September 20, 2018
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on top of A Lam Bum Hill
The Holy Cross Feast is a special feast for the Diocese of Myitkyina. It starts on 13th and ends on 15th September. Every year Bishop Francis Daw Tang goes to the mountain top on 13th evening. This year on 13th evening he was accompanied by Fr. Girish, SJ and two OFM Priests. They were transported by a special car. As they arrived on mountain top they participated in the Way of the Cross, Rosary and confessions. After dinner they all slept in a simple tin-roofed room and pilgrims slept on the open ground.
On September 14th, 2018 the SLC students and many Staff climbed to the A Lam Bum, a praying hill and joined the Feast day celebration of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The hill is about 15 miles away from the College. Traditionally, the local people in Myitkyina Diocese have been celebrating it there for the past 15 years. It takes 4 hours on foot from the first station to the last station at the top of the hill. Small children and old age people are forbidden to go up to the top of the hill for their safety. There were about 110000 people from different towns and villages joined the feast this year. Amazing to note every year more and more people are joining this feast.
On the mountain top from early morning people thronged to pray before the Holy Cross and the PIETA. Three Masses were attended by the pilgrims and constantly the sacrament of confession was administered by many priests, who themselves walked to the mountain top.
Besides mountain top, at the foot hill too constantly Masses were attended by the pilgrims and spent time in spiritual matters. Hence, it is an important event for us to reflect on the cross as it appears in the past, present and future: what gave it such great dignity to begin with, how it is manifested in our lives as we live them now and how can we bring the cross into our spirituality as we live out our Christian lives.
