February 4th is special day not only for the Catholics of
India, as it is the feast day of St. John De Britto, but it is a special day in
a special way for Khrist Premalaya Family, very specially for Fr. Pius Lakra,
SVD. This is the day on which he was born. We were glad to celebrate his
birthday with great euphoria and glee. Unlike previous year, this day was a
holiday, so we had the full day at our disposal.
The day began at 6 in the morning
with the rising bell. After some time we gathered in front of the main building
and there was a short welcoming ceremony guided by Bro. Carol Antony. After
washing of the hands and garlanding the main celebrant, we proceeded in a
procession to the chapel. During the holy Eucharist, Bro. Rajesh Sarrel, in his
introduction said, that Fr. Pius is very cheerful person and very much
concerned about the brothers. He also gave some of his biographical information
in short. The Liturgy and other programmes for the day were organized under the
leadership of the first year theologians as Fr. Pius is the moderator for them.
After the mass there was the
sumptuous breakfast. In the afternoon there was a cricket match of fifteen
overs each between the teams divided under the captainship of Fr. Johny and Fr.
Pius. Fr. John’s team won the toss and chose to bat first. With their
enthusiastic performance they set a score of 108 runs before the opponent team
with 32 highest runs by Bro. Shijo John with 2 sixes and 4 fours. Fr. Pius team
began the chase after 10 minutes’ tea break with relatively moderate pace. After
sometime the wickets started falling rapidly and the whole team was flat at 68
runs, losing the match by 40 runs. Bro. Manoj Kujur hit highest 3 sixes.
In the evening, the guests were
invited from the nearing communities. There was a short felicitation programme
by the first years. They showed a short skit and sang songs. Bro. Carol
Antony spoke of the first years’ experience with Fr. Pius, he said that Fr.
Pius always keeps smiling and he is so friendly with the brothers that we don’t
hesitate to approach him anytime. Fr. Rector spoke on behalf of the staff and
said that Fr. Pius makes the community life lively and enjoys life. We are very
glad to have him amidst us. At the end Fr. thanked everyone for making the day
a special one, and after the blessing for the meal we began the banquet. The
day ended with a movie.
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