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St. John De Baptist, Church, Pilerne
- Jason Soares, TYBA - Journalism
The parishioners of the St. John the Baptist church,
Pilerne, Bardez are commemorating the 350th jubilee anniversary of the
church this year and the theme chosen for this occasion is: “Called to be Beacons
of Love, Light and Faith through the Word of God and Sacraments”. In fact, the celebrations
started right from the beginning of 2007. The parishioners had planned several activities
to celebrate this special event, some of which have already been executed and some
are in the process of being organised.
This church, like most churches in Goa, had a
humble beginning. Starting as a small chapel, erected by collecting alms from
the faithful, it was rebuilt twice by the Franciscan Friars. Later, the gaunkars
built the actual church in 1658. The parochial house was enlarged and sacristy was
added later on. As part of the jubilee celebrations, the church has undergone extensive
renovation and refurbishment, which was in fact completed in June. The church now
looks majestic with a fresh coat given to it which sets it apart from the traditional
whitewash given to churches. The altars have been gilded in gold. Extensive work
has also been carried out inside.
Explaining the theme of the jubilee year, parish
priest Fr Lawrence Mascarenhas says, “The Word of God and Sacraments are the two
hinges on which the whole church rests. The grace of God reaches out to the people
through these means. So by renewing these two things we could reach out as a church
of Christ filled with Love, Faith and Light”.
A statue of St John the Baptist that is placed
high in the niche on the façade of the church has a very interesting history behind
it. The Sinquerim River that passes through the neighbouring village of Nerul and
ends in Pilerne would overflow at its banks thereby flooding the fields with its
salt water. The gaunkars of Carambolim (Karmali) were known for their skilled
workmanship in constructing sluice gates and bandhs (river banks) and were
therefore hired to do the job of fortifying the banks.
As the work would take several years to complete,
the Karmalkars moved in the Pilerne village with their families. As they lost their
gaunkar status in Karmali, the Pilerne gaunkars made them gaunkars
of Pilerne. Sources say that these new gaunkars brought the statue of St. John from
the Carambolim church and placed it in the Pilerne church. Thus St. John the Baptist
became the patron saint of Pilerne, who incidentally was bestowed the ‘zonnkar’
status. It is said that the gaunkars who stole the statue were thereafter known
as ‘de Melo e Furtado’. ‘Furtar’ in Portuguese means to steal and the stolen item
is known as ‘Furtado’.
#A host of activities have been chalked out to
celebrate this year’s event. So far the parish has celebrated the Confraria Day
in July and the Deanery Pastors Day in August. A parish evangelizing mission was
also organised for all the different communities in the village. Come September,
the parish plans to have a youth retreat, a Couples for Christ Day and a 10-day
Family Mission that will focus on strengthening the family bonds. Parishes in the
deanery will join together in celebrating Youth Day and Catechists Day. Fr. Mascarenhas,
along with some parishioners, plans to undertake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in
Israel. Also in the offing is a parish opera on the life of St. John that will be
put up the parish youth at Kala Academy.#
“We started the year with a solemn mass on New
Year’s Eve and released the theme of the jubilee year. On 24th June, the patron
feast was celebrated with great enthusiasm. Sixteen children received their 1st
Holy Communion on this important day. We invited priests and nuns of our parish
who are working in the Lord’s vineyard and felicitated them. We also carried out
the blessing of the cornerstone for the extension of the cemetery.” says Fr Mascarenhas.
Fr Mascarenhas has brought about a lot of changes
in the parish. He conducts an intercessory service every Wednesday which is attended
by a large number of people who come from neighbouring as well as far-off places.
When he came to Pilerne, one of his first acts was to add a prayer room with the
words at the entrance ’Somi Hanga Asa Ani Tuka Sodta‘(the Lord is here and is searching
for you). “I wanted people to come and pray and spend some time with the Lord. So
I decided to make a prayer room so that that people can come whenever they want
and pray before the Blessed Sacrament.” explains Fr Mascarenhas.
According to Fr Mascarenhas, there are around
2,200 Catholics spread in 14 wards of the village, which are known as ‘Small Christian
Communities’ (SCC). The ward members actively participate in the parish activities.
They get together in their respective wards and have fellowship meetings experiencing
the love of God, discussing any problems and helping each other. The parishioners
take part in the liturgy, at the parish level, planning various programmes and executing
them. This year, various committees have been formed to oversee the jubilee celebrations
and the parishioners have left no stone unturned in making this year a truly memorable
and fruitful one.
The church takes a keen interest in celebrating
special days like senior citizens’s day, children’s day, pastor’s day, teacher’s
day, mother’s day, etc during the course of the year and the credit goes to Fr Mascarenhas
. The other activities of the church include a Bible class, intercessory session,
singing practice and a prayer group in every Christian community. Currently 10 teachers
teach catechism to 98 students with emphasis on imparting Gospel values, faith formation
and in preparation of mass.
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