Our Lady of Egypt Church

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Our Lady of Egypt is a Church in the Kalina neighbourhood of the Santa Cruz suburb of Mumbai.

The church was founded in 1606 and celebrated its 400th anniversary in mid 2006.

The current parish priest is Fr. Adrian Fereira^[1]

FR. ADRIAN FERREIRA Portfolio includes

SCC Zone II (Srs. Gracy and Swarnalata)
Bulletin OLEP Flight
Extra-ordinary Ministers
Finance Committee
St. Anthony's Guild
Value Education Std. X
Civic & Political Cell
Sodality
General Administration (Maintenance, repairs, construction, Sunday notices, Altar and Chapel care, printing, stationary, Examiner, Daily Flash, and other stalls, etc.)

Born on 8th September 1954 at Madh Island that comes under the parish of Our Lady of the Sea, joined St. Pius X College, Goregaon, (Diocesan Seminary), in 1974, graduated in 1978 and was ordained Priest on 13th April 1985.

His first posting was at our very own parish where he worked for four year. During his tenure in our parish, he has been credited with establishing the Marian Youth Group (named after Our Lady of Egypt) on 28th June 1985. Fr. Adrian was also instrumental in staging the play, "The Return", which was a great success. He completed his M.A. in October 1987 and B.Ed. in 1988 from St. Xavier's Institute of Education and received "The Best Student" award of the year. He was vice-Principal of St. Mary's High School from 1988 to 1989 and was then transferred to Versova as Principal of St. Anthony's High School. Here he had a long tenure of 8 years from 1989 to 1997 after which he was transferred to Holy Cross High School, Kurla.

He completed a highly successful stint as Principal of Holy Cross High School, Kurla from 1997 to 2003. It was there that he completed his M.Ed. in 1999.

Six years at Holy Cross seemed never enough. From extra-curricular activities like competitions and contests for Mothers' Day, Teachers' Day, Children's Day or the School Feast, etc. to mega Centenary Celebrations of Holy Cross High School in 2001, where Fr. Adrian was at the helm, rearing with excitement and executing everything to the last detail.

Impressive, indeed, he was! Like Midas - whatever the venture, however difficult the endeavour, it would always turn out to be successful. The 'Team Spirit' he says took him a long way in achieving this. His vitality and vivacity has already brought the parish fathers as well as the various sections of the school faculty together as a team.

His brainchild of breaking up the SSC students into groups along with an Academic Advisor worked wonders with the students. (The 100% SSC results speak for themselves) He is certain it will do the same for the SSC and HSC students here too. The "purpose," he says, "Is not just to cater to the brilliant students, but even to the average and below average ones too."

Now that long missed, clear, booming voice the youth of the parish loved so much is re-sounding once again! Yes, Fr. Adrian Ferreira, priest and school administrator par excellence, is now Principal of St. Mary's High School and Junior College.

For Fr. Adrian, the Parish house and the parish community has changed in its growth, its thinking and its lifestyle. For that he gives credit to Fr. Herculan Silveira, the parish priest.

FR. JOSEPH BORGES Portfolio includes

S.C.C. Zone III B (Srs. Sangeeta & Vanessa) & IV B (Srs. Angeline & Sophia)
S.C.C. Co-ordinator
Marathi Prayer Group
Women's Cell
Altar Servers
Sunday School(Including F.H.C. & Confirmation)
Pre-Baptism
Religion Class for IX
OLEP Seva Kendra
In-Charge of Yearly Activities
SVP

Fr. Joe, as he prefers to be called, was born on 4th September 1966 in a family of four brothers and a sister and hails from the parish of Our Lady of Bethlehem, Dongri via Bhayandar. He did his high school studies at St. Joseph's High School, Uttan and after passing the SSC examination joined the St. Pius College, Goregaon. He was ordained priest on 18th April 1998. He has specialized in B.S.W. (Bachelor in Social Work) and for 2 years was actively involved in social work as a seminarian.

After his ordination he served as Assistant Priest at St. Joseph's Church, Vikhroli for four years. Here he was actively involved with the youth and the Sunday School. He was on the board of the Cultural and Sports Committee and successfully organized and hosted many games and tournaments in the parish zones. He has a special liking for Liturgy and was on the Liturgical Committee at St. John the Baptist Church, Thane where he was transferred as an assistant in 2002.

He is very adept at computers and does all the planning and writing on the computer. He is very methodical in his work and likes to plan everything far in advance. What Fr. Joe lacks in years of experience he makes up for it in his zeal and enthusiasm and highly positive outlook.

"Live one day at a time" is his motto. According to him, the priesthood is a challenge which he whole heartedly accepts. "Live up to your convictions no matter what any one may say" is the maxim he firmly believes in.

He came to our parish on 1st June 2003.

FR. FRANCIS XAVIER Portfolio includes

SCC Zone III A (Srs. Prema) Zone I (Srs. Margaret & Jessy)
English Prayer Group
Bombay Catholic Sabha
Sports Committee
Choir
Reconciliation Cell
Church workers
Religion Class for VII

Fr. Francis Xavier is popularly known as "Chief". He was born on 26th December 1949 in Bangalore and ordained a Priest on 7th April 1984 at St. Pius College, Goregaon East. He has served four parishes so far in his priestly ministry. The first parish that he served was Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Orlem, Malad. He was serving at St. Anthony's Church, Kalwa prior to being transferred to Our Lady of Egypt Church, Kalina. St. Joseph Church is his most cherished parish.

His goal and his vision is to serve the needy and to raise his voice against injustice. An M.S.W, M.A., he speaks English, Marathi, Hindi and Tamil. His family consists of an elder brother who is a Jesuit Priest working at Dahanu. His message to the parish of Kalina is to always have an aim in life.

Fr. Jeffery D'Souza Portfolio includes

SCC Zone IV A (Srs. Angeline & Sr. Sophia)
Konkani Prayer Group
Hope & Life Movement
Ushers
Divine Mercy
League of the Sacred Heart
Religion Class for VIII
Liturgical Team & Lectors
Biblical Cell
Parish Youth Council
Family Cell

Fr.Jeffrey D'Souza hails from Mahim. He was born on 13th August and ordained on 1st April 2006. His mother tongue is Konkani but he is also well versed in English, Hindi and Marathi. He has completed his B.Com. He enjoys stamp collection. His mission in life is to share the joy of Christ with others.

Bro. Pascal Sinor Assisting Frs. in

SCC Zones
Sunday School
Altar Servers
Youth
School & College
Religion Class for Stds. V & VI
Vianney Boys Association

Bro. Pascal Philip Sinor was born on 23rd January, 1972 at Nandakal, Vasai and belongs to Holy Spirit Parish in Vasai. His parents are essentially farmers. His parents, brother and sister make up the compact Sinor family.

With a B.A. in Economics and a Diploma in Computer Science from St. Xavier's Institute, Marine Lines, Bro. Pascal has worked for 8 years with Aptech in the Accounts Department. He intends completing his M.A. in Economics and also plans to do Law. His hobbies include surfing the net, reading books, sport and travelling.

We wish him God's abundant blessings and pray that his tenure in our parish will be a very fruitful one.