To commemorate 150 years of the Matharpacady Holy Cross Oratory (Sesquicentennial Jubilee) a series of events are planned for the Jubilee Year. The first of these events was the Flag unfurling and honouring ceremony on Republic Day of 2025.
Rev. Fr. Peter Jayakanthan, Provincial Superior, Blessed Sacrament Fathers, led the audience in a prayer – praying for our Motherland India and our Village and its residents. Mr. Roydon Gonsalves then gave a brief history of Our Village and the Holy Cross Oratory. (To Listen to the complete recording please click on the You Tube video inserted below). The Village predates independence by several hundred years and has played a quiet role, like many such Villages and Gaothans in the development of Mumbai as a port. As the seven islands of Bombay were reclaimed and consolidated into one island in the quest of developing a port Mazagon island started to attract converts with a bit of literacy. And Matharpacady started to take shape in the 17th and 18th century as a supplier of clerical, architectural, mechanical and other skills aiding the development of the Port, the docks and the emerging educational institutions.
Considering it’s essentially middle class background it would surprise many that the Village produced such luminaries of the Freedom movement as Kaka Joseph Baptista, father of the Home Rule Movement and Dr Ubaldo Mascarenhas, the first Mayor of Bombay in free India. Also, the visionary promoters of the renowned St Isabel’s School. The sisters Lily, Daisy and Violet aided by their sister Josephine. The question before residents of Matharpacady in free India is who and in what field will be next in adding outstanding value to the development of our beloved country .
