3 months ago
1
Thousands of devotees participated successful the 102nd yearly celebrations of Gunadala (Lourdes) Matha, which concluded connected Wednesday (February 11), with a solemn Eucharistic solemnisation and a connection of unity and equality.
Vijayawada MP Kesineni Sivanath(Chinni), MLA Gadde Ramamohan, YSR Congress Party NTR territory president Devineni Avinash and Ongole Mayor G. Sujatha attended the concluding celebrations and offered prayers astatine the shrine.
Speaking connected the occasion, Mr. Sivanath said helium would strive for the improvement of the Gunadala shrine and its surrounding areas, with the purpose of processing it connected par with the Velankanni shrine successful Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu.
Addressing the gathering arsenic the main guest, Bishop Telagathoti Joseph Raja Rao, Bishop of Vijayawada Catholic Diocese, observed that though India has emerged arsenic the 5th largest system successful the world, the state has not achieved the desired advancement owed to persisting inequalities. He said existent improvement would beryllium imaginable lone erstwhile specified disparities are eliminated.
Referring to the past of Lourdes, Bishop Raja Rao recalled that successful 1858 the Blessed Virgin Mary is believed to person appeared 18 times to a 14 twelvemonth aged girl, Bernadette, successful Lourdes, France. He said the Roman Catholic Church proclaimed Mary arsenic the Immaculate Mother and called upon the faithful to practise brotherly love.
Devotional hymns marked the decision of the three-day festival.
