MAURITIUS, June 23, 2014 — On the other side of the world, a small chapel on the island of Mauritius, Indian Ocean, has been recently dedicated to the young Filipino martyr, St. Pedro Calungsod.
A holy mass, concelebrated by Fr. Robert Dalais, Couples for Christ (CFC) chaplains Fr. Jacques Piat and Fr. Pierrot Friquin, marked the re-dedication of the chapel on April 14.
A small chapel was dedicated to the young martyr San Pedro Calungsod in far-away Mauritius on April 14, 2014. (Photo: Joseph Gozun)
Lay missionary family
Fr. Dalais, the local parish priest, got interested to know more about the young saint when he was first asked for permission by a lay CFC missionary family to keep the image in the chapel.
The family, which had been staying in the Diocese of Port-Louis since July 2013, brought with them a small image of St. Pedro as inspiration for their mission
After being given information about St. Pedro’s life and martyrdom, he raised the possibility of dedicating the chapel to St. Pedro in the hopes of inspiring parishioners, especially young people, through his example.
Permission to re-dedicate the chapel was obtained from Bishop Maurice Piat shortly after, and plans were made to celebrate a mass in honor of St. Pedro and to dedicate the chapel to his intercession.
Mass-goers from all over
New members of CFC-Youth for Christ (CFC-YFC) Mauritius, fresh from their first youth camp, and two mission volunteers Mikael Boniface and Farima Figaro from CFC-YFC Seychelles were also in attendance during the re-dedication.
Despite being located in the far north of the island, and the mass being celebrated on a Monday afternoon, many of the local CFC members came to support the event, coming from as far south as Plaine Magnien and Rose-Belle, as well as a few parishioners from Marie-Reine, Poudre D’Or.
CFC had begun in Mauritius in November, 2011. The house provided by the diocese for the missionary family, which is to be the CFC office and mission house, is a renovated convent with a chapel attached to the house. (Allison Gozun)
