Roman Catholic Boys' School in Madampe,St. Joseph's College, St. Aloysius Seminary, Borella
Occupation(s)
Catholic priest, musician, lyricist, author, journalist and patriot
Fr.Marcelline Jayakody (Sinhala: මර්සලින් ජයකොඩි පියතුමා) (3 June 1902 ─ January 15, 1998) was a Sri LankanCatholic priest, musician, lyricist, author, journalist[1] and an exponent of indigenous culture. He belonged to the Catholic Religious Congregation of theMissionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI).[2] He is attributed with the epithet 'පන්සලේ පියතුමා' (Pansale Piyathuma - Priest in the Temple). Ven. Dr. Ittapane Dhammalankara Thera authored a book on Jayakody's life,මල් පැලේ උපන් පන්සලේ පියතුමා, (Malpale Upan Pansale Piyathuma), which is recorded as the first book in the world by a Buddhistprelate on a Catholic priest.[3]
Jayakody served as the head priest inDuwa, Sri Lanka in 1939. Duwa is thePassion Play Village of Sri Lanka.[4] Originally, the play used traditionalpuppets as actors. Jayakody wrote the original script for a passion play, influenced by Fr. Jacome Gonsalves, and composed new hymns to the traditional "Pasan".[5] He next introduced live male and female actors instead of puppets. Eventually there were over 250 live actors taking the place of puppets in his adaptation ofDorothy L. Sayers'sThe Man Born to Be King (Dukprathi Prasangaya in Sinhala).[6] The Duwa passion play was considered as the greatest passion show in Asia at that time.[7]
In 1979, his poetry bookMuthu (Pearls) won theNational State Literary Award (the first Catholic priest to have won a state award).
In 1982, he was honoured with the title "Kalasuri" by the state, and "Kithu Nandana Pranamaya" by the Catholic Church for his contributions to arts and culture for over six decades.
In 1983, he won theRamon Magsaysay Award, considered the Asian Nobel Prize, (along withUS$20,000, a medal and a citation) inManila, Philippines in the category of Journalism, Literature, and the Creative Communication Arts (JLCCA) as appeared on theList of Ramon Magsaysay Award winners.
"Could Fr. Marcelline Jayakody be called 'Modern Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez'?". island.. 2001.[10]. Retrieved /2001/01/08.
"D. F. Kariyakarawana 60 'Not Out' in journalism". island. 2006.[11]. Retrieved 2006/05/14.
"Fifty Years after Rekava...: Rekava – The Line of Density (1956)". sundayobserver.lk. 2006.[12].
"Glimpses of genuine socialism". Sunday observer. 2006.[13]. Retrieved /2006/12/03.
"Inspiring life sketch of Fr. Mercelline Jayakody". dailynews. 2007.[14]. Retrieved /2007/09/05.
"Latha Icon & national treasure". dailynews. 2008.[15]. Retrieved /2008/11/4.
"Pahan Ridma': Choral music on CD". sundaytimer.. 2007.[16]. Retrieved /2007/06/24.
"Sunil Santha songs – something to treasure". Sundaytimes. 2008."Sunil Santha songs - something to treasure". Archived from the original on 15 October 2010. Retrieved30 September 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Retrieved 2009/11/1.
"The Father in the temple". dailymirror. 2010.[17][permanent dead link]. Retrieved /2010/02/01.
"True propagator of Dhamma". dailynews. 2010.[18]. Retrieved /2010/10/14.
"Two eminent Sri Lankans in the field of arts were born in the first week of June.". sundaytimes. 2007.[19]. Retrieved /2007/06/03.
