THE annual feast of Christ the King at the Madre de Deus Church, Vettucaud, will be held from November 14 to 23. The flag will be hoisted on November 14 and the main celebrations will be held on November 23.
``Elaborate arrangements have been made for the festival. There will be a regional holiday in Thiruvananthapuram on November 14 so that the believers can attend the flag-hoisting ceremony. We expect at least five lakh pilgrims for this year’s festival,’’ said parish priest Fr Johnson Alexander, parish council secretary M. Ouseph and publicity convener Freddy Fernandez at a news conference on Monday.
A meeting of people’s representatives and top bureaucrats, convened by Minister M. Vijayakumar last month, had finalised arrangements for the festival. There will be special bus services from all KSRTC depots in the district on festival days. The police will deploy hundreds of officials for maintaining security on the Church premises.
Kannur Bishop Varghese Chackalakkal will lead the holy mass, prior to the flag-hoisting ceremony, at 4.30 p.m. on Friday. Fr Johnson Alexander will hoist the festival flag at 6 p.m. in an atmosphere charged with the reading of the Bible and singing of prayer songs presented by youth.
There will be masses at 6.15 a.m., 11 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on all days from November 15 to 21. Punalur Bishop Joseph Kariyil will lead the Mass at 5 p.m. on November 21. The procession, carrying the idol of Christ the King, will begin from the church at 6 p.m. on November 22. Mavelikkara Bishop Joshua Mar Ignatios will lead the evening prayers at 9 p.m. on that day. ‘Aneesiya’, a drama by Athulya theatres, will be staged at 10 p.m.
The main celebrations as part of the feast will be held on November 23. The pontifical mass will be led by Neyyattinkara Bishop Vincent Samuel at 5.30 p.m. on that day. ‘Thiru Kudumbam’, a Bible dramascope by Kerala Kala Akademi, Mavelikkara, will be staged at 9 p.m.
The concluding ceremony of this year’s feast will be held on November 28. The festival flag will be lowered by the vicar at 5.30 p.m. on that day.
As usual, the feast will be celebrated by believers in Middle East as well. Members of the Vettucaud parish in UAE will celebrate the feast on November 21 at St Michael’s Church, Sharjah, in the presence of Bishop Paul Hinder. The celebration in Qatar will take place at the Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Doha, on November 20. The believers in Kuwait will join together at City Holy Family Cathedral, Kuwait City, on November 21 to celebrate the festival.