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HISTORY OF THE NAVELIM CHURCH
Founded:
1598
Feast:
3rd Wednesday of November
Architectural
Records:
•
Mannerist: Neo-Roman style
•
Relief images of sun and moon on façade
•
Twin octagonal towers capped with spear-and-ball finials
According
to history and legend, the church was built in mud similar to other churches in
Salcete between the years 1594 and 1598.
Unlike
the other churches founded by the Portuguese, the builders of Navelim church
were French Jesuits and the construction was financed by the villagers.
The
first parish priest of Navelim Church was a French Jesuit Fr. John Sena (as
listed in ‘Mitras Lusitanas no Oriente’, a catalogue of the priests belonging
to the Archdiocese of Goa).
The
church was initially dedicated to St. John the Baptist. It was later burnt down
and another Church was built dedicated to Our Lady of Rosary at the present
site in Navelim. This was burnt down again and finally the present Church of
Navelim was constructed in 1604.
PRESENT CHURCH - ‘IGREJA DE NOSSA SENHORA DO ROSARIO’
The
present Our Lady of Rosary Church, Portuguese-style whitewashed structure was constructed when
the older building became too small.
The reconstruction was apparently financed
by a local merchant named ‘Barreto’ who was saved from bankruptcy through the
intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary.
This
merchant, according to folktale, while passing through the main road running in
front of the church, received the message that he would lose a substantial
amount of money in his business.
As soon as he received this message, he
entered the church and prayed to Our Lady of Rosary, requesting Her to relieve
him from this catastrophe. He promised to reconstruct the original church on a
larger scale, if his prayers were answered.
The
merchant not only recovered what he had lost, but realized double the amount.
He then financed the entire reconstruction of the church and also renewed the
statue of Our Lady of Rosary.
Information
on further construction of Navelim church, if any, are not known.
The
church is believed to have been built on the ruins of a Hindu temple, and as a
result it was attacked on two occasions in 1717 and1739 by Maratha ruler
Vyakatra Ghorpade.
Dedicated
to the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary, the church was known as ‘Igreja De
Nossa Senhora Do Rosario’, in Portuguese.
Today, the Navelim parish is the most populated parish
in the Archdiocese of Goa.
OUR LADY OF ROSARY FEAST - HISTORY
Our
Lady of Rosary Feast in Navelim or more popularly 'Ruzai Saibinnichem Fest' is celebrated on the 3rd Wednesday of November.
Elsewhere in the world, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated on
October 7. For Navelim it was much later because ancestral villagers decided to give more time for farmers to finish harvesting their crop (paddy fields) before the novenas.
The
devotion of Our Lady comprises an extensive celebration which traditionally
begins with a procession from Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Telaulim Church followed by 9 days of novenas.
The
inside of the church is beautifully decorated and the outside is covered with
fairy lights during the festive days.
Most of the houses and streets in the
village are also lit up with colorful lights during the celebrations.
THE TRADITIONAL NAVELIM PROCESSION
Every
year, 10 days prior to the feast, Telaulim, a little hamlet of Navelim on the
banks of river Sal stands agog with excitement, as it prepares for the traditional, colorful
candle-light early morning procession attended by thousands of devotees.
The
procession commences surprisingly in the early morning at 3.30 a.m. and wends
its way to the Navelim church along with the image of Our Lady of Fatima
beautifully adorned with flowers.
This
procession has an age old tradition.
The origin of the procession, which has
gained immense popularity due to the blessings of Mother Mary, lies in the fact
that the original inhabitants of Telaulim (Gaonkars of the place) used to leave
for Western Ghats on the eve of the novena of its village patroness - Our Lady
of Rosary - to fetch merchandise mainly cattle for the three-day fair (known as
the ‘Boilanchem Fest’ in its hey days) which was a massive affair in the whole of
Salcete.
The
procession originally gained importance half a century ago during the tenure of
Telaulim chaplain Padre Camilo Coutinho.
The sick, aged and expectant mothers
foot out the 3 km stretch in thousands in fulfillment of their vows having
obtained many miraculous favors from the blessed mother.
Initially, it was the Telaulim chapel’s patron Our Lady of Mount Carmel’s image that was
carried in procession to Navelim church for safe keeping due to fear of
invasions as men folk of the village left for the Western Chats.
As time passed
this image was substituted by the image of Our Lady of Fatima donated by Mr.
Jose Roque Caetano Pires through the good offices of the Regedor of Telaulim,
Jose Minguel Pires de Menezes, a philanthropist.
Our
Lady of Rosary church originally comprised of Margao’s Grace church, Aquem-Alto church (earlier known as Pandava Copel), Dicarpale church and St Jose de Areal
Church.
NOSSA SENHORA DO ROSARIO
Our
Lady of the Rosary is a title of the Virgin Mary related to the prayer of
the Rosary. Our Lady of the Rosary is the patron saint of several places around the world.
The origin has been attributed to an apparition of Our Lady to St
Dominic in 1208 in the church Prouille, south of France.
The
feast of Our Lady of the Rosary invites everyone to contemplate and
meditate often on the holy mysteries of Joy, Sorrow and Glory of Jesus’ life. Praying to Mother Mary with the rosary helps to put Jesus Christ in the centre
of Christian lives.
The
rosary contains within itself the healing power of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
that invokes faith and love as devotees say each Hail Mary. The
15 decades of the Rosary total 150 beads.
In the middle ages some monasteries
prayed each of the Psalms prefaced with a brief meditation. These
meditations may have formed the basis for the mysteries we have today.
MIRACLES OF OUR LADY OF ROSARY
Devotion
of Our Lady of Rosary, and carrying the Rosary has protected many people in
miraculous ways.
In one of the greatest miracles, on
August 6, 1945 during World War II, an atomic bomb was dropped on the town of
Hiroshima, Japan.
140,000 people were either killed or injured.
There
was a house just 1 kilometer from where the Atomic Bomb blasted. This house had
a church attached to it which was completely destroyed, but the home survived,
and so did the eight German Jesuit missionaries who prayed the rosary in that
house faithfully every day.
Not
only did they all survive with minor injuries, but they all lived well past
that awful day with no radiation sickness, no loss of hearing, or any other
visible long term defects.
Naturally, they were interviewed and examined
numerous times by scientists about their remarkable experience. They said, “We
lived and prayed the rosary daily in that home."
There
are numerous miracles attributed to Our Lady of Rosary, Navelim, as well that includes
financial aid, cure and healing from incurable diseases, miraculous transforming
experience from heaven, etc.
NAVELIM FAIR - 'FERI'
According
to legend, in earliest times, this fair consisted mainly of 3 or 4 sheds
and lasted only for a day, because there was superstition that on the same
night of the feast day, there was a gathering of devils in the area in front of
the church.
Dr.
Francisco Salvador Gomes, father of Dr. Francisco Luis Gomes, who was the
administrator of Salcete, encouraged some of the owners of the sheds to extend
the fair for 3 days.
Today
the fair comprises stalls selling toys, food and clothing. There are booths for
games, fun fair with merry-go-rounds and giant ferry wheels.
In addition, there
are furniture stalls. Once upon a time till the late 1990s, selling animals for farming such as goats, cows
and buffaloes was a speciality of the feri.
ADORATION OF RUZAI SAIBINN BY NAVELKARS AROUND THE WORLD
Many
Navelkars scattered around the world celebrate the feast with great splendor
and devotion. Popular among them are:
• Navelim villagers in Kuwait.
Through
their popular sports club Navelim Youth Centre, mostly under the leadership of President
Agnello A.S Fernandes, Navelkars celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Rosary on Thursdays (being the weekend in Kuwait) following the feast in Goa.
File Photo: Navelim Youth Centre members at the feast celebration in Kuwait - in 2009
Navelim Youth Centre formed in 1987 has
been celebrating the feast in Kuwait with a lively get-together and cultural program.
A souvenir (regist) is usually distributed to devotees after the celebratory
mass.
• The Union of Navelim, London, UK set up in
1980 celebrates the Feast of Our
Lady of Rosary annually on the third Sunday in November.
Navelim Union members in Sidney, Australia
Founder Members - The Union of Navelim – Nairobi 1961 – 1962
Proceeds
raised from the annual celebration have gone to help the villagers of Navelim,
Goa.
Projects, to name a few, have ranged from helping the village schools with
respect to buying books, clothing and supplies, supporting the Old Age Home in
Navelim and providing funds for repairs to the main Church in Navelim.
• Union of Navelim, Canada celebrate the
feast annually at Ontario. The mission of the Union of Navelim has been to serve as a
guiding light for future generations by preserving Navelim’s heritage.
Navelim Union members in Canada on a picnic
• There are news of grand feast celebrations
by Navelkars based in Germany, Paris, Muscat, Bahrain, Kenya, USA, etc, and
many other corners of the world.
NAVELIM VILLAGE
Navelim
is one of the villages in Goa, located just outside the city of Margao, Salcete
taluka.
The village is second largest in terms of population after the capital
city of Panaji. Navelim
is mostly dominated by Catholics as are most of the villages in Salcete.
Salcete
being a part of the annexed territory of the Portuguese in the 16th century,
most of the people of the villages in Salcete were converted by the
Jesuit missionaries who were on a conversion spree during that time.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Our Lady of Rosary Church has 2
towers. The originally built northern tower holds the bell of the church while
the other matching tower was built in the 80’s by the then vicar of the church
Fr. Robert Jose Vaz, one of the most famous priests known as an architect of modern Navelim.
• According to folklore, the south side
of the church is believed to hold no plaster, hence it is not painted on this
side.
• Navelim is famous for its political,
academic, artistic, sports and spiritual talents. Some of the famous
descendants of Navelim are:
- Dr.
Francisco Luis Gomes (1829 –1869), a physician, writer, historian, economist, political scientist and the first MP in the Portuguese parliament.
Francisco Luís Gomes was born at Colmorrod vaddo, the son of a Goan Catholic Chardo couple.
Gomes represented Portuguese India in the
Cortes Gerais from 1861 to 1869. His outstanding contributions towards the
fields of philosophy and economics led him to be widely hailed as ‘The
Prince of Intellectuals’ in Europe.
- His
Eminence late Valerian Cardinal Gracias (originally from Sinquetim, Navelim), Archbishop of Bombay was the first Indian Prince
of the Catholic Church. Gracias was one of the
cardinal electors in the 1958 papal conclave and again in the conclave of 1963.
He was awarded the prestigious Padma Vibhushan award in1966.
• Rosary
College of Commerce & Arts, one of the most famous colleges in Goa, was
established in 1999 by the Fabrica of Our Lady of
Rosary Church, Navelim.
Besides arts, commerce and science, it also offers
other courses like BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration), BCA (Bachelor of
Computer Applications), etc.
• Our
Lady of Rosary High School founded in 1962, and Rosary Higher Secondary are
pioneering institutions of Goa located in front of the church.
• Our
Lady of Perpetual High School behind the church is also a premier school in
Navelim.
• Festa
De Leques Dance, the famous 2nd day Goa carnival dance, one of the oldest dances
conducted in Goa, organized by Enfermous Football Club is held in Sinquetim,
Navelim for more than half a century.
• Nite-O-Roses Dance
The popular Nite-O-Roses, a feature of
the Navelim feast continued for 50 years before it was abandoned in 2006.
The dance was originally held on the grounds of the Chez Rebello home and was called Festa de Mantlihas (Festival of Mantles). It was organized by Chico Rebello and his brother Bobela Rebello, well known landlords of Navelim.
Festa de Mantlihas was a well attended dance and was very popular.
When the landlords decided to discontinue the dance, they gave the rights to Rosary School and subsequently to Lions Club of Navelim. Perhaps then, the name was changed from Festa de Mantlihas to Nite-O-Roses.
• Rosary
football ground, Navelim’s premier ground was originally constructed with the
financial support of the people of Navelim abroad and living in Navelim.
Originally, the ground had goalposts in the North-South direction before being changed to the present East-West in the early 1980s.
Today, the Rosary ground has lush green grass and is one of the busiest grounds for training and games.
• Gold-Silver Trophy All-Goa Intervillage Football Tournament held on Rosary Grounds has been one of the most famous tournaments.
• Navelim
has a number of football clubs registered with Goa Football Association.
Popular among them are:
o
Navelim Sporting Club
o
Navelim Villagers Union
o
Enfermous Sports Club
o
United Club of Telaulim
o
Mandopa Sports Club
o
Davorlim Sporting
o
Sirvodem Sports Club
o UC Telaulim
o Carmel Sports Club
• Sinquetim Sports Complex situated at Sinquetim is one of the best inter-village football grounds in Goa at the moment. Finals of Imperial Cup and other tournaments have been
played on this ground.
• Navelim is rapidly expanding to become
one of Margao's fastest growing suburban areas. Infact, the Margao railway
station, Goa’s central railway station falls in the vicinity of Navelim
village.
• Blasco Executive Centre is south Goa’s
famous open air wedding hall situated at Mandopa, Navelim. It can easily
accommodate over 1200 guests. The wedding hall is built on 15 acres of landscaped
gardens.
• Padre Pio Friary, located at Modi,
Navelim, a seminary and chapel is very popular among the people of Goa.
• 3 Military Training
Regiment (3MTR) of the Indian army is situated at Navelim.
• The awful ruins of the 1.6 km long Sky
bus test-track, runs parallel to the Navelim-Rawanfond road. The Konkan
Railway had laid the 1.6-km long test track way back in 1998 at a cost of Rs 50
crore to develop and fine tune the sky bus technology. It was a failure and a
disaster.
• The Dr Francisco Luis Gomes District Library is the major library in the district of South Goa, Goa, India. It is run and funded by the Government of Goa and was set up on 21 November 2010. The Library covers area of above 8000 square metres, comprising five floors, providing various services to the users.
• Navelim
Indoor multi-sports stadium (named after late Goa CM Manohar Parrikar) inaugurated
in January 2020 is used for sports such as badminton, volleyball, soccer and
kabaddi.
• Navelim is one of the largest villages
in Goa. Some of the names of Navelim wards are:
-
Aquem Baixo,
-
Belem,
-
Buttica,
-
Caiero Nagar,
-
Calvado,
-
Central Horta,
-
Coldem,
-
Colmorod,
-
Cottocco Moll,
-
Danddo,
-
Davorlim,
-
Dialgona,
-
Dongorim,
-
2nd Dadio,
-
Firgulem,
-
Fradilem,
-
Gantamorod,
-
Mandopa,
-
Modi,
-
Ravora,
-
Ratvaddo,
-
Rawanfond,
-
Santrim,
-
Shantinagar-Firgulem,
-
Sinquetim,
-
Sirvodem,
-
Telaulim, etc.
Navelim Parish
The
present Navelim parish is the hub of many an activity of the Navelim village
having a full-fledged college, schools, Cardinal Gracias parish centre,
football and other sporting events with a music school, multiplex sports
complex and a college of nursing in the offing.
There are high aspirations of the people that Our Lady of Rosary Navelim church be
eventually elevated with the blessings of Mother Mary into a full-fledged
headquarters of a diocese with a Bishop’s house in South Goa being ideally
located and having a vibrant self-sustaining community, situated only 1 km from
Margao Konkan Railway Station.
In
times to come, Rosary church could be a centre of pilgrimage where devotees thronging from
far flung places flock by chartering special trains or buses akin to
pilgrimages to Nasik and Vailankani as can be surmised from the immense
growing fervent devotion to Our Lady of Rosary at Navelim down the centuries.
May
Our Lady of Rosary bless us All.