By Felix Anthony
Bandra, Feb 3, 2022: A studio chapel was blessed and consecrated in the provincial house of the Society of St Paul in Mumbai’s Bandra suburb.
Auxiliary Bishop John Rodrigues of Bombay blessed and inaugurated the chapel on January 28 in the presence of the Pauline Family members and well-wishers in Mumbai.
Speaking at the inaugural Mass, Bishop Rodrigues thanked the Society of St. Paul for their effort to attend to the spiritual needs of the people, especially during this lockdown caused by the pandemic.
“God speaks to his people in so many ways. He is speaking to us even through this pandemic. This chapel is also medium of God’s message for his people. From this chapel people will experience God’s blessings and his grace as he will speak to them through Eucharistic Adoration and other spiritual animations. Their faith will be strengthened”,” the bishop added.
The chapel is specially designed for online spiritual programs, said St Paul Father Johny Panamthanam, director of St Paul’s Multimedia in Bandra.
“When churches got closed during the lockdown, we wanted to accompany the people in their spiritual journey. To provide spiritual support to people during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, we began a small online initiative called ‘30-Holy Minutes’ with thirty minutes of online Eucharistic Adoration. We began this at our community chapel on December 1, 2020.”
Within two years, St. Paul’s Multimedia, the YouTube channel of the Society, grew from a few hundred to more than 34,000 subscribers.
“When the people could not go to their churches for their worship, this thirty-minute of Eucharistic Adoration offered them hope and peace and trust in the ever-abiding presence of the Eucharistic Lord in their homes. The studio chapel is to reach out to the people more effectively,” said Father Panamthanam, who also designed the chapel.
The daily online Eucharistic Adoration from 8:30 am to 9 pm started with ten viewers. Now, it draws an average 4,000 viewers –men, women, youth, nuns and priests — from across the world.
“Many people have written to us to share their faith testimony and healings received by attending this online Eucharistic Adoration,” said Father Renold Pascal, who leads this daily online spiritual animation.
Father Varghese Gnalian, the Society of St. Paul provincial, thanked those who have contributed to build the project and said, “We dedicate this unique chapel to the benefit of each one of you to receive your daily grace.”
Apart from the 30-minute online Eucharistic Adoration, the chapel will be used for daily Mass, inner healing retreats; catechetical instruction and animation led by priests, youth and lay leaders. Recorded video will be uploaded to their YouTube channel.
“St. Paul’s Studio Chapel is a response to Holy Father’s call to bring people to God in prayer, to unload the viruses to Jesus our eternal anti-virus who will protect them from every harm, bringing peace, joy and healing,” said Father Johnson, the general editor of St Paul’s Publications.