Closing celebration of the 150th death anniversary of Bl. Francisco Palau
Our four communities in Maharashtra state, India: St. Francis Xavier, Our Lady of Carmel, Bld. Francisco Palau, St. Therese of the Child Jesus Novitiate and CMS members assembled in ‘Our Lady of the Forsaken’ Church, Malwani together with the Parish Councilors and the parishioners.
Everyone came before time with eagerness and full of joy for the celebration. It was a day of thanking God for the rich spirituality of our Founder and for the many blessings we received through his intercession. We had Rev. Fr. Nelson OCD as main celebrant and Rev. Fr. Aubrey Fernandes was the con celebrant.
We began the Eucharistic celebration with the entrance dance by our novices. The readings of the day highlighted the important tenet of Christian faith in the resurrection. Based on the readings Fr. Nelson said that our life here on Earth is a journey and is a passing reality. We live our life as sojourners here on earth in communion with the mother church that guides us to walk in the path which our Lord Jesus has shown to us. Blessed Francisco Palau whose 150th death anniversary we celebrate always strived to preserve the perfect communion by loving God and neighbour. He was a man of courage and never gave up. He went through persecution for the sake of his beloved the church. Prayer life, community life and apostolic life flowed as a fruit of this communion. Finally father wished us saying, ‘May all the Carmelite Missionary Sisters be successful in attaining this perfect communion by their prayer life and service towards humanity’.
Fr. Henry Sequeira our parish priest blessed us with festal wishes and prayed for the Canonization of our Founder and also for vocations. This was followed by Power point presentation on the life of Fr. Founder and the mission of Sisters. Fr. Nelson blessed the faithful with Fr. Founder’s Relic and after the mass the faithful venerated it. Then we had thrilling games and fraternal meal. We enjoyed, thanked God and each other for the inspiring and meaningful celebration.
6th November, 2022
Malwani, Prithikunj, Dongri, Pune
