15 Oct 2023  |   05:12am IST

The Infant that attracts thousands to Colva

Fama de Menino Jesus will be held on Monday, October 16 at dawn. The celebrations has a very interesting history that brings thousands of devotees to Colva, especially couples with infants

Frazer Andrade

 

T

he picturesque village of Colvá, situated in South of Goa, famous among tourists and locals for its majestic seashore, probably gets its name from the Adivasi community (early settlers), known as ‘Koli’ who lived there. The community was mainly involved in fishing.

The book ‘Oriente Conquistado’ mentions that the parish church of Colvá was first constructed in 1581 and was dedicated to São João Batista. The church was constructed in the marshes of Colvá, by the Jesuits who had been handed over Sálçete for the sake of evangelization in 1554. This church was actually the church of Benaulim. However, according to historian Rev Pe Leonardo Paes, the church would have been rebuilt in 1630-35, and dedicated to Our Lady of Mercês. The construction was funded by the King of Portugal, Dom Manuel de Noronha. According to Pe Savio Rodrigues SJ, a Chapel was built in 1630, in Colvá which functioned under the Benaulim parish. It was only in 1635 that Colvá got its own church and was dedicated to Our Lady of Mercês.

Every year, in the month of October, on eleventh day before the feast of the Infant Jesus of Prague, on the occasion of the Fáma, one sees serpentine meandering queues waiting to venerate and tie a scapular of the Infant Jesus onto their right wrists. The practice of tying the scapular (which is a yellow and black entwined thread) to the right wrist was traditionally observed only by males. Females would generally tie the same to their apparels.

Joyce Aguiar e Carvalho, from Colvá mentions, “If the sacred thread was long, one was not allowed to cut it so as to get the size right, but rather had to fold it to shorten it up. This practice was and still is followed keeping in mind that the thread has been made, by the Church authorities in the exact length as that of the Infant.”

She also mentions that couples longing for children would vow to get their newborn child (whenever they were blessed with one) to the altar of the Infant on the day of the Fáma. The family would walk all the way with the child to the church, accompanied by a brass band, where in gratitude, they would place the baby onto the altar dedicated to the Infant.

Every family in and around Colvá compulsorily paint their houses or at least their compound walls before the annual Fáma which is celebrated in a grand manner. Interestingly neither the feast of the Infant, nor the feast of the patroness of the church is celebrated with as much pomp as that as the Fáma of the Infant is celebrated with. The faithful make offerings of wax dolls, figurative wax body parts, candles and flowers, to the Menino, as they seek His blessings. Families also offer woollen booties to the Infant, to be used on that day. These booties are then distributed among the faithful as sacramental, at the end of the day.

The devotion to the Infant Jesus (Menino Jesus) in Colvá is a legacy left behind by a 17th Century Jesuit priest, Pe Bento Ferreira, who was the vicar of the church in 1648. He is supposed to have spotted the Infant on a rock in Sena, while he was sailing to Mozambique. While the ship in which he was sailing sank, he miraculously survived the shipwreck. Pe Ferreira gets the image of the Infant with him and places it in his living room, where he notices bright radiating rays of light emanating from the image. Seeing this, the image was then placed on the high altar of the Church. Probably at a later time, the statue had been grandly enthroned on a special altar along the left side in the church.

The Kshatriya gãonkar community from Colvá, Sernábátim, Vánelim, and Gándáulim contributed majorly towards adorning the miraculous image with elaborate vesting decorated with gold and silver brocade and other precious adornments. An amount of 20,000 Xerafim was collectively received from well-wishers for the same.

Miraculous powers have been attributed to this statue of the Infant, even though the original image is in the Church of Saint Ignatious of Loyola in Ráchol. The Jesuits claimed the original statue to be their personal property and shifted it to Ráchol. Attempts made by the villagers of Colvá, to get back their statue were all in vein. After a number of attempts to get it, it was finally handed to the Jesuits in Ráchol in 1728 by Judge Manuel Ferreira Lima. Hence, the gãonkars of Colvá decided to make a replica of the original. Their only possession, a gold ring which is believed to have been found after it slipped off the original statue while it was being taken to Ráchol, has been mounted onto the new statue.

Another source mentions that in 1677, due to troubles faced by Catholics in Sálçete, the Vicar of the Colvá Church, Pe Josê Figureido left the church and it was then, that the rector of the Ráchol church came to Colvá and took the image of the Infant with him, to Ráchol.

The niche in which the image has been placed was covered with an elaborately decorated door bearing three locks. On the day of the Fáma, each of these locks were ceremoniously opened by the priest and confraria members, in a particular sequence, followed by a high mass early in the morning at 5:30 am.

A flag in honour of the Infant, was then hoisted on a tall tree called ‘Maddi’, seen in the church compound. This tree (Sterculia foetida) also serves as a natural lightening conductor and hence was planted in front of churches and chapels so as to protect the bells they housed. The Infant was made visible to the congregation only on this day and on the day of the feast while remained closed behind the door during the rest of the year.

Sadly, this door has now been taken off, thus doing away with elaborate ceremonies involved in getting down the image of the Infant on the day of the Fáma. Now, a glass door has been put up, thus allowing the faithful to view the image throughout the year. On the day of the Fáma, thousands of devotees flock to the church so as to seek blessings of the Infant. The image is ceremoniously placed back in its niche before 12 am that night after it is ceremoniously washed with sacramental wine. These wine washings are known as ‘lavato’ and are distributed amidst the faithful present there.

Locals from Colvá, have an interesting mythical story to share about the image of the Menino, in Ráchol. According to them, the image was found by Pe Bento along the Colvá shore as he went there for a stroll one evening. They mention that the image was seen floating on a stone which locals believe is the stone housed within a small shed, along the shore of Colvá. Further, they say that the image was placed onto an altar at the church in Colvá, which was attempted to be swindled by unknown individuals from Ráchol.

They failed to do so during two of their attempts, since it is believed that the bell of the church in Colvá rang on its own, thus resulting in gathering people around. However, during their third attempt to take away the Infant, they were successful. But while they carried the image to Ráchol the golden ring, worn by the Infant, fell onto the altar of the Colvá church.

Some references also mention that the ring fell along the road somewhere in Sonsodo (Raia), while the image was being taken and was found by the faithful gãonkars from Colvá, who went in search of the Infant. The gãonkars of Colvá then made a replica of the Menino and adorned Him with the original gold ring which had been found fallen (either on the church altar or in Raia). Even till date, miracles continue to occur in Colvá but not in Raiá. No one dares to celebrate the Infant in Ráchol they say. Those who attempt to do so, suffer a bad health. Elders in Colvá will often exclaim, ‘Menino Jezu Raitura pun salsai Koleant!’