I am new and I just wanted to say Hullo from India.

[EustaceD]

Dear Friends in Christ,


My name is Eustace D’sa. I was born and raised in Bombay and I live in Bombay. I lived for 5 years in the United States from 1997-2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and later near Atlanta, Georgia.

I am an Orthodox Indian Catholic of Goan- Portuguese Descent from the Former Portuguese Colony of Goa on the South- West Coast of India. I am a Legal Professional with a keen interest and career in International Intellectual Property Rights.

I love Portuguese Culture, Music, Food, and Port Wine. I am extremely proud of my Portuguese Heritage and Culture. My Ancestors were evangelized to Catholicism in the late 15th Century or early 16th Century by Portuguese Catholic Missionaries led by Saint Francis Xavier and his Compatriots.

My favorite Portuguese Web page is www.ivp.pt( The Port Wine Institute).

My all time favorite wine pages are www.lusowine.com-- International Portuguese Wine Portal, www.grantburgewines.com.au as well as www.wineaustralia.com.

I love the Orchestral Masses composed by these great composers like Joseph Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Gounod, and Bach. I also have a keen interest in Natural History, Ancient Civilization, The Early Church Fathers, and Mariology.

I have a great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady, and to the Divine Mercy. I am a faithful single catholic in his early 30's. I have been listening to Classical Music from the age of 7 and I was taught the Violin at the age of 10.

My Favorite web pages are www.desertvoice.org (A Voice in the Desert), www.crossroadsinitiative.com (The Ministry of Dr. Marcellino Ambrosio P.HD a well known Catholic Apologist and excellent Evangelist from Texas and www.stagnes.net (Saint Agnes Catholic Church-- Minneapolis, Saint Paul).

A Voice in the Desert has awesome Homilies on the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lady, the Spiritual Life, and the Saints.

I love reading about Greek Civilization and the Life of Naturalists in South America and Africa. I also have a keen interest in the Wine Industry in Portugal, Spain, United States, and Australia. My Only Desire Now is to be an Ardent Apostle for my Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother Mary in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand as I feel all these countries are in desperate need of "Catholic Apostles who will strenghten the Faith of the Faithful and ReChristianize these Countries.

I am proud of my Portuguese Heritage and I am proud to be a Catholic Christian.

My Catholic Faith means everything to me.

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, Hear us. Merciful Jesus Christ, I trust in you. I believe that Jesus Christ is present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. PRAISED BE JESUS CHRIST IN THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. QUEEN OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY PROTECT ALL CATHOLICS AND CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES IN INDIA FROM VIOLENT ATTACKS BY HINDU EXTREMIST GROUPS.

Eucharistic Lord Jesus Christ, Protect all Catholic Missionaries in Countries where Catholics are a minority specially in the Middle East. Remember Our Maronite Catholic Brethren, Chaldean Catholic Brethren, Melkite Catholic Brethren, and Assyrian Catholic Brethren.

Finally, I love listening to Country Music, specially Classic Country Music. My favorite artistes are Alan Jackson, Alabama, George Strait, Clint Black, Lone Star, Montgomery-Gentry, Martina McBride, and Shania Twain to mention a few.

[Denise]

Welcome Eustace, glad to have you here. Lori will be interested in your wine pages, hahaha.

Have you been to the Shrine in Fatima? If you ever go let me know in advance and I will introduce you to my friend there. He will be a great host for you.

God bless
Denise

[Lori]

Eustace,

Welcome to Semper Fi...I read your first posts and they were very informative. I will pray for the Church in India. I think it is obvious that the Faith is really going to grow there. Someone, I think Tertullian, said that the blood of martyrs is the seeds of faith. India certainly has its martyrs.

Holy martyrs of India, pray for us!!
Blessed Mother Theresa, pray for us!!

Blessings,

Lori

[ElizabethS]

Eustace,

Welcome. I also did not realize what is going on in India concerning Catholics. It sounds like faith of Catholic Indians is being tested in ways we in the U.S. could only imagine. I must say that the first Indian Catholic I have ever met was a priest who was assigned to my parish in the Diocese of Tyler, Texas. What amazed me was how thoroughly he knows his faith and how every time he was with people he tried to teach, teach, teach. His sermons were regularly 30-45 minutes. He also wanted to have a procession through town on the Feast of Corpus Christi but was told by the Diocese that he should not leave the church's property. He then said how were we as Catholics to set an example and convert people of other religions if we couldn't leave the church grounds. He said in India they would process through the whole town as a way of sharing the Catholic faith. Sadly, Father was moved to another parish after a little less than a year. Maybe some of the trials that you mentioned are what gave him his strong faith. I will keep India in my prayers and thanks for sharing with us.

Elizabeth

[EustaceD]

Dear Denise

I will first of all thank you for welcoming me to the Semper Fi Catholic Forum and for your warm welcome as well as the warm welcome extended to me by Lori and ElizabethS.

In Answer to your question, I have to say no I have not visited the Basilica-Shrine at Fatima. I can only hope and pray that I will visit the following Shrines in the near future specially Lourdes, Fatima, and the Divine Mercy Basilica- Shrine in Poland at Krakow- Lagiewniki.

I hope Lori has not taken any vow not to drink wine or visit my wine pages. My favorite wine page in the United States is www.wineontheweb.com also known as the “Talking Wine Magazine” and in the United Kingdom it is known as www.wineontheweb.co.uk

I hope you or the others have not been shocked at my interest in Classic Country Music or Country Music period. I have been listening to Country Music from the age of 15 specially the hits of Merle Haggard and Kenny Rogers, as I had some audio- cassettes purchased by my sister for me at that time from a Music Store in Bombay.

I love Alan Jackson’s favorite hit “Chattahoochee” as well as George Strait’s hit “She lays it all on the line” – This is a single about his wife who loves him a lot but is quite strict with him too. Also, Tracy Byrd’s Single “Water Melon Crawl” – which is all about the Watermelon Wine Festival in Georgia.

I have to say this quite frankly, I truly miss Georgia and the Southern United States in general having lived there for 4 years. While I was living in Georgia I fell in love with “Onion Rings” and I believe an outlet in Atlanta called the “Varsity” makes them the best. Do y’all have any outlets of Varsity in Texas?

But, what I like the best about the Southern United States as well as the South- West United States is the English that is spoken there specially when they say y’all. I just love that word and in spite of the fact that I am living in
India now, I just cannot stop using it.

A number of friends who were born and raised in the South explained that y’all is the Southern way of saying you all.

I also love the way Texans and other Southerners pronounce the word “Wine” and speak about their parents and their family. While living near Atlanta I had a number of friends who were Baptist Pastors as well as a few who were Catholic Priests and Seminarians.

The Guys who were Catholic Priests and Seminarians were fairly well acquainted with Indian Catholics but not so with the Baptist Pastors.

I had some very amusing episodes with them. As, they all felt I was a Hindu who had just converted to Christianity and that I should be baptized again – this time in the Baptist Church and accept Jesus Christ as my Personal Lord and Savior. I had to constantly reassure them that it was my ancestors who were evangelized to Christianity and Catholicism by Portuguese Catholic Missionaries in the 16th Century and I was extremely happy in the Catholic Church and that I was saved in the Catholic Church and Jesus Christ was my Savior and my Lord.

I am perhaps one of those few Indian Guys who is living in India but can understand “American Football” fairly well. This is because I attended a number of matches in Athens – The Home of the Georgia Bull-Dogs who y’all may be familiar with. I can still understand what a touch down is and how many points one gets for a touch down. Also, that there are usually four quarters in a match etc.

The Georgia Bull Dogs are my favorite team. I love the voice of Larry Munson, who is a veteran Football Commentator from the South. He has such a rich and powerful voice when explaining stuff related to American Football.

Finally, I find it appalling but not surprising that the Media in the United States gives virtually no importance to the plight of Indian Catholics and what they are being subjected to by Extremist Hindu Groups.

In India, Indian Catholics living in Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Bangalore, and Goa we have been blessed since 2003 with daily broadcasts from E.W.T.N. Television which is based in Birmingham, Alabama. E.W.T.N. is my favorite Television Station and my favorite programs are “Life on the Rock” with Father Francis Mary which is broadcast live early on a Friday Morning I.S.T. but I watch a recorded version later on in the evening on a Friday Night when it is shown again.

My other favorite programs are “Journey Home” with Marcus Grodi as well as Mother Angelica Classics live and a new series which has started called “The Gospel of John with Professor Tim Gray” who is from Denver.

I strongly believe that one day Mother Angelica will be a Saint pretty soon. My family were pioneers in Bombay and in a number of places in India in promoting the Devotion to the Divine Mercy. We started this Apostolate in 1990 and have continued ever since. We, as a Family have been blessed with many graces by Jesus, the Divine Mercy. We used to get literally a ton of literature from a Hong Kong based evangelist for a number of years but has recently discontinued this work of his.

FYI – Bombay, India and most cities and towns in India are 10.5 hours ahead of the United States East Coast Time in Winter and 9.5 hours ahead in Summer when Daylight savings commences.

Since, y’all are in Texas I guess the difference will be 11.5. Correct me, if I am wrong but I am quite positive that most places in Texas are on Central time.

I was quite amused and pleasantly surprised that there is a School District which has my name. It is called Eustace Independent School District”. There is also a place called Eustace, Texas with its own zip code and all. I discovered this yesterday while surfing on the Internet. In South Jersey, there is a School called Bishop Eustace Prep School.




Dear Lori,

Many Thanks for your post as well as for your welcome. Yes, the Persecution in India is real and getting worse in a number of States in India even in Traditional Centers of Catholic Christianity like in Kerala – in Southern India as well as in Goa in South- West India. This persecution started 20 odd years ago in the Tribal Belt where there are Catholic Missionaries present in large numbers but since then it has spread to other parts of India as well as to some Towns and Cities.

You are correct with regard to that quote from one of the early Fathers of the Church namely“Tertullian”. His statement was that the Blood of Martyrs is the seed of the Church. I strongly feel that the day is not far of in the near future where even Bishops, Archbishops, or even Cardinals could be martyred for the Catholic Faith in India.

So, far only Catholic Missionary Priests and Nuns have been killed in India.

Please pray for a number of Missionary Nuns who have been sexually assaulted by Hindu Radicals for a number of years and it is still going on. Some Missionary Nuns and Sisters in India have even learnt Karate and Judi to protect themselves from being raped or sexually assaulted by Hindu Radicals.

Finally, there are a number of Belgian Jesuit Missionaries, Italian Salesian Missionary Fathers, and Ursuline Nuns who are in prison on charges of baptizing Aboriginal Tribals in States where there are oppressive and stringent anti- conversion laws.


Dear ElizabethS,

Many Thanks for your message. Yes, there are a large number of Indian Catholic Priests serving in a number of Parishes in the United States as well as in Texas.

In India, we have a custom as well as a tradition of processing with the Monstrance and the Blessed Sacrament on the Feast of Christ the King in parshes in Cities, Towns, and even in villages all across India.

I will be posting just one more article that explains it all about the situation in India.

BTW, we are having a massive crisis with regard to Bird flu in India. So far, over a million chickens have been culled all across the country since Saturday.

India's Poultry Industry is worth 84.4 million dollars and poultry is mostly exported to a number of countries in Europe and to the Middle East as well.

Thank you again for your post. You are free to ask me any other questions that you may have on any topic.

EustaceD

[Denise]

I have to laugh about Lori and wine; she is Italian and they love their wine...AND Lori drinks it in moderation like we are supposed to. That being said...

I use to love country music. When I met my husband he was the sound guy for "Texas Thunder" and had done sound at famous artists concerts. He did sound at Farm Aid and Chris Christopherson tripped over my husband because, as we say in the south, "he had a snoot full" and I bet it wasn't wine. There is a group that I love, who is country, Los Lonely Boys. They have this really cool song called "Heaven" and if you go to their web site you can hear it. The song was born when one of the three brothers went to his room and fell on his knees in prayer. Great story!

Also, my husband use to work and do sound in Clovis New Mexico, which was the first place (studio) that LeeAnn Rhymes (sp) recorded a song, which made her famous. Stephen worked in that studio before I met him and before LeeAnn became famous. We use to be all into country music when we were younger but as I have aged, I have embraced classical music more as well as Gregorian chant. When I was a teenager I was into gymnastics and I usually did all my routines to classical music.

Glad you like the Y'all thing. We southerners can damage many proper words,

Blessings
Denise

[Denise]

Eustace, I have a "daily" question for you so check the forum, My Daily Life, I will post it in there. Check back if I haven't done it by the time you read this.
Denise

[EustaceD]

Dear Lori, Denise, and ElizabethS

Good Afternoon and Greetings from Bombay, India.


I am the youngest in my family. I have an older sister who lives in the United States and has been living in Georgia since 1995. My Sister is a Research Scientist and Food Microbiologist and has a Doctorate in the field of Food Microbiology and Food Safety.



My Parents and I have been involved in the promotion of the Divine Mercy Devotion in Bombay since the early 1990’s and a Lay Chinese Catholic Evangelist from Hong Kong sent us a lot of literature on this devotion for distribution in a number of places in India as well as in countries in the Persian Gulf, Australia, and the United Kingdom where we have sent a lot of literature through Friends and Relatives.



My Father is a Physician and Medical Microbiologist and My Mother used to work as a Corporate Secretary for Thomas Cook and Tours but is now a Homemaker.

I am perhaps one of those individuals who likes listening to Classical Music, Sacred Choral Music, and Country Music.

For all Fans of Sacred Choral Music here, is an excellent web page where you can hear recordings of some Orchestral Masses.


It is www.stagnes.net/music-recordings.html


All Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish Catholic Men and Women have something in common and that is a great love for Food, Wine, and Music.


It is in that regard, I strongly believe that Italians and the Portuguese are culturally similar as they have a strong preference for good wine.

When the Portuguese arrived in Goa, they brought along with them their custom as well as tradition of making “Port Wine”. As y’all may know Port Wine gets its name from the City of Porto in Portugal.

My favorite classical music web pages are as follows


1. http://www.d-vista.com/OTHER/franzliszt.html
(Official Web Page for Franz Liszt)


2. http://www.chopin.pl
(Official Web Page for Frederyk Chopin)


3. http://www.beethoven.com
( World's Classical Music Station)


4. http://www.lvbeethoven.com
(Official Web Page for Ludwig Van Beethoven)


Finally, I love the works of the "Twin Cities Catholic Chorale" from the Parish of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul, Minneapolis Minesota.




EustaceD