TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: A large number of people participated in a thanksgiving Mass at ‘Mogadan’, a convent at Carambolim, on Tuesday to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the arrival of the Missionaries of Charity in Goa.
Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao was the main celebrant at the Mass along with Carambolim Parish Priest Fr Orlando Marques, Director of Pastoral Institute (Old Goa) Fr Joseph Salema and other priests from surrounding parishes.
In his homily, Archbishop Ferrao recalled that Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata had come to open a branch in Goa because she heard the call from the Risen Lord Jesus Christ guiding her to ‘Go and be My Witness to the World’.
“‘Mogadan’ (the Gift of Love) is the humble outcome of her great work,” said the archbishop.
The Sisters later expressed their gratitude to all the priests and benefactors who helped and supported them through their journey of 50 years.
It was in 1964 that a group of six young sisters first occupied the house that once belonged to a devout old priest who had donated it to the Patriarch of the East Indies.
At the invitation and request of Fr Mario da Santa Rita Vas, who ran a school in the vicinity, five sisters, Sr M Pauline, Sr M Gerard, Sr M Joseph Michael, Sr Juliana and headed by Mother Teresa boarded the ‘Sabarmati’, a steam ship ferrying passengers from Bombay to Goa, and occupied this house.
The house was then expanded to accommodate around 20 female destitute inmates and abandoned children. At present, the nuns care for around 100 sick and abandoned women.
The Missionaries of Charity now operate from three other houses at Quepem, Cotto and Panjim. This house in particular remains blessed because it provided Mother Teresa with a homely atmosphere during her four subsequent visits to Goa.
