Remembering Father Ray
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The Father Ray Remembering Day was recently held in Pattaya to mark the 6th Anniversary of the passing of Fr. Ray Brennan who started changing the lives of underprivileged and abused children and disabled young adults in Pattaya 35 years ago.
Thousands of needy children have been welcomed and helped to develop and lead normal lives, despite the difficult start to their lives. He was and is a legend and a servant of the Lord’s work.
One of the stories about Father Ray was told by long-time friend and fellow-American Pattaya resident Drew Noyes to some who did not know the Father.
Father Sompong Diewtrakul, Director of Pra Maha Tai Redomptory Foundation chair the religious ceremony on Saturday evening August 15.
“Father Ray was an Irish Catholic priest who did not mince words. One day he went to
“The boy sheepishly answered that he had been fondled by the man to which Father Ray responded by punching the tourist, knocking him flat on his back and taking the young boy to safety. That was Father Ray: a man of action and true conviction. He truly heard the word of God and directed his life’s work to saving children from all kinds of ill fate,” Drew Noyes said.
The religious ceremony was held at the St. Nikolaus Church on Sukhumvit Road led by the current Director of Thailand Pra Maha Tai Redemptory Foundation Father Sompong Diewtrakul, including Father Veera Pangrak, Father Abhisit Kritralam, as Ceremony vice Chairman, and Father Francis Gotro, Father Meechai Udomdetch, Father Eak, Father Chaiyara and Father Boonyong Vorasilp, as well as a Father from Chantaburi Province.
Many people and current kids under the Pra Maha Tai Foundation take part in the religious ceremony.
The ceremony on Saturday evening August 15, started with the Memorial Mass at 6 pm, followed by lying of flowers on Fr. Ray’s grave and the kids from the Sriracha Pra Maha Tai chanted a song to praise Fr. Ray at 8 pm before the religious ceremony completed. This was attended by more than 1,200 local residents, officials and kids from the Fr. Ray Foundation, St. Nikolaus Church, and the Pattaya Orphanage.
On Sunday August 16, there was a Buddhist merit making religious ceremony according to the Buddhist belief conducted by 9 Buddhist monks, followed by many performances provided by the kids in the foundation to entertain guests in the ceremony.
The performance’s highlight was “Pra Artit Yim Chang – Hello Sunshine”. The ceremony was honored and chaired by Chonburi Provincial Administrative Organization Chairman Mr. Vittaya Khunplome who delivered the opening speech and presented awards and scholarships to the kids who won the Essay Composition Contest under the topic of “Father Ray in My Heart”.
The contest was divided into two categories of student, and general people. The winner in the general people category was Mr. Sonthaya Panno from the Pattaya Prama Tai vocational school, and the winner in the student category was Mr. Prakasit Bamroong from
Father Sompong Diewtrakul led everyone to place flowers on Fr. Ray grave in the evening of Saturday 15, 8:00 pm.
Afterward, the Fr. Ray Remembering Day moved to the
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