Moulding that led to 50 years of service in the Lord’s Vineyard – By Bernard Fernando
The hallowed intention of this write up is to share the moulding process at home, with those families having potential to dedicate their family members to receive the vocation of holy sacrament of the Priesthood. Towards such end, we as siblings of Rt.Rev.Dr.Winston Fernando, S.S.S. the Bishop Emeritus of Badulla, having experienced and witnessed such a moulding process at our home, are humbly elated to recapitulate the same which encouraged Winston to take up this long and dedicated sacred assignment of service in the Lord’s Vineyard, as follows.
Winston was born in Moratuwa on 16th January 1945, as the 2nd son to our enduring Catholic Parents viz. Joseph Eugene Victor Fernando (Govt. Servant) and Cecilia Pauline Gertrude (Dottie) Fernando (House wife) who eventually raised a family of 05 sons and 01 daughter.
Basically, the moulding process was initiated and nourished spiritually and physically, by our ‘Amma’ and ‘Thaththa’ on a truly Catholic foundation amidst economic and other hardships common to a large Family. Fortunately, our maternal grandmother ‘Am-mamma’ who too was a very devoted Catholic lady living with us, as a tower of strength to assist our parents in managing our fledgling Family. Many a time, our Amma’s only sister (Podi Mamma) a married devout Catholic, extended a vital helping hand as and when required. All of them, including Winston’s God Parents who reposed utmost faith in God Almighty, always submitted to God’s will and nurtured him in a religious backdrop to make him and us, God fearing, disciplined citizens who would set a Christian example to the society.
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We remember those childhood days, when ‘Amma’ woke us up early morning to attend Holy Mass daily. As a ‘Spin-off’, all of us became altar servers as well as choristers in the Church Choir.
‘Amma’, in keeping with the unifying phrase “The Family that prays together, stays together”, ensured that we recite the evening ‘Angelus’ first and gather thereafter for family prayer in front of the large and rare consecrated picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to recite the Holy Rosary, Litany of the Sacred Heart and other prayers ending with 02 hymns as a family, before partaking in dinner.
‘Thaththa’ if he returns home late after work, would always join us if we were still at prayer seated on a mat. As devout Catholics who strongly believed in reaching Jesus Christ through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, our parents were very particular in seeing us wearing a ‘Miraculous Medal’. They fostered peace and unity in the Family by ensuring that we always enjoyed our meals together, seated around the table.
The 05 of us boys were educated at St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa run by the De LaSalle Brothers, while our sister as the youngest was educated at ‘Our Lady of Victories Convent’ in Moratuwa run by the sisters of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. Since our parents felt more secured if we reside at ‘walking distance’ to College, they rented out houses closer to the College. It gave us an additional impetus to participate in sports activities such as Cricket, Basketball and Athletics in which we represented teams at Inter-house and school level.
Whenever, we as boys entered into rare scuffles or misunderstandings with our schoolmates, our parents never blamed the other party but found fault with us, as they always believed that parents should first correct their own children before trying to correct others. ‘Amma’ in particular, made it a point to meet our Class Teachers to inquire about our progress at school. When it came to sports and extra-curricular activities, we received all the encouragement from ‘Thaththa’. Winston was satisfied with short distance running and basketball while exhibiting much skill in singing and playing the Mouth-organ. All of us with our cousin brothers went on serenading during the Christmas season singing carols where Winston led the group while compering.
‘Amma’ visited the Church almost daily with her prayer books while ‘Thaththa’ visited St. Philip Neris’ Church, Pettah, on his way to work and attended Mass during the lunch break. Thus, we strongly believe that ‘What we are today’, is a reward for their prayers and life example. As a spirited consequence, our own prayers were mostly confined to praising and thanking the Good Lord through the intercession of the Holy Mother of Jesus. Whenever we had a family occasion that merited celebration by Holy Mass, we relied on ‘Amma’ to prepare the ‘Prayers of the faithful’. ‘Amma’ also ensured that we carry a copy of the ‘Prayer of the Holy Crib’ with us, as a spiritual weapon to protect against sin and evil. Our parents also enriched us with knowledge of the affairs of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and overseas by arranging to buy the weekly ‘Gnanaartha Pradeepaya’.As a member of the Sacred Heart Society, ‘Amma’ set an example by distributing copies of ‘Pradeepaya’ and the “Bhakthi Probodhanaya” magazine to our neighbours. As an active Parishioner she helped several needy persons in the parish with a generous heart while praying on their behalf.
The aforesaid family background and activities that facilitated the cultivation of morals and ethical conduct moulded Winston to engage in religious activities as an exemplary altar-server. Responding to a questionnaire at the end of a retreat preached by Rev. Fr. Julius Wijesuriya,O.M.I. for the entire student body at St. Sebastian’s College, a few including Winston expressed their willingness to enter the Seminary and the relevant Parish Priests were informed. Accordingly, Rev. Fr. Edmund J.Fernando,O.M.I. the Parish Priest of St. Sebastian’s Church Moratuwa, meticulously mentored Winston and other students to accept the invitation from above, to serve in the Lord’s Vineyard.
Thereupon, in the year 1960 on Winston’s birthday, our Parents acceding to God’s will, with much awe and praise, admitted their beloved son Winston to St. Aloysius’ Minor Seminary at Borella, after an interview with the Archbishop of Colombo, Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas Cooray,O.M.I. At the Minor Seminary, his display of leadership qualities, high morals, ethics, discipline, impartiality and talents in Art and Singing led him to be chosen as the Head Prefect wining the hearts of his superiors and peers. He was the Editor of the Seminary’s annual magazine “Pahana”. He was adept in ‘Hair cutting’ and is reported to have rendered haircuts to some of the senior Bishops too.
Inspired by Winston, our youngest male sibling who was 12 years old, also declared his vocation for Priesthood and he too was admitted to St. Aloysius’ Minor Seminary in the year 1963. He was an above-average student with sporting prowess in Athletics and Basketball. However, in keeping with the ‘Gospel Truth’ that ‘Many are called but a few are chosen’, he called it a day in 1969 under the ‘Many’ category.
In the year 1964 Winston entered the Major Seminary at Ampitiya, Kandy and obtained the necessary qualifications in Theology and Philosophy. He functioned as the Secretary-‘Gonsalves Sinhala Academy’ and also as a founder member and Treasurer of ‘Servants’ Thrift Society’. He was well known as a stickler for precision, grammar, spelling and punctuation. After his 3rd Year Theology he left the Seminary. Neither the parents nor the siblings asked him why he came or whether he would go back to the Seminary. Winston obtained a Diploma in Building Construction and Draughtsmanship with the intention of doing Architecture later. He chose to serve in the Editorial staff at ‘Dawasa’ newspaper publishing house and thereafter in the Tutorial staff at St. Thomas’ College, Kotte and as a part time teacher in the Minor Seminary-Borella. At the end of the sojourn, Winston on reading the book “Bells of Silence” written by the ex-priest Noel Cruz, who was a reputed priest and a well-known communicator, summoned courage again to obey the heavenly request, and began his second journey toward the Priesthood with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He joined the Blessed Sacrament Congregation and was ordained as a Priest on 6th September 1975 by Rt. Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis who had also been his Spiritual Director. He was sent for post-graduate studies to Manila, Rome and Ireland and taught at the Ampitiya Major Seminary. He was made the Regional Superior of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation.
We praise and thank our Lord Jesus Christ for rewarding our ‘Amma’, ‘Thaththa’ and ‘Am-mamma’ with the rare privilege of becoming the ‘Humbly- proud’ Parents and Grand Mother of a Catholic Priest from the Blessed Sacrament Congregation. ‘Amma’ was further fortunate to witness the Episcopal Ordination of her son Rev.Fr.Winston Fernando, S.S.S. as the Bishop of Badulla in the year 1997. Taking over the Diocese of Badulla after the retirement of his first spiritual mentor Rt. Rev. Dr. Edmund J. Fernando, O.M.I. was momentous indeed.
We believe that we reached the zenith of such holy reward from the grace of God that flowed through the ‘Moulding processes’ received at Home, St. Sebastian’s College, St. Aloysius’ Minor Seminary and the Major Seminary climaxed by the ‘Bells of Silence’ by Noel Crusz, and the Blessed Sacrament Congregation.
For us, you continue to remain as the epitome of great Christian devotion, Discipline, Orderliness, Punctuality, Simplicity, Humility and Common sense. By such exemplary life, you imbued the same qualities in us to a considerable degree. Your greeting smile and helpful attitude made you a symbol of a loving Catholic looked upon with awe and respect by your neighbours, relatives and parishioners alike. We cannot resist mentioning that on several occasions, we imitate your courteous smile and common sense solutions when dealing with important day today issues.
Nevertheless, many were the occasions that we could neither fulfill your expectations nor meet the high standards set by you. Kindly pardon us and intercede with the Lord to give us the necessary strength and courage to rectify those short-comings and reach up to your expectations and standards. Thereupon, they will even go beyond the realms of our families as our greatest gift received from God through your example and prayers.
Finally, we pray that our hallowed intention stated at the outset will bear fruit with the grace of God.
Your beloved siblings -Anton, Bernard (Writer), Anacletus, Royce and Lakshanthi.
