Shirva gets ready to receive relic of Don Bosco

Shirva gets ready to receive relic of Don Bosco

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore,  Aug  24, 2011 : The Church of Our Lady of Health in Shirva is making all preparations to receive the relic of Don Bosco, which is scheduled to arrive on Aug 25 at 9:00 a.m..

 

 

 

 

 

 

The parish priests, the priests and brothers of the Salesian order, and devotees from Shirva and other parishes, along with the Bishop of Mangalore Diocese Rev. Dr. Aloysius Paul D’Souza will receive the relic. Around 10 – 15 thousand people are expected to attend the masses, which will be held throughout the day, and to worship the relic.

Press Conference
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Rev. Fr. Stany Tauro, the parish priest of Our Lady of Health Church Shirva, said that the relic began its worldwide pilgrimage in 2009 in Italy and reached Dimapur in North Eastern India in April 2011. It is scheduled to return to Italy in 2015 after visiting 129 countries all over the world just in time for the 200th birth anniversary of Don Bosco. The relic is being taken on a pilgrimage to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Salesian Order by Don Bosco.

Fr. Maxim D’Souza, the director of the Don Bosco Youth Centre, said that the relic has already visited ten Salesian provinces in India. He also said that the bishop will receive the relic when it arrives at Shirva, after which he will celebrate the Holy Eucharist for the Youth at 11:00 a.m. Another mass will be held at 4:00 p.m. and it will be celebrated by Msgr. Denis Moras Prabhu, the vicar general. The devotees can worship the relic till 6:00 p.m. The relic will leave for Bangalore on Aug 26, in the morning.

Fr. Gracian Alvares and Fr. Navin D’Souza, the assistant parish priests of Shirva; Fr. Augustine Fernandes; Irwin D’Souza, the vice president of the Parish Pastoral Council; and Melwyn Aranha, the secretary of the Parish Pastoral Council, were also present at the press conference.

About the Relic

Speaking about the relic, Fr. Maxim D’Souza said that the relic comprises the bones and tissues of the right hand of the saint, which is placed with a wax image of his body, which is placed inside a large urn. The face of the statue was sculpted using the death mask of Don Bosco by Gianpero Zoncu. The urn is made of a large glass box through which the wax replica can be easily seen. The glass box is placed on top of a huge metal and wood card. The urn is decorated with Don Bosco’s favorite quote: “Give me souls, take away the rest” in Latin along with images of young faces and maps showing the Salesian empire. The years 1815 and 2015 are also printed on the glass box to remind devotees of the purpose of this pilgrimage. The entire urn weighs 850kgs and is transported using two specially designed trucks and is driven by Italian chauffeurs.

About Don Bosco
Don Bosco is the founder of the Salesian Order for men and women as well as two lay movements the Salesian Co-workers and the Don Bosco Alumni Associations.

Currently, there are 30,000 members of the Salesian Order for men and women all over the world with 4000 of them in India. The order has 350 primary, secondary, technical, and higher educational institutions in 10 provinces. There are 26 Salesian centres in Karnataka with 6 in the Konkan Province.

In Shirva, the Salesian Order established the Don Bosco Youth Centre in 2007 at Benjith Nagar where a youth centre and a youth hostel are managed. The society plans to launch technical colleges for young people from BPL families.

In Shirva, there are 3 Salesian priests—Fr. Maxim D’Souza, the director of the Don Bosco Youth Centre; Fr. Augustine Fernances; and Fr. Joe Fernandes—as well as two brothers—Br. Kiran Nazareth and Br. Merwin Fernandes.