Mangalore, Dec 13, 2010: The Bethany Sisters of the city headed by Sr Wilberta and assisted by the Postulator Sr Lillis in conjunction with the bishop Rt Aloysius P D’Souza on Thursday December 16 will honour Mgr Raymond F C Mascarenhas, a saintly priest of the diocese, the first Mangalore Konkani Catholic to enter the portals of potential ’Sainthood’ in the Roman Catholic Church. The process to be declared a saint by the Pope in Vatican is a strict and elaborate process which could take decades.
Mgr Raymond died at Bendur on December 23, 1960. On December 16, a solemn and devout celebration will be held at Bendur to observe the 50th death anniversary of the saintly priest who is the ’founder’ of the ’Bethany Sisters.’ The Bethany Sisters, whose headquarters is at Bendur, are the only indigenous order of nuns in Kanara. Mgr R F C Mascarenhas was the first parish priest of Bendur known to have raised it from scratch in 17 years from 1914 to 1931.
An unprecedented presence of bishops is expected for the observance of 50th death anniversary of ’Servant of God’ R F C Mascarenhas on the evening of December 16. The Archbishop of Bangalore, Bishop of Mangalore along with the Bishops of Shimoga, Gulbarga, Kannur, Belgaum, Belthangady and Bellary will take part. Apart from the public there will be many priests, nuns, religious and a number of relatives of Mgr Mascarenhas.
The solemn celebrations will include:a Concelebrated Eucharistic Mass , followed by an exclusive programme to mark the singular occasion of holy celebrations for the Konkani Christians of Kanara. Books are to be released on this great personality in Kannada, English and German. Several special projects will be inaugurated as well throughout India, which will be spearheaded by the Bethany Congregation.
