 |
|
 |
||
|
|
||||
|
Designed , developed & Hosted By Kishoo, Barkur |
||||
|
|
||||
|
This page is updated regularly, please refresh or reload on your visit. |
||||
|
HAPPY
FEAST OF ST.PETER, OUR PATRON, TO ALL
BARKURIANS…… Mangalore
Diocese is having three parishes viz. Petri, Bondel and Barkur (or more)
dedicated to St. Peter, the Apostle, and the first Pope of Roman
Catholic Church. On 29th of
June, we celebrate the feast
of Saints Peter and Paul - commonly known as tarikechen
feast. For me, it is now
almost 20 odd years, we were not there personally at Barkur to
celebrate, but whenever this day approaches close by, our emotions /
memories, take us back to our parish…! It was a common
feature, during my childhood, to have the grand
mass on this day at 7.00 a.m., at Barkur, with guest priests of the
vicariates of Kallianpur, Udupi, and Kundapur etc. together with few
priests of Barkur origin (at that time, really few) also participated.
Normally there used to be a good sermon
by a guest priest and one such, by late Rev.Fr. William Picardo s.j. some 30 odd years back, always
re-kindles high spirits, inspires and stimulates me even now !!. [To be sincere, I can not re-produce that beautiful text,
but try to share only few words of him, still appeal me and relevant to
present conditions, - in
the later part of this article.] As all of us know, Simon Peter was a leading
disciple of Jesus Christ, and leader of early Christian community in
Jerusalem. Peter means rock in Greek. Since non-Catholics
friends too, visit this site we feel it appropriate to refer a passage
from Bible, New Testament to focus on the importance of this holy man: “And I say unto thee, That thou are Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven:
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
what soever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" -
Matt. 16:18-19. In good olden times,
our elders used to tell there was a place
of worship in Barkur dedicated to Mary
the Mother of Holy Rosary. Even we heard that there were Christian
inhabitants, at this place many hundred years' back!! The present
church, of patron St. Peter was built some 142 years ago in 1861. As
laymen we assume, heavenly St. Peter, may be having special liking towards the place and
people of Barkur, so might have influenced and requested Mother Mary, to
give the responsibility of catering, guiding and leading, all of us and
the Catholics of Barkur, close to God…! There is no second opinion that, we Barkurians
achieved spiritual, religious as well as material progress, for the last
one and a half-century, under the divine care of our patron and
benevolent guidance of clergymen, from time to time.!! It
was a practice, during my childhood, to bring the miraculous
statuette of St. Peter, carved
of wood, (brought from Petri,
by legendary Lawrence Almeida,) to the main altar, and to decorate
and honor on this day! In the year 1986, this artistic image was
returned to Petri parish, its original place. Coming back to Fr.
Picardo’s sermon, what he told, looking at
us children, was "
when Jesus can choose a simple, humble
fisherman to lead His Church, then he can make each one of you
great, in his own way - irrespective of one is - sons and daughters of a
- peasant , agriculturist, or copper merchant or daily wage
earner…! Have faith in
Jesus, study well, no-one can stop
you ….." A generation has passed, now, while evaluating
ourselves, his words looks like prophesy to us, as there is a visible
positive transformation in our society, most of the families of Barkur
well educated and economically sound.!! What you say…, shall we term
it a miracle of St.Peter? Legend has it that in
our native place and surroundings, especially on this day of feast, of
St. Peter, heavy rain and flood
was a common feature! Mention may be made of
‘Great Flood of 1961, in Canara’,
on this day. I have nothing to write about this, as was only two months
old.! But heard of my parents / elders narrating, their experiences, -
people went to church by walk, but returned by boat. I also heard
instances of having ‘noon feast
lunch’ at home but had ‘supper’
elsewhere, as rising water level in the river Sita, Swarna and their
tributaries, forced many residents to leave low-lying areas.!! There is a sea change
now, we have not seen disastrous floods in recent times, and rain is not
so torrential with wild winds and cyclones. Most of the old mud houses
replaced by concrete / stone structures and few left Kudrus and found
their dwelling elsewhere!! Many of our readers,
may be having their own experiences, specially those hailing from
river-side, and are welcome in our ‘down
memory lane’ to share them with us. Before concluding, we -
the Host, and the Members of
BARKUR WEB SITE, wish you all and your families / friends, – at Barkur,
and far away places, a very happy feast of our Patron St. Peter…. Have
a nice day….!!! With regards, On behalf of ICYM Ex-Members Committee, P.Archibald
Furtado, Muscat, 24th June 2002. |
||||
|
Barkur, located in Udupi Taluk, Karnataka, India. 576 210 |
||||
|
Copyright Kishoo, Barkur 2002. |
||||
