Ignatius Church, Khadki set for Vailankanni feast
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- CAMIL PARKHE
Tuesday, 27 August 2013 - 10:52 AM IST
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PUNE: St Ignatius Church in Khadki has geared up to conduct the novena in honour of Our Lady of Vailankanni, starting on Thursday, August 29. The feast of the birthday of Mother Mary will be celebrated on Sunday, September 8. The novena prayers and the feast will also be celebrated in all churches in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad during the same period.
St Ignatius Church will be the main centre of the novena and feast of Our Lady of Vailankanni. Thousands of devotees from various churches in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad are expected to visit the church during the 11-day-long novena, masses and feast celebrations.
The annual novena and feast celebrations will be launched at St Ignatius Church with the hoisting of the flag by Bishop Emeritus Valerian D'Souza on August 29 evening. Bishop Thomas Dabre will be the main celebrant and preacher at the feast celebrations on September 8 evening.Like every year, a huge pandal has been erected at the church complex to accommodate the large number of people attending the religious services as a part of the novena and feast celebrations. There will also be various stalls selling religious articles, books and also a canteen run by the members of the St Vincent De Paul Society.
Everyday, main masses will be celebrated at 12 noon and at 6.30 pm. The masses will be conducted in English, Marathi, Tamil, Hindi, Konkani and Malayalam. This is the 41st year of the novena of Our Lady of Vailankanni at St Ignatius Church which was inaugurated in 1876.
At St Patrick's Cathedral, the flag will be hoisted on August 29 by Pune Jesuit Provincial Fr Bhausaheb Sansare while Bishop Emeritus Valerian D'Souza will celebrate the feast mass on September 8.
FEAST CELEBRATIONS
The novena and feast celebrations will be launched at St Ignatius Church with the hoisting of the flag by Bishop Emeritus Valerian D'Souza on August 29.
