By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: The Latin Catholics of India on August 7 prayed for the health of the world that is awaiting the third wave of the coronavirus virus pandemic.
Prayer services were conducted from the tombs of St. Thomas in Chennai, St. Francis Xavier in Old Goa and St. Teresa of Kolkata and from major Marian basilicas in India.
The one-hour prayer services starting at 8:30 pm “took place exactly as they were planned,” Father Stephen Alathara, deputy secretary general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, told Matters India.
The conference is the national body of the bishops of the Latin Church in India.
The Church organized the services “in view of the difficult times that the people of our nation are going through on account of Covid 19 and to pray as one family for the health of the world,” Father Alathara explained.
The Marian basilicas that joined the services were the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount in Mumbai’s Bandra suburb, Basilica of Our Lady of Graces at Sardhana near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, Our Lady of the Assumption, Hyderabad, St Mary’s Basilica at Shivajinagar in Bengaluru and Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health at Vailankanni in Tamil Nadu.
Auxiliary Bishop John Rodrigues of Bombay and the choir members sang the opening hymn from the Bandra shrine. The initial part of the prayer was recited by Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras-Mylapore from the tomb of St. Thomas in Chennai. He is the vice president of conference.
Father Raymond Joseph, secretary of the CCBI Commission for Vocations read the Gospel from the Bengaluru shrine. Cardinal Oswald Cardinal Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay, gave a reflection from the Holy Name Cathedral, Colaba, Mumbai.
The prayers of the Faithful were recited in seven languages from the Sardhana shrine. Father Chetan Machado, secretary CCBI Commission for Youth, led the the intercessory prayers.
Jyotsna D’Souza, President, Indian Catholic Youth Movement; Montfort Brother Alex Diamond Raj, director of Montfort Bhavan in Meerut; Valentia Nongtdu, finance secretary of Jowai diocese in Meghalaya; John Paul, member of the youth movement, Sisters Sudeepti, a nurse of Our Lady of Graces Hospital, Sardhana, Sister Doctor Lisa, of the same hospital, Montfort Brother Prem Murmu, assistant director, Montfort Bhavan, Meerut recited the prayers in Hindi, Tamil, Khasi, Telugu, Kannada, Santali and Malayalam.
Archbishop Anthony Poola of Hyderabad recited the prayer for the control of Coronavirus and Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta and Sister Mary Prema Pierick, Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity led the Litany of Supplications from the tomb of Mother Teresa, Kolkata.
Bishop Vincent Aind of Bagdogra, West Bengal, led the prayer for the departed souls. They organized special prayers for all deceased bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful, to whom the Church was not able to give a decent funeral due to the pandemic restrictions.
Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto of Delhi, CCBI secretary general, recited a prayer from the Sacred Heart Cathedral, New Delhi, consecrating all people in India to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
CCBI president Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrã of Goa and Daman gave the Eucharistic Benediction from Old Goa’s Bom Jesu Basilica. The concluding prayer song was delivered from the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health, Vailankanni. Bishop Devadass Ambrose of Thanjavur and Father M. Prabakar, the rector of Shrine Basilica , joined the choir members to sing famous Marian prayer “Salve Regina” (Hail Holy Queen) in Latin.
All Latin Catholics in India spent one hour “as one family, thus giving witness to the Catholicity and cultural and linguistic diversity of the Church,” Father Alathara said.
The Latin Catholic Church in India has 132 dioceses and 18 million members.
This sort of prayer mission sends wrong message to the society that the god can remove virus from our midst but he won’t unless prayed upon. What sort of god is that? Instead of such gimmicks the Latin run hospitals could do more for people on the margins when they seek medical help.