Bangalore Archdiocese

Media Release
Photos by Stanly Bantwal

Mysuru, Jun 14 : The historical Dornahalli Jatra was cancelled for the last two consecutive years in Mysore due to COVID 19 disease. This time in St Anthony's Basilica , they are very much lucky and also grateful to celebrate the feast along with the people. To make this feast a successful one, 9 days of novena were conducted starting from 4th June 2022 to 12th June 2022 . On 4th June 2022 Saturday at 5:30pm, the novena began along with the flag hoisting ceremony. On 4th June the Eucharistic celebration was celebrated by Emeritus Bishop of Mysore Dr. Thomas Antony Vazhapilly.

On the day of the festival, that is on 13th June masses were conducted by the following priests from morning 5:00 am till evening :
In Kannada at 5:00 am by Rev.Fr. N. T. Joseph, at 6:00 am by Rev. Fr. James Dominic, at 7:00am by Rev. Fr. Joseph Packiaraj, at 8:00am by Rev. Fr. George Deepak, at 2:00pm by Rev. Fr. Vijay Kumar, at 3:00pm by Rev. Fr. Stanley D'Almeida and at 4:00pm by Rev. Fr. M. Vincent.

On the feast day , the main masses were as follows:
The festival Eucharistic mass was celebrated in Kannada by the Bishop of Mysore Dr. K. Antony William; Msgr. Alfred J. Mendonca , Vicar General, Diocese of Mysore and Rev. Fr. Dominic Vas , Episcopal Vicar for religious, Diocese of Mysore. Tamil mass was at 11:30am and the Eucharistic celebration was celebrated by Most Rev. Dr. A. Amalraj , Diocese of Ootacamund. English mass was at 1:00pm and the Eucharistic celebration was celebrated by Most Rev. Dr. Rozario Menezes, Bishop of LAE, PNG. At 5:30pm, the Eucharistic celebration in Kannada was celebrated by Msgr. Jayanathan , Secretary, KRCBC.

After the mass, the Bishop of Mysore Dr. K. Antony William along with other priests did the adoration followed by the Car Procession and Benediction of the holy Eucharist.

On the feast day also the novena was conducted and at the end Rev. Fr. N. T. Joseph thanked all the devotees. Rev. Fr. Praveen Kumar, Rev Fr. Isaac, Rev. Fr. Bernard Prakash , Rector, St Philomena educational institutions, Mysuru helped on the day of the feast.

About St Anthony's Basilica Dornahalli :

Around 200 years ago, a farmer ploughing his field in Dornahalli unearthed a wooden statue of St Anthony of Padua. The farmer built a small place of worship in honour of the saint. A large church was built at the site in the middle of the 19th century and another in 1920. When this church was in a dilapidated condition, it was demolished and rebuilt in 1969. However, the facade from the 1920 church was renovated and retained. This church is in the shape of a Tau cross and can accommodate a thousand people. It also houses a small relic of St. Anthony brought from Italy. Pope Francis granted the title of Minor Basilica to the shrine to a decree dated 17th October 2019. Most willingly bestows on the shrine church in the town called Dornahalli, dedicated in honour of St Anthony's shrine the title and rank of MINOR BASILICA with all the rights and concomitant liturgical privileges, observing however whatever is obligatory according to the decree "De Titulo Basilicae Minoris" promulgated on 9th November 1989.

Watch Video :