ST MARY'S CATHEDRAL PARISH CELEBRATES 130TH ANNIVERSARY

By DalliusLL 
Photos by Bell and Alex Tai
SOCCOM Sandakan

SANDAKAN: St Mary's Cathedral Parish Day on 17^th August 2013 was an eventful and memorable celebration. The 3-day event set off on 15^th August with the celebration of the Feast of the Assumption. Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom announced that the Parish would be the pilgrimage center for Sandakan Diocese to commemorate its 130 years of establishment.

The much anticipated Parish Day Celebration was celebrated with a spiritual event called  the 'Rosary Rally'. It began with an exhibition on 16^th August at 10.00 am at the ground floor of the Parish Office.  The displays were put up by the various groups, communities, and ministries. The official opening of the exhibition was jointly graced by Bishop Julius and Fr Thomas Makajil.

In the afternoon, a Faith Formation Talk was given by Fr. Philip Muji entitled “Faith must be shown in Works of Charity.” In the evening, at 7.30 pm a catechesis on Rosary was presented in 3 languages entitled “Mary as a Model of Faithfulness and Generosity in Following Christ”. The Bahasa catechesis was conducted by Mgsr. Gilbertus J. Engan from the Diocese of Keningau in the right wing of the Cathedral. The Chinese catechesis was given by Sr. Mary How fsic, from the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu at the Diocesan Conference Hall, and the English catechesis was presented by the rector, Fr. Thomas Makajil at the Parish Meeting Room.

The festivities continued to the next day, 17th August, with morning Mass at 6.00 am followed by the recitation of the rosary inside the Cathedral. It was a meaningful celebration with a marathon of 12 hours of non-stop recitation of the rosary by the various groups, communities and bodies of the Church and ended at 6.00 pm. The event was also a highlighted program in commemorating the Year of Faith at the Parish level. The Year of Faith will end on 24^th November 2013. Before the Sunset Mass began, Fr. Thomas conducted the blessing of the statues of Mother Mary brought by the parishioners.

After the Thanksgiving Mass, the Parish Day celebration continued with a sumptuous subscribed dinner organised by the Catholic Women's Apostolate at the Parish Hall. In his address to some 500 parishioners, the Rector, Fr. Thomas Makajil expressed his appreciation to each and all who had made an effort to support the function, the 130th anniversary of the Parish. It is a significant milestone in the making. He called on the people to put their hearts together to ensure that the parish will continue to grow.

He also took the opportunity to congratulate the Star of Yahweh Covenant Community on their 29^th anniversary and thanked the organising committee and individuals for their cooperation, support, commitment and sacrifices in organising the 3-day program. He hoped and prayed that Mother Mary being the Patron Saint for St Mary Cathedral will inspire and strengthen all parishioners as one family in communion with God and to one another in the Parish. Also in attendance were Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom and Sr Grace Deosing fsic, the Mother General of FSIC.

The attendees were then entertained with a video clip presentation on the history of the Parish, cultural and modern dances, and lucky draws which ended at exactly 10.00 pm with a closing prayer led by Bishop Julius.