It was a festive occasion for the India-Great Britain-Ireland Province of the Society of St Paul as Dn Prabhat Kujur was ordained priest by his Excellency Bishop Binay Kandulna D.D., the Bishop of the Diocese of Khunti, Jharkhand, on 2nd February 2023. The Sacred Rite of Ordination began at 8.00 a.m. in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Gumla, the home parish of Fr Prabhat Kujur. He is the first Pauline priest from the Diocese of Gumla.
Bishop Kandulna in his short but thought-provoking homily exhorted, “We priests are nourished by the Word of God, strengthened by the Eucharist, so that each one of us may be faithful to the vocation of service and love.”
For Fr Prabhat Kujur, the ordination day (which coincided with the Day of Consecrated Life) offered a rare and special privillege – the presence of the Superior General, Rev Fr Domenico Soliman. Besides the General, there were about 25 priests, including Fr Joby Mathew, Provincial Superior, Fr Linus Pingal Ekka, the Administrator of Gumla Diocese, Fr Aneesh Peediyekal, the Director of Formation, Brothers from the community of Ranchi and Pune, who joined the celebration, imploring God’s special blessings on Fr Kujur.
After the Ordination ceremony, Fr Prabhat Kujur fondly remembered and thanked his deceased parents, his four brothers and two sisters, relatives, teachers, formators and the members of the Society of St Paul for all the support and guidance he received during his vocation journey. Immediately after the Ordination the parish community and the members of the Society of St Paul felicitated the newly ordained priest.
On the following day, Fr Prabhat celebrated his First thanksgiving Holy Eucharist in his village Pratappur, Gumla. The Ordination Ceremony as well as the First Mass was attended by a large number of parishioners, St Paul’s Unit (Bhusur) well-wishers and members of the Pauline family.
Congratulations and best wishes to dear Fr Prabhat Kujur!
It is a rare privilege to have the presence of the Superior General, a General Councillor, the Provincial Superior and members from different communities of our province at one’s perpetual profession. Bros Damiyan Borgoary and Francis Aind enjoyed this special favour on Saturday 21 January 2022 as they made their perpetual commitment at Carmel Haven, Pune on the last day of the XIX Provincial Chapter. Many priests and religious from the Jnana Deepa campus (where we have our community) participated in the Holy Eucharist and the short felicitation function thereafter.
Fr Johnson Vattakunnel, General Councillor for Formation, presided over the Eucharist flanked by Rev Fr Domenico Soliman, Superior General and Fr Joby Mathew, Provincial Superior. In his homily Fr Vattakunnel quoting Pope Francis reminded the candidates for perpetual profession that they need to “Be joyful, brave, and be of communion”. He challenged them to be serious about his or her relationship with God and behave well in the community. In our world of “what is there for me” some people think it is foolishness or madness to embrace a vocation that neither promises power, wealth, or material enjoyment.
He also reminded the candidates that the vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity do not make sense unless they appreciate their transcendental value in them. Religious life does not make sense unless God is the first point of reference in who you are and what you do. Religious are at their best not necessarily when they are numerous and powerful in their institutional strength, rather, it is the radical witness of their vowed lives. They are to inspire and to keep the fire of the Gospel burning brightly.
Rev Fr Domenico Soliman received their final commitment and invited them to participate fully in Pauline life and mission.
The Mass was followed by a short felicitation programme and a festive lunch.
Congratulations and God’s blessings dear Brothers!
27 November 2022 was a memorable day for the Paulines in India. The feast of Blessed James Alberione was celebrated on this day. His Eminence Cardinal Oswald Gracias presided over the Eucharist. He thanked the Paulines for their contribution to the Church in India and reminded them of the prophetic qualities Bl. Alberione, the founder used for the glory of God. Golden Jubilee of The Sunday Liturgy
The Sunday Liturgy, English version of La Dominica completed its 50 golden years of publication. The event was celebrated with due festivities thanking God for his constant blessing on this ministry. The specially designed Golden Jubilee Edition of the Sunday Liturgy was solemnly released by his Eminence Cardinal Oswald. During the celebration, all the Editors of the Sunday Liturgy and those who rendered their service in the technical and circulation departments were felicitated. Release of a few New Titles from ST PAULS and ST PAULS Multimedia
It was a perfect feast day gift for our beloved Founder as we released two new titles, Meet Jesus the Divine Master from above and Powerful Prayers for all occasions, written by Fr George Kaitholil (95th Book) and compiled by Fr Johny Panamthanam, respectively. During the celebration, we also released a Mp3 music album which consists of Hymns from the well-known hymnal “With Joyful lips”. This album from St Pauls Multimedia is the 17th Music Album of Fr Johny Panamthanam. Release of the New Testament Audio version (Dramatised) from the Canonically Approved New Community Bible (NCB)
Trying to fulfill the desire of our Founder for the Word of God, ST PAULS Multimedia came up with a suggestion two years ago to have an audio version of our Bible, The New Community Bible. The work for this herculean task began immediately, under the able guidance and hard work of Fr Johny Panamthanam, which is nearing its completion. His Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias released the Audio version of the New Testament.
We consider it as a special blessing of our Founder that the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) granted us Canonical Imprimatur for the New Community Bible.
The Society of St Paul (SSP) celebrated Golden Jubilee of its foundation in the city of Chennai (1972-2022), its 50-year long presence in the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore, and the Feast of Blessed James Alberione, the Founder of the Pauline Family, on Saturday, 26th November, 2022. In preparation for the Jubilee and the Feast, there was a triduum in honour of Bl. James Alberione at our parish, Divine Mercy Church. The Solemn concelebrated Eucharist was presided over by His Grace Most Rev. Dr George Antonysamy, the Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore. In the Presence of Very Rev. Fr Stanley Sebastian, the Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore, Rev. Fr Varghese Gnalian, the Provincial Superior of the SSP and Rev. Fr Joby Mathew, the Provincial-designate. During the homily, the archbishop highly appreciated and thanked the missionary services of the members of the SSP in his archdiocese, namely the pastoral care through the Divine Mercy Church, and the media-apostolate through the Good Pastor International Book Centre and Nallaayan Pathippagam (the Tamil publishing house of ST PAULS). His Grace Dr George Antonysamy also preached on the some of the characteristics of Bl. James Alberione—his Prayer life, Vision and Mission. After the celebration of the Mass, there was a felicitation programme at the Don Alberione Hall in which Rev. Fr Dr Kurian Thomas, a close friend of the Paulines and the Founder of the Sisters of the Nava Jeevan Vikas Secular Institute, gave a beautiful presentation of the history of the SSP and its members from the very inception till date. While Mr L. Joseph, a long standing parishioner of St Luke’s Church, Chennai and collaborator of the Paulines in the field of pastoral ministry, addressed the gathering, narrating the effective pastoral care given by the Pauline priests in the area of Anna Nagar, Chennai. Later, Rev. Fr Joby Mathew, the Provincial-designate, released the second edition of the ‘Divine Melodies’ the hymnal of the Divine Mercy Church, and the enriched Golden Jubilee edition ‘the Sunday Liturgy’. The members of the Chennai community, felicitated all dignitaries of the Golden Jubilee celebration, and gave a souvenir to all the invitees. It is to be remembered that the then Archbishop, His Grace Anthony Rayappa Arulappa who welcomed the members of the SSP wholeheartedly to the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore. It was a joyous moment of the Chennai Community to witness a large number of the priests, men and women religious, friends and laity participating in the historical event, and took part in the delight of the Paulines who toiled for fifty long years in Chennai.
St Pauls Bookshop at Edinburgh was blessed and inaugurated on 26th November 2022 on the auspicious day of the Feast of our Founder Blessed James Alberione. His Grace Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St Andrew’s & Edinburgh, blessed the bookshop at 12 noon. In his initial address, the archbishop thanked the Paulines for their service in the archdiocese and for opening the bookshop to cater to the needs of the Christian population in the city of Edinburgh. The bookshop is a long-cherished dream come true for the Archdiocese and for the India-Great Britain-Ireland province of the Society of St Paul.
The blessing ceremony was attended by more than 70 persons.Those present for the function consisted of the friends of St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, the parishioners St Joseph’s (the parish administered by the Paulines), those who collaborated in bringing the bookshop to its realization, and Paulines from England and Ireland.
The singing of the choir of St Mary’s Cathedral added colour and flavour to the blessing ceremony. The blessing ceremony came to a conclusion with the invitees sharing a glass of champagne.
Many of those who attended the function thanked the Paulines for their initiative and wished them God’s blessing carrying out their apostolate!