On Good Friday, Goan Villagers Venerate The Dead Body Of Jesus By Fr. Desmond de Sousa CSsR
PANAJI, Goa (SAR NEWS) -- In the Church of Varca, a village in south Goa, dedicated to Our Lady of Glory, there is an image of the dead body of Jesus (Senhor Morto), which is believed to be miraculous. Twice in the year, people from all walks of life and religious beliefs come from the neighbouring villages and all parts of Goa to Varca to venerate this image. The two days of veneration are November 27 and Good Friday -- from morning to evening. "On November 27, the Archdiocese of Goa alone celebrates the feast of the Holy Cross," explains the parish priest. Despite more than 500 years of established Catholic faith in Goa, the popular devotion of the people is highly susceptible to believe unusual happenings as miracles or possessions by evil spirits. Apparitions of Our Lady near a Church in the village of Batim, in central Goa, miraculous "bleeding" images and dramatic possessions by dead persons' spirits are fairly common occurrences. Someone remarked during the spiritual preparations for the millennium, "When we had sessions on the Social Doctrine of the Church which is essential to the Catholic faith, despite all our propaganda, the maximum number of participants we ever drew was about 100. But an all-night vigil, with healing service that is not essential to the faith, without much propaganda, will draw more than 10,000 people." The Synod of Goa (February 2002) was aware of the need to change the highly devotional faith of the people into a responsible faith for the transformation of Goan society. But the popular devotions are deeply ingrained in the faith of the people. For the last couple of years, there has been some uneasiness about the veneration of the dead image of Jesus, from Good Friday morning, whereas the celebration of the Passion and Death of Jesus only begins in the afternoon. This year, on the advice of the Varca Church Pastoral Council, the authorities had decided to make a change in the timings of veneration on Good Friday alone. The veneration of the image of Senhor Morto started after the procession that followed the Good Friday ceremonies and continued till noon on Holy Saturday. A press release stated that the change in timings was to avoid disappointing those who came as usual in the morning.