Udupi: Our Lady of Health-Shirva Parishioners celebrate Annual Feast with fervor and gaiety

By Eugene DSouza, Moodubelle
Bellevision Media Network

Udupi/Shirva, 05 Feb 2014: With the inauguration of the Centenary Celebration of Our Lady of Health Church on the Confraternity Sunday, the Shirva parishioners celebrated their annual parish feast with devotion, fervor and gaiety on Wednesday, 5 February 2014. Rev. Fr. Denis D’Sa-PRO of the Udupi Diocese and parish priest of St. Antony’s Church, Kuntalnagar was the chief celebrant of the solemn feast mass at 10.30 am along with Rev. Fr. Valerian Mendonca-Chancellor of the Udupi Diocese, Rev. Fr. Fred Mascarenhas-Dean of Udupi Deanery, Rev. Fr. Stany Tauro- parish priest of Shirva and Dean of Shirva Deanery and a number of diocesan and religious priests.

 

Rev. Fr. Denis D’Sa in his homily outlines three basic aims of the celebration of the annual feast, that too in the year of the Centenary of the church building, namely to thank Almighty God for the faith that  He had preserved in the parish; Evaluation of the past; and looking forward and planning for the future. With anecdotes, Rev. Fr. Denis D’Sa highlighted the importance of giving thanks to God for all the good things that He had done in the parish and in the individual families. He also elaborated on the theme of this year’s annual feast, namely, “In the Journey of Faith, Our Lady of Health is the Guide”.

 

Stressing on the importance of building strong families rooted in faith, Rev. Fr. Denis D’Sa recalled the theme of this year’s annual feast at St. Lawrence Shrine, Attur-Karkala-“Christian Families-Cradles of Faith”. He pointed out the sorry state of affairs of modern families which have become victims of various disruptive elements such as modern gadgets, lack of faith, broken families, etc.

 

 

In a lighter vein he said that modern families are increasingly becoming  “Bus Stand Families’, “Police Station Families”, “Court Families”, “Dot. Com Families”, etc.  He asked the people to take the example of the Holy family as role model which had strong faith in God, time for each other and found happiness in simplicity.

 

At the end of the feast mass, Rev. Fr. Stany Tauro extended the greetings of the feast to all parishioners in Shirva and outside. He expressed gratitude to Rev. Fr. Denis D’Sa and other priests who participated in the  Eucharistic celebration and thanked all those who had helped in the celebration of the annual feast.

 

The main altar of the church was elegantly decorated with natural flowers. The Sun Shine Brass Band played delightful music enhancing the festive mood. The choir ably trained by Fr. Norbert D’Souza (OFM Cap) of Perampalli sang melodiously.

 

Prior to the commencement of the solemn feast mass, Rev. Fr. Stany Tauro distributed candles of honour to the office bearers and members of the Parish Pastoral Council and office bearers of other associations, Gurkars and mud-dhoms.

 

Devotees of Our Lady of Health were found lining up to offer candles and flowers at the separately erected altar on the left side of the church under the make-shift pandal.

 

The feast fair (Saantmari) in the sprawling college ground was filled with verities of stalls and eateries. At the end of the ground a giant wheel and other exciting rides were in progress.