FAITH AND CHURCHES
The people of Manapad being Indians were (naturally) Hindus originally. But they and the other Paravas living along the coast, converted themselves to Catholicism, in order to obtain protection from the Portuguese, against the Muslims who were oppressing them. This conversion took place between the years 1535-1537. Sometime later for want of missionaries, they gave up Catholicism, and started to practise Hinduism again. It was in the year 1543 A.D. that the great Saint Francis Xavier converted the entire community to the Christian religion. St. Francis was able to achieve this by his patience, service and miracles. Since then the people of Manapad remained zealous Catholics, and practised their religion fervently.
It is evident that Manapad and her people held a very dear place in the heart of St. Francis Xavier. To authenticate my statement, I would like to reproduce an extract from the book "La Mission Du Madure" written by Fr. Leon Besse S.J., translated by my uncle, the late Prof. Leo Miranda.
"The name of Manapad has been frequently used under our pen, in our study of the fishery coast. From the beginning Manpad appears as one of the principal Paravan centres. St. Francis Xavier comes there early at the end of 1542 and spends a considerable time there in 1543. He writes "I have lived four years in this big Christian community in order to translate our prayers in their own language and to teach them. Now so many people come to me asking that I should go to their houses, to say certain prayers over the sick, and the patients themselves come to me in such large numbers that without other work, the recitation of these prayers alone would have occupied enough of my time".
It is in Manapad that the Saint began to use children, already instructed to cure the sick. He sent them with the Rosary or his Crucifix, with orders to apply them on the sick, while reciting the prayers they knew especially the 'Credo', a marvelous thing, the sickness yielded as if by magic.
Twelve letters of St. Francis Xavier dated at Manapad in 1544, show us that the Saint made a prolonged stay in this small town, because this locality was more central. If then St. John Chrisostom congratulates the Romans for having been honoured with a letter of St. Paul, we can well congratulate the people of Manapad for the privilege the Apostle of the Indies accorded them by making such a long stay among them. In fact, Manapad alone among the villages of the fishery coast visited by St. Francis Xavier, possesses a grotto in which the Saint had made his dwelling place and devoted himself to prayer.
In his letter of 7th April 1545, dated from Nagapatnam, Francis occupies himself with the repairs done to the church of Manapad, and writes the expenses that were incurred for the Church". From the above extract we can understand how much St. Francis Xavier cared for the people of Manapad, and as far as the people themselves were concerned there was no looking back. They continued to practise the Catholic religion in the most fervent manner for five centuries, and became more and more confirmed in the faith. That brings us to the period of my childhood that is the forties of the last century.
At a very early age, we children were encouraged to participate in the Eucharistic Celebration every day, to frequent the Sacraments, and to join in the family prayers at night. The churches of the two parishes were full even on weekdays, and almost everyone received Holy Communion. Throughout the year there were devotions in the church, set apart to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mother Mary and the Saints according to the feast of the month. Therefore, March was the month of devotion to St. Joseph, May to our Lady, June to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, October to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, and November to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. These Devotions began with the recitation of the Rosary by the whole congregation, followed by the Litany, which was sung, then we had appropriate reading from the 'Vanakka Matham' (novena prayers and reading from the life of or particular saint) and ended with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. What made these devotions personal was the allotting of each day to one particular family. This family bore the expenses for Holy Mass, Benediction, garlands, flowers, candles etc. Those families which took up the celebration on the final day, spent in addition for the procession, that is they also paid for the band, lights and fireworks.
The first Friday of every month was considered so important, that it was almost like a day of obligation. On the eve was observed the Holy Hour during which the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for veneration. During the Mass of Fridays, there was full attendance in church as on Sundays. On Mondays, the people of Manapad prayed for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. The 'Kanakkapulle' (Sacristan) along with a few old men and boys went around the village reciting the Rosary. After each decade a hand bell was rung followed by singing "Antha Naal Peria Naal, Antha Naalo Thaveed Enra Rasavum�" meaning that on the Day of Judgement, everyone would be judged according to his merits and demerits, no matter who he was, even if he were King David. The ringing of the bell with the chanting was so awe-inspiring, that we children, as we watched the little group pass by, were filled with a certain fear although we did not fully understand what it meant.
We were brought up in an atmosphere of religiosity and piety during that era. The mothers were ever vigilant over the spiritual life of their children. If a child was caught playing truant for week-day Mass, he had it. Besides, in such a small village it was really difficult to deliberately miss the service in the church, as we would be easily found out. Some of my readers might ask, just going to church by force of habit might make a person spiritual. I definitely think so, because it is the sum total of good habits practised in early life, that builds up the character of a person. I am certain that the Manapadians of my generation would agree with me, when I say that as we children followed a routine of going to church, listening to the word of God, sermons and reading of the lives of Saints, we imbibed spirituality in a subconscious manner and legalized the supreme power of God even in our innocence. If today, we are still able to keep up the principles of Christ, and the commandments of God, we owe it to our early training. I don't claim that we are paragons of virtue, but at least we try to keep up the Catholic religious traditions, and practices inculcated in us by our parents. The fact that so many young men and women of my generation have embraced the religious life is proof enough. It is my firm belief that no Manapadian of that era would ever be tempted to drift away from the religion in which he was nurtured.
This kind of life had its own practical problems too. Manapad being a small village, its inhabitants, especially the women and children led a very insular life. We had no interaction with people of other faiths, and did not know much about them. In this situation the children were quite ignorant. Many of us were of course sent to boarding schools outside the village, where we had the opportunity to mingle with children of other faiths and were able to adjust ourselves quite easily. But sad to say, that children who remained in the village led a very restricted life. Except the home, church, school and the playground they knew nothing else.
The inhabitans of Manapad, nurtured in the Catholic faith by the great saint Francis Xavier, were further strengthened in it by successive Jesuits for four centuries, During the course of time, they had built magnificent places of worship befitting the magnitude of their faith.
There are four churches in Manapad, the most famous of which is the Holy Cross Church. Referring to the church, Rev. Fr. Dessal S.J. in his book "The life of Fr. Louis Verdier", says, 'Of all the churches in Manapad, it is the most famous, one reaches there through two pathways. One borders along the sea-shore. It is easy but prosaic. The second more abrupt, climbs the hillock, meanders over its top crowned by a monumental Way of the Cross. This is the real pathway. In its actual form a long rectangle, the sanctuary on the mount was built to keep a relic of the True Cross, sent in 1583 by Fr. Claudius Aquaviva, the fifth General of the Society of Jesus, to Fr. John Salanova, the missionary of Manapad.
During the period of my childhood, the month of September was a time of great human activity, because on the 14th of the month, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was celebrated with much grandeur and solemnity. Besides the Manapadians, people from neighbouring villages and as far as Kerala came on a Pilgrimage to celebrate this feast. Many were the miracles attributed to this holy shrine, Almost behind this church is found a cave known as the cave of St. Francis Xavier. To quote Rev. Leon Besse, "According to tradition its inhabitant a Saivite ( a Hindu priest follower of God Shiva) gave it to St. Francis Xavier when the latter visited these places for the first time. A well, dug deep into the rok, has excellent sweet water which reaches upto the sea". During the years I spent in Manapad, it was a hallowed spot for young and old. After praying in the church of the Holy Cross, we went behind and descended down the steps, cut into a rock, which led to St. Francis Xavier's Cave. There we knelt down to pray, and then stood on top of the elevation, and watched the waves lashing against the rocks which were found on the edge of the sea.
The next church, St. James Church was known as 'Peria Koil' Big church. It was the Parish church of my father's family. In his book "Life of Fr. Louis Verdier", Fr. J.B. Dessal S.J. says "As witnesses of its past glory, the little city of Manapad keeps specially three churches. The first dedicated to St. James is the Parish Church built by the Ancient Jesuits. It served as a model for all the religious edifices in the coast without being surpassed by any other church". In 1708, when the Dutch turned the original Parish church dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady into a warehouse, the Church of St. James became the Parish church. The present grand edifice was consecrated by Mgr. Roche in the presence of the Bishops of other dioceses on the 12th of September in 1929. During my childhood days, St. James had a large congregation comprising of the Miranda, Rodrigo, Costa, Fernando, Diaz, Corera and Moraes families, who were all prominent parish members. These families had nurtured many a priest and nun, besides being the backbone of a mixed choir, whose melodious voices filled the church with sweet music on Sundays and feast days. For the faithful listening to this music, liturgy became more meaningful.
Another important church was the Holy Ghost church, situated exactly opposite to St. James church. This was also a Parish church known as the 'Chinna Koil' (Little church) although I can't understand why it was called so, because to me, a child, it seemed as big and grand as St. James Church. According to Rev. Fr. J.B. Dessal S.J., when the church of the Assumption was demolished after 1860 (having been turned into a warehouse by the Dutch earlier) the materials recovered from the church were used for the construction of the Hole Ghost church. The prominent members of this Parish were Mr. Lazar Dias, Mr. Donatus Victoria, Mr. Joseph Paiva, Mr. Rabans Carvalho, Mr. Dominic Carvalho, Mr. Nazarene Fernando, Mr. Leo DeRose and their families. There existed a kind for a cold war between the two parishes due to the fact that earlier St. James Church was administered by the Jesuits, and Holy Ghost Church by the Goan Priests. The bitter rivalry that raged between these two congregations (the Goan priests were the counterparts of the Portuguese) was transmitted to their parishioners. What a sad state of affairs! From time to time the cold war erupted into something fiery with dire consequences. During my time, this situation was not much in evidence. Since my father, Joseph Dominic Miranda, the eldest son of Mr. Gabriel Miranda (St. James Church) had married Maria Luizal Amalorpavi Dias, the daughter of Mr. Lazar Dias (Holy Ghost Church) we children never sensed this animosity, and we were equally at home in both the churches.
St. Antony's Church, situated on the other side of the village comes under the parish of St. James church. Though a small church it was full of animation on Tuesdays. Devotees flocked there the whole day to pray to St. Antony either to obtain favours or to offer prayers of thanks giving. On the 13th of June, the feast of St. Antony was celebrated every year with great solemnity and enthusiasm. The expenses incurred in celebrating the feast were borne entirely by the fishing community, who had great faith in St. Antony.
At Amarvaram, a little away from Manapad was a small church dedicated to the Holy Ghost, which used to be in a rather dilapidated condition. The people of Manapad visited this church from time to time, and especially on the feast of the Pentecost. I am not sure whether this practice is carried on today besides the above mentioned churches, a small chapel dedicated to our Lady of Sorrows was found within the cemetery grounds of Holy Ghost Church. Holy Mass was offered there for the Holy Souls in purgatory, and especially on the feast of our Lady of Sorrows, which falls on 15th September.
It is quite evident that having two parish churches, a famous shrine on a hill, and other smaller churches, the people of Manapad should participate ardently in the religious activities of the church.
- Cordule Miranda
