austraLasia #2758 Thai Provincial's report on the DB Casket continued ...
BANGKOK: 27-11-10 -- Today, November 27 2010, Don Bosco’s
casket travelled by plane from Had Yai, the city in the deep south of
Thailand, bordering Malaysia, to the provincial house in Bangkok, where
the parishioners and Salesian family members welcomed him with a solemn
Eucharistic celebration in the evening followed by stage shows and a
prayer vigil.
Following the first report, on the first day of the
arrival of Don Bosco’s casket to Thailand, November 18, 2010, the
official welcome to Thailand for Don Bosco was held at Don Bosco church
in Bangkok. The evening solemn Eucharistic celebration was presided
over by the Arcbhishop of Bangkok flanked by two other bishops. Of
course, one of them was Salesian Bishop Joseph Prathan, while the other
two were former students in the seminary the Salesians were responsible
for.
The entrance song, “Sapientiam” sang by Salesian
Family members with the Salesian aspirants created the feeling that Don
Bosco was really with us. The big Don Bosco church could not contain
the great number of the faithful who came from Bangkok, and provinces
near and far. There were around 1,500 faithful inside and outside the
church. It was a large number of faithful when compared to the
0.5 percent of Catholics in the country. There were long lines of
confessions before mass and such a huge number receiving holy
communion. In his homily, the Archbishop, who spent a year taking a
course in spirituality at the UPS, talked at length about the
life and the mission of Don Bosco based on his dream at the age of 9.
At the end of the mass Fr Provincial gave a formal speech welcoming Don
Bosco to Thailand using the words of a son addressing his father and
promised him a safe trip around Thailand. The church was open for the
whole night for the faithful and the youth to pray before him. The past
pupils of Don Bosco school organized the prayer vigil for different
groups lasting through until morning.
The following morning, Don Bosco’s casket travelled
around Bangkok to visit St Dominic school and St Mary's school which
belong to the Salesian Family. At St Dominic's, 2,800 boys welcomed Don
Bosco with shouts of joy. Each student had an opportunity to pay his
respects and pray before the casket. Both schools, especially St
Dominic'sl have had a long preparation academically and
spiritually before the arrival of the casket. Therefore, the real
presence of Don Bosco’s casket brought their expectations to a climax.
The casket returned in the evening to Don Bosco church for the solemn
Eucharistic celebration at which Fr Provincial presided. At first. we
thought that fewer faithful would be present as most them had attended
the ceremony on the first day. However, we were completely wrong;
numbers were no different from the first day and its all night vigil.
From November 20-22 the casket travelled to the
Ratchaburi diocese which was under the care of the Salesians for 41
years and the place where the first Salesians stayed and learned Thai
language and culture when they came to Thailand in 1927. The welcome of
the local clergy and the faithful in the diocese showed their very deep
gratitude and appreciation for the great work the Salesians did for
them, and which they could not forget. The name of the Bishop of
Rachaburi diocese, incidentally, is John Bosco Panya, who was trained
under the Salesians in the minor seminary and did his philosophy and
theology in Bangalore and Shillong, India.
The next report will tell of the interesting events
at Ratchaburi diocese and at Salesian institutions in this diocese
before the casket’s trip to Suratthani diocese under Bishop Joseph
Prathan sdb. Those who would like to follow the journey of Don
Bosco’ casket in Thailand can also do so through www.iamsit.net _________________ AustraLasia is an
email
service
for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions
as an
agency for ANS based in
Rome.
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.
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