‘In 1900 the six seminarians then studying at St Xavier’s were moved to Kandy and the Bombay Seminary was closed for the second time in its long and tortuous history.’ – Ratus, 1986

How did the seminary fare at Kandy? What was life like for the Bombay boys? We get a fair glimpse of this period through the seminary life of H.E. Valerian Cardinal Gracias narrated by his best friend and companion, later Archbishop Leonard Raymond. Here are a few excerpts:

The Bishop-elect and I have been classmates for a well high seven years, first at Kandy and then at Rome…Few realize that it was really Archbishop Goodier…who decided to send Valerian Gracias to Kandy Seminary in 1923, though through several months of 1922 the latter was convalescing after a severe bout of typhoid. He entered the Theology course with a grave physical handicap but it hardly slackened his stride.

Within a few months he showed his mettle at one of our usual “circles”…by his thorough grasp of the fluent Latin. Fr. Gryffroy who presided, one of the ablest professors Kandy Seminary had ever been blessed with, was obviously delighted: here was a new comer after his own heart, and he communicated his joy to the whole Seminary faculty.

…towards the middle of 1926…Fr. (now Bishop) Willekens, announced that the Seminary had been empowered to grant the Doctorate in Theology, and that those who had taken a first class for six successive years would be eligible for it. Thus entitled to appear for the exam, Father Gracias took his doctorate early in 1927, once again cum magna laude.

Valerian Gracias was ordained on Oct. 3rd, 1926…The event had to be celebrated, (with) a hockey match, Theologians verses Philosophers. Now hockey at Kandy is in a genre all its own; it is played according to the ordinary rules, but it certainly calls for extraordinary vigilance on the part of the players and their guardian angels. It is said that…the consumption of iodine was so enormous that one would actually ask whether the seminarians drank it in lieu of tea.

Whatever it be, that fortunate evening…Father Gracias who was centre forward, tried to hook his stick, and received a pretty hefty swipe across the thumb of his right hand. For the rest of the match he was hors de combat. The sequel was both amusing and significant… Only after one week of continued pain was it shown to the doctor, who said that the bone of the thumb had been fractured but it had healed itself. Anyway, the thumb was out of use for the next three months, and when the thesis had to be written for the doctorate, it had to be dictated.

In Kandy, with a library well stocked, every opportunity was given for wide reading, and some of us divided among ourselves…each giving the others later a summary of what he had gone through. The plan worked well, and Brother Gracias was never behind with his reading, while his excellent memory and his facility for clear exposition rendered us more content that if we had read the article ourselves…I cannot help recognizing how the seeds sown on those days have come to fruition, how the promise of the past have cast their shadows, across the future.

Thus a star was born at Kandy and it was this Kandyan who went on to build the Bombay Seminary. The spirit of the Papal Seminary at Kandy can still be felt among the walls of Goregaon and its surroundings. The stately storeys have several more stories to tell. Stay tuned!

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