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| Sunday, 25 July 2004 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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St. Lazarus Church, Wewala - 150 years by Cherril A. Gunawardena, Head of the Jubilee Finance Committee. The 150th Jubilee celebrations of St. Lazarus Church, Wewala, Piliyandala is a cause for much jubilation. This Church comes within the Parish of Willorawatte and the Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Lester Wijesuriya is striving his best to put the faithful of Wewala into great consciousness and bring about a spiritual revival among the faithful. Wewala is a remote village about three kilometres away from the hustle and bustle of the industrious town of Moratuwa. History reveals that in 1549 at Borulugodawatte today known as Rawathawatte and more popularly known as Palliyawatte there had been a Church dedicated to the Holy Cross. This Church according to history was destroyed by the Veediya Bandara clan in the year 1552. A Church had been put up in the years 1645 - 1655 on the same spot but this too was destroyed. The Catholics of Moratuwa were much disturbed and they later put up a Church at Wewala three kilometres away from the Moratuwa Thotupola. During the Dutch period they converted this Church to a school and up to date this is known as Palliyawatte. In the year 1853 there came to Moratuwa the first Oblate French Priest by the name of Rev. Fr. Dominic Puulicani OMI. It is said that during this period there were some protestants in the area and Fr. Puulicani with the assistance of two other Priests catered to the spiritual needs of the people a few Catholic families at Wewala. The Aratchila of the area known as the Village Headman a protestant came to the help of Fr. Puulicani giving him lodging at Wewala and later the Village Headman donated a plot of land at Wewala to put up a Church and the Village Headman too embraced Catholicism. This church was put up on the 23rd April, 1854. It was a wattle and daub building with a cadjan thatched roof. Holy Mass was celebrated for the first time at this spot for the Catholics of Wewala. It is learnt that a tense situation arose between the Village Headman and his son a teacher. Fr. Pullicani did his best to bring about a settlement but failed and he was forced to leave this premises. The few Catholics who were at Wewala at that time sought the help of the Moratuwa Catholics and later bought a plot of land close to the old Church and put up a building and the Church was dedicated to St. Lazarus in 1854. Since then two feasts were celebrated at this Church of St. Lazarus, one in August and the other in December, organized by the people of Moratuwa and the suburbs. Today this Church caters to about 275 catholic families. In Sri Lanka there are only seven Churches dedicated to St. Lazarus. It is reported that this Church at Wewala is the first Church to be dedicated to St. Lazarus. This Church will celebrate the 150th Jubilee on the 5th September, 2004. It is very old Church and is on the verge of collapse. It needs urgent repairs. The Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Lester Wijesuriya and the parishioners are taking all steps to renovate this Church and to celebrate the jubilee in a fitting manner with the help of the generous donors. This Church has earned a name for miraculous cures in the past. St. Lazarus is the patron Saint of those suffering from chronic skin diseases and even today patients go to this Church in numbers invoking the Saint for healing. The feast of St. Lazarus was popularly known as Halapa Mangallya for many, use to come for this feast from far and wide in bullock carts and spend days in the premises of this Church and during their stay it is learnt that they used to share Halapa with others and also Diul Sambola. The present Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Lester Wijesuriya appeal to all devotees of St. Lazarus and other Catholics for their support and co-operation to renovate this Church and revive the spiritual activities for the benefits of the Catholics. In 1901 it is reported there were only 15 Catholics here in Wewala and today there are nearly 275 Catholic families residing permanently at Wewala according to the census report. This Church needs very urgent repairs which according to the estimates will cost nearly Rs. 900,000 for the completion of the whole project. |
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