M’belle: Parish Choir celebrates feast of patroness- St. Cecilia

By Eugene DSouza, Moodubelle
Bellevision Media Network

Moodubelle, 24 Nov 2012: The choir of St. Lawrence Parish, Moodubelle celebrated the feast of their patroness St. Cecilia on Saturday, November 24, 2012 during the evening mass followed by a get-together in the parish hall at 5 pm. The Mass was animated by the members of the choir. Prior to the Mass, Mrs. Matilda Quadros read out the report of the activities of the choir during the past one year.

 

Presently there are 35 members in the choir  who render their service during Saturday evening as well as Sunday Masses. Besides, various festivals including Christmas, Titular Feast of St. Lawrence,  Parish Feast and Holy Week including Easter the choir also renders service for various other celebratory Masses such as wedding, jubilees and  First Holy Communion. The choir also remains present during funeral masses and other occasions. The exhaustive practice prior to major feasts is one of the chief reason for the success of the parish choir in increasing the spiritual tempo of the various feasts.

 

 

The Choir of Moodubelle parish added a feather in their cap when it won the overall second position out of 22 parish choirs that have participated in the Udupi Diocese level  singing competition conducted by the ICYM   at St. John the Evangelist Church, Pangala recently.

 

Following the Mass, a get-together of the choir members was  held in the parish hall which was presided over by Rev. Fr. Joswey Fernandes, Parish Priest. Fr. Paul Sequeira-Director of the Parish Choir, Fr. Lancy Saldanha, Assistant Parish Priest, Alphonse K. Alva and Mrs. Jacintha D’Souza, Vice President and Secretary of the the Parish Pastoral Council respectively and Mrs. Matilda Quadros, President of the Choir were on the dais. Sr. Irene, Superior of Loreto Convent and Sr. Royleen were also present for the programme.

 

Mrs. Matilda Quadros welcomed the gathering. Fr. Paul Sequeira extended the greetings of the feast of St. Cecily, the patroness of the Choir to all the members present. In his message he said that he has been quite happy to train the choir for the last ten years. Rev. Fr. Joswey Fernandes in his address  pointed out the importance of choir in the liturgy of the church and complimented the choir for rendering their unstinted service to the church. He made an appeal to the parents to send their children to choir practice. He said that by participating in choir singing one can gain spiritual experience.

 

Clavin Martis presented a solo  song that had  fetched him second position in the ICYM organized diocese level competition. Similarly, Carol Quadros and group presented the Group Song that had secured them first place in the same competition.

 

Fr. Joswey Fernandes honoured the key-board players-Christopher,  Clive, Ashish and Prasanna. He also honored Alex D’Almeida one of the senior members of the choir for attending regularly the daily mass and leading the singing.

 

Joy Fernandes compeered the programme and Jevita Mendonca proposed the vote of thanks.

 

 

                                                                                 St. Cecilia

St. Cecilia  is the patroness of musicians  and Church music because, as she was dying, she sang to God. It is also written that as the musicians played at her wedding she "sang in her heart to the Lord". St. Cecilia was an only child. Her feast day is celebrated in the Roman Catholic,Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches on November 22. She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass. It was long supposed that she was a noble lady of Rome who, with her husband Valerian, his brother Tiburtius, and a Roman soldier Maximus, suffered martyrdom in about 230, under the Emperor Alexander Severus.