Newcastle--English Martyrs Church premises was abuzz with festive fervour and cultural extravaganza on 5th July when Malayalees marked the feast day celebration of the patron saint of India-St Thomas.

The Archbishop of Changanacherry Mar Joseph Perumthottam was the principal celebrant and the Mass was concelebrated by Indian and English priests from the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.

The giant colourful umbrellas and the Indian style drum were specially brought from Kerala for this function to add to the festivity in true Kerala style feast. While the public reception of Archbishop Joseph Perumthottam and Bishop Seamus Cunningham was done amidst the drumbeats, it took many Malayalees down memory lane even as they enjoyed every moment of it.

In his homily, the Chairman of the Working Group for Immigrant People Fr Christopher Jackson spoke of how St Thomas turned his doubt into faith and made that epic journey of faith to India. Following on the footsteps of St Thomas, how far are we prepared to go,Fr Jackson asked the gathering.

After the Mass, there was a procession to the Hall where the entire congregation walked with candles, colourful flags and umbrellas while four men carried the statue of St Thomas. The cultural evening began with lighting of the traditional lamp by dignitaries. Addressing the gathering, Bishop Seamus spoke highly about the contribution the Malayalee community is making in various places across the Diocese and appealed everyone to get involved in community life here. He praised the efforts of Fr Saji Thottathil and asked everyone to lend a helping hand in bringing out the best from the community.

In his address, Archbishop Perumthottam talked of various ecclesiastical traditions and said that the Oriental faithful wherever they are in the world should practise their faith in their own ecclesiastical tradition of liturgy, spirituality, theology and Church discipline,according to the Second Vatican Council. He thanked Bishop Seamus for the support the Diocese is providing to the Malayalee community.

It was the 60th birthday of Archbishop and fittingly so, 60 children presented a rose each before he cut the cake. Fr Paul McCourt and Fr Jackson presented the Archbishop with a gift and Fr Saji and Fr George Kavalam gave Bishop Seamus a prototype of a Kerala boat. Dr Joshy Nilankavil read out the felicitation and Antony Joseph anchored the cultural evening.

The cultural programme saw some lively dance numbers and the special attraction of the evening was the songs sung by Deepankuran Damodaran son of noted Malayalam music director Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri who won a huge round of applause from the audience. It maybe mentioned here that Deepankuran studies Sound Technology in Leeds University where he is currently based and had come with the group from Leeds who came to participate in the celebrations. Other groups who joined the feast day celebrations were from York, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Middlesbrough and from various parts of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.
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