Isaac Arackaparambil
KAPADVANJ, APRIL 19, 2012: This year has been proclaimed as the year of the Holy Rosary in the Ahmedabad Diocese. While grottos are being built in different parts of the diocese and booklets are being printed to promote the devotion of the Rosary, we at Don Bosco Kapadvanj too wanted to express our love for Our Lady.
Our efforts came to fruition on April 15, 2012 as seven of our Aspirants under the direction of Bro. Evangelo D'Souza staged the Musical Play "A Weapon in Beads: The Power of the Holy Rosary".
Apart from placing this devotion in its historical context, the play very tactfully explained how the Rosary is a profound contemplation on God's act of salvation and how it helps us come to the perfect knowledge of Christ. The play served as a beautiful catechizing moment where it explained how the rosary does not end with the Resurrection of Jesus, but goes on to show us that the salvation which God wants to give us, was first bestowed on Mary. It invites us to imitate Mary in accepting Christ as our Saviour. And because she has already received her salvation she now becomes for us a powerful intercessor, that we too may enjoy the heavenly bliss of eternal life available in Jesus.
The beauty of staging this Musical is that aspirants who have just completed barely one year of their English course were able to enunciate complex theological themes of Mariology and Christology in a sublime and simple way. Beautiful traditional Marian hymns were put to graceful and symbolic dances thanks to the splendid choreography of Sr. Reji Thomas, RJM, and Bro. Evangelo D'Souza, sdb. This venture once again brought to light the spirit of solidarity that exists in the Gujarat region of our Province. Light and sound equipment, stage curtains and props, make-up kit and costumes were generously shared by the houses in the region. A very special word of gratitude to Fr. Brian Buthello, sdb, and team who spent their valuable time in setting up and operating the light and sound that uplifted the entire performance.
This is the fourth consecutive year in which Don Bosco Kapadvanj has come up with an Original Production. The purpose is to bring some newness in our Theatrical ventures rather than repeating what has been done in the past. The Practical Trainee gets a chance to explore his script-writing abilities together with all the experiences that go into the direction of a Play. Besides there is a profound formative value attached to this venture. Our aspirants in this region come from the vernacular backgrounds of Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan, and by and large are pretty low on confidence when they start off. Before they come into contact with the city boys in the Aspirentate at Lonavla, we at Kapadvanj want to give them an experience of knowing and developing their talents so that they can be on par with those who come to the Aspirentate from cities. Our efforts seem to be bearing fruit.
Kudos to the confreres of Don Bosco Kapadvanj for their brilliant initiative.