This is the Summary as jointly prepared by Rev. Fr. Ronnie Prabhu, SJ, The Rector of St. Joseph's College, and Ronnie Johnson the Researcher.

Undeterred by this setback, a new line of approach was taken. Everyone in the neighbourhood who might have been staying in Bangalore for more than 30 years was contacted. There were many blanks, but all who were met always gave their support. It was unfortunate that those who were not contacted did pass out negative remarks to try and curtail the investigation. The first break came when Mr. Alec Alverez was approached, he did give some pointers as to the probable residence of the Hennessey-Pereira Family, and Galvin. There was a Gallivan Surname found connected to the Pereira's, this could have been cut down to Galvin.

Another person who gave us the key was Mr. Kora Chandy, who when contacted, immediately referred to his copy of the Mysore and Coorg Directory of 1883, and gave the location addresses of the Pereira's in Bangalore in 1883, namely: "Silver Oaks" Residency Road; 22 Residency Road; Cunningham Road; Main Guard Cross Road. When checked, none of the residences were in existence today, nobody seemed to have heard of the Pereira's on those roads. Still a chance was taken. letters were sent to as many as forty Pereira families in Bombay, a few in Kerela, Madras, Bangalore, but all not connected.

We thought that the Pereira's may have come from Ceylon, as they were highly educated, so the Motha's were asked, and Mr. John Motha immediately sent a fax to Colombo to this brother to check that angle. Fr. Renard and Fr. Cornu wrote to Paris for details, Mr. Mario Miranda wrote to Goa and Portugal, feelers even went out to Canada, Australia. The Parish Priest Fr. Franis Xavier was supportive by allowing access to the Church Registers. Some of the Pereira Families were personally met, and those with second generation ties, like Mrs. Merlin Pereira and Dr. Lopes whose mother was a Pereira, but no connections. We then had a break through with the small remark of Mrs. D. Pereira who stays behind St. Philomena's Hospital. She remembers that in the late '40's when she got married, she stayed in a Boarding House that was in the location of Sapana Hotel, and this boarding house (Brigton Boarding House, named after Bridgit, one of the girls) was run by some old ladies whom she remembers had the name of Pereira. Spot On! We now had one location, when we checked the ownership of the buildings, we found that the Pereira's did own what is today Gateway Hotel (East-West earlier).

The search began, the links, we came to know that they also as a Family owned the plot where the present Gautam Hotel and ITI Offices are located. Tracing back the ownership, the hands through it passed, we came up against dead-ends, as the persons who could have given us more information had passed away a few years back. The next area scouted was Cunningham Road, we did come across the location of the first cousins of Cora Pereira and that was on Cunningham Crescent. The only people who lived in that area that could help were the Parsies. They did give us the information as to the last location, and a few of them like Hiloo Setna, had actually know the Pereira's. That avenue closed. The Noronha Family from Rest House Road. and a call from David Doherty(who also stayed sometime on Cunningham Cresent) from Hyderbad led us to Sr. Alice. Another door of hope opened, the Carmelite Cloister Convent on Ali Askar Road was apparently the place where the last of the Pereira's spent time. Sr. Alice was kind enough to spend time telling about these lonely sick and old people.

Still, this did not get us to our objective. A meeting was set up with Dr. Francis Pinto, the brother of Miss. Bernie Pinto, but alas, Dr. Francis passed away before he could tell us anything of value. Some letters of advice from Madras did arrive to boost morale. The Sisters of the Poor also did try to ask their old inmates, as well as The Friend In Need where Dr. Corbett did his best. While this process was going on, it was discovered from the registers of the Church that Cora Pereira had died from a fractured spine. A little later a story was told to us by Miss Ann Beck about what her mother told her when she was five years old, and she did visit the Pereira's house on Residency Road as well on Museum Road. The story was that during a Corpus Christi Procession, an accident took place, and someone was killed, she said that she thought it was the canopy collapsed and the organist was the one. Her brother Cecil and Dolly McBride also did remember something like that. Fr. Ronnie Prabhu was urged to go through the Church records again, and it was discovered that the Corpus Christi Feast procession that year fell on the Saturday preceeding Cora's death. How to make the connection? As it was experienced, when one door closes, another door opened, and again it was Miss. Bernie Pinto and her sister Sr. Christine who directed the search to the Good Shepherd Convent, and to Sr. Anita Hodges. When Sr. Anita was met, she was a bit sceptical, she spent the night going through the "Annuls" and Archives of the Convent, and the next day, 3rd May 1996, Sr. Anita called to inform that the search for the truth about Cora Pereira was over. She had found the link that was missing, the connection between Corpus Christi and Cora Pereira. She photocopied the hand-written "Annul" of 100 years back and it told the story of how and why Cora Pereira died.

As there was no Archives of the Church in Bangalore Archdiocese for that period as the Archdiocese came under Mysore, Fr. Dr. Gregory D'Souza of Mysore who volunteered was requested to go through the Archives at Mysore for anything of relevance, in the meanwhile we got the information from Sr. Anita. June 8th 1996, makes 100 years since the glorious death of Cora Pereira. It is hoped that she is remembered fittingly for her exuberant love for the Blessed Sacrament, and to be an example for others especially the young people. Cora died at the age of 31 years, being born on 25th December 1864. Cora was Baptised Edith Corinne on 8th January 1865. Cora's Great Aunt was Sr. Mary of St. Teresa, RGS and who recounted the episode about the trouble the Parish Priest of St. Mary's Basilica had in his area, and how he took refuge in their house, perhaps it was the house of Cora's Great Uncle Dr. Francis Bormel Pereira on Main Guard Cross Road. In conclusion, keeping in mind Fr. Tabard's words on her tombstone and the very lovely poem on her written by her teacher ( The Good Shepherd Nun), we can say that Cora Pereira was a person very close to God, and her love for the Blessed Sacrament could not be separated, and this love caused her to focus away from human commands. Perhaps her religious inclination explains why she was not married even at 31! Her Teacher says in her poem " I kneel before thee Corinne, I feel I can and must, though once I was thy teacher, venerate thy dust" - and this shows what a profound effect Cora had on the Good Shepherd Nun. We could look to Cora Pereira now and find out if she also is a source of Miracles, by her being an intercessor and so close to God. With this in mind we could understand Corpus Christi much better, and make Christ Alive and Needed in Our Lives. Grateful thanks to all who supported the investigation, God will surely Bless you all. Fr. Ronnie Prabhu,sj Rector, St. Joseph's College, 22 Museum Road, Bangalore 560 001, India. Phone: 080 2214417 Ronnie Johnson 5/3 King's street, Richmond town, Bangalore 560 025, India. Phone: 080 2240145 E-mail:Ronnie Johnson

If anyone is touched by the life of Cora Pereira or receives any sort of Blessings of the Lord through her intersession, please let us know. We need to put more Faith in people, espically our young generation.

Thank You, God Bless. Ronnie Johnson

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Thought for the Day:" Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, Fon in the manner their fathers did to the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, For you shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, For you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did they fathers to the false prophets." Holy Bible: Luke 6:20-26

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