Shillong: A historical musical drama on Father Constantine Vendrame, the first Salesian missionary to northeastern India was staged at a major seminary in Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state.
More than 1,500 people witnessed the musical staged for three consecutive days from October 19 at Sacred Heart Theological College (SHTC), Mawlai, a Shillong suburb.
“He is one of the greatest missionaries God has ever sent to our land. We cannot explain much about him within this few hours. And the new generation may not know much about this man but through this play we surely hope to learn something about him,” said Meghalaya’s Urban Affairs Minister R V Lyngdoh. Lyngdoh after watching the program.
The original script and music score of Father Barnes Mawrie, the college president, and the artistic direction of Brother Jomon Augustine brought alive the Italian missionary, who came to Shillong in 1924. He is known as the ‘Apostle of Shillong’ and the pioneer of Catholicism in the region.
The director of the play acknowledged, “It’s a great pleasure to direct and stage this drama on great missionary like Fr. Vendrame, whom people appreciate so much, especially in areas where he had evangelized.”
Sylvester Kurbah, headman Mawlai Phudmuri, in his speech recalled the contribution of Father Vendrame for the advancement of Khasis in Shillong.
Khasi is one of the major tribes in Meghalaya.
Father Vendrame “had contributed a lot for Khasi people here in Shillong both spiritually and intellectually. In the beginning, he built a small chapel at Mawlai but now it has turned into a holy shrine. We need to pray for the speedy canonization of Father Vendrame. He left his home and family for the betterment of Khasi people in here,” he added.
The Sacred Heart seminary brings out a musical drama every two years. The next musical drama will be in 2019.
Father Vendrame is now a Servant of God, the first step in the four-stage canonization process.
He was born at San Martino di Colle Umberto in the Treviso region of Italy in 1893. It was said at his death in 1957 that he died of over exhaustion. He toured the length and breadth of the Khasi-Pnar land and reached out even to the remotest villages. He became a household word among the Khasis in northeastern India, reports donboscoindia.com.
He joined the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1913 at Ivrea. After a four-year compulsory service in the military, he continued his theological formation while working simultaneously in the oratories of Chioggia and Venice. He was ordained a priest on March 15, 1924, and arrived in Shillong on December 23 that year.
He immediately set to study the local language and mastered it in a short time. In 1939, he was transferred to Jowai parish to work among the Pnars. He endeared himself to the Pnar people irrespective of their religions or denominations.
When World War II started in 1939, Father Vendrame along with all 150 other Italian missionaries was put in the concentration camp. In 1945 after the war Fr. Vendrame was sent to Wandiwash in North Arcot (Yercaud), in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He learned the Tamil language to befriend people there.
After his return from Arcot in 1951, he was assigned to Mawkhar, a stronghold of the Methodists. In those days, no Catholic priest could walk through this area without being insulted or threatened.
”He was our St. Francis Xavier,” hailed Monsignor Louis Mathias, the first Catholic bishop of Shillong.