Fr. Dorairaj entered the Society in 1955. After his ordination in 1968 and tertianship in 1973 he was missioned to Mauritius. For the first six years he was in charge of the technical school at Rose Bell. Additionally, he used to go to the high schools in the area to teach the New Testament. After this teaching experience, he wanted to have pastoral experience and he was given the large St. Claire Parish in the North of the island. The parishioners loved him because he was a man of prayer. His passion for work was admired by all. Besides being a good English teacher, he was an artist and he loved music. Naturally, the parish youth were attracted to him.

After a decade of faithful service in Mauritius, Fr. Dorai moved to Zambia in 1984. Once there, he set three goals for himself as a missionary: a) to be a holy priest – he was a holy man and never missed celebrating the daily Eucharist; b) to be a zealous missionary – after a week of full-time teaching he would travel long distances to offer Sunday Eucharist for the people in the remotest places in Zambia; c) to be a competent teacher – he had approximately 25 classes a week and numerous bundles of notebooks to correct. Apart from that he also had Arts Club for students and taught them handwriting skills.

After being a missionary for 36 years in Mauritius and Zambia, Fr. Dorai returned to Madurai Province due to failing health. But he remained ascribed to Zambia Province. Even in his ‘retirement’ he was teaching in the Pre-novitiate and Novitiate. He did not know how to rest. Finally, he is resting in the Lord having quietly passed to his heavenly abode on 14th July, 2019.

• Patrick Ravichandran