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REMINISCENCES OF MY GOAN YOUTH
(circa 1940)
THE FIRST MASS
MARCOS GOMES-CATAO
In the social life of the Catholic community in GOA of pre-Conciliar days,
the village son's FIRST MASS at the Parish church, after ordination occupied
a place of unique relevance, an occasion of unalloyed joy, celebrated with
an eclat rivalling that of household son or daughter's wedding. In those
days, a priest in the house was motive for considerable happiness and a
source of pride. Unlike to-day, then the triad of teacher, priest and lawyer
(the vernacular ' Dotor' )was held in high esteem, looked upon with great
respect, if not reverence. Now, of course, with the degradation of ethical
and moral values and the accentuation of material values, for one reason or
another, the aura of those callings has somewhat dimmed, more particularly
that of priesthood. It may not be out of context to mention here an article
that appeared not too long back in the 'NEW YORK TIMES' discussing a poll
carried out among American Catholic mothers regarding sacerdotal vocations.
Almost unanimously, there was dismay at the thought their sons might become
priests, among the motives cited being that they would not make money, they
would not give them any grandchildren, etc. One went to the point of saying
she would be very disappointed if it were to happen but she would not
disinherit her son!
In the decades before the Council i.e. In the 20s to the 50s, Catholic
religious life in GOA bubbled with intense and varied activities and
practices, most of them now extinct, such as Apostleship of Prayer, Legion
of Mary, groups of boy and girl Crusaders, etc. This effervescence was in no
small measure fomented by a strong contingent of clerics emanating from the
RACHOL Seminary in such numbers that most churches had two Curates besides
the Vicar, and most large Chapels had a resident Chaplain.
>From the very inception of Catholicism in GOA there appears to have been a
natural inclination towards priesthood among the native population so that
the first GOAN priest could already be ordained by 1558, barely fifty years
after Albuquerque consolidated the Portuguese hold on the state.
The oldest Seminary built in GOA was called "Seminario da Santa Fe"(Seminary
of the Holy Faith), in Chorao But, the pestilence affecting the Island of
Chorao (which had already emptied the City of Old Goa) necessitated the
transfer of the Seminary in 1859 to RACHOL, a picturesque village by the
river, a few miles from Margao The Seminary was entrusted to different
Orders at different times but, on the expulsion of all religious Orders by
the Portuguese Prime Minister, Marques de Pombal, it was finally confided to
the secular clergy.
When the Seminary was transferred to RACHOL, somewhat distant for the people
of Ilhas and Bardez, as a sop, in 1859 was set up the "Aulas Eclesiasticas
de Mapuca" which in 1862 came to be known as "Aulas Filiais do Seminario de
Rachol" where the first two years of the Preparatory course were taught.
This establishment was provisionally closed in 1945 with the creation of the
"Our Lady Seminary" in the Saligao-Pilerne plateau. The preparatory course
in Rachol was then transferred to the new Seminary.
Initially the curriculum comprised only natural and moral philosophy,
dogmatic and moral theology, Gregorian chant and Liturgy. Archbishop S.
Galdino added Portuguese Grammar and elements of rhetoric, geometry and
physics. Later, Archbishop Silva Telles complemented it with the study of
general history, geography, church history Canon law and Sacred
Hermeneutics. Thus, the Seminary began offering a "compleat" education
equivalent to the secondary level, not easily available elsewhere, excepting
at the Pangim Lyceum or the English Matriculation stream schools such as
'Mater Dei' in Saligao, 'St. Joseph's, Arpora, the PARRA High School, etc
(Loyola, Popular, Fatima, Nuvem, etc) came much later.
This led to a marked inflation in the overall enrolment, specially among the
people of Salcete, irrespective of whether the boy did or did not manifest
any inclination towards priesthood.
It came to the point that by the late 30s, the total figure was nearing a
thousand so that when the new Patriarch of GOA, D. Jose da Costa Nunes first
visited the Seminary and was apprized of the number, he was reported to have
been mightily astonished and to have remarked "This is not the work of God
but of the devil".
The Rachol Seminary is an impressive complex overawing one with its grandeur
and splendour reeking of an air of spirituality (photo below)
The seminary church is small but, sited on a slight elevation, it is visible
from miles around, specially from the Borim bridge whence students arriving
from the Mapuca branch, for the final exams, get their first glimpse. Its
mighty bell can be heard from all the adjacent villages.The church had many
beautiful paintings and statues as also an altar with the coffin of St.
Cajetan.
The lobby of the Seminary has an exquisite painting of Portuguese D.
Sebastiao executed by the famous GOAN architect from Raia, Andre Constancio
Augusto.There is also a magnificent gallery of paintings of former
Patriarchs.
The fact that the enrolment ballooned so much perforce led to a break-up in
the overall course. The preparatory course comprised 6-7 years: in the first
four years the students had a strong concentration on Latin but also studied
French, Portuguese and Literature. The following 2-3 years were devoted to
Maths., Science, History & Geography, English and rhetoric.. By the end of
this period, generally those who had come to take advantage of the good
education dropped out. During this period the students lived outside the
Seminary in rented houses known as 'Comensalidades"(chummeries), 12-20 to a
house, depending on its size, under the supervision of a Prefect, generally
a newly ordainded priest. The Prefect was responsible for the temporal and
spiritual well-being of his wards: he looked after the food (with the help
of a 'mesta', of course) recreation, studies and accounts. At the end of the
month, total expenses were divided among the number of students living in
that house. It was a generally economical education, around Rs.10-12 per
month.
Students wore standard uniforms: long trousers and coats buttoned up to the
collar with brass buttons (shone every Saturday), khaki for daily wear and
dark blue for occasions.
Early morning all went to the church for Mass, came back for breakfast and
then went back again for classes at the Seminary building itself. Exams were
held at the end of the year and were mostly "viva voce" ( i.e. Oral). One
faced a panel of three Professors, one of whom was the 'Home Professor' i.e
the one that had taken you up through the year. This, at times, could lead
to unexpectedly invidious situation to some students in case two of the
Professors were not overly friendly!
At the end of the Preparatory course, the students moved 'in' into the
Seminary itself. At this time they started donning the cassock (soutane) as
well as the biretta( a square black cap specific to Catholic and Anglican
clergy, which has fallen into desuetude after Vatican Council II. I was
enormously surprised and gratified to see a youngish priest wearing the
biretta, about five years back, on a trip to Bavaria since this was most
certainly a post-Conciliar priest and so ans thus, wearing a biretta could
only have been a matter of strong conviction rather than mere tradition.
After two years of Philosophy, the candidates moved on to four years of
Theology during which time they also studied Gregorian chant and Liturgy.
During the last two years, procedures for full initiation into priesthood
started taking shape. The candidates began practising delivering sermons
from the pulpit to the congregation of assembled students. Though some were
visibly embarassed, and at times tongue-tied, and even committed gaffes they
always had the benefit of a sympathetic and comprehending audience, never
prone to snickering or otherwise shaking the orator's confidence.
That was a time too, when the Minor Orders started being administered, the
first being Tonsure (a round clean shave at the top back of the head, the
size of a silver dollar or rupee,) a distinctive sign of a priest in those
days.. There followed the Orders of Acolyte, Sub-deacon and Deacon. Finally
dawned the much awaited and eagerly looked forward to day of the Ordination.
carried out at the Seminary or at the Old Goa Cathedral or, more rarely, at
the Patriachal Palace in Pangim. The newly ordained priest then returned to
his village/town for his FIRST MASS at his parish, followed by a resounding
reception at home. Relatives, friends and known village folks poured in to
participate in the family's joy and share the magnificent banquet prepared
by well-known chefs.
My uncle was for decades a Professor at the Seminar and so, we were always
inundated with invitations for FIRST MASS celebrations from his ex-students
and I was the lucky one to be present for many of them. When we moved from
Mapuca to Belgaum, such occasions came to an end.
Out of the many receptions I attended, one has stuck vividly in my mind.. It
was the FIRST MASS of a very close relative from a village quite close to
our home. The house was flooded with cousins and friends from all over the
State, Ilhas, Salcete and, of course, Bardez coming in all kinds of
transport: rented horse-carriages, taxis, private cars, scheduled bus
services. For a change there was even a small band! While the adults
gossiped, we children had great fun because the house had a very large
orchard with dozens of guava trees laden with delicious fruit. And
so,between intervals of gorging ourselves with the fruit, we would rush into
the house to gulp glasses of 'orchata', that supreme almond drink, nectar of
the gods, now unfortunately unavailable (even in Italy, its birth-place it
is difficult to-day to find a good bottle of orchata)..Time sped by and it
was time for lunch: the inevitable bird carved from ice adorned the centre
of the large table laden with the most exquisite food
imaginable:salmon,chicken gallantine, Apa de camarao (prawn pie), sorpotel,
vindaloo, roast beef and naturally, the never missing roast pigling with the
apple in the mouth.
Soon it was time for the toast. The toastmaster was a venerable Professor
known for his wit and repartee. He had been fortifying himself generously at
Bacchus' fountain, and was thus in high spirits, literal and metaphorical.
"Ladies & Gentlemen", he started and went on working himself up delineating
the family genealogy, extolling the great virtues and scholarship of a
grand-uncle priest, passing on then to the outstanding intellectual and
spiritual gifts of the new celebrant, until he came to the climatic "Viva
Pe. Alvaro". But, having worked himself up to a state of high animation,
instead of gently raising his glass, he plunged it forward 'con molto
animo'(to borrow a musical expression), splashing the champagne on the
celebrant standing by his side to his utter discomfiture, his own acute
embarassment, the repressed mirth of the other bystanders and loud guffaws
and finger-pointing from us children despite sibilant psssss from our
parents! Thus ended that memorable celebration with an Unexpected, Unique
and Unconventional Second Baptism of the new priest.
After that I did not have too many experiences of such receptions. But, in
early 80s, on a holiday from Brazil, we arrived in time for the FIRST MASS
of the son of a very close neighbour, family friend for decades. We decided
not to go for the reception but merely drop in later in the day to
congratulate the mother whom I had known since the age of ten. But for some
reason or another, may be the unusual epicurean abilities of the chef or the
extraordinarily voracious appetite of the guests, the table had been
literally wiped 'clean'!, specially all the desserts. So, when we arrived
the poor old lady felt acute embarassment at being unable to offer us
anything, despite protestations from us that we had come to partake her joy
, not necessarily of the victuals. But, she would not conform herself and
even when we departed, as we went down the long flight of steps of the
balcony to the road, we could see her nodding her head sideways deprecating
the fact that we were leaving without the flavour of anything in our
palates, specially her justly famous 'bibinca'. (ENDS)
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