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Monti Fest in Vienna
 
We, the Konkanni speaking community in Vienna, celebrated our family feast - Monti Fest, on the 13th of September 2104 in the Carmelite Church. The celebration began with the Holy Eucharist presided over by Fr. Rathan Almeida, OCD. Fr. Sandesh Manuel (Franciscan) and Frs. Anthony Kilukkan and Thomas Kuzhiyalil (OCDs) concelebrated. Fr. Rathan in his homily, besides highlighting the qualities of Mother Mary, also reminded us that we are all called, like Mary, to give Jesus to others. He also stressed the need of respecting our parents, specially our mothers. After the concluding blessing, we all moved to the hall in procession with the statue of our heavenly Mother, where we offered flowers, symbolising our devotion to her and also our commitment to her Son, Jesus. The new corn was blessed and consumed, mixed with milk. We thanked God for the new harvest which is not only the fruit of human labour, but also His goodness and blessings.
 
This was followed by an interactive evening. Variety of games and plays were organized which saw lot of action, laughter and fun. Fr. Sandesh strum his Guitar and sang some songs for us. We also had a guest appearance in the person of Fr. Antonius Dewa (a Carmelite from Indonesian, who is presently in Vienna) who also delighted the gathering with an Indonesian hymn. Fr. Rathan cracked some timely jokes and kept the floor alive.
 
After a lively session with games and fun, Fr. Antony Dewa blessed the meals. As per the tradition, it was a dainty banquet with different vegetables. Every family contributed to our table-fellowship. At the end winners were awarded prizes and finally Fr. Rathan thanked us all for our time, efforts and good-will in making this get-together a family event. He expressed his gratitude especially to the sisters of Holy Mount Rosary, who decorated the Chapel and along with Sisters of Queen of Apostles, organized liturgy and music for the mass. We all left the hall with smile on our faces and joy in our hearts, because it was indeed a family celebration.