Dear Friends, Fr. Varghese took up a new mission assignment May of 2014. See photos and stories of his work as pastor of Sacred Heart Mission in Kakinada at new blog home. The donation button to use credit card or Paypal to support his work remains here, at his original blog home, right hand column.
To see the story that launched his new blog and that tells of his first trip to visit friends in the U.S., see: Fr.'s Trip to the U.S.
Dalit Journal
Fr. Varghese Kalapurakudy finds joy amidst India's Dalit people
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Saturday, April 19, 2014
A Sari Road for Palm Sunday
Saris, the traditional robes of Indian women, stretched as far as the eye could see, as Holy Family faithful laid a sari carpet through Yeleswaram for their Palm Sunday procession.
Just as crowds laid their cloaks in the road for Jesus, his people welcomed Christ by laying their garments in the road, explained Fr. Varghese. |
Walking three miles from Holy Family Mission to the town of Yeleswaram, and then winding their way through the busy streets, the people held palms, prayed and sang, proclaiming their love of Christ to others in this only 3% Christian region.
Altar boys led the walk along the sari carpet. |
Proclaiming the Gospel via rickshaw sound system. Fr. Varghese walks behind as "Persona Christi" -- another Christ. |
Besides the procession, Fr. Varghese celebrated Mass at Holy Family Mission and at Our Lady of Help Mission in the village of Yerravarram. Before he left for Mass in the village, he found his motorcycle tire punctured by a nail. He ran to find a parishioner who could loan him a motorbike to take him to his next mission.
Varghese means "George" and St. George is traditionally depicted slaying a "dragon." Palm Sunday took on a whole new dimension for Fr. Varghese when he had to slay a serpent -- a cobra -- on his mission compound (photos below).
Palm Sunday Mass at Holy Family Mission. |
He says he has killed around 50 poisonous snakes in his lifetime! A girl at the mission saw this ten-foot one (below) slithering into the mission's plantain grove. Fr. went searching for it and parishioners came to help, but found no snake. They finally discovered him in a storage room at the mission.
"I saw the foldings of him under a pot," explains the priest, who positioned villagers with sticks around the room, since there was no telling what the snake might do if provoked. When the pot was removed the snake was very agressive, "bussing and weaving," says Fr. Varghese. He finally dispatched the creature with a blow to the head.
All in the day of a missionary priest!
The ten-foot cobra Fr. had to battle on his mission compound. |
Friday, April 18, 2014
Domino Effect of Blessings at Holy Family Mission
A couple youths at Holy Family Mission in Yeleswaram hand painted the statues for their new entrance arch. |
This "before" photo shows the arch before its renovation. |
Dozens of his faithful chose to take vows as "Deekshas," meaning they lived Lenten penitence with a special intensity. Fr. guided them through daily scripture readings and prayers. As many as 60 others followed St. Louis de Montfort's exercises for the first time, leading them to Jesus through consecration to Mary. Fr. Varghese translated the de Montfort prayers into the people's Telugu language daily, then presented a talk nightly as he led people through the consecration journey. He, himself, renewed his de Montfort consecration, which he made for the first time last year.
As Lent unfolded, Fr. Varghese and his people also beautified their mission.
One event set off a domino effect of blessings. Fr. Varghese blessed a new Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine 10 kilometers distant in his mission outpost in Yerraverram, and a conviction took hold of one of his parishioners at the mother church, back in Yeleswaram.
At Holy Family Mission, a man and his wife had donated an Our Lady of Good Health statue to Fr. Varghese's mother church last year. The man was so moved by the beauty of the new shrine and refuge of prayer at the village of Yerraverram, he offered to meet half expenses of constructing another grotto to house his Our Lady of Good Health statue at the mother church in Yeleswaram.
Our Lady of Good Health is distinctly Indian in appearance, a rare image of the Blessed Mother in Indian sari. |
Other projects progressed at Holy Family mission at a miraculous pace. A new entrance arch for the church and concrete replacement of church steps, handicapped ramp, and portico, unfolded as parishioners worked to beautify their compound before Easter. Because the needs of these day laborers, or "Untouchables," are so pressing, any sort of physical building up of their mission has been a struggle. Funds usually go to feed people, especially during times of monsoon and crisis; rescue children from child labor situations; help the poor pay emergency medical bills and bury their dead.
Crumbling concrete in this handicapped ramp, stairs and patio below,
made for dangerous footing at the mission.
For Holy Family Church and its missions to be blessed with refreshed concrete, two new Marian grottoes and a new entrance archway in just a matter of weeks, is a miracle and an amazing uplift to the spirits of these poor laborers.
Faithful gather for the arch and grotto blessing at Holy Family Mission on the Feast of St. Joseph. |
Jesus in the new entrance archway now blesses passersby on a main road in Yeleswaram, and the grotto of Our Lady of Good Health faces off the back of the compound, toward a street where many broken families live. This street is rough and has seen its share of brawls, but now features a new oasis of peace and prayer.
Moments before the unveiling of the Mission's new entrance arch. |
When the funds came to him in the final possible moments to complete these mission projects in time, Fr. Varghese wrote that he was "so happy and jumped and danced like David the King."
The shrine of Our Lady of Good Health features an innovative design, where faithful can enter from the street or the mission compound. |
Thankfully, most of the work was finished in time for the Mass.
"The blessings were very solemn, " wrote Fr. Varghese. "The priests are all happy. More (than) that, people are happy. More than (that), Mother Mary is happy…So that's why I am happy.
"The grotto is blessed by Fr. Mareddy. The Archbishop congratulated and sent blessings...After the Mass I was able to give yellow rice to the people.
Five priests traveled in to bless the new arch and grotto, a special honor for Fr. Varghese, as he celebrates his 10-year Jubilee. |
Blessing yellow rice
to be distributed to the people.
|
Fr. Varghese (left), and Fr. Mareddy, from the Diocese of Orissa, up north. |
Crowds gather as the new shrine of Our Lady of Good Health is unveiled. |
Receiving Communion at the feast day Mass. |
A sign board tells the story of Our Lady of Good Health. |
St. Joseph now takes his rightful place at Holy Family Mission. |
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Welcoming Our Lady of Guadalupe to Yerraverram
Our Lady was fashioned by a local Hindu statue maker out of a cement/clay mixture. |
"The blessings went on well," wrote Fr. Varghese Kalapurakudy, about the March 9, 2014 completion and blessing of the new shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe for his outpost, Our Lady of Help Church, in Yerraverram.
Parishioners prepared and carried a Pilgrim Virgin statue in a heavy teak wood "house." |
"We started our Papa Parihara Pada Yathra (walk for the atonement of one's own sin and others) at 4 PM," wrote Fr. Varghese. "The small wooden portable house for her (the Blessed Mother) is very heavy. It is made up of teak wood. It weighs 70 kilograms, so four people should carry every 5 minutes. We are walking for the atonement of our sins, and of the world."
Praying and processing to "repair" the world's sins. |
The faithful also prayed for the "well being" of friends in America, said Fr. Varghese. Funds from a family in the U.S. provided for the new five-foot-tall statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Homeschoolers provided the protective grill for the shrine.
The project launched around January 19, 2014, when Fr. Varghese told how his people had "a strong belief and faith that Mother Mary was protecting them from flood during these days, so they decided to build a grotto."
The statue is heavy to carry, but the faithful felt honored to take turns carrying this little mobile shrine. |
The village of Yerraverram was hit by the worst floodwaters in the area this year, but no parishioners' lives were lost. When their chapel was closed, the people looked through windows at the statue of Our Lady of Help and prayed. They later begged Fr. Varghese for an outdoor grotto so they would have somewhere to pray when crises hit and their chapel is locked (it's closed off-hours to keep out vandals and thieves).
By February, Fr. Varghese reported that "Many are coming forward to help. Even though they are poor, they give their manpower and old materials...moreover, their prayer."
Fr. Varghese unveils the new shrine. |
Villagers went door to door to raise funds, and gathered rocks and sand from streams to build the grotto. Fr. Varghese believes this is the first Our Lady of Guadalupe grotto in his Archdiocese of Visakhapatnam. With no precedent, the statue carver used as a model a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe sent to Fr. Varghese by a friend in America.
While the people got to work on their new grotto, statehood tensions again heated up in their region. Another bill passed, bringing their state of Andhra Pradesh closer to being split in two, with a new state of Telengana formed. Although protests erupted across the region, the faithful pressed on to complete their grotto.
They processed and gathered with special gratitude on March 9, for the grotto blessing.
Power outages, common in India, added a little challenge to the celebration. |
"We reached (the church) by 6 PM and it was late, dark already fallen," said Fr. Varghese. "Immediately, we had the grotto blessings, and sprinkling the water, and garlanding (the statue), etc. Then followed by Mass. The photographer was not able to take snaps, because the whole Mass we did under no electricity. Then the power came."
After the blessing of the shrine and Mass, "We had a common meal," wrote Fr. Varghese. People shared "sambar (vegetable stew) and rice. The parishioners are happy."
Now, they have a special grotto to offer prayers, whether in times of thanksgiving -- or crisis. Two Catholic boys painted the church gate and wrote this quote in their Telegu language upon the shrine. The quote contains the Blessed Mother's words to Juan Diego:
"Are you not under my shadow and protection?"
Sharing a common "agape" meal after the blessing. |
"Are you not under my shadow and protection?"
Fr. Varghese joins his people in eating rice and sambar from a banana leaf. |
Two boys from the parish painted this quote upon the shrine: "Are you not under my shadow and protection?" |
The new grotto faces the village street to bless passersby. |
The inside of Our Lady of Help, with the little statue of Our Blessed Mother that faithful venerated as monsoons struck their village. |
Villagers show their love of the Blessed Mother by wrapping her in a native sari. |
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