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ST ANNE’S CHAPEL—II The Corridor: This chapel has only one corridor. As you enter this corridor leading to the sacristy you encounter a door on the right hand side near the entry, with its bowl containing holy water, taking you to rear of the chapel . There is another door that shows you the way to the transept of the chapel and the third door is that of the sacristy. A bowl containing holy water is fixed to the wall near the transept entrance. There are also three staircases ,one showing the way to the choir and another to the pulpit, both these are cemented ,and third wooden staircase takes you to the guests room., reserved for priests above the sacristy.. The corridor has two windows with grills and the wall on the left hand side show a board with names of the donors of the chapel. The notice board is on the right hand side . Previously before entering the choir there was a small enclosure to keep the wooden candle stands. Usually the Chapel meetings are held in this corridor. It is a place where the ‘confrades’of the Confraternity of St. Anne too dress for the salves. You also see some benches and an ‘ad hoc’ altar to offer masses when need arises. It can simply be lifted and carried to the place of celebration of the mass. Below the wooden staircase the case containing the insignia of the Confraternity was kept during my teenage days. A confessional is placed in the corridor after Vatican II rulings came into existence, in late sixties.The Sacristy. It is a small room where the articles required for the services are kept. It is a very simple structure without any art. It is the place where the priests dress for the services to be conducted in the main chapel It is a place where silence is to be maintained. The altar servers too dress in the sacristy with chairs for priests.. It has cupboards containing vestments, sacred books and so on. It has three windows of which two are small on the sides of the middle wall and an entry leading to sanctuary with its holy water bowl. The crucifix in the middle of the sacristy helps to be in prayerful mood. Now lights and fans are provided to the Sacristy as well as the whole chapel. The Internal Discription of the Chapel. The chapel has a nice sanctuary( Capela-Mor), with a transept and finally the nave of the chapel with its choir overhead. It is 35 metres in lengths and 9 metres in breadth with a hight of 16 metres. The ceiling has strong beams and on one of them shows the date of extension of the reformed chapel The side altars in the transept dedicated to Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are seen too. Theu appeared in 1926. Formerly to show the division in the chapel there were two rails one in the sanctuary and the other the communion rail separating the nave from the body of the chapel. With new laws in liturgy these rails are removed and also some images and confessionals . The main altar is of 20th century in wood painted brown and the sunlight slipping through the windows helps it to brightens a bit. It is of indo-baroque style. With decorative flowers and plants It has the central niche where the image of St. Anne is kept as well as other niches together with the tabernacle and space to keep the candle sticks as well as panels of flowery decorations The image of St. Anne is said to be offered by the ancestors of Fr. Caetano Antonio Cordeiro ( Mollebhatt). On its right and left niches are the images of St.Joseph and St. Sebastian. Their feast is celebrated on subsequent days( Monday & Tuesday)of the feast of St. Anne on 26th if it falls on a Sunday or on a Sunday after the 26th of July. In the upper portion right and left, the statues of our Lady of Remedios offered by Remedios’ of Tabravaddo and that of St. Bartolomew of the ‘Dodhe –gaunkar’ Fernandes’ of 10th vangodd of the Communidade de Saligao(& Chorao), established in Mudd-ddavaddi. And to remember the date of the renovation of the Sanctuary, a crucifix with the images of mother Mary, St. John and Mary Magdalene, offered by Joaquim Fernandes, nicknamed ‘Raza’,( ascendants of Joseph Saint Anne) were placed in the middle of the upper part on 2nd February, 1910……… to be continued. Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas. |
