SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa
We have crossed the halfway mark of the novenas in preparation for the feast of St Francis Xavier. In a normal year, between November 24 and December 3, one would find a virtual sea of people at Old Goa at all times of the day. From month-old babies to senior citizens in wheelchairs, the one objective would be to pay their respects to the Goencho Saib. And then on the evening of December 2, there would be a few hundreds who would spend the night in the corridors of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, or even under the starry sky, awaiting the dawn when they could participate in the first mass, and then head back home, before the thousands would turn up to replace them. But this is not a normal year. The crowds are missing at Old Goa. There are masses, but there are no congregations. There are, however, a few who still do drive down to venerate the Sacred Relics of the Saint that remain preserved in the basilica. The COVID-19 pandemic has effectively ensured that there will be no gathering of people and the Rector of the Basilica, in consultation with the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, decided that the best alternative would be to stream and telecast the novena masses live so that the people can participate from their homes.
So, for the first time in 400 years since the Basque Jesuit missionary, who arrived in Goa in the XVI century and was later after his death in China raised to the altar, there will be no people who will flock to the Basilica of Bom Jesus at Old Goa. Instead, all arrangements have been made to bring the saint to the homes of the people. And so far, nobody has complained. For, whether at Old Goa, or in the confines of their homes, the people are still able to participate in the novena in preparation of the feast of the Saint. Technology has served the purpose by ensuring that the people miss nothing, or rather miss little even though they cannot be present at the novenas and feast of their Goencho Saib.
There is a certain aura surrounding St Francis Xavier that brings thousands to his mausoleum in Old Goa every year. Even centuries after his death, the devotion to him has not diminished. Instead it has grown and continues to perpetuate. A few months earlier, there was initiated a vicious tirade over the Saint in an attempt to distort history and blame him for the imposition of the inquisition in Goa in the XVI century. The attempt died down quite quickly as it found little support outside the close confines of the group that brought it up. For it is not history that makes Saint Francis Xavier special to Goa and to Goans of all communities, it is the association of the Goans and the Saint that has come about over four centuries that has forged a close bond between them, that is almost unbreakable.
That is the reason why, wherever in the world they may be, on December 3 Goan Catholics say a prayer to the Goencho Saib. Those in Goa, who can make it, go to the Basilica for mass and to venerate the Sacred Relics. There exists in all of them a conviction that the Saint will heal them and give them what they reverentially ask for. That novena and feast day pilgrimage to Old Goa, is to many a soothing balm that eases their troubles and uplifts them, keeping them going for another year. And it is not just the Catholics who visit Old Goa on December 3 every year. There are many of the other communities who come with as much fervour to pray at the feet of the Goencho Saib, for his influence is not just over the Catholic community, but transcends communities uniting Goans in an invisible cord. This year, they can’t attend mass at the Basilica, so the experience will be entirely different, but that won’t keep them from praying. Interestingly, the 6am mass has a large number of people viewing the live streaming, an indication that the people are willing to make that small sacrifice of waking up early for that mass.
Saint Francis Xavier is the Saint for all Goans, no matter where they may be resident. One only has to only cursorily glance through the pages of overseas Goan associations on the social media to discover how many of them, from the United State of America to Canada to the United Kingdom to the Arabian Gulf region to Australia and New Zealand, arrange special masses and programmes that are held on the Sunday that comes closest to December 3. In Goa the feast day is a public holiday, but the Goans elsewhere don’t have that advantage. This year, however, the pandemic has, in one manner, brought the Goans closer as of the thousands who are participating in the masses, they will be spread across the world. So, somebody sitting in their living room in Old Goa, and another in their home in London, California, Sydney, Lisbon or elsewhere will be participating in the same mass. There will be a certain sense of unity that would otherwise have been missing.
The inexplicable bond that has been forged has a divine quality to it, which makes the attachment all the more signficant. Which is why, on December 3, when the choir at the end of the feast mass sings the hymn San Franciscu Xaviera/Tuji kuddu Goyam Xhara (St Francis Xavier/Your body lies in the city of Goa), across the world, no matter what the hour and where they are, Goans will join in to sing the hymn that almost every Goan Catholic knows since childhood. Even if during the mass they responded little, this hymn will be sung loudly. Such is the relationship between the Goan and St Francis Xavier that has transcended time and space, and which possibly no earthly mortal will ever be able to sever.
Alexandre Moniz Barbosa is Editor, Herald. He tweets at @monizbarbosa
