PRAYER BEADS MUSEUM AT BIG FOOT, LOUTOLIM

By Special Correspondent.

 

 

The title itself is explanatory; however the Prayer Beads Museum is not a collection of exotic Rosaries or Chaplets, made of gold or silver beads. Nor is it a display of colourful beads ground from rubies, diamonds or jade. Neither is it a pageant of beads, crafted from expensive woods, like Sandal wood, Olive wood or Olive seeds.

 

Many are likely to presume that it is an ensemble of Rosaries with some ancient myth, fantasy, fable or historical narrative attributed to them. We also lay no claims, to establish the original countries, of their inception.

 

“Rosaries” and “Chaplets”, almost every religion uses beads for counting the times, one has recited a certain prayer, mantra or “nam jappa.”  So, praying beads are not the monopoly of any given faith. In themselves they have no claim to sacredness. They are just aids used to count.  Many religions use knots on a chord instead of beads.

 

Roman Catholics are generally accustomed to the Rosary of St. Domnic, O.P, made up of a crucifix followed by an Our Father bead and three Hail Mary beads and another Our Father Bead. These are followed by a circlet of five decades of beads, distinctly separated by a single, Our Father bead.

 

This is perhaps the only catholic Rosary, many of us are aware of. It would be very interesting to learn that there are very many variations to this Rosary.

 

There are Rosaries with mysteries different from the twenty, we are accustomed to. There are Rosaries to the virtues, joys and sufferings of Mary and Joseph.

 

There are numerous Rosaries, actually Chaplets, for invoking the intersession of the plethora of saints.

 

At the Prayer Beads Museum there are about two hundred and ten, variations of the Rosary/Chaplets. These are made up of the usual Five decades, Seven decades, Nine groups of nine, Thirteen groups of thirteen and the usual chaplets of Seven plus one bead.

 

The longest Rosary on display has Eighteen decades called The Mexican wedding Rosary, while the shortest is of just six beads.

 

The beauty of these Rosaries and Chaplets is that each of them has a very unique set of prayers to go with the beads. These prayers are displayed in their original texts, alongside the beads.

 

We also have on display one set of counting beads each, used by the Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Bahais, Muslims, Jews and Jains. We are yet to ascertain and acquire, a Parsi, or Zoroastran, set of praying beads.

 

In a casual conversation with Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas, of the Holy Spirit Church, Margao, the author was made aware of the fact that there were Rosaries recited and even sung, to saints Anna, Sebastian, Roque and Anthony, around the village, ward/‘vaddo,’  crosses and chapels. This was what triggered off the enthusiasm, to try and re-discover these long forgotten devotions prevalent in every Goan village.

 

These prayers are a treasure trove for catechises. Genuine devotions can be cultivated, through the understanding of these prayers.

 

This not an effort to promote rituals or pious devotions, but to help the faith-seeker find, understand and practice the spirituality enshrined in these theologically and Biblically sound devotions.

 

Learn more about your religious convictions, your faith, your devotions and finally even, your so called ‘religious’ rituals.

 

A collection by Fr. Savio Rodrigues s.j., Mob: 9890708892

 

Prayer Beads Museum Inaugurated at the Big Foot

 

The Prayer Beads Museum was inaugurated by the Arch. Bishop Patriarch of Goa and Daman Filipe Neri Ferrao on 16 January 2015, the FIRST ever Feast Day of Saint Jose Vaz, at the Big Foot in Lotoulim. Speaking at the occasion, the curator of the collection Fr. Savio Rodrigues s. j. said that praying beads are not the monopoly of one single faith; they have no claim to sacredness as they exist merely as counting aids. He further added that the Praying Beads Museum aims to help the faith seeker find, understand and practice spirituality and to learn more about faith, devotion and ‘religious’ rituals. This collection, started in 2012, was begun as a means to document devotions practiced in the different villages of Goa. Today the collection stands at over 250. When asked to address the gathering His Grace spoke about the devotion of St. Joseph Vaz to the Virgin Mother, stating that we should emulate his humility. He then proceeded to bless the museum and opened it for public viewing. Maureen Alvares proposed the vote of thanks; she compared the beads of a mala, rosary to citizens of society - bound by one string, working in unity towards the betterment of the society/ nation. The Prayer Beads Museum is a whole new unique collection forming part of the Big Foot, furthering the aim to conserve and promote Goan culture and traditions for posterity.

 

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48TH ANNIVERSARY OF OPINION POLL.

Dr. Jack de Sequeira's Statue

 

 

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Luizinho Faleiro offered floral tributes to the father of the Opinion Poll, the late Dr. Jack de Sequeira at Calangute and at Ponda on Friday, 16^th of this month.  It was Dr. Sequeira who in his face to face dialogue with Nehru impressed upon Nehru to grant Goa the previllege of Opinion Poll to decide the fate of Goa’s merger with Maharastra. Hence, Dr. Sequeira was rightly called the father of Goa’s Opinion Poll.   According to one source during that time, Nehru agreed for holding the Opinion Poll  with the expectation that mergerists will win  as he wanted and thus close the case of Goa's separate identity.  Indira Gandhi as premier of India after the demise of Nehru and Shastri just implemented the decision taken by her father. 

It is true fact as expressed by Faleiro in his speech  that BJP has the hidden agenda which it will implement and that agenda is to diminish the influence of minorities in India.  With its brute majority BJP will not develop India but it will only develop its communal arrogance thereby minorities will be treated as second class citizens of India.  Because of this hidden agenda of BJP the life security of minorities in India will be put into peril.  Under BJP with its partner RSS the survival of minorities is at risk.  In view of this minorities should be very careful when giving their allegiance to BJP.

Can Congress Party give an alternative solution?  Never with the rogue Congressmen around, never with the old guards as candidates to contest the next election, never ever with the defeated candidates re-contesting the next election. The major damage to Congress party was done by the defeated candidates and as such they should be discarded unless Faleiro wants total R.I.P. of Congress in Goa.  Most of the defeated candidates lost in the last election because of their arrogance, pride, revengeful nature and also because they were looting the public.

In my Calangute constituency if Luizin Faleiro and his Congress Low and High Commands want a victory then the Congress candidate should be upright, should not have past record of  arrogance, revenge, pride, bribe taking, womanizing and must not be known to behave like a Maharaja. We want a candidate who identifies himself with the common men and not the one who move in foreign brand car like a Maharaja.

The Calangute village has unique distinction of honouring Dr. Jack de Sequeira by erecting his full size monument without any support from the government.  In fact this job should have done long time back by the Congress only when Faleiro was ruling in Goa, by erecting this monument in Panjim itself.  But he and his Congress party failed Dr. Sequeira and now to fool the people releasing Crocodile tears.  Where Congress party failed Calangute village succeeded and the major credit for this success should go to Joseph Sequeira – current Panch member and ex Sarpanch of Calangute. 

                                  
                                                  Pedro Coutinho 

It would have been very appropriate if the late Pedro Coutinho had been posthumously honoured during the function at Calangute for being a very powerful activist during those critical days.  Pedro Coutinho played a very important role during those days in Calangute village and constituency as well to motivate the people to vote for TWO LEAVES.  I remember once he organized a big Cycle rally from Calangute to Mapusa and to participate in this rally I even remained absent from my school.  Not only this, on that particular day Bandodcar brought real Lions and sword wielding goondas at Mapusa to silence our voice.  But if it was not for our Pedro Coutinho’s daring support for our rally there would have been blood bath at Mapusa, the victims would be we and our people only. 

In Calangute, there is yet a Pedro Coutinho to be born again. He was the pride and support of the village.  While appreciating Dr.  Jack de Sequeira, I also commend the late Pedro Coutinho for playing a major role in Calangute in support of Goans to gain victory for Goa in the historic Opinion Poll.

 

A.    Veronica Fernandes,
Candolim, Goa.
Tel: 7507394349.   

 

 

  

CALANGUTE & CANDOLIM UNDER PDA NOW.

This is in reference to the news item in Herald dated 16.01.15 regarding officially bringing two villages Candolim and Calangute under the North Goa Planning and Development Authority. Though it was desired by many yet it was done not thru Indian democratic method but  thru Salazar’s “Zulumshahi” method as it was happening during the Portuguese regime in Goa. It looks even Salazar would not take this type of undemocratic step when the mandate was unanimous in both the villages against the formation of PDF during the emergency Gram Sabah meetings called in Candolim and Calangute.

With the formation of PDF in my locality the biggest losers will be the local Panchayats where some of the members are alleged to fleece the locals shamelessly while issuing the Licenses  for constructions of any sort from the point of One Room Dwellings to Star Hotels.  The bribe charged for permission was so enormous that the bribe takers are become crorepotis by looting the innocent locals.  They demand bribe as if it is their devine right and many of these rogues are given preferential treatment by the local religeous authorities thereby even lowering the sanctity of the religious places.

Thru the formation of this PDA the brute power of some brute members of the local Panchayats will be drastically curtailed where these brute members are known to act like Saddam Hussein with the locals by being proud, arrogant and revengeful. Revenge for these people is become their forte and most of their victims were innocently weak persons.  These revengeful and corrupt members of the Panchayats forget that they are elected not to take revenge and harass the locals but to serve the locals nicely. They think they are omnipotent to do any damage to the locals with the little power they are wielding which is just a temporary and not permanently. 

Now when PDA starts functioning,  I  feel the same corrupt and brute policies will not be repeated by the PDA personnel otherwise Michael Lobo will jump from Frying Pan to the fire because the next general election is around.  Constituents in the locality have already fired a salvo against Congress and in view of this Michael Lobo who is going to head this PDA must make this PDA a Bribe Free and Revenge Free.  Pride and arrogance should never exist in this PDA personnel and they must serve the locals well.

 A.     Veronica Fernandes,

Candolim, Goa.

Tel: 7507394349.