the Sacred Heart’s Priests’ Cemetery on July 29, the Archbishop said in a press release.
“We have lost a senior priest of our Archdiocese in the death of Fr Thomaiar. Let us continue to pray for the repose of his soul in gratitude to God for all the services that he had rendered to all of us in the Archdiocese,’’ the Archbishop said and expressed his heartfelt sympathies to the brothers and sisters, relatives and friends of the late Fr Thomaiar.
“May the Lord grant them the strength and courage to bear this irreparable loss,’’ the Archbishop said exhorting all the Priests of the Archdiocese of Bangalore to offer three masses for the repose of the soul of Rev Fr S Thomaiar.
The 64-year-old Fr Thomaiar was born on July 11, 1951 at Muthuvijayapuram in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. He was the fifth child of Susai and Savariammal. After his high school studies in home town, he joined the Archdiocese of Bangalore to have his priestly formation at the St Mary’s Minor Seminary and St Peter’s Pontifical Seminary, Bangalore. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1978 by late Archbishop Most Rev Packiam Arokiaswamy at the Ascension Church, Bangalore.
In his 37 years of priestly ministry, Fr Thomaiar had served in the St Patrick’s Church, Brigade Road; Ss Peter and Paul Church, Rayapuram; Infant Jesus Church, Viveknagar; St Rita’s Church, Kunigal; Good Shepherd Church, Murphy Town; St Theresa’s Church, Robertsonpet- KGF; Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Tumkur; Mother of Mines Church, Oorgam and Holy Family Church, Ramamurthynagar, in the Bangalore Archdiocese.
“Fr Thomaiar was a priest with zeal and enthusiasm. He accepted his appointments cheerfully and worked with priestly zeal and commitment. He was known for his humble demeanor and simple lifestyle. He was a very jovial person and reached to the poor and needy in his priestly ministry,’’ the Archbishop described Fr Thomaiar in his condolence message.