-Brian Mendonça
After many years I got the opportunity to go to the
imposing seminary of the Society of Pilar, at Pilar. The occasion was the Priestly
Ordinations 2016 of four deacons. The ordinations were conferred by Most Rev. Theodore
Mascarenhas, sfx, Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi in an open air service overlooking
the hills. He was beaming with happiness, blessing the people, as the solemn
entrance procession of about 100 priests made its way to the altar. What struck everyone was his youth. He celebrated
the Mass in Konkani. He was based at Ranchi yet he was supremely confident in
his mai-bhas.
The opening hymn sung by the Pilar choir was the
magnificent ‘Ecce Sacerdos Magnus’ which
means ‘Behold a Great Priest.’ The motet sung in Latin was composed by the
Austrian composer Anton Bruckner for the 100th anniversary of the founding of
the diocese of Linz, Austria in 1885. Two years later the Society of Pilar was
formed in Goa.
The full translation of the motet from Latin is: ‘Behold a great priest
who in his days pleased God./ Therefore by an oath the Lord made him to
increase among his people. / To him He gave the blessing of all nations, and
confirmed His covenant upon his head. /Glory to the Father and to the Son and
to the Holy Spirit.’
After the Mass we were all given a snack box by Mi Casa. Perched on a balustrade I
tucked into the patties with my son. During the service he had been playing
with his angry birds cards and making shapes with the colourful hymns docket. I
was glad to see so many of the Pilar Fathers in their cassocks. Nowadays it is
sometimes difficult to spot a priest in the market in Goa because the cassock
is missing and so is the cross.
I had reviewed a book on the Founder of the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier by
Fr. Sergio Mascarenhas sfx. It was titled Leading
Teams of Leaders: Fr. Bento Martins, S.F.X.: A Zealous Missionary. (2013) I noted it was ‘an important
book to understand the history of the church in Goa, and more specifically the
genesis and endurance of the Society of Pilar.’ The next year Fr. Sergio was
called to the Lord.
At the time of offertory the aarti was performed. Flower arrangements from the mission at Nagar-Haveli
were presented after the Mass to the priests on the altar. The rituals to
indigenize Christianity took me back to to my earlier visit to Pilar, where an
exhibition of paintings on biblical subjects was on view in 2007. I was
inspired to write the poem below.
Pilar
Christ in kaxti
Or in jeans
The somnolent smell
Of the caju tree
Warli paintings
The finding in the temple
Magdalene prostrates
Before the feet of Jesus
Batim to Pilar
For the early morning Mass
Filii
tui India administri tibi salutis.*
(Pilar seminary, 2007)
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*‘Your
own sons India, will be the ministers of your salvation’ – Pope Leo XIII
(1810-1903) www.societyofpilar.org. Poem included in A Peace of India: Poems in Transit (2010) by Brian Mendonca. Pix courtesy trawell.in
This article published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday 29 May 2016.
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