Decennial Celebration of the Parish
A grand Decennial Celebration of Koteshwar Parish dedicated to St. Antony of Padua was held here on the church grounds. Under the able leadership of Fr. Cyril Menezes, elaborate planning and related preliminary arrangements were made well in advance, with the full support and cooperation of the Financial Council, Parish Council and Catholic Sabha. The Celebration was scheduled to begin with concelebrated solemn Mass at 10:30 am, on Sunday, 31st Jan 2021 to be followed by stage programme and lunch. Rev. Fr. Maxim Noronha, the Vicar General of Mangalore Diocese, who was designated to be the main celebrant, arrived at 10:00am and was welcomed at the main gate and escorted in a procession to the church by the Parish Priest and all the office bearers of the parish councils and the parishioners. The solemn Eucharist began exactly at 10:30am, as scheduled, with Main Celebrant Rev. Fr. Maxim Noronha and 17 other concelebrants. Well over 300 faithful took part in the Solemn Mass. The entire liturgical ceremony took around one and a half hour, but the time-lapse wasn’t even felt by the people as they got fully involved with the divine proceedings. Rev. Fr. Alwyn Sequeira OCD conducted the choir. Rev. Fr. Wilfred Rodrigues compered the stage programme in his usual inimitable and fluent style. Stage programme commenced with prayer song & dance presented by the students of St. Pius the X school, of Pius Nagar Parish. St. Ann’s Sisters animated the dance. Prayer song was sung by our Choir composed for the occasion by Rev. Fr. Alwyn Sequeira. History of St. Antony's Church was read by Mrs. Leena D'mello. Mrs. Maria Mascarenhas read out the accomplishments of each dignitary felicitated. His Lordship Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo, Rt Rev. Monsignor Maxim Noronha, Rev. Fr. Deep Fernandes (representing the Provincial), Rev. Fr. Stany Tauro, the dean of Kundapur Varado, Rev. Sr. Avita Montheiro, Rev. Fr. Walter Mendonca, Rev. Fr. Archibald Gonsalves, Rev. Fr. John Alfred Barboza and Rev. Fr. Cyril Menezes were felicitated by the dignitaries. Mrs. Wineeta D'almeida read out the names of office bearers of our Parish Council and donors and they too were honored with a memento. Helium balloons were flown by Rev Fr. Deep Fernandes, in his capacity as the representative of Fr. Provincial of Carmelites. Decennial Souvenir Magazine released by Rt. Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo. Later in his speech Bishop recalled the selfless services of the Carmelites and also appreciated the collaboration of the faithful in building up of this nascent parish. Vote of thanks was rendered by Mr. Richard D'Souza, VP of Parish Council. Lunch was served to all the attendees.