Boas Festas
OUR LADY OF REGINA MARTYRUM CHURCH AND THE CRISTO REI MONUMENT SITUATED AT ASSOLNA As one leaves the picturesque village of Assolna at the crossroads stood the unique peepal tree which got uprooted in the monsoon of 2013 where the betal temple is situated and parallel to it lies the huge cross that can never go unnoticed in the Assolna market place ,each of these unique historical structures are surrounded by the famous fish market that sells the best assorted river fish from the agars in the village and we also have the well known Lohia Chowk where the origin of the June 1946 liberation movement was conceptualized . On entering Assolna one cannot fail to notice the church of Our Lady of Regina Martyrum wherein alongside meanders the river Sal , the church was initially a fortress during the Portuguese era built in 1616 on the Neo-Roman style with a prominent triangular gable and has a large bell tower to the left with balustrades.. The Queen of Martyrs houses on the left wall the attractive stone grotto of Our lady of Lourdes built in marble. History relates that on 25th July 1583 five religious of the Society of Jesus Rev. Frs. Rudolph Acquaviva, Alphonsus Pacheco, Peter Berno, Anthony Francis and Bro.Francis Aranha along with Goncalo Rodrigues a Portuguese and 14 native Christians were massacred in Cuncolim,and as a retribution the Portuguese Army raided and destroyed orchards in the village and unleashed many atrocities on the local population. The Captain Major Incharge of the Portuguese Army garrison at the Assolna fort now a Church, invited the Kshatriya Gaonkars of Cuncolim for talks at the fort and in an act of treachery sixteen of them were similarly executed without trial by the Potuguese authorities, out of which one escaped execution by jumping into the Assolna river through a toilet hole and fled to neighbouring Karwar,Karnataka. Thus this church was given the name in association with these martyrdoms which is the only church in South Goa with this title. The’ Church is also surrounded on both sides by two cemeteries with an elaborate Rocco façade.The uniqueness about this church in the South is that in its compound one does not fail to notice the elegant and grand monument of the CHRIST THE KING the Asian wonder, surrounded on all four corners by the Marble statues of the four Apostles of the New Testament John,Luke,Mark and Mathew. Besides, it has a central motif of the Holy Spirit,and beautifully carved urns flanked by horn blowing angels which was blessed on 26 th April 1942 .My avô Maria Ida Cotta Pinto de Almeida used to relate to us in our childhood that this Cristo Rei statue was a replica of the 54 feet white marble statue built in front of the St.Patrick’s Cathedral in Karachi, Pakistan overlooking the Shahrah e Iraq previously known as Clark Street constituting one of the seven wonders of the world. The CRISTO REI in Karachi and the world renowned CRISTO REDEMTOR atop Mount Corcovado In Rio De Janeiro constituting 220 steps an inspiration for poems and songs famous being the “Corcovaddo” by Tom Jobin and “Blessed to be a witness” penned by Ben Harper so also we have the Cristo del Otero Palencia in Castile and Leon all were built in October 1931 .We have the tallest Christ the King monument 108 feet tall rising above the Polish plains in Swiebodzin, Poland.completed in November 2010.The Cristo de La Noas on a dice cup in Torreon ,Coahuila in Guanajuato, Mexico is 2,700 metres high. Designed by Rev.Jose Rodriguez.The Cristo Resucitado is built inside a cemetery in San Rafael Tlalnepantla completed in the 70’s in Mexico. These statues signify purity and pride in the devotion of Christ the King. The feast of Our Lady of Regina Martyrum is usually celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of November and this year it will be celebrated on Sunday the 17th of November and the masses are at 6am, 7.30am, 11.30am and the High Mass at 9.00 am and the main celebrant will be Rev.Fr.Edson Fernandes, Director of Diocesan Centre for Biblical Apostolate along with the Episcopal Vicar South and Parish Priest Rev. Fr.Lucio Dias,Chaplain of Ambelim Rev.Fr.Savio Dsouza and Assistant Parish Priests Rev.Frs.Xavier Estibeiro and Elvis Dias. The theme for this year constitutes-Mary model of relationships towards family and neighbours At the end of the festivities you have a football match played in one of the Agors at the origin of the strongest bridge built during the Portuguese Era which connects this village to the rest of the South. Immediately, preceding this feast on the 20th follows the feast of Pe. Agnelo De Sousa at the Pilar Monastery and the feast of Our Lady of Rosary Church, Navelim , Salcete, Goa on 20th Wednesday itself ,a feast instituted by Pope St. Pius V in thanksgiving for the great naval victory over the Turks at the battle of Lepanto in the year 1570, where rosary is a tool used to aid prayer and meditation on all improvements of salvation history, and then we have the following Sunday on the 24th November the feast of the Christ the King celebrated all over ,and especially at Assolna at 5pm at this magnificient heritage monument. BY LIDA JOÃO.