Udupi/M’Belle: Annual Parish Feast of St. Lawrence Church celebrated with devotion and fervour

By Dr. Eugene DSouza
Pics by Alphonse Mendonsa
Bellevision Media Network

Moodubelle, 04 Jan 2017: Parishioners of St. Lawrence Church, Moodubelle celebrated the Annual Parish Feat with great devotion and fervor on Wednesday, 4 January 2017 at 10 am.

 

Fr. Alban D’Souza, Parish Priest of Stella Maris Church, Kalmady, Udupi was the chief celebrant of the solemn feast mass along with 31 priests from the Udupi Deanery and neighbouring parishes.

 

The priests along with the altar servers came in procession and entered the church through the main door to the accompaniment of the brass band.

 

Introducing the theme of the Annual Feast “You Become My Witnesses”, Fr. Alban D’Souza said that St. Lawrence was inspired by the Word of God to live his saintly life and accept martyrdom in honour of Jesus Christ and became a witness to his faith.

 

 

Delivering the homily Fr. Alban said that the Word of God is the mightiest of weapons. In the past God spoke to people through prophets and patriarchs.  The word of Holy Scriptures never fails, but gives fruit  a hundred times, nay a thousand times.  Jesus had said that the world may end but His words would never come to an end.  The Word of God enables one to transform for better. Transformation from bad habits, from harmful vices. Giving examples of different saints, Fr. Alban pointed out how the Word of God had brought about transformation in their lives including St. Augustine and St. Francis Xavier. He  stressed on the need to read regularly the Bible. The families  are on the verge of destruction because of various  reasons. Hence, it is important that the Word of God should be read followed in order to save the families.  The families lack communication among its members due to modern gadgets. Youth have lost touch with elderly family members and have immersed themselves in  these technological gadgets. Fr. Alban finally said that the Word of God would save families provided they make it the center of their lives.

 

Though there were two masses earlier at 6.30 am and 8 am, the church was filled to capacity for the solemn feast mass.  The church was decorated appropriately for the festive season. The main altar was decorated with natural flowers.

 

The choir, trained by Fr. Clement Mascarenhas  enhanced the solemnity of the annual  feast mass by singing melodious hymns ably supported by keyboard player Ashish Alva.

 

Close Circuit TV was arranged for the benefit of those who could not find place inside the church.

 

At the end of the mass, Fr, Clement Mascarenhas conveyed greetings of  the Annual Parish feast to all parishioners. He expressed gratitude to Fr. Alban D’Souza for concelebrating the annual parish feast as the chief celebrant and delivering the meaningful homily. He also thanked all those who had helped in conducting the annual parish feast in a successful manner.

 

Special candles of honour were presented to the main sponsors of the annual parish feast by Fr. Clement Mascarenhas.

 

 

Fr. Fred Mascarenhas, Dean of Udupi Varado conveyed the greetings of the annual feast to the parishioners and appreciated the contribution of Belle parishioners to various activities of the Udupi Varado. He also complimented the Belle parishioners for having secured first place in the Udupi Diocese in Mission Sunday collection.

 

 

Earlier, at  9.30 am, Fr. Clement Mascarenahs distributed candles of honour to the mud-dhoms. Mrs. Latha D’Mello, Secretary of Parish Pastoral Council read the list of names.