The Chapel of Mae de Deus (Mother
of God), Gaunsavaddo, Siolim, will witness the blessing of a new statue of St
Francis Xavier and the placing of a relic of the Saint at the hands of Fr Patricio
Fernandes, Rector of Basilica De Bom Jesus, Old Goa on November 12 at 5.30 pm,
which will begin with the Eucharistic Celebration.
The Chapel of Mae
de Deus (Mother of God) serves the ward of Gaunsavaddo which has around 120
families. The first chapel was built by the people of this ward in 1847 and was
blessed in 1859. The extension of the chapel was done in 1890 and 1905. The
present Chapel was blessed on August 14, 1972, which is on the plot of the
First Church of Siolim.
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The Congregation of the Blessed
Sacrament set up the first SSS house in Goa at Mae De Dues Chapel in 1994. The
Chapel was later given back to the diocese and in 2017, SSS decided to take up
the Chapel again. Fr Sebastian Arokia is currently the Chaplain of Mae De Deus
Chapel and it was his request and from Fr Soccoro Mendes, parish priest of
Siolim, for the relic of St Francis Xavier to be placed in the Chapel.
Fr Patricio Fernandes replied in the
affirmative for the request to give a relic. “While I was praying in the
Blessed Sacrament, I got an inspiration to place a relic of St Francis Xavier.
I was appointed as Chaplain to the Chapel on July 16, 2022 and with the chapel
community, we decided to install the Crucifix, a statue of St Joseph and a
statue of St Joseph Vaz on December 18, 2022. In September 2022, the General of
Congregation of Blessed Sacrament visited the chapel and brought a relic of St
Peter Julian Eymard which was later placed with his statue in February 2023.
Similarly, I thought of requesting for a relic of St Francis Xavier,” says Fr
Sebastian. Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao ordained five deacons at the chapel in
November 2022.
Explaining the importance of the
relics, Fr Sebastian says, “Relics are divided into three classifications. A
first class relic is a body part of a saint, such as bone, blood, or flesh.
Second class relics are possessions that a saint owned and used in their
lifetime, and third class relics are objects that have been touched to a first
or second class relic or the saint has touched him or herself. Fr Patricio will
be giving the chapel a relic that his predecessor has left which is wooden
filings of the case in which the body of the saint was laid for several years.
It was later replaced with another coffin that is now placed in the Silver
Casket. It is the wooden relic of the coffin that was used to bring his body
from China.”
The Chapel has daily masses in English
at 6.30 am on Sunday, Konkani Mass at 7.30 am and English Mass at 5.30 pm.
“This relic will be a blessing to those who pray at the Chapel as well as a
source of healing, protection, through the intercession of St Francis Xavier,”
concludes Fr Sebastian.
