ශා. ඇලෝසියස් දෙව්සත්හල් ඉතිහාසය

දෙව්සත්හලක්  යනු  රෝමාණු කතෝලික සභාව තුළ පූජකයන් බිහිකිරීම සඳහා පිරිමි දරුවන් පුරුදු පුහුණු කරන ස්ථානයකි. කොළඹ 08 සාන්ත ඇලෝසියස් දෙව්සත්හලේ අයිතිකරු (Proprietor) ලෙස කොළඹ අගරදගුරු පදවියේ රදගුරුතුමන් කටයුතු කරන අතර සෑම විය හියදමක්ම කොළඹ අගරදගුරු පදවිය විසින් දරන අතර මෙම දෙව්සත්හල තුළ පිරිමි දරුවන් නේවාසිකව ම රැදී සිට තම පුහුණුවීම් කටයුතු සිදු කරයි. එම නේවාසික පිරිමි දරුවන්ගේ උන්නතිය සඳහා දෙව්සත්හල තුළ 9 වන ශ්‍රේණියේ සිට 13 නව ශ්‍රේණිය දක්වා සිසුන්ට ඉගෙනුම ලබා දෙන්නා වූ පුද්ගලීක පාසලක් ද මෙම දෙව්සත්හල තුළ පැවතීම විශේෂත්වයකි.  

මෙම දෙව්සත්හලේ ප්‍රධානියා (අදියුරු පියතුමා / විදුහල්පති පියතුමා) කොළඹ පදවියේ අගරදගුරු තුමන් විසින් පත් කරන අතර ඔහු කතෝලික පූජා ප්‍රසාදිතුමකු විය යුතුය. දෙව්සත්හලේ පාසල සඳහා ගුරුභවතුන් පැමිණෙන අතර ඔවුන් රජයේ ගුරු සේවයේ ලියාපදිංචි විශ්‍රාම වැටුප් ලැබිය හැකි ගුරුභවතුන් ලෙස ද,  කොළඹ අගරදගුරුපදවියේ කතෝලික ගුරුභවතුන් ලෙසද, කොන්ත්‍රාත් පදනම මත සේවයට බඳවා ගත් ගුරුභවතුන් ලෙස ද, විශේෂිත දීමනා පදනම් කරගෙන  බඳවා ගත් ගුරුභවතුන් ලෙස ද මෙම දෙව්සත්හල තුළ ගුරුභවතුන් සේවයෙහි නියුක්තවේ. කොළඹ පදවියේ අගරදගුරු තුමන් විසින් පත් කරන කතෝලික පූජා ප්‍රසාදිතුමන්ලාද මෙම දෙව්සත්හලේ සේවය කරයි.

කොළඹ 08 සාන්ත ඇලෝසියස් දෙව්සත්හලේ ආරම්භය පිළිබඳ කතාබහට ලක් කිරීමේදී මෙම දෙව්සත්හල මුලින්ම ආරම්භ වී ඇත්තේ කොටහේන ආසන දෙව් මැදුරේ මීසම් ගෘහය තුළය. වර්තමානයේ සාන්ත ඇලෝසියස් දෙව්සත්හල පවතින ස්ථානයට  දෙව්සත්හල රැගෙන ආවේ ක්‍රිස්තු වර්ෂ 1921 ජුනි මස 30 වන දිනදීය. එවන් පටන් මේ වන තෙක් සාන්ත ඇලෝසියස් දෙව්සත්හල විවිධ වූ අංගයන්ගෙන් අංග සම්පූර්ණ වෙමින් වර්තමාන ශ්‍රී ලාංකීය කතෝලික සභාවේ උන්නතිය උදෙසා ශුද්ධවත් හා ඥානවන්ත පූජක දරුවන් බිහිකිරීමේ කාර්යයේ නියැලී සිටින්නීය. මෙම කර්තව්‍යය මූලික කොට පවත්වාගෙන යනු ලබන්නේ කොළඹ අගරදගුරුගුරු පදවියේ එඩේරාණන් වන අගරදගුරු හිමිපාණන්ගේ පුර්ණ මඟ පෙන්වීම හා නායකත්වය යටතේය.

මෙම දෙව්සත්හල තුළ දී පූජක පුහුණුව සඳහා යොමු වන පිරිමි දරුවන්ට ඔවුන්ගේ අධ්‍යාත්මික ජීවිතය ජේසුස් වහන්සේගේ ඉගැන්වීම් ඔස්සේ මෙහෙයවා ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය උපදෙස් හා මඟ පෙන්වීම් ලබා දෙන අතර එම දරුවන්ගේ මූලික අධ්‍යාපන සුදුසුකම් වන අධ්‍යයන පොදු සහතික පත්‍ර සාමාන්‍ය පෙළ විභාගය හා අධ්‍යයන පොදු සහතික පත්‍ර උසස් පෙළ විභාගය යන ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ මූලික කඩ ඉම් විභාග සමත් කරවීම සඳහා දරුවන් පුහුණු කරන ආයතනයක් ලෙස ද දෙව්සත්හල ක්‍රියා කරයි. මෙම සිසුන් තමන්ගේ පූජක  කැඳවීම සාර්ථක කර ගැනීම සඳහා අවශ්‍යය ඉංග්‍රීසි දැනුමෙන් දරුවා පොහොණි කිරීමේ මූලිකව වගකීම්ක් ද දෙව්සත්හල සතුය. එමෙන්ම මෙම දෙව්සත්හල් පූජක වරම් පතා පුහුණු වන දරුවන් තම අනාගත ධර්මදූතික කටයුතු නිසියාකාරයෙන් කර ගැනීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය මූලික අවබෝධය ප්‍රයෝගීක අවස්ථා මත ලබා දෙන අතර එම දරුවන්ගේ විනය හා මානුෂිකත්වය ගොඩනගා ගැනීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය උපදෙස් හා මඟ පෙන්වීම් ද ලබා දෙනු ලැබේ. කතෝලික පූජා ප්‍රසාදිතුමකු සතු මානව චරිත ලක්ෂණයන් පූජකවරය අපේක්ෂාවෙන් පැමිණෙන සිසුවකුගේ ජීවිතය ට ලබා දීම අතිශයින්ම වැදගත්ය. එම අංශයන් දියුණූ කිරීම සඳහා  දෙව්සත්හල තුළ කටයුතු කරන කකෝලික පූජාප්‍රසාදි තුමන්ලා හා ගුරුභවතුන් නිරන්තරයෙන් ක්‍රියාත්මකවේ.

සිසුන්ගේ හැකියා දක්ෂතා ඉදිරියට ඔප් නංවමින් අනාගත කතෝලික සභාවේ සංස්කෘතීන් නිසියාකාරයෙන් පවත්වා ගැනීම සඳහා අවශ්‍ය සෞන්දර්යාත්මක දැනුමෙන් හා කුසලතාවයන්ගෙන් දරුවා ගොඩනංවා ගැනීමට දෙව්සත්හල් ක්‍රියාකාරකම් අතිශයෙන් දායකත්වයක් දක්වයි. ඒ අනුව විවිධ වූ තරඟ පවත්වමින් ද විවිධ වූ උත්සවයන් හා විෂය පරිබාහිර ක්‍රියා සංවිධානය මඟින් ද විවිධ ක්‍රිඩා සඳහා සිසුන් යොමු කරවීමෙන් ද දෙව්සත්හල් සිසුන් සමබර සිසුන් කණ්ඩායමක් ලෙස සමාජ ගත කිරීමට උත්සහ දරයි. ක්‍රිස්තු වර්ෂ 1954 දී රජ්‍යයේ ‍ජේෂ්ඨ ද්විතීක පාසලක් ලෙස අධ්‍යාපන අමාත්‍යන්ශයේ ලියා පදිංචි වන කොළඹ 08 සාන්ත ඇලෝසියස් දෙව්සත්හල එවක් පටන් කොළඹ අධ්‍යාපන කාලාපයටත්, බොරැල්ල අධ්‍යාපන කොට්ටාශයටත් සම්බන්ධව දෙව්සත්හල් සිසුන්ගේ අභිවෘධිය වෙනුවෙන් කටයුතු කරයි.

Rectors Past and Present 

1)  Rev. Fr. Louis Coquil O.M.I

Hailing from Catholic Quimper in France, he was a typical son of Brittany. Arrived as a Brother and was ordained a priest in Colombo, by archbishop Bonjean in December 1884. As the pioneer of the formation of the very first seminarians who initiated the priestly order, Rev. Fr. Louis Coquil played the role of the superior in both Minor and Major seminaries. Since it was the initiative stage of the seminary formation Fr. Louis’ exemplary life was a bright light which enlightened the way of seminarians.

2)  Rev. Fr. Charles Croctaine

Fr. Croctaine is an admirable shepherd who took up the responsibility of moulding and guiding the seminarians. Although he had to erect and rebuild the newly bought building at Union Place he never neglected the formation of the seminarians. Therefore, he is worthy to be called as a well-balanced great priest.

3)  Rev. Fr. Alexander Guillaume O.M.I

In the third place, the office of Rector was placed with Rev. Fr. Guillaume. His saintly and pious

life led all the seminarians to their ultimate goal of Priesthood. During his office he introduced the spiritual reading as a definite part in the formation.

4)  Rev. Fr. Joseph David Fernando O.M.I

Rev. Fr. Joseph David was a son of the soil hailing from Negombo. His faithful, devoted and enthusiastic lifestyle led the young seminarians towards the priesthood. He was talented with keen knowledge and skills in literature. It is highlighted amidst all, that his kind heart created a true father in himself.

5)  Rev. Fr.Thomas Gugliemi O.M.I

Rev. Fr. Thomas Gugliemi was in his early stages of priesthood as he arrived in Ceylon. He was a man of strong physique, keen intellect and burning zeal for God’s kingdom on earth. The abilities and capabilities of Rev.Fr. Gugliemi is seen in the various duties he performed and offices he held.

6)  Rev. Fr. Jean Louis Perrot O.M.I

Rev. Fr. Jean Louis another son of France, guided and directed the young lads in their formation for ten months. Although his stay was quite brief, it was long enough for the young seminarians to have sweet and unforgetable memories of him, who was full of life and full of fun.

7)  Rev. Fr. Antoine Vernat O.M.I

His four years spell as Rector was no easy task for a veteran of Fr. Varnat’s metal. Fr. Vernat helped to close the pages of our two decades history at Rockby House and  to start a new life at our present site in Borella.

8) Rev. Fr. Francis Euze O.M.I

Fr. Francis’ natural affability and geniality had been perfected by a long missionary career  when he was appointed Rector of the Minor Seminary. His sympathetic nature and sunny disposition in addition to his tender amicability made the seminarians feel at home.

9) Rev. Fr. Basil A. Wiratunge O.M.I

His tenure of office as Rector was spent in forging the crude ore of willing hearts by dint of word and example, prudent guidance and safe principles in vigils, prayers, penance and mortification. He formed and moulded the character and the personality of many young seminarians.

10)  Rev. Fr. Edmund Peiris

Fr. Edmund is an admirable priest with many talents gifted by God. He was a man with keen intellect and discipline. He was interested in researches into rare books and ancient manuscripts through which he gained much knowledge. At the same time he was a great scholar. Because of his outstanding personality he was chosen to become the Bishop of Chilaw.

11)  Rev. Fr.Theodore De Silva

Fr. Theodore being a profound scholar and an able organizer and a perfect disciplinarian, made himself an ideal Rector. His calm and humble character made his life more vibrant and exemplary.

12)  Rev. Fr. Peter Selmer OMI

Fr. Peter Selmer was appointed the rector of this hallowed institution in a period where the whole world was overwhelmed with darkness and fire due to World War II. Nevertheless the seminary still shone as a bright light in this darkened world thanks to the guidance given by Fr. Selmer.

13)  Rev. Fr. D. J. Nicholas Perera OMI

As a faithful servant in the Vineyard of Christ Fr. Nicholas spent his talents, his leisure and even his life itself for the betterment of the Church in forming the future Clergy. He is worthy to be called “A man of God and a man of prayer''.

14)  Rev. Fr. Peter Severinus Fernando OMI

When the future Archdiocese was kept on the shoulders of Fr. Severinus he reformed and revitalized the seminary formation by introducing regular prayers, Holy Mass, spiritual reading sessions, weekly confessions and other spiritual exercises. He too introduced a platform for educational and sports skills by including the annual prize giving to the seminary calendar.

15)  Rev. Fr. W. L. A. Don Peter

Fr. Peter was the first Diocesan priest to be appointed as the Rector of St. Aloysius’ Seminary. His higher educational qualifications made him an outstanding figure. He used to instruct the young seminarians to appreciate the cultural values in Sri Lanka. He is also a well-known novelist who wrote many novels especially for the youth and children.

16)  Rt. Rev. Dr. Frank Marcus Fernando

Fr. Frank Marcus was kind at the same time strict. He always insisted on the words “I will make you men of prayer.” During his office he encouraged seminarians to inculcate the habit of praying. He also formed and moulded them as good disciplined young men.

17)  Most Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando

Most Rev. Dr. Nicolas Marcus was destined to lead the little flock of St. Aloysius’ in the immediate post Vatican II period, in order to form them into the Priests of “The Church in the Modern World.” He always focused on the truthfulness of the students and with necessary changes he reformed the formation in the Seminary.            

18)  Very Rev. Fr. Kingsley Jayamanne

When Fr. Kingsley was holding the Rectorship he tried to make this seminary a cheerful and lovely place filled with peace, joy, freedom, and responsibility. He encouraged the students to learn English language skills within a well -planned time frame fixed by him.  

19)  Rev. Fr. Plasidus De Silva

Though Fr. Plasidus seems to be a humble and a silent person his inner nature projected an image of firm and strong character. He is a man of fore thinking. Therefore in all what he did there was a hidden value which  was treasured in the hearts of the young lads and later bore fruits in the service of God. During his office the extension of the seminary building was done.

20) Rev. Fr. Cyril Joseph

Fr. Cyril’s pious and saintly characteristics created a loving father in him. His exemplary prayer life and simplicity imprinted the image of a true servant of God in the hearts of young Seminarians. His silent but great efforts bare fruits in all the priests who were formed and moulded under him.

21) Very Rev. Fr. Bonnie Fernandopulle

 Living by the example of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd Fr. Bonnie guided the young flock of St. Aloysius’ Seminary as a true leader and a tender father. He believed in the method of co-journeying with the seminarians and being very closer to them in order to first know them and then to correct them.

22) Rev. Fr. Anthony Fernandopulle

The duration of his service was short but he left an indelible imprint in the minds of young seminarians. His tender heart and loving words touched the hearts of the young lads. He was ever ready to lend an ear to anyone who comes in search of him for guidance.

23) Very. Rev. Fr. Joseph Patrick Perera

Fr. Patrick was a calm, quiet and amiable person. He certainly wanted to create a loving and cheerful atmosphere in the seminary which upholds discipline in joyfulness. He initiated various projects during his rectorship such as,reconstructing the library, building the new wing, senior bath side and the belfry.

24) Rev. Fr. Lalith Felix Perera

Fr. Lalith was not a stranger to the seminary community as he once served here as the pre-senior director. He was a straightforward and firm personality. The unique way of his formation made him to immediately correct the seminarians whenever the go out of the track. During his office he encouraged and insisted the students to improve in the English language within the workout of  a time prepared with activities beyond the normal educational curriculum.

25)Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Camillus Fernando

 Fr. Camillus was well educated and a great personality with a keen intellect and various other talents gifted by God. His office was limited to a short period since he was appointed the Director for the Catholic Press. During his rectorship he always made the seminarians to focus on their ultimate goal of priesthood.

26) Very Rev. Fr. Freely Muthukudaarachchi

Fr. Freely was a man of great physique which created an image of strict and a hard personality. But his way of working always led all the seminarians to come to know the tenderness hidden in his heart. He was a man of strong and firm words. The unique way of his formation changed the official and traditional frame of formation in the seminary. During his office many renovations were initiated.

27) Rev. Fr. William Evans Liyanarachchi

He is the present captain of our ship. He is no person new to priestly formation. With his long years as a formator in the National Seminary, he is keen on inculcating in the young seminarian an unwavering ambition and mortivation towards priesthood. Calm and quiet and unassuming by nature he is a strict policied, punctual and strong decision maker. He is metaculous and a methadologist, and have initiated many renovations and refurbishments in the physical structure of the seminary, especially with regard to its aesthetic presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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