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I recently attended a Feast Mass at the St. Andrew’s Church at Vasco, which brought back nostalgic memories of such celebrations during my childhood. The patron saint in my village church of Chicalim is St. Francis Xavier, whose feast is celebrated on 3rd December. I remember that in this church we had a sacred relic, a toe-nail of the saint, which was taken out for veneration on this day. Apart from the feast of St. Francis Xavier, other feasts were also celebrated in our village like the feast of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception on 8th December, the feast of St. Bartholomeu on 24th August (the day on which the blessing of the new harvest was also done) and the Nativity of Our Lady on the 8th of September. I particularly loved this feast as, during the novenas, we children used to weave little baskets out of broomsticks or bamboo and go collecting wild flowers early in the morning, which we then sprinkled on the statue of Our Lady during the procession.

Preparations for the celebrations would begin much before the actual feast day. The church was beautifully decorated with paper buntings, paper flowers, and cut-outs of angels, doves and birds carrying bunches of grapes in their beaks. The decorations would hang gracefully from the side walls to the chandeliers and were a pretty sight to behold. On the previous day of the novenas, there was a ritual called mhadi when a picture of the saint or of Our Lady would be blessed and hoisted up on a bamboo pole amidst prayers and bursting of crackers. The novenas would start with the rosary followed by the salves when boys and girls, trained by the village mestri would sing the hymns. These young boys and girls would be dressed in frilly white clothes with a crown of flowers on their heads so as to represent angels from heaven. Members of the Confrarias dressed in their traditional red or blue opmus would line up in the aisle, lighted tapers in hand. As they sang, the ‘angels’ would move up and down and around the statue of the saint or of Our Lady placed on a small table in front of the altar. A well-known preacher (pregador) was usually invited to give a befitting sermon on the life and virtues of the saint so that the parishioners might imitate the exemplary character of the saint. The sermon would be delivered from a pulpit high above the heads of the people. The vespers would take place on the day prior to the feast. After the vespers, the people would rush out to see and enjoy the display of fireworks.

The feast day itself would begin with pleasant lively music called ‘Alvorada’, when a few members of the band would go around the village playing the violin, drum and trumpet to awaken the villagers. The solemn High Mass usually began at 10:00 a.m. Prior to this, some parishioners and members of the Confrarias carrying the traditional colourful umbrella, would accompany the ‘President of the Year’ (the person celebrating the feast) to the church. By 9:45 a.m., the church would be fully packed with everyone in their best attire. The Mass was in Latin but the sermon would be in Konkani, delivered by a preacher who was specially invited for his enlightening and touching sermons. The altar was draped with a rich gold embroidered altar-cloth and gold candle-stands were placed atop. Carpets were laid out over the floor and aisle. The priests also wore richly embroidered satin and gold vestments and the statues too were draped in silk and satin. Towards the end of the service, the statue of the saint was taken out under a canopy and the last blessing was given while raising the statue. Following this, all the people queued up to kiss the statue of the saint. Once the Mass was over, everyone cheerily wished each other “Boas Festas” while the band played beautiful tunes that I remember even today with nostalgia. Outside the church was the feira (fair) where all sorts of things were sold, including stalls selling kaddio-boddio, chonne, laddoos, etc. We girls would step into the stalls that sold rings, trinkets, bangles, handkerchiefs and veils, while the boys would rush to buy toy guns and balls to which were attached long rubber bands. These they would playfully aim at the girls just for fun.

At almost all houses in the village, there would be a festive lunch with delicious dishes like arroz refogado, sorpatel, fish recheado, roast pigling, chicken xacuti, vodde, san’nas, etc. A variety of drinks like tinto, porto, cinzano, muscatel, vinho branco and foreign whiskeys were also served. In the evenings, a football match was usually arranged between a team of single men versus a team of married men, which was much enjoyed by the villagers. Later there was a concert or khell tiatr for the villagers to watch. At the celebration of the harvest feast, everyone gathered for a coconut breaking competition, followed by eating of freshly-made warm, fragrant pattoleos.

Feast days and weddings were the main festive occasions in those days, and we ended the day happy, and looking forward to the next celebration.

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Hailing from the village of Chicalim in Salcete, Goa, Zoe Rodrigues spent many years in Kenya, E. Africa. Returning to Goa, she and her husband Miguel, started and ran a very successful kindergarten in Vasco. Now retired, Zoe is often visited by her ex-students and enjoys hearing about their lives. She also takes part in several social initiatives and is an enthusiastic member of the Vasco Senior Citizens and Social Welfare Groups.

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