STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: St. Mary’s Cathedral Church reverberated with choral melodies as the spirit of Christmas was ushered in by organising an enthralling Carols Competition that witnessed twenty teams vying for honours and heralding the message of Christmas through mellifluous songs.
Students, parishioners and choir troupe members, dressed in colourful fineries, painted the Church in Christmas hue and brought alive the nativity scene through the sprightly competition, which is held each year in the loving memory of (late) Fr. Raphael Jeykumar.
The curtain of the spirited competition was lifted with the hoisting of traditional Christmas Star by Rt. Rev. Ivan Pereira, the Bishop of Jammu-Srinagar Diocese. The event was also graced by Rev. Fr. Jose Vadakkel, the Vicar General, Fr. Thomas Niravathu, Fr. Shaiju Chacko, Fr. Santosh, Fr. Suresh Britto and Fr. Premful.
Among other guests, Inspector Bishnesh Kumar, SHO of Gandhi Nagar Police Station also graced the event as a special vedette.
The participants presented well-coordinated carols in Hindi as well as Punjabi in front of the luminaries and the large gathering of people who had come from nearby churches and institutions.
Rev. Fr. George GP, Rev. Fr. Jaya Pradeep and Agnes, acclaimed musicians in Christian devotional music from Punjab, were the adjudicators of the competition.
All the teams participated with a true spirit of competition and delightfully proclaimed the coming of Jesus through their singing.
St. Peter Church, Prem Nagar was adjudged the winner of the competition while the second prize was bagged by Presentation Convent Sr. Sec. School, Jammu and St. Peter’s High School, Jammu secured the third prize.
Fr. Joshy Mathew gave accolades to the winners.
