Melbourne News

Mass of all Nations

Tuesday 28 August 2012

By Brenda Hubber

ON Sunday, 26 August 2012, Archbishop Denis Hart, along with several of the migrant chaplains, celebrated the Annual Mass of All Nations at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne.

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The Mass was preceded by a beautiful Rosary procession involving many of the migrant communities present in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. Each ‘Hail Mary’ was recited, and the ‘Lourdes Hymn’ (at the end of each decade) was sung, in a different language.

This year, the theme was ‘Contemplating the Face of Christ’ and His face was present in its many manifestations – Chinese, Croatian, Filipino, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Samoan, Slovenian, Spanish, Sudanese, Tongan, Vietnamese.

The singing was ably led by Mr Joe Madalle and the Pangkat Pinoy Filipino Choir, with Adolfusas Sekawago from the Indonesian community leading the Responsorial Psalm and the Gospel Acclamation.

A representative from the Samoan and Portuguese communities read the reading, and Fr Delmar Silva, the Episcopal Vicar for Migrants & Refugees read the Gospel. The Archbishop’s homily highlighted that the migrant communities are a vital and active part of the Catholic Church in Melbourne.

The Prayers of the Faithful were prayed in Slovenian, Croatian, Tongan, Polish and Vietnamese. Even the seven seminarians, who were the altar servers at the Mass, came from the four corners of the world.

Executive Officer of the Melbourne Catholic Migrant & Refugee Office, Brenda Hubber said, “It was a beautiful expression of the Universal Church and I always feel extremely privileged to be a witness to such a colourful and faith-filled event.”

Those who participated in the Mass gathered for a barbeque with refreshments afterwards, which encouraged people to stay and mingle. The volunteers did a fantastic job of ensuring that every one of the more than 500 people in attendance had a bite to eat.

Photos by Casamento Photography. Copyright Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne 2012.