The Holy Rosary devotion is celebrated across Goa in the month of October every year in memory of the appearance of Our Lady of Fatima to the three shepherds signifying the importance of Rosary prayer in one’s daily life. Rosary is a powerful prayer in all situations. The Parish of Corlim, Sao Joao Facundo Church has started a unique style this year of creating a ten meter long Rosary carried by the parishioners to the feet of the statue of Our Lady of Rosary, known as Ruzari Saibin.
This is a creative idea of the new parish priest, Fr Kevan Rodrigues, who made the somudai members of each ward responsible for crafting the ten meter long rosary every day for the 7 am Mass in the morning. The ward members belonging to the respective somudais consisting of 9 to10 houses, work together as a team to make the ten meter Rosary and on the day allotted walk from the main entrance with many members holding the long Rosary and lay it at the feet of Mother Mary. Having placed the Rosary, the devotees pray the Rosary, meditating on special intentions followed by the Holy Mass. The parish priest offers special Masses on every Fridays starting at 4:50 pm praying the Rosary, adoration, and Mass and the Litany recited near the Grotto of Mother Mary.
Fr Kevan speaks about how he projected the idea to the Parish Council, who eagerly accepted the idea and worked jointly to execute the same. “October is declared by the Superior of the Universal Catholic Church, to be a month of prayer, penance and spiritual exercises for the Salvation of our souls. A symbol or something tangible helped like the ten meter Rosary, where joint efforts to help make it with innovative ideas doing fabulously well and attending the Church in large numbers whereas the routine Rosary, we would have got a lukewarm response. The parishioners responded well and the ten meter long rosary which served a twin purpose: firstly, joint whole hearted involvement and secondly, the spirit of oneness in prayer and solidarity. The celebration culminates on October 31, where all the Rosaries will be taken in a procession and laid at the feet of Mother Mary and singing of the Litany at the Groto,” explains Fr Kevan.
The parish of Corlim, is actively involved and spiritually awakened and the number of the daily church goers has increased drastically, people are spiritually meditating on the Mysteries of the Rosary and devotedly praying in faith leading in the way of Angel Gabriel the Messenger to Mother Mary.
The reverence to the Rosary can be seen and felt in the atmosphere of Corlim church. The youth has been very supportive and have been conducting activities on Sundays for fundraising for the Church. The Church has 30 somudias and there are still a few more somudais who will be presenting their Rosary till the end of the month.
“October is a month dedicated to Our Lady of Rosary who’s Feast we celebrate on October 7. Rosary is a powerful weapon to defend us against all evil and to draw us closer to Jesus. The ten meter long rosary that is introduced is a unique idea. It has got the parishioners closer to each other in terms of new ideas, to get the Rosary done, through joint efforts. We dedicate ourselves to piously recite the Rosary daily in our homes, in the church and chapels. The Almighty God has blessed us with togetherness, the old, youth, young children, everyone feels an integral part of the parish’s total involvement,” says parishioner, Clarisma Lopes.
Sabina Lopes Pereira, a leader of Calvaddo Somudai says, “It’s something new, many of us came together and each one had a creative ideas although lack of finances. But we tried out our best to do the ten meter long Rosary and completed it with plastic balls. Our parish priest said that he is preserving all the rosaries so we made something unique and creative and lasting. All the members of the church grew closer to each other and also spiritually benefited with this as we sat together to make our beautiful Rosary become a reality.”
Joel Rebeiro, a catechist in the Corlim Church says, “It will be really nice working together to prepare this Rosary and a new experience challenging our creativity. This is working in unity and faith. We never had this type of thing, It is the first time in the history of Corlim. I believe our faith towards Blessed Virgin Mary will get doubled with this participation. It is good initiative taken by our parish priest to understand the meaning and meditation of the Rosary coupled with special intentions. The parishioners get together at the chapel or near the cross in their individual wards or in their somudia’s to pray the Rosary with faith, devotion and belief. As my grandmother always used to say that the Rosary diminishes the devil’s powers because he never tried to tempt Mother Mary. She is God’s special creation the Mother of God.”
“This is a good sign that our parish priest wants us all to pray in somudias and give thanks to the Lord and Mother Mary. It has really impacted the people of Corlim, as we can see lots of people coming for Mass during weekdays, and I think it’s all because Fr Kevan got the people together, preaching the word of God and monitoring our day to day life spiritually,” says Venriel Pereira, a member from the Corlim Parish Youth.
Parishioner Adv Cynthia Pereira opines that the new parish priest, Fr Kevan is a blessing to the Corlim Church. “He is truly a good shepherd dedicated to his flock; ensuring the spiritual fodder to all and trying out ways and means to achieve his mission. The introduction of the ten meter symbolic Rosary is to ensure togetherness, to do away with rivalry and be united in prayer and worship. He enlightens the spiritual lives of the parishioners and is totally dedicated to God and his people. God bless his endeavours.”
From colourful beads of different materials, countless prayers have been lifted to Our Lady of Rosary over the last few days of the month. Till October 31, the parishioners will be presenting their Rosaries devotedly.
