After the funeral of Fr. Salvatore Brancato, on my way back to Jaffa, I went to the neighbourhood of Tachana Mercazit to bless a top-floor apartment where some Indian workers live. Slowly climbing the stairs, I heard singing as though in a church and words recited following the rhythm of an alternating community prayer. I reached the floor. The door to the apartment was open and some people were on the landing, as they could not go in because there was no room.
Prayers and songs in Konkani were being performed in the traditional popular way. Asking someone what was going on, they kindly whispered that they were doing the pious exercise of the Via Crucis. I was then able to go in, making my way through the people. I saw a small, simple table, leaning against the wall, which was acting as an altar, with a cross, the centre of attraction and worship. There were a lot of young women and young men kneeling, with their hands clasped together, as used to be the custom. There were others standing, due to the lack of room to kneel. They were all engrossed in the prayer led by some members of the community. Their faces showed serenity, as well as the tiredness of a week of hard work and how they missed their families and distant homes, but they were all confident and full of faith. Staring at Jesus on the cross absorbed the strength necessary to carry their own cross. They are from Kerala, a state in southern India evangelized by the apostle Thomas in the first apostolic preaching. Then in the 16th century, the great missionary to Asia, the Spanish Jesuit St. Francis Xavier revived their faith with the impetus of his missionary zeal.
This Indian community has no chaplain that accompanies them to a foreign country. to help them keep their Christian faith. Their only real companion is the Holy Spirit and their love for the Virgin Mary. They live their Christianity with simplicity and love. They are the poor of the Lord, rich in His presence in their hearts.
At the end, they ask me for a priest’s blessing in which they rightly believe a great deal. They then return to their apartments, which are occupied by up to as many as ten or twelve people, for their well-deserved weekend of rest. Some go up on to the roof of the block to rehearse the traditional dances they will be performing at the next celebration of the community, for Easter, a legitimate leisure activity. God bless them.
Fr. Arturo Vasaturo ofm
Prayers and songs in Konkani were being performed in the traditional popular way. Asking someone what was going on, they kindly whispered that they were doing the pious exercise of the Via Crucis. I was then able to go in, making my way through the people. I saw a small, simple table, leaning against the wall, which was acting as an altar, with a cross, the centre of attraction and worship. There were a lot of young women and young men kneeling, with their hands clasped together, as used to be the custom. There were others standing, due to the lack of room to kneel. They were all engrossed in the prayer led by some members of the community. Their faces showed serenity, as well as the tiredness of a week of hard work and how they missed their families and distant homes, but they were all confident and full of faith. Staring at Jesus on the cross absorbed the strength necessary to carry their own cross. They are from Kerala, a state in southern India evangelized by the apostle Thomas in the first apostolic preaching. Then in the 16th century, the great missionary to Asia, the Spanish Jesuit St. Francis Xavier revived their faith with the impetus of his missionary zeal.
This Indian community has no chaplain that accompanies them to a foreign country. to help them keep their Christian faith. Their only real companion is the Holy Spirit and their love for the Virgin Mary. They live their Christianity with simplicity and love. They are the poor of the Lord, rich in His presence in their hearts.
At the end, they ask me for a priest’s blessing in which they rightly believe a great deal. They then return to their apartments, which are occupied by up to as many as ten or twelve people, for their well-deserved weekend of rest. Some go up on to the roof of the block to rehearse the traditional dances they will be performing at the next celebration of the community, for Easter, a legitimate leisure activity. God bless them.
Fr. Arturo Vasaturo ofm