THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At the 3.30 pm Mass last Monday, the cavernous interior of the St Joseph’s Metropolitan Cathedral, Palayam, resonated with passages from Isaiah and the Gospel of St Luke. Passages familiar to churchgoers in Kerala, but this time there was a difference; the recital was in Hindi.Close to a 100 people were scattered among the pews for the Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram’s experiment with Holy Masses in Hindi. Several belonged to the city’s burgeoning North Indian labour force, which is, in fact, the target audience. Hindi Masses are set to become regular affairs at the Cathedral on Sundays and special occasions, church officials said.The language barrier has thus far confounded the church’s attempts to have a fruitful interaction with the Christians from North Indian states. ‘’Rough estimates show there are over 2,000 migrant labourers from these states in this city. But they can’t follow our Mass as we celebrate it either in Malayalam or English. For months, they have been hankering after us for a Hindi mass,’’ cathedral vicar Fr C Joseph said.The Archdiocese has roped in three Carmelite priests from the Jalandhar Diocese to lead the Hindi Mass. ‘’We have Fr Tobias, Fr Antony and Fr Jacob - all Keralites - from the Carmel Hills Monastery who will lead it in turns. Fr Jacob led on Monday,’’ Fr Joseph said. For its Hindi project, the cathedral has also obtained a Hindi Bible and Missal - the book of Mass liturgy - from the Ranchi Diocese.The Madre de Deus Church, Vettucaud, was the first to introduce Hindi Masses in the city, but there, the Masses are confined to festival days. Malayalam and English Masses are more common at the St Joseph’s Metropolitan Cathedral today, but Latin Masses, a throwback to the early days of Roman Christianity in Kerala, are also celebrated on special occasions.‘’Till 45 years ago, the Mass used to be in Latin. Now Latin masses are held on special days; on the Monday of the Holy Week, on Easter Sunday and during the Chrism Mass led by the Archbishop,’’ Fr Joseph said. Latin Masses are also quite popular as Gregorian Music is performed on the occasion. ‘’They are a big draw, for the older generation particularly,’’ he said.Fr Joseph is not deterred by Monday’s low turnout. He hopes the idea of Hindi Masses will find wider appeal among the North Indian community in the months ahead.
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