Joy of Loyola Day celebrations: Reverential tribute to St Ignatius

Jamshedpur, July 28: ‘Big Day’ celebrations call for fun and frolic but the personalities and reasons that make it the ‘Big Day’ are remembered with gratitude and joy. Loyola Day has never been different as was evident on Friday at the Fasy Auditorium in Loyola School where cultural programmes and commemorative observations in tribute to St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (SJ) marked the celebratory proceedings on the eve of the Saint’s Feast Day on July 31.

The Loyola Day package of excitement got off with a procession led by the Provincial of Jamshedpur Jesuits, Rev Fr Jerry Cutinha, SJ. The inauguration ceremony commenced with a felicitation ceremony honouring all Jesuit priests residing at Loyola, Bistupur.

School Rector, Rev Fr K M Joseph, SJ led the school in the Ignatian prayer, marking the auspicious occasion with reverence and devotion.

A mime performance encapsulating the life of St Ignatius was ingeniously woven by the students to captivate the audience with rare facets of the Society of Jesus’ founder’s life and times. Celebration songs and dances including the Ignatian Anthem and Noble Knights added to the tone for the Loyola Day celebrations. The flash mob dance performance on the song ‘Let’s Get Loud’ proved to be the spice in the entertainment bowl as the dancing shoes of the entire students’ fraternity got to work unrestrained. Rev Fr Jerry Cutinha, in his observations, paid a glorious tribute to the visionaries and luminaries who nurtured and shaped great institutions like Loyola School. Principal, Rev Fr Vincent Vinod Fernandes, SJ, while offering the vote of thanks, expressed gratitude to the Jesuits of Jamshedpur for their selfless commitment and devoted service to Loyola School and the community. “Loyoleans hold dear the Ignatian values, embracing them as a way of life that fosters a global community of justice, peace and love,” he stated.  The students expressed profound gratitude and paid tribute to the Jesuit priests who continued to carry forward the legacy of St Ignatius with their unwavering dedication and service, working for the greater glory of God —  ‘Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.’