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Fr. Tony

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Dear brothers and sisters, and the viewers of this web site Barkur.com, I am Fr. Joseph Anthony Andrade better known as Fr. Tony Andrade. I was born and brought up in Barkur. My primary education was in Barkur. In 1980 I joined the seminary to become priest and was ordained to the Holy Order of priesthood on the 19th of December, 1992. I served a short period of time in Bangalore (India) and then went to the USA to serve in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota. Presently I am the parish priest of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church located in St. Paul, Minnesota (visit our web site:- www.stthomasap.org).

I Hope and pray this column "Spiritual Corner" will inspire many viewers of our Barkur.com web site. As all of us know the need of spirituality in our daily life. We walk our faith journey trusting in God our creator and we are certain one day we will meet our creator God in Heaven. Meanwhile here on earth we need good insights to enlighten our minds and hearts in our spiritual life. in this column I will write articles which will be short and precise that may help our interested viewers to reflect on their own spirituality. I welcome others also to share their articles and reflections. This column is open to all the faith denominations. What is important is that we inspire each other on our own spiritual journey.

My sincere thanks to Kishoo de Barkur, the designer of this beautiful web site, and for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts and reflection on our Barkur.com web site.

Fr. Joseph Anthony Andrade

I visited my hometown, Barkur, to celebrate our traditional Monthifest on the 8th. of September, 2005.

It has been almost 25 years since I was home to celebrate our traditional “Monthifest” which is celebrated every year on September 8. I left my hometown of Barkur in 1980 to join the seminary and begin my formation to the priesthood. Since I choose to go out of the Mangalore Diocese to become a priest I missed this beautiful traditional Monthifest celebrated only among our Mangalorian Catholic Community.

Being here in America now for several years I have observed their beautiful tradition of Thanksgiving celebrated in November. Families come together and celebrate this day by giving thanks to God for the many blessings He has showered upon them and the nation. The feast of Thanksgiving in America often reminded me of our feast of Monthifest. In both feasts I see the similarity of families coming together to celebrate their family unity and giving thanks to God for the many blessings bestowed upon them throughout the year. Also, blessing of the harvest from the fields in church, taking the blessed fruits of the earth home, and families then joining together to share a meal.

Because I have missed so many of our Monthifests due to my work and responsibilities, I decided this year I would go and join my family and beloved church community of St. Peter the Apostle in Barkur. I arrived just in time as the Novena’s began in church to prepare for this great feast. Many childhood memories came to mind as I saw the children bringing flowers to church every morning after Mass to honor Mary, our heavenly Mother.

Then the great feast day began! What an inspiration seeing the people of God processing, children carrying their flower baskets, four men of the parish carrying the ark of the statue of the infant Mary, and the choir singing hymns until the procession ended at the gate of the church. The solemn feastday Mass began and concluded with a special blessing of the rice corns that were then distributed to the faithful people who had come to celebrate the “Monthifest,” the feast of “Thanksgiving.”

Every year a parishioner donates sugar canes to the church for distribution to all the children who brought flowers to honor Mary, our blessed Mother, during the Novena days. I am posting pictures of this years Monthifest for viewers of the web site barkuronline.com and our brothers and sisters from Barkur, who are far away from home and unable to attend this annual traditional feast of “Thanksgiving.”

In thinking back I had a great time at home with my family. I also had the opportunity to meet many of the people of Barkur in our church and other places. I am grateful and happy I went and celebrated this wonderful feast with my family and with parishioners of my home parish, St. Peter the Apostle in Barkur.