250th Anniversary Celebrations of our church - a review

By Jose Lucas Mattos
(From St. Estevam Firgojechi Zap, February 2010 issue)

This year (1759-2009) we Zunvenkars got together to celebrate 250 years of our structural church. If we go back to the history of our faith, it is not of suit, boot and glamour of today, but our faith is of our poor "fottekars" who were ready to mortgage their lone possession "fottem" to build this magnificent architectural grandeur. As we see it today, it is not only the faith but a strong commitment and hard work which we inherited and flourished throughout the world.

Under the spiritual guidance of our Parish Priest Fr. Olavo D'Souza, our village grandson, and Fr. Alexandre Fernandes, our assistant to the Parish Priest, we began this year's celebrations with a spiritual renewal of heart and mind and family life too. As the saying goes, "The family that prays together stays together" we began a five-day family mission conducted by Fr. Kenneth Telles of the Diocesan Family Service Centre. He gave us an insight on how the families in the Old Testament were, what Moses had to say about the family; gave us an insight on the New Testament and what Jesus has to say about the families and what problems are faced by the modern families and the solutions.

We had the Novenas of the Patron Saint with the team "Shine Like Stars in the World". The feast day Eucharistic celebration was performed by our Archbishop Rev. Philip Neri Ferrao and later a souvenir was released. Mr. Estevam Rangel presented a memento to His Grace on behalf of our Parish. Our little children of the village sang a manddo composed by Jackson Dias. Later the procession was carried out.

Under the guidance of Fr. Alexandre, the Parish youth of our village organised a three-day fete on the church premises; it was a memorable three-day evening which got all the villagers together and allowed them to share some joyful moments. The Parish youth organised some competitions and there were game stalls for entertainment as the whole village got together like a family.

May God bless every Zunvenkar and through the intercession of St. Stephen keep us united.