By the grace of the Almighty and through the intercession of Mother Mary, St. Mary’s Tamil Community has progressed in leaps and bounds. Let’s have a look at a glimpse of the initiation of the Tamil Community of St. Mary’s Parish, Dubai which celebrated its Silver Jubilee in 2023.
Founded:
St. Mary’s Tamil community was founded in the year 1998 with a small group of 10 people who gathered in Room 1 in B Paul Hinder’s Hall to recite the rosary every week in their vernacular language Tamil at St. Mary’s Church, Dubai. With the arrival of more faithful joining the rosary every week it grew into a Tamil prayer group. The fraternity mostly comprised of few families of individuals mostly from the workers community. To partake in the services more actively they felt an urge to hold the services in Tamil, so under the leadership of Mr. Michael Xavier a request was placed before the Indian Ambassador H.E Menon. The request was further escalated to Rev. Bishop Kattar.
Seeing the devotion of the Tamil people Rev. Bishop Juvani Fernando Gremoli, granted permission to hold Tamil Mass. Following this on July 1998 Rev. Fr. Germanous Rayan, OFM Cap priest was invited to celebrate mass on the 1st Thursday of every Month.
Initiation of the Feast of Our Lady of Good Health Annai Vailankanni:
As the Tamil community grew in number, Rev. Fr. Anni Xavier was appointed as the spiritual director of the Tamil Community in the year 1999. The first Tamil committee, presided by Mr. Michael Xavier was formed in the same year, to organize spiritual events for the people of St. Mary’s Tamil Community.
As the spirit of fellowship and desire to honour to Our Lady of Vailankanni was strong among the Tamil people who had settled in Dubai, the very first Feast of Our Lady Vailankanni was celebrated under the spiritual guidance of Rev. Father Anni Xaiver in the Jubilee year 2000. The feast began with the flag hoisting, followed by car procession, solemn feast mass, sumptuous lunch and ended with cultural events. It was a memorable day for the Dubai Tamil Community as they had the privilege to honour Our Lady Of Vailankanni in Dubai, a home away from home. At this juncture, with grateful hearts, we remember the support and guidance received from the Sharjah Tamil Community to organize the first feast.
Tamil Fraternity:
In 2001, with the efforts of Rev. Fr. Anni Xavier Good Friday Service, Easter, Christmas and New Year masses were celebrated in Tamil. With the opening of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Jebel Ali, Dubai Fr. Anni Xavier was transferred as Parish priest to Jebel Ali. In the absence of the spiritual director the functioning of the St. Mary’s Tamil Community was overseen by the Committee members, supported by the priests from other Emirates- Sharjah and Fujairah, who visited Dubai to celebrate mass in Tamil once in a month. During this period the Feast of Our Lady of Vailankanni was also celebrated with their support.
In the year of 2003 Rev. Bishop from Kudanthai was invited to celebrate the feast mass and in order to express to our gratitude, a considerable amount was donated to fund the accommodation built for the pilgrims who visit Poondy. The community slowly began to reach out to people outside the community.
Events organized by the committee:
The St. Mary’s Tamil community which was formed in the year 1999 functioned efficiently and carried out various event for the spiritual progress of the faithful.
The committee was headed by Mr. Arunachalam in 2005 and by Mr. Mathan Kumar in 2006. It was during period permission was granted by the parish priest Rev. Fr. Peter to celebrate mass on all the nine novena days and to hold the Vespers on the 10th day.
The committee also sought permission to hold 2nd Tamil mass every month on third Wednesday, which was much welcomed by the people of the Tamil community. To help the devout live their faith to the fullest, Olichuddar Choir Ministry was formed.
Keen interest was shown by the faithful to support the Parish activities too. So volunteers from Tamil community were inducted to the Parish Ushers Sodality.
Tamil devotes longed to have an image of Our Lady of Vailankanni at St. Mary’s Church. So Mr. Edison sought the help of the benefactor Mr. Simson and got a beautiful grace filled four feet statue of Our Lady Of Vailankanni. All the devotees were overwhelmed with joy and they come to her till date with thanksgiving and petitions.
Prayer Group:
Initiated in 1999, the prayer group eventually grew in number and in 2005, the Working Committee of the prayer group was established, with the approval of the then Abu Dhabi Patriarch, Rev. Savarimuthu the prayer group was trained with the assistance of Abu Dhabi elders.
It was a long-term project for the Tamil Committee to start the Anbiyam to enable the people to live as a fraternity. With the permission of Fr. Peter on 2nd October 2007, St. Antony Anbiyam was started. Within a span of six months, few more anbiyams were formed: Our Lady of the Rosary Anbiyam, St. Peter Anbiyam, St. Thomas Anbiyam, St. Xavier Anbiyam, Child Jesus Anbiyam and St. Joseph Anbiyam.
Through the anbiyam gatherings, the faithful were deeply invited to pray, praise and worship from the depths of the heart in spirit & read and share the Word of God. It helped families to grow spiritually. The anbiyam meetings were very helpful for the brothers who lived in the camps as it brought them closer to God.
The Tamil Prayer Group is one of the most active ministries of the Tamil Catholic community since 2009. The prayer group ensures a verse from the word of God is chosen at the onset of the New Year-and given to people to meditate for the rest of the year. The prayer group leads the beloved people in praising the Lord every week and also conducts monthly Eucharistic services as well as various other spiritual acts.
Liturgical Services:
In the year 2010, Rev. Fr. David Dominic was appointed as the spiritual director of St. Mary’s Tamil Community. Under his leadership and guidance, the Tamil Community progressed by leaps and bounds. By then the number of families in the St. Mary’s Tamil Community had increased rapidly.
Rev. Fr. David visited and strengthened the anbiyams. Today we have 14 active anbiyams with an average of 25 families in each. Permission was also sought to celebrate Tamil mass every week, which was much welcomed by the congregation. He also initiated the Liturgical ministry, Intercessory Prayer group, Adoration of the Holy Eucharist, 24-hour chain rosaries in the months of May and October and retreats for the faithful.
Understanding the spiritual needs of the fishermen community in Kish Island, Fr. David visited them regularly and conducted mass for them and conducted special prayers for the fishermen community who came from Iran at Creek Park.
Also, Fr. David united the faithful of the Tamil community through his preaching, and also through his reach out mission.
Intercessory Prayer Committee:
In 2012 Intercessory Prayer Committee was started to intercede for the intentions of the people. Chain rosary is recited on every Thursday from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Benefactors and Sponsors:
We all know the need for finance for the growth and functioning of the community. Expenses are covered by annual subscriptions from individuals and families. At this juncture we fondly remember our benefactors and well-wishers! We express our gratitude to Mr. Arulraj (Simran Aappa Kadai) for the sumptuous food served during the feast days. Also, we are thankful to Mr. Dennis for providing us with fresh fruit drinks and snacks during the festival days (Fit Fresh Company). We are ever thankful to Mr. Albert (Fuji Software Company) who takes care of the decoration, Audio Visual and adds a grandeur to the day by setting up Digital Screen for the devotees to view the festivities.
Participation in the Parish Activities:
The St. Mary’s Tamil community which had a humble beginning with 10 people has now increased in thousands. In addition to serving the Tamil community, faithful devotees extend their service to the parish. Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion and Altar servers from the Tamil community, play active role in the liturgical services at the Parish Level.
The congregation participates in the Annual family fest, sports events, church cleaning, and cemetery visit.
In 2018, as a part of the World’s Biggest Handwritten Bible more than 50 people enthusiastically participated to write a part of bible verse in Tamil. The bible which was written in various languages was compiled and gifted to the Pope to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of St. Mary Church in Dubai
Inclusion of the working community:
Following Rev. Fr. David, Fr. Arul Edward took over as Spiritual Director of the community from the year 2017 to 2019. His keen interest to uplift the workers lead to the formation of the St. Zita Anbiyam to support the Women worker community. He also focused his efforts on the youth of Tamil community leading to the formation of the Tamil Youth and integrating it with the Young Adult Ministry of the Parish. In order to encourage the community members to read the bible everyday he initiated the G2R – Genesis to Revelation bible quiz program which was great success as many people read the bible and actively participated in the events that followed it.
Overcoming all challenges and obstacles:
In the year 2019 Rev. Fr. Maria Dass took over as Spiritual Director and continued his efforts to help the faithful have a closer communion with God.
Even during pandemic when the church was closed, all spiritual activities were carried out via Zoom, under the able leadership and guidance of Fr. Maria Dass. In keeping with the tradition Feast of Our Lady of Vailankanni was also celebrated via online. It was a joyous occasion for all the devotes. Mr. Julian and his media team worked relentlessly to telecast all events live from father’s room.
United we stand embracing all differences:
It is heartwarming to see Tamil people from Sri Lanka, various states of India and parts of Tamil Nadu come together to offer their prayers and thanksgiving as one community.
With the Blessings of the Our Lady of Vailankanni, and with the guidance and support of the spiritual directors, the fraternity which began with 10 devotes, today has more than 2000 faithful. We thank all the good souls who worked relentlessly for the progress of this community. The dedication and commitment shown by the various ministries is truly praiseworthy.
Today we are proud to have celebrated the silver jubilee of St. Mary’s Tamil Community (1998-2023). Through the intersession of our beloved Mother, may the Almighty Lord lead and protect us.
