Mangalore Diocese

ICYM and YCS St. Paul Eastern Deanery Puttur organises Youth Retreat at the Deanery Level

24th March, 2019 : To commemorate the Year of Youth 2019, ICYM and YCS St. Paul Eastern Deanery, Puttur in collaboration with ICYM and YCS, Mai De Deus Church, Puttur organised a Youth Retreat for the youth of the deanery on Sunday, 24th March 2019 at Mai De Deus Church, Puttur from 9.30 am to 1.00 pm. The retreat was led by Rev. Fr Robert Dsouza - Principal, Lourdes Central School, Bejai along with Blue Angels Choir, Mangalore.

The retreat commenced with a solemn procession from the church premises to the entrance of the church. As a symbol of total surrender and faithfulness to God, a huge cross was carried by the youth and was brought to the sanctuary followed by the prayer of the Holy Crucificx recited by the youth with great devotion, united with the passion of Christ. The Eucharistic celebration began with angelic music and hymns. Rev. Fr Robert Dsouza celebrated the Holy Eucharistic celebration. In his sermon, he emphasized and encouraged the youth to take up every opportunities to form strong friendships with others. Thus, it is a time to set aside the most active, most vibrant and most productive time in their lives to share the good news with others. The Youth had come forward with lots of anxieties, intentions, hopes, desires.

After a short interval, Eucharistic Adoration was conducted and various intentions, needs of the youth were brought before the Eucharistic. All the youth were called to pray for each other and all their needs. Finally, as an external sign of purification, Holy water was sprinkled upon the youth and all were blessed by laying hands on them. Rev. Fr Alfred J. Pinto - Vicar Forane, St. Paul Eastern Deanery and Parish Priest, Mai De Deus Church gave solemn blessing to the gathering. Jason Leroy Pereira - Diocesan Youth President, ICYM Mangalore Diocese interacted with the youth and appealed for their constant support to make Year of Youth a successful one. All the youth expressed their happiness towards the retreat. It was really a wonderful opportunity for young people to learn with bond and grow in their faith.

Rev. Fr Peter Gonsalves - Parish Priest, Holy Cross Church, Bellare. Rev. Fr Anil Roshan Lobo - Director, YCS - St. Paul Eastern Deanery and Parish Priest, St. Rita Church, Panja, Rev. Fr Prashanth Fernandes ( O.F.M Cap.) - Parish Priest, St. Antony Church, Bannur were present and specially prayed for the youth. At the end, Rev. Fr Praveen Dsouza - Director, ICYM St. Paul Eastern Deanery and Assistant Parish Priest, Mai De Deus Church Puttur thanked Rev. Fr Robert for enlightening the youth with spiritual divinity and helped them to experience the love our saviour Jesus Christ along with Blue Angels Choir, Mangalore for their melodious voices in spreading divinity and the gathering for making this youth retreat a blessed one. A total of 220 youths were present for the retreat.