O. L. OF VAILANKANNI PARISHVol. IV No. 3APRIL 2018

EasterHouseOurAltarServersarebusyasalways!

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Sacred relics of St. Anthonyl DhanalaxmiKaliram

SAINT’S RELICS VISIT INDIA

What a privilege and an honour it was when it wasannounced that the two original sacred relics i.e afragmentof StAnthony'spetrified flesh in a beautifulbust and his smallest rib would be brought forveneration to our Church of our Lady of Vailankanni,PicnicGarden.

FormostofusKolkatans,goingtoItalyortothesaint'sShrineisalmostimpossiblebutGodhasauniquewayofworkingthingsaround forus. So,whenon16March2018,ourparishwasfortunateenoughtohavebeenableveneratethesacredrelicsofSt.Anthony.TherelicsmadeitswaytoMotherHouseearlymorningfollowedbyourParishandthereaftertoStJoseph'sChapelculminatingwith a solemnMassbyhisGraceArchbishopThomasD'Souza.

Father Alexander gave an insight of how back home,people patronised the Saint every year, and how thebelief in him has grown over the years - stating themiracleofacrippledladywhogotcuredwhileprayingathistomb.HetoldthecongregationthataladyprayedtoStAnthonytobringbackherdeadsonwhowasdrownedto life and promised to offer bread equivalent to hisweight.Herconvictionandbeliefcametopass,andthechildwasrestoredtolife.ThismiraclegaverisetothepiouspracticeofofferingbreadasapetitionorinreturnforfavoursreceivedthroughSt.Anthony'sintercession.

The relicwasatourparish from9.00am to1.30pm.Hundreds of parishioners and people from otherparishesgatheredinthechurchasearlyas7.00amtoveneratetherelics.Chaplet,LitanyandHolyMasswereheld.

Father Alexander also stated that the Archbishop ofPaduahadwishedthattherelicsvisitedIndiathisyearto

encouragepeople to venerate the relics.ThejourneyoftherelicsinIndiastartedfrom21FebruaryatKerala, followedbyChennai, Shillong, Kolkata and back toKerala.Thereafteron21MarchtherelicsweresentbacktoPadua.TheBasilicaofSaint Anthony in Padua is one of thelargest churches in the world visited

APRIL 2018 Wellspring 1

@ A GLANCE@ A GLANCEDivineMercyThe Divine Mercy Sunday will be celebrated on 8 April 2018, at 3 pm.

MinistryfortheAgedThe Ministry for the Aged would be taking their beneficiaries to B a n d e l f o r t h e i r a n n u a l pilgrimage on 8 April 2018.

HallBlessingSt Teresa of Kolkata Hall will be blessed Saturday 7 March 2018, by Archbishop Thomas D’Souza.

BaptismsThere was a baptism in the Church during the Easter Vigil Service.

SVPspreadsjoy!GiftsforournotsowelloffbrothersandsistersthisEaster.

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TravellingrelicsofSt.AnthonyofPaduareachKolkata...andChurchofOurLadyofVailankanni.

Continued on page 3Baptism ritual.

1. Alexa Shannon Payne2. Tanusri (Annie) Bhanj3. Rick John Bose4. Amie Francis

aptismsB

04 - 06 April - Wishing Pauline and Lily a

1. Patrick Desilva & Venita Desilva2. Saikat Gregory Sarkar & Ambalene Gomes3. Fatima Mary 4. Nirmala Paul5. Ian Jude Conqud & Jennifer Bernadine6. Pushkal Chettri & Sharon Chettri7. Anthony Holt & Evangeline Holt8. Sweety Virginia Chang9. Bernard Gomes & Mary Gomes

Birthdays

New comers

PARISH DIARYPARISH DIARY

1.Y. Kalawati 69yrs2. Charmaine Gillette 46yrs3. Bithika Mondal 55 yrs

Funerals

APRIL 2018Wellspring2

Our church

isSocial!

http://www.facebook.com/COLVail/

Lenten Retreatl BernadetteKing

“Renewing our encounterwith God, living inthewordofGodandourneighbour”.

Themuch-awaited Lenten retreatwas held on17 and18M a r c h 2 0 1 8 a n d w a s p r e a c h e d b yBr.MathewJoseph,thefounderofROTA(ReachOuttoAll),ministries,whowasinspiredbythewordsofJesusinMark16:15-18.BrMathewsiscloselyassociatedwithSt.TheresaofCalcuttafromhisearlychildhood.

The day began with the recitation of the Divine MercyChapletfollowedbyPraise&WorshipasthePsalmistsaysinPsalm100:2'WorshiptheLordwithgladness;comeintoHispresencewithsinging.’

Brotherstressedonthetwoimportantcommandments,thefirst,inMathew22:37-38'YoushalllovetheLordyourGodwithallyourheart,withallyoursoulandwithallyourmind'and the second, “Love your neighbour as yourself ”.Throughouthissessions,heexplained thewordofGod inutmost simplicitywhich he supplemented throughpowerpointpresentationsonlove,faithandobediencetothevoiceoftheLord.Surelytoobeyisbetterthansacrificeandtoheedthanthefatoftherams'.WemustalsolearntokeepthewordofGodinourheadsastheBibleisJesusChristinprint.Timesare changing, and the Word of God will save us, as theprophetsaysinAmos8:11'thetimeiscoming,saystheLordGod,whenIwillsendafamineontheland;notafamineofbread,orathirstforwater,butofhearingthewordsoftheLord.BrothersharedwithususefulBibleversesforourdaytodayuse in ourdaily struggle to overcome the spiritualattackswe face. St.Paulexplains theWordofGodas theswordoftheHolySpirit,whichistheWordofGod.

Theretreatconcludedwithadorationbeautifullyconductedby Fr. Gregory in his melodious voice, the number ofparticipantswerearound80onthefirstdayand120onthesecond day. All those who attended were extremelysatisfiedandenjoyedeverysinglemoment,theylovedthedifferentactionsongsandlearntnewandmeaningfulsongsinHindiandinEnglish.

As a token of appreciation Fr. Gregory handed over amementoeachtoBr.Mathewandhistwoyoungandvibrantteammembers,MichaelandRobert.

MATERIALFORPUBLICATION,LETTERSTOTHEEDITOR:Email:colvailkol@gmail.comElse,dropinorpostto:Wellspring,c/oChurchofOurLadyofVailankanni,889,DebBanerjeeRoad,Amrabati,Naskarhat,Kolkata-39.Phone:9748477506(12p.m.-6p.m.)

Contact Stella at 8617288935 for beauty services and spa and massage at home.

very happy birthday on 4 and 6 April - from Mast Gang.

14 April - Wishing Alexander Miller a very happy birthday on 14 Aprilfrom family.

04 April - Wishing Cleona Desilva a very happy birthday on 4 April – Clinton and June

Beauty

Some homilies leaves such an impact that a desire develops to spread it to the people around us.

Before the Mass, quite early, a lot of people come to church and try to occupy the place under the fans, which is quite understandable. However, there were people who walk about the church, talking to one another from one place to another and sometimes across the Church too.

It so happened the Celebrant's homily was on the family and how children should be taught by parents to know and respect Jesus, etc. At this homily, he also mentioned that people talk on their mobiles, talk to one another and also he mentioned that people walk across the church hall to greet one another. He said that mobiles should be switched off before entering the church and if one thinks that it is important to keep the mobile on, they should stay outside the church and take their calls and not go out when the mobile rings, which is very disturbing, and receive a call and then come in again.

Also talking in church should be prohibited completely. Church is a place of prayer and worship, if one comes in early, he or she should sit quietly and pray offer up their day to God and ask for blessings, and not walk about the church talking and greeting one another. Is church the place for this ?

I was quite touched by the homily and I'm sure many others must have been touched also and realised what Father was try ing to put across to the parishioners.

I hope this message gives people Food for thought, and this does not continue in our Parishes. - Margaret Coelho

letters toTHE EDITORletters toTHE EDITOR

NEWS FROM ALTAR SERVERS

The Easter House

Winners – “The Easter House”Participants – Annette Paull, Arpita Loyall, Katherine Leong, Yohan Bramblebee, Joel Xavier & Samuel Baptist.

See Pg. 4

for

more!

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It’s your parish paper!

APRIL 2018 Wellspring 3

Shepherd’sVoice

Fr.GregoryMonterioParish Priest

My dear brothers and sisters:

Pope John Paul II established the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. The Divine Mercy,

of course, is the unconditional love of God seen from the vantage point of a sinner. It is the fidelity

of the love of God. This is the Good News of the Gospel.First, there is the Incarnation, which we celebrated on Christmas. Though he was God he emptied

himself, becoming like us in all things but sin. He became obedient to death on cross as we saw

during Holy Week. Pope John Paul II reminds us that we were sinners when Jesus died for us and

there is an even greater love than this. Even after giving his life for his enemy he offers it again in

the Eucharist to be rejected and crucified again.Jesus said that he came not for the righteous but for the sinners. He ate and drank with sinners. He

forgave sins and delegated that same power to his apostles. He taught the parables of the lost

coin, the Good Shepherd, and the prodigal son, all of which tell us that the Divine Mercy is not “the

pardon of a judge, but the embrace of a lover.”The first Christians knew and experienced the fidelity of love of God, the unconditional love of

God, the divine mercy. Their lives were filled with peace, love and joy. They rejoiced at having been

found worthy to suffer something for the name of Jesus. Human nature being what it is, over the

centuries Christians began to forget this love of God. It was that a terrible heresy, Jansenism,

swept over the church and this peace, love and joy was transformed into fear, anxiety and

scrupulosity. Then it was that Jesus revealed to Sr. Faustina the secrets of his Divine Mercy and requested that

the Sunday after Easter be celebrated as the Feast of Divine Mercy. Sr. Faustina told Jesus, “I am

surprised that you bid me to talk about this Feast of Divine Mercy, for they tell me that there is

already such a feast, so why should I talk about it?” Jesus said to her, “And who knows anything

about this feast? No one! Even those who should be proclaiming my mercy and teaching the

people about it often do not know about it themselves.”How many more revelations do we need to convince us? We should go back to the Gospels and

read it again. We didn't get the point! The fidelity of the love of God, the unconditional love of God,

the mercy of God is very clear, and definitively expressed in the Gospels.God is love. The unconditional love of God, the Divine Mercy, is a GIVEN. It is always available. The

one unforgivable sin is to think that our sin is too great for the mercy of God. The sin of Judas was

not that he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver but that he denied the Divine Mercy. He thought

that his sin was too great to be forgiven. He could have been forgiven just as Simon Peter was

forgiven.The Lord is inviting each one of us to open our hearts to welcome him and receive his mercy. May

the feast of Divine mercy help us to lead a better Christian life and be witnesses to our brothers

and sisters. I wish you all a very happy feast of Divine Mercy. May God bless you all.

Mercy Divine

SVP spreads some joyl Clementine Miller24 March 2018. the SVP wing of our parish spread some joy to our not so well-off brothers and sisters this Easter. Little contribution in the form of a bucket and a mug, gamcha, one kg chicken and an Easter egg was made to our brethren. Special prayers were recited on the occasion and we had an interactive session with our beneficiaries. Their happy faces on receiving the small tokens were extremely touching and humbling to see them to be satisfied with so little. We like to thank Fr Gregory and Fr Bhaju for supporting us, our benefactors and parishioners .

Divine Mercy Sunday

Pope John Paul II established the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. The first Christians knew and experienced the fidelity of love of God, the unconditional love of God, the divine mercy. Their lives were filled with peace, love and joy. They rejoiced at having been found worthy to suffer something for the name of Jesus. Human nature being what it is, over the centuries Christians began to forget this love of God. It was that a terrible heresy, Jansenism, swept over the church and this peace, love and joy was transformed into fear, anxiety and scrupulosity.Jesus who wanted to remind us of his unconditional love revealed to Margaret Mary the secrets of his Sacred Heart. Once again, the lives of Christians were filled with love, peace and joy. On the First Friday of each month Churches were packed with people celebrating the devotion to the Sacred Heart. “Sacred Heart I trust in Thee,” was in the hearts and on the lips of millions.But as the years rolled on once again people began to forget the love, the mercy of God. Then it was that Jesus revealed to Sr. Faustina the secrets of his Divine Mercy and requested that the Sunday after Easter be celebrated as the Feast of Divine Mercy. Sr. Faustina told Jesus, “I am surprised that you bid me to talk

Lent and Youthl Twinkle Anthony

LentisasolemnreligiousobservanceintheChristianliturgicalcalendarthatbeginsonAshWednesdayandendsapproximatelysixweekslater,beforeEasterSunday.SothisLentenseason,fromthe23Marchtothe31MarchtheyouthofourParishcametogetherasa team toprepare themselvesforEasterinvariousways.Onthe23March,alltheyouthalongwiththeir Animator, Mr. Paul Jacob made allarrangementfortheservice.Fromtheway

everyyearbymorethan5millionpilgrims.

We are grateful to Fr. Anthony andFr. Gregory for giving us this moment ofclosenesswith theSaint,who is aPatronSainttomanyofus.

Relics - Continued from page 1

ofthecrosstotheliturgy,everythingwashandledbythemandtheydidagreatjob.The very next day, the youth arrived inchurchat7:00amtohelpwiththecleaningofthechurch.Theyworkedhardtill11:00amtomakethechurchspotlesssothatthefaithfulcanprayinacleanpremises.Onthe25MarchwhichwasPalmSundaythey were shown a movie called “TheShack”.Themovieisaboutagrievingmanwho receives a mysterious, personalinvitation to meet God at a place called"TheShack”afterwhichhislifeischangedforever.Themovie tried to imbibe in theyouththeimportanceoffaithandofGod.

On the 30 March, which was Good Friday, theyouthalongwiththeAnimator'sfamilywentforthevisitationof 7churches.TheroutefollowedbythemwasfromSacredHeart,toSt.Anthony's,then Prabhu Jishu, St.Mary's, Mother House,St.Xavier'schapel,CarmeliteandendedwithSt.Thomas'church.ItwasanenrichingexperienceforalltheyouthofourparishtopreparethemselvesforEaster.

Continued on page 4

EASTER – Rita Machado

E – Emmanuel (God is with us)A – Ascension of our Lord into HeavenS – Savior Lord Jesus ChristT – The Holy TrinityE – Eternal R – Resurrection

Wellspring

Kidz KontestOnly parish children below 13 years

are eligible to enter.

Entries should reach Wellspring by 25 April 2018, latest.

Church of Our Lady of Vailankanni, Picnic Garden, is published monthly from 889, Deb Banerjee Road, Amrabati, Naskarhat, Kolkata 700039. Published by the Parish Media Team on behalf of Fr. Gregory Monterio, Parish Priest.Publication Team :Editor: June Coelho; Asst. Editor: Ishita Chowdhury; Writers: Twinkle Anthony, Rosanne Miles, Sarahlyn Cook, Liam and Luke Mandle; Advertising and Admin: Dhanalaxmi Kaliram; ASCC Advisor: Farrell Shah.Printed by: CAPS Micrographics Pvt. Ltd.Vol. IV No. 3 | April 2018

Mother Mary remembers thefirstGoodFriday–Aviewfromhereyes...

That Good Friday

APRIL 2018 Wellspring4

#33

Winner of Kids Kontest 32(March2018)

It was a normal sunny day and I wasdoing some house workwhen I heardsomeonecallingouttomesaying,“Mary,Mary, yourbeloved son Jesushasbeencondemnedtodeath.Hurry,heisabouttostarthisjourneytoMountCalvary”.Ireplied back in utter shock. “Who didsuchathing,whodidthistomyson”.Thedistressedmanreplied“PontiusPilate”.The messenger and I hurried to findJesus. After an hour of search, I foundPeterandaskedhim,“Whatcausedthisproblem”. He replied by saying, “thepeople of Jerusalem had decided this”.Theyshouted“crucifyhim”.Ifindmysonstrugglingtobeartheheavyweight of the Cross. I try my best tostruggle through the huge crowd and

finallymeetmyoneandonly son.Greatagonyandsorrowrushedthroughmysouland I feltpain that I thought Icouldnotbear.Afterafewhours,mymostblessedsonwasstrippedoffhisgarmentsandwasgiven bitter gall to drink. Nothing couldexplainhowIfeltwhenmysondiedontheruggedcross.After Jesuswas brought down from theCross,Ifinallygotachancetoholdhiminmyarms.Thiswastheworstdayofmylifeandwhenmysonwaslaidinthetomb,myheartwasbrokenintoamillionpieces.

ByAnnettePaull

AmeliaEzdani(age7years)Congratulations!

ALTAR SERVERS WRITE

about this Feast of Divine Mercy, for they tell me that there is already such a feast, so why should I talk about it?” Jesus said to her, “And who knows anything about this feast? No one! Even those who should be proclaiming my mercy and teaching the people about it often do not know about it themselves.”How many more revelations do we need to convince us? We should go back to the Gospels and read it again. We didn't get the point! The fidelity of the love of God, the unconditional love of God, the mercy of God is very clear, and definitively expressed in the Gospels.God is love. The unconditional love of God, the

Divine Mercy, is a GIVEN. It is always available. The one unforgivable sin is to think that our sin is too great for the mercy of God. The sin of Judas was not that he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver but that he denied the Divine Mercy. He thought that his sin was too great to be forgiven. He could have been forgiven just as Simon Peter was forgiven.The Lord is inviting each one of us to open our hearts to welcome him and receive his mercy. May the feast of Divine mercy help us to lead a better Christian life and be witnesses to our brothers and sisters. I wish you all a very happy feast of Divine Mercy. May God bless you all.

Divine Mercy - Continued from pg. 3

Holy Week Roundupl June Coelho

PalmSundayadaytorejoiceandadaytomourn–the palmswere blessed in the Church compoundbefore every Mass and people walked in aprocession singing 'The King of Glory the NationRejoices.'OnHolyThursday,theLord'sLastSupperofJesuswasre-enactedwithwashingofthefeet.TheLast Supper was the first Mass. From that dayonwardstheApostlesneverceasedtocarryoutthecommandoftheMaster:"DothisinmemoryofMe.Theapostleschosenrepresentedthesenioryouth,thesickandtheseniorsoftheParish.TheHolyhourwas observed after evening Mass. The Hindi ,Bengali and theEnglish community took turns toobserved this time in prayer and meditation. OnGoodFridayat6pmthecongregationgatheredintheChurchandwalkedinprocessionenactingtheStationsoftheCrosswithfullfaithbyfasting.The3hoursofagonystartedwiththeStationsofthecrossat 2 p.m. with the body of Jesus carried bypallbearerswhichwasveryemotionalandtouchedthedeepcornersofthe congregation.TheserviceendedwithDivineMercyChapletat5.00p.m.TheEaster Vigil was the high point of the EasterTriduumcelebratingthepassionandresurrectionof Jesuswith a rich display of symbols, rites andreadingduring Mass.There was onebaptismintheChurch.