Sunday Times 2
Chevalier Jusey de Silva, Knight of St. Gregory
View(s):With the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis, imminent in January 2015, the investiture of one of the first Sinhalese as a Knight of St. Gregory, by Pope Leo XIII will be of interest. Jusey de Silva was born in Pelapolwatta Payagala at his maternal residence on the 2nd of September 1816.He was the eldest son of Lindamulage Peduru de Silva and Manawaduge Lucia Silva. He was a direct lineal descendent of Thakura Artha Devaditta Gardiawasam Lindamulage Pedro de Silva, of the Court of King Buwanekabahu VII of Kotte.
Education
He learnt to read and write Sinhala at the Sinhala School in Moratuwa and continued his education in English at the Seminary in Colombo. Apart from his mother tongue he was well able to converse in Tamil, Hindi, English and Portuguese.
Marriage
Jusey de Silva married Weerahennadi Weerabala Jayasuriya Patabendige Anna Fernando on May 31, 1841, in Moratuwa. He had two children of which the firstborn son died in infancy. The second, Catherine was the first Sinhalese lady to have the rank, style and precedence of a Knight Bachelor’s Widow.
Donations
He was instrumental in building the St. Sebastian Church in Moratuwa, St. Lucia’s Church in Kotahena and he also to contributed to the Church of Our Lady of Good Death, in Hultsdorf.
The Investiture
The ceremony of investiture as a Knight of St. Gregory the Great was held on May 24, 1888, at St. Lucia’s Cathedral. The Cathedral and its premises were decorated for the occasion and St. Lucia Street was lined on both sides with arches of palm leaves and ferns, from the corner of Skinner’s Road to the College. There was a handsome arch spanning the entrance to St. Lucia Street from Skinner’s Road, erected by people of Grandpass.On the front of the Cathedral was a large portrait of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII. Standing on either side of the middle entrance to the porch, there were two elephants made of bamboo and fern, bearing howdahs supporting the Papal escutcheon on their united trunks. The inside of the Cathedral was ornamented with wreaths and banners and the high altar, arrayed with candles and flowers. Jusey de Silva’s arrival was announced by the pealing of bells, at half past four o’clock and he was conducted inside.
Shortly afterward the bells were again rung and the Archbishop and the Bishop of Kandy entered the church preceded by a long procession of clergymen. The ceremony began with the singing of Veni Creator by the clergy. The Archbishop of Colombo, Christopher Ernest Bonjean with his assistant priests, the Very Rev Father Lelons of Jaffna and Rev Father Venturini of Kandy blessed the decoration, preparatory to conferring it. The reading of the Pontifical Brief by Rev. Fr. Guglielmi in Latin, by Rev. Fr. Wilkinson in English and by Rev. Fr. Chounavel in Sinhalese followed.
The Pontifical Brief
“To our Beloved Son Jusey de Silva of the Diocese of Colombo
Leo XIII Pope
Beloved Son, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
What Our Venerable Brother Christopher Ernest Bonjean, Archbishop of Colombo has related to Us of your eminent piety, as well as of the deeds in the promotion of the Catholic cause ,for which you have earned for yourself the praise of that Diocese, has prompted Us to decorate you with some honourable title, as a token of Our favourable disposition towards you and as an encouragement to you to perform more excellent works on behalf of the Church of Colombo.
Wishing therefore to confer on you a special honour, We absolve you for this Purpose only and hold you absolved from all sentences whatever of excommunication and interdict ,and from all other ecclesiastical pains and censures whatever their form or their cause should you have incurred any, and by virtue of these Letters, of Our Apostolical Authority, We elect, create and declare you a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great of the civil class and receive you into this most exalted Company of Knights.
For this reason We grant you, Beloved Son, to put on the dress proper, and to wear the proper insignia of the Knights of this Order:viz a golden octagonal cross showing in the middle of its red surface the picture of St. Gregory the Great.
Given at Rome in St. Peter’s under the Fisherman’s Ring, the 20th day of March 1888 and the eleventh year of Our Pontificate.”
Jusey de Silva was then conducted to the foot of the Archiepiscopal Throne to receive the decoration. After the Archbishop fastened the decoration, a proclamation was read, conferring the appointment of President of St. Lucia’s Cathedral, on Chevalier Jusey de Silva.
The Death and Funeral
The Chevalier Jusey de Silva died at Alfred House Colombo, on April 8, 1889. His remains were brought to his house in Moratuwa. The funeral procession was accompanied by the band of the Volunteers, who played the Dead March. The coffin was borne to the church by eight men, preceded by about twenty five clergymen, Christian Brothers, the Brother Director of St. Benedict’s College and the officers of all the Churches of the Moratuwa Mission, with crosses, flags, the Pearl Umbrella and other insignia. The Archbishop and the Bishop of Jaffna waited in the Church.
After the Vespers had been sung, the Archbishop, addressed a funeral oration in English to the assembly, commenting on the text; blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. After the Libera was chanted by the clergy, the coffin was lowered into its final resting place inside the Church, near the Altar and a last blessing was given by the officiating prelate.
Chevalier Jusey de Silva’s house in Moratuwa is now in use as the Moratuwa Police Station. The ancient sword belonging to the family is now in the Colombo Museum and the inscription on the sword carries the family name. The ancient Pancharanga Banner (flag of five stripes) of the family, was provided to the flag committee in 1882 and was the prototype for the modern Buddhist Flag.
- Dr. K.N.M.D.Fernando Cooray