Mangaluru: An inter-religious prayer service was held at the AIMIT hostel of St. Aloysius College, Beeri to celebrate Mahashivarathri, Ash Wednesday and the republic day of India was held on 24th Feb in the Arthur Shenoi auditorium of AIMIT.

Fr Denzil Lobo SJ, Director, AIMIT, led the gathering in the singing of the Bajan- Pavan Atma Antharayami. Mr. Lestan D’Szoua, the warden of AIMIT hostels welcomed the gathering and gave a brief introduction to Mahashivarathri, Ash Wednesday and the Republic day.

This was followed by the prayer service, led by teams of students. The first part of the prayer service was a Thanksgiving Prayer followed by prayer for repentance asking for forgiveness. Readings from the Bhagavad Gita, Koran and Bible were read by students and they gave a brief explanation of the passage they read. Intercessory prayers were followed by the final blessing by Fr Denzil Lobo SJ.

Prof Dharma, Dean, Faculty of Arts, Mangalore University delivered an inspiring message requesting students to put into practice what they learned during the prayer service and thus build bridges of harmony and unity to make India a prosperous country. He spoke about the moral bankruptcy which is prevalent in our society. He called them to realize their potential and be proactive in matters that concern citizens of our Country. He said, our constitution enshrines values preached by all the religions: Like Liberty, Justice, equality, and fraternity. Hence he said that our spirituality/religion should lead us to recognize brother and sister in all the people we come across in life.

The prayer session ended with the singing of the hymn for Peace – Make me a channel of Your Peace, composed by St. Francis Assisi more than 800 years ago.