-James Sequeira
LATE V.REV.FR.AUGSTINE FRANCIS SEQUEIRA
01.04.1911 - 01.01 1972
Late Rev. Augustine Sequeira was born in a small but important historic village, called Barkur, in Udupi district, Karnataka State on 1st April 1911. He was the son of late Mr. Thomas Sequeira and late Mrs Remedia Lewis who were blessed with 8 surviving children, Augustine being the 2nd. His other siblings were William married to Celestine Pereira, Theresa married to Venantius Lewis, Maxim married to Patricia Saldanha, Felcy married to John Lewis, Josephine married to Joseph Furtado, Antony Henry (Babu) married to Judith Crasta And lastly Edwin married to Zita D’Souza.
Fr. Augustine’s Father late Mr. Thomas Sequeira, a teacher by profession, taught at the Board Higher Elementary School, Barkur, adjacent to the Parish Church. He toiled hard to give a decent living to his large family. His mother was a good home maker and a good house wife, took care of the little property and lovingly brought up her surviving 8 children ( 5 boys and 3 girls) in a God fearing way. She made sure that they were well behaved, attended all church services and studied well. Since, it was a difficult job for Thomasaab, as he was popularly known to all, to take care of the large family on the meager salary of those days, he migrated to Mandya just as many others had done from Barkur, to try his luck in copper and brass vessels trade some time later in his life in early 1020’s
He was baptized Augustine Francis after his two maternal and paternal grand fathers at the nearby local parish of St. Peter the Apostle, on 11 April 1911. His infancy was spent along with his other siblings in a God fearing loving family, playing with his siblings and neighboring friends.
His early life was not very extra ordinary. His parents were devout Catholics. He enjoyed attending daily Mass, the Parish church being at a stone’s throw away. He completed his primary education in Barkur at the Board Elementary School, close to the Parish Church. He joined Board Higher Elementary School at Kallianpur and later joined and completed his matriculation at St. Joseph’s Indian High School Bangalore. He then joined St. Joseph’s College Bangalore for Inter. He was not an extraordinary outstanding student. However, due to circumstances he did not complete his degree course. Instead, heeding to Divine call, to serve the people of God and to proclaim the Good News, he joined St. Mary’s Minor Seminary in Bangalore even though the family would have preferred him to work in order to augment the financial need of the large family. Most probably, the influence of the then Parish Priest of Barkur, Fr. Denis D’Souza motivated him to join the seminary admits his only remaining sibling, Mr. Edwin Sequeira, presently living at Cleaveland, USA.
Seeing his extraordinary qualities and devotion to duty, his Superiors selected him to do his Philosophical and Theological studies at St. Peter’s Seminary Bangalore. He was a good, devout and virtuous student at the seminary, ready to help, even voluntarily in all activities and programs of the Seminary. He excelled in his spiritual life and was endearing to one and all.
After successfully completing his Theology, he was ordained a Priest on18 May 1940, at St. Peter’s Seminary for the Arch Diocese of Bangalore. It was a memorable and proud day for him, to his exuberant parents and to all his near and dear ones. After his ordination, he spent long time in the church thanking God for this wonderful grace that God had bestowed upon him and for fulfilling his ardent desire and life’s goal. It was also an Historic day, being the first ordination after the establishment of Bangalore Diocese on 13 February 1940.
Wednesday, 22 May 1940 was indeed a real red letter day for Barkur. For on that day Barkur awoke to the sound of church bells ringing triumphantly and to the melodious tunes of the brass band, accompanied by loud sounds of fire crackers, for the son of the soil, their own Fr. Aggu was celebrating his first Mass, being the second Priest to be ordained from Barkur and at the same time blessing the nuptials of his dear eldest Brother William with Celestine Pereira. Barkur reverberated with much joy and pomp to celebrate such a big double event for the first time in it’s history. (The first Priest was Rev. Fr. William Picardo and the third was Rev. Alfred Roche whose cause for beatification is presently under progress}
MINISTRY AS PRIEST
Fr. Augustine’s, as he was known in Bangalore, first appointment soon after his ordination was as Assistant Parish Priest of St. Francis Xavier’s cathedral Bangalore on 18 June 1940. He was an energetic and enthusiastic Assistant Priest, fresh from the seminary. He was loved by the young and the old. People loved attending his mass and listening to his well prepared down to earth homilies. He was quite popular with the youth of the Parish. After serving for nearly three years there, and judging his capability he was transferred as Military Chaplain at Jalahalli in Bangalore with his residence at Malleswaram Bangalore, on 17 March 1943. Here he endeared himself to the military personnel, mostly foreigners and their families and won over their hearts with his good humor and easily approachable personality. It was rather a tiring task to cover the long distance from Malleswaram to Jalahalli and the only means of travelling was either by bicycle or by horse cart but he did not complain about this lengthy cumbersome daily travel. It is indeed a matter of pride, for us Barkurians, that an ordinary person from a very remote village could endear himself to foreigners and that too to the diehard troops and their families who listened to their simple Pastor. It really shows his personality.
Seeing his enthusiastic hard work, he was appointed as the parish Priest of the Holy Family Church, Chitradurga on 6 June 1944 and took charge on 16 June 1944. The people there loved this simple and humble man of God who was one among them, easily approachable and ready to listen to their problems, which he tried to solve with his fatherly advice and guidance as far as possible, even with material and pecuniary help.
He was then asked to take the post as Asst. Head Master of St. Aloysius High School Bangalore in October 1946. Though, work at the School was hectic and tiring, he cheerfully and willingly agreed to work simultaneously as Asst. Chaplain of Our Lady of Lourdes Chuch, Ulsoor and of St, Thomas Church H.A.L. for two months from October 1947 to December 1947.
On 30 March 1948, he took charge of St. St. Aloysius Middle & Primary School as Head Master and Manager. During this time both the schools made rapid progress both in curricular and extra curricular activities and added new required wings to the schools. Discipline was well maintained. Many a poor student benefitted from his generosity and thus were able to raise the standards of their families and their own livelihood later on. He was also able to maintain a very good rapprochement with the Educational Department. At the same time he served as the Procurator of the Clergy Home, Chaplain of Mount Carmel College and Chaplain of Our Lady Of Fathima Church Jallahalli. One wonders at the stamina he had, to take care of all these multiple activities at the same time with zeal.
On 10 May 1954 he took over as the Parish Priest of St. Peter’s Church Royapuram. It was a difficult Parish but with his cheerful smile and friendly way he managed to win over the parishioners. He served this Parish diligently for 5 years and cultivated many a vocation.
His next assignment from 4 August 1959 to 17 May 1970 was as Parish Priest of Our Lady of Victory church, at Champion Reefs, Kolar Gold Fields for long 11 years. At the time of his appointment, there was a lot of unrest in the Parish and with the involvement Of Communist movement in the area, often took violent form. Majority of the Catholics were Tamilians and scattered around were a few Anglo Indians. The Bishop wisely believed that Fr. Augustine would be the right person to bring peace and harmony in the Parish,which proved true. For, Fr. Agustine did win over the people and their love, with his smile, kindness, zeal and patience. During this time, on 1 September 1962, he was appointed as Administrator and as Vicar Forane of Kolar District. At the same time he was also the ex officio Member of Council of Priests. Here at this church he celebrated his Sacerdotal Silvery Jubilee in May 1965. His dear Mother must have been overjoyed to take part in this celebrations along with brothers Maxim, Eddie and sister Theresa along with their spouses and a few relatives and with an enthusiastic crowd of priests, nuns, parishioners and well wishers. The grateful people were in tears when they heard that this peace loving Priest who brought peace in and around the Parish was being transferred.
He was appointed Parish Priest of St. Thomas the Apostle Church H.A.L on 27 May 1970, at the same time continuing as Vicar Forane of Kolar Deanery. This happened to be his last appointment.
Just when he was endearing himself to the Parishioners during this ministry he had an heart attack on 19 December 1971and the next day, his sacristan took him to admit at St.Martha’s Hospital Bangalore, where his nephew Dr. Mark Sequeira was doing his internship. In the busy schedule of his hard work in the vineyard of God, he neglected to take care of his own health. Even though sick, he climbed the steep steps upstairs to look for Mark. Just when he found him he had a second attack, apparently due to the steep strenuous climb. In spite of special medical care and attention, God had His own plans of rewarding his beloved and faithful priest. He had another attack on 31 December, 1971 and breathed his last on1 January 1972 at the Hospital, at a rather young age of 60.
His sister Theresa was beside him when he breathed his last. Two of his siblings, Maxim and Edwin had just gone back a couple of days before, after being with him during his Illness.
The sorrowing Parishioners took his mortal remains to H.A.L. Parish. There was a continuous flock of people of all Faiths to pray and honor his mortal remains kept for viewing in front of the Main Altar of the Parish. The next day, the 2nd of January 1972, his remains were brought to the Sacred Heart Parish, located on Richmond Road Bangalore. In the evening, in the absence of the Arch Bishop who was at Rome, Mgr William D’Mello, the Vicar General of the Arch Diocese officiated at the funeral mass amidst a see of people from different Parishes where he served, including his siblings, relatives and well wishers, including myself. Many of the faithful were beating their breasts and unashamedly shedding their tears at the passing away of their beloved Pastor.
In conclusion, this was what I gathered from Priests and laity who had known him. Late Fr. Augustine was a simple Pastor, beloved of the people. He was not a builder of churches or of any edifices. On the other hand, he was a builder of Faith, love and harmony in the Parishes wherever he served as an endearing and committed pastor in the true sense of the word. He loved the people and did all he could to help them in their Faith and material needs. He was easily approachable and did not require an appointment to see him. He was very humble and generous. He mingled freely among the people and made it a point to visit their homes regularly. The youngsters were his top priority. He made sure that they attended their Catechism classes and received their sacraments. He gave special attention to their studies and encouraged them to do their best to come up in life. He was not a controversial priest. He was welcomed and loved by all his fellow priests. His prayer life was deep and had full trust in Divine Providence. He had a filial devotion to Our Blessed Mother Mary and exhorted the Faithful never to go to bed without saying the Holy Rosary before going to bed.
We praise and thank God for giving us such an exemplary man of God. I am sure, this brief life story of this humble and devout priest, should be an eye opener to many a young priest and a model for youngsters to follow his example of serving God and His people.
James Sequeira
(Barkur/Bangalore)