Salun situated in the Pallaiya parish is just 5 kms away from Nadiad, Gujarat. Though close to a large city it has preserved it's rural traditions. Congratulations to the parishioners of Pallaiya. The R.C. Mission School at Salun has celebrated it's centenary. The parishioners here are religious and a spiritual support to the Catholic Church. The first Gujarati priest the late Fr. Basil Lal s.j. was from Salun. There have been several vocations from this parish. Lord Jesus has chosen this little village to spread his glory. The Lord deemed that the church of Divine Mercy should be located here. For his greater glory he used the tool of several human beings to bring this about.
In the year 2006 I was in a critical situation. I was desperately seeking solace and consolation. I knew not what to do. Amidst this turmoil, I found the prayer card of Divine Mercy from my prayer book. I took the card in my hands several times, but had not recited the chaplet even once. I was not attracted to this devotion so I used to keep the card back. However, in those difficult times I was inspired and I recited the chaplet for the first time and Peace swept over my troubled heart. I began to recite the devotion every day and my problem was gradually solved. My faith in the devotion to the Divine Mercy began to take root and I began to pray the devotion daily.
Those days, I happened to meet Sr. Annie R.J.M. of the Jesus and Mary congregation, without asking me anything she told me straight away "I have had a dream in which Jesus appeared to me and he said "inform your bishop that the devotion to Divine Mercy should spread in your diocese." I did not take this seriously but asked her to write about it in a letter to me.
Divine Mercy experiences became a daily part of my life. I got interested in this spiritual treasure-trove. I read in 'The Examiner' the weekly from Bombay that Cardinal Ivan Dias there had recommended celebrating the feast of Divine Mercy in his Archdiocese. I wrote a letter requesting him to send all possible information on Divine Mercy. The parcel arrived in a week's time and I found what I was seeking. I started reading St. Faustina's Diary. In a few days I read through the 620 page diary with great interest. Since then I started proclaiming about Divine Mercy. The letter from Sr. Annie R.J.M. did not arrive so I reminded her to write the letter and very soon the letter arrived.
Building a Divine Mercy shrine had not as yet entered my mind but coincidentally the Lord informed me through his means. On 5th May, 2007 Sr. Sunita Parmar C.M. was travelling with me from Anand to pastoral centre Nadiad. She informed me without my asking that she had an inspiration from the Lord that a Divine Mercy shrine must be built at Salun. I did not take this very seriously because the patron saint of the Pallaiya parish was John Mary Vianney. How to change the name of the shrine proposed at Salun? However I consoled Sr. Sunita saying please pray that your parish priest Fr. Francis Xavier accepts this idea gladly. After a few days I informed Fr. Francis to prepare a blue print for a Church building to be named after Saint John Mary Vianney. He began this work in right earnest and soon presented me with a blue print and a cost estimate. However there was no money to build this Church.
On 14th September 2007 I was in Anklav for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. There I met Fr. Vijay Shidonkar s.j.'s sister Mrs. Natercia Fernandes but we could not speak much due to lack of time, I however wanted to exchange notes with her about 'Divine Mercy'. I returned back to Anklav and after supper I spoke to Mrs. Fernandes. I told her that we were strapped for funds. She wrote two cheques of Rs.50,000/- each and said the money could be used to build the tabernacle. I thanked her. On 15th, the next day, after morning mass and breakfast she came to meet me and told me that she would bear the total expense of building the shrine. My joy knew no bounds.
On my way back to Ahmedabad I stopped by at Salun, to indicate to Fr. Francis the place where the church would be built. While returning from the site I told Fr. Francis that a Divine Mercy shrine would be built there. Fr. Francis who was walking at some distance came running and held me in tight embrace. He was overjoyed. It was evident to me that the Lord willed that a Divine Mercy shrine should be built at Salun.
Mrs. Natercia began calling from London. After she returned to India, on 29th October, 2007 the foundation stone of the Church was laid in her presence. Initially there was water logging in the foundation, this made things difficult and the work was progressing very slowly. As the work progressed lot of changes became necessary and more money was needed. The diocese had to raise the extra money. On 5th October 2008 which was the feast of St. Faustina the Divine Mercy Church Salun wa formally blessed and declared open.
The People who flocked there started experiencing the Divine Mercy of Lord Jesus and within a short span of time the space was not enough for the people who came there. A proposal to build an iron shed to protect the people from sun, rain and wind came up. The work was started with an abundant faith, that the Lord would provide and it turned out to be true. The Lord made the funds available and the shed was built.
As the Lord's work gets underway there may be several impediments. Some people in Salun village had opposed the building of the Church there. They had filed a protest petition in the Collector's Office. When we filed an Application to make the land non agricultural, we were infomred that no construction could be done there. This situation continued till the year 2005, then it was resolved through the effective intervention by Mr. Gilbert Jerome Nazareth, the then Additional Collector of Kheda District, and my childhood friend. This was God's plan! If the problem was resolved earlier, a Church dedicated to St. John Mary Vianney would have been built there long ago.
We made a lot of attempts to obtain the relics of St. Faustina but nothing seemed to work out. Initially the letters written met with the response, "Come personally and collect it from Krakow or send a priest." A priest we knew was sent from Rome but the relics were not entrusted to him. The ambassador from Poland Prof. Pietre Kladkosky was a catholic and he was interested in Divine Mercy. We spoke to him and he promised that he would surely help us obtain the relics. He tried for months on end to no avail and ultimately gave up.
In the year 2011, I received an invitation to meet the Holy Father in Rome. I did not intend to go to Krakow because of time constraint and also because it was very expensive. The Lord however made things possible and I could go to Krakow and obtain the relics. They were respectfully installed at the Shrine in Salun on 5th October, 2011, the feast of St. Faustina. It was the Lord's will that I should personally obtain the relics. Though impediments may be many in the Lord's work but ultimately He resolves all difficulties.
Many Shrines are built in our diocese but it seems that the Lord had a definite plan in the building of the Divine Mercy Shrine at Salun. Sometimes the Lord takes long to fulfill his plans, at other times he is very swift. In the construction of the Divine Mercy shrine, the Lord has enhanced his glory in a short period. Documenting all these details has only one intention, to establish that the Divine Mercy shrine at Salun is the Lord's special plan. Intermittently the Lord has directed his human tools to carry out his plans and finally a beautiful shrine has been built at Salun.
The Lord is beckoning humankind towards his divine mercy, especially the sinners. He says "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." (Mt. 9:13). To save human kind he sacrifices himself. Any sinner who surrenders himself to his divine mercy will find solace and liberation. The Lord desires that all his children should experience his divine mercy. Inviting us he says "Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened and I will give you rest." (Mt. 11:28-29)
Letters of all those; who have been inspired by the Lord in different ways to aid in building this shrine are included in the Booklet as well as on this Website. If I do not write about the glorious saga of this shrine, I will be answerable to the Lord.
The faithful of the Pallaiya parish deserve credit for taking this project forward, without their support and co-operation the Lord's work would have progressed very slowly. The Carmelite Missionary Sisters labour tirelessly to support this plan of God. They pray daily to bring the grace of God to human-kind. The Lord has especially chosen as his tool the parish priest Fr. Francis. It is also through his prayers and service that people experience the grace of God.
We also remember Mrs. Natercia Fernandes and her two children. It is through their monetary support that this shrine has been built. They contributed Rs.24,00,000/- which is not a small sum for lay faithful. May the Lord bless them abundantly. For the formation of the globe and the sign of the vine creeper we remember Fr. Sylvester D'Souza. Fr. Arthur Pinto helped obtain the money to build the Shed. We thank Mr. Robert Engineer for constructing the shrine.
This Shrine is a matter of pride for the people of Gujarat. The Lord has especially intervened to make the people of Gujarat experience the grace of Jesus. Now Jesus is seeking our help and it is his clarion call that we should bring those who do not know Christ to this Shrine. All the faithful of our diocese have received this call. We just have to point out the place. The Lord will take care of the rest. We must not miss a single opportunity to give divine mercy to others and in this way enhance the glory of God and evangelize.
DIVINE MERCY SHRINE GUJARAT.
http://divinemercyatsalun.in/shrine.html
In the year 2006 I was in a critical situation. I was desperately seeking solace and consolation. I knew not what to do. Amidst this turmoil, I found the prayer card of Divine Mercy from my prayer book. I took the card in my hands several times, but had not recited the chaplet even once. I was not attracted to this devotion so I used to keep the card back. However, in those difficult times I was inspired and I recited the chaplet for the first time and Peace swept over my troubled heart. I began to recite the devotion every day and my problem was gradually solved. My faith in the devotion to the Divine Mercy began to take root and I began to pray the devotion daily.
Those days, I happened to meet Sr. Annie R.J.M. of the Jesus and Mary congregation, without asking me anything she told me straight away "I have had a dream in which Jesus appeared to me and he said "inform your bishop that the devotion to Divine Mercy should spread in your diocese." I did not take this seriously but asked her to write about it in a letter to me.
Divine Mercy experiences became a daily part of my life. I got interested in this spiritual treasure-trove. I read in 'The Examiner' the weekly from Bombay that Cardinal Ivan Dias there had recommended celebrating the feast of Divine Mercy in his Archdiocese. I wrote a letter requesting him to send all possible information on Divine Mercy. The parcel arrived in a week's time and I found what I was seeking. I started reading St. Faustina's Diary. In a few days I read through the 620 page diary with great interest. Since then I started proclaiming about Divine Mercy. The letter from Sr. Annie R.J.M. did not arrive so I reminded her to write the letter and very soon the letter arrived.
Building a Divine Mercy shrine had not as yet entered my mind but coincidentally the Lord informed me through his means. On 5th May, 2007 Sr. Sunita Parmar C.M. was travelling with me from Anand to pastoral centre Nadiad. She informed me without my asking that she had an inspiration from the Lord that a Divine Mercy shrine must be built at Salun. I did not take this very seriously because the patron saint of the Pallaiya parish was John Mary Vianney. How to change the name of the shrine proposed at Salun? However I consoled Sr. Sunita saying please pray that your parish priest Fr. Francis Xavier accepts this idea gladly. After a few days I informed Fr. Francis to prepare a blue print for a Church building to be named after Saint John Mary Vianney. He began this work in right earnest and soon presented me with a blue print and a cost estimate. However there was no money to build this Church.
On 14th September 2007 I was in Anklav for the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. There I met Fr. Vijay Shidonkar s.j.'s sister Mrs. Natercia Fernandes but we could not speak much due to lack of time, I however wanted to exchange notes with her about 'Divine Mercy'. I returned back to Anklav and after supper I spoke to Mrs. Fernandes. I told her that we were strapped for funds. She wrote two cheques of Rs.50,000/- each and said the money could be used to build the tabernacle. I thanked her. On 15th, the next day, after morning mass and breakfast she came to meet me and told me that she would bear the total expense of building the shrine. My joy knew no bounds.
On my way back to Ahmedabad I stopped by at Salun, to indicate to Fr. Francis the place where the church would be built. While returning from the site I told Fr. Francis that a Divine Mercy shrine would be built there. Fr. Francis who was walking at some distance came running and held me in tight embrace. He was overjoyed. It was evident to me that the Lord willed that a Divine Mercy shrine should be built at Salun.
Mrs. Natercia began calling from London. After she returned to India, on 29th October, 2007 the foundation stone of the Church was laid in her presence. Initially there was water logging in the foundation, this made things difficult and the work was progressing very slowly. As the work progressed lot of changes became necessary and more money was needed. The diocese had to raise the extra money. On 5th October 2008 which was the feast of St. Faustina the Divine Mercy Church Salun wa formally blessed and declared open.
The People who flocked there started experiencing the Divine Mercy of Lord Jesus and within a short span of time the space was not enough for the people who came there. A proposal to build an iron shed to protect the people from sun, rain and wind came up. The work was started with an abundant faith, that the Lord would provide and it turned out to be true. The Lord made the funds available and the shed was built.
As the Lord's work gets underway there may be several impediments. Some people in Salun village had opposed the building of the Church there. They had filed a protest petition in the Collector's Office. When we filed an Application to make the land non agricultural, we were infomred that no construction could be done there. This situation continued till the year 2005, then it was resolved through the effective intervention by Mr. Gilbert Jerome Nazareth, the then Additional Collector of Kheda District, and my childhood friend. This was God's plan! If the problem was resolved earlier, a Church dedicated to St. John Mary Vianney would have been built there long ago.
We made a lot of attempts to obtain the relics of St. Faustina but nothing seemed to work out. Initially the letters written met with the response, "Come personally and collect it from Krakow or send a priest." A priest we knew was sent from Rome but the relics were not entrusted to him. The ambassador from Poland Prof. Pietre Kladkosky was a catholic and he was interested in Divine Mercy. We spoke to him and he promised that he would surely help us obtain the relics. He tried for months on end to no avail and ultimately gave up.
In the year 2011, I received an invitation to meet the Holy Father in Rome. I did not intend to go to Krakow because of time constraint and also because it was very expensive. The Lord however made things possible and I could go to Krakow and obtain the relics. They were respectfully installed at the Shrine in Salun on 5th October, 2011, the feast of St. Faustina. It was the Lord's will that I should personally obtain the relics. Though impediments may be many in the Lord's work but ultimately He resolves all difficulties.
Many Shrines are built in our diocese but it seems that the Lord had a definite plan in the building of the Divine Mercy Shrine at Salun. Sometimes the Lord takes long to fulfill his plans, at other times he is very swift. In the construction of the Divine Mercy shrine, the Lord has enhanced his glory in a short period. Documenting all these details has only one intention, to establish that the Divine Mercy shrine at Salun is the Lord's special plan. Intermittently the Lord has directed his human tools to carry out his plans and finally a beautiful shrine has been built at Salun.
The Lord is beckoning humankind towards his divine mercy, especially the sinners. He says "I did not come to call the righteous but sinners." (Mt. 9:13). To save human kind he sacrifices himself. Any sinner who surrenders himself to his divine mercy will find solace and liberation. The Lord desires that all his children should experience his divine mercy. Inviting us he says "Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened and I will give you rest." (Mt. 11:28-29)
Letters of all those; who have been inspired by the Lord in different ways to aid in building this shrine are included in the Booklet as well as on this Website. If I do not write about the glorious saga of this shrine, I will be answerable to the Lord.
The faithful of the Pallaiya parish deserve credit for taking this project forward, without their support and co-operation the Lord's work would have progressed very slowly. The Carmelite Missionary Sisters labour tirelessly to support this plan of God. They pray daily to bring the grace of God to human-kind. The Lord has especially chosen as his tool the parish priest Fr. Francis. It is also through his prayers and service that people experience the grace of God.
We also remember Mrs. Natercia Fernandes and her two children. It is through their monetary support that this shrine has been built. They contributed Rs.24,00,000/- which is not a small sum for lay faithful. May the Lord bless them abundantly. For the formation of the globe and the sign of the vine creeper we remember Fr. Sylvester D'Souza. Fr. Arthur Pinto helped obtain the money to build the Shed. We thank Mr. Robert Engineer for constructing the shrine.
This Shrine is a matter of pride for the people of Gujarat. The Lord has especially intervened to make the people of Gujarat experience the grace of Jesus. Now Jesus is seeking our help and it is his clarion call that we should bring those who do not know Christ to this Shrine. All the faithful of our diocese have received this call. We just have to point out the place. The Lord will take care of the rest. We must not miss a single opportunity to give divine mercy to others and in this way enhance the glory of God and evangelize.
DIVINE MERCY SHRINE GUJARAT.
http://divinemercyatsalun.in/shrine.html
