Celebrating the Feast of Immaculate Conception
The liturgical calendar marks the feast on 8th December when in 1854 Pope Bl Pius IX promulgated the bull, “Ineffabilis Deus” (the Ineffable God), defining the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, thus, making it obligatory to celebrate this dogma on the said date
Fr Walter de Sa, Parish Priest, Panjim | DECEMBER 07, 2021, 11:43 PM IST
After a 9-day long preparation for the feast of their patroness, the faithful of Panjim parish will be celebrating with devotion and faith, the annual feast of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception today.The liturgical calendar marks the said feast on 8th December when in 1854 Pope Bl Pius IX promulgated the bull, “Ineffabilis Deus” (the Ineffable God), defining the dogma of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, thus, making it obligatory to celebrate this dogma on the said date.Bl Pope Pius IX solemnly affirmed that the Blessed Virgin Mary “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God,… was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.”In December 2020, we were constrained due to the pandemic COVID-19, to celebrate the novena and the feast without the physical presence of the people. However, this year 2021, thanks to the decline of fresh Covid cases to a large extent, we were fortunate to hold the liturgical services of novena and feast in a quasi normal way with the participation of people. They gathered together daily for morning and evening Masses observing the required SOPs, to pay homage and veneration to Mother Mary, importantly for saving and delivering them from the pandemic as well as for several graces and blessings received by them.The parish of Panjim is grouped into twenty zones for better coordination and rendering of pastoral services. Each daily novena was allocated among the zones with an additional Mass at 1:15 pm, besides the regular ones at 8 am and 6 pm. The Redemptorist priests from Porvorim celebrated the Eucharist and proclaimed the Word of God. The theme revolved around the fruits of the Holy Spirit that were connected to the life of Mary.We also thought of the sick and the old, the homebound and those living alone, incapacitated to climb up the Church steps and the steep slope. For their sake and of others who are spread out overseas, it was decided to telecast live, thanks to CCR TV, the evening Mass as well as the feast day Mass; hence making it possible for them to attend the religious services.To accommodate more people in the Church, TV screens were installed in the corridor and the lobby with increased seating capacity.The attraction of the novena was the presence of the little children (girls and boys) dressed up as angels who sang the Salve, a hymn interspersed with musical interlude, in honour of Mary, in the presence of Confrades robed in red and white opa and murça, and lined up in front of the image of Mary carried processionally by the priest.The procession of Confrades, women and men, was led by a cross-bearer with the President of the Confraria holding the Vara (staff). The cross is all silver with a crown of thorns and flowers embossed on it and fitted into the wooden rod. Four angels carried trays of petals and loose flowers that were deposited at the feet of Mother Mary while two angels held sprinklers with holy water and the lone one was the flag-bearer. The flag carried the imprint of Mary.It is interesting to see the elders stretching and raising their heads in order to get a better glimpse of the angels singing confidently and melodiously. This revived sweet memories of their childhood.At the end of the Salve, people used to mingle around and play the housie, patronize the food and game stalls. Music and sing-song was also part of the entertainment. However, given the precarious times we are in, and to take maximum precaution against the corona virus, a better sense prevailed to discontinue, for the time being, the good old practices of a healthy entertainment. However, the recorded music of Alvorada mounted on a jeep will be played throughout Panjim city to usher in thefestivity of the Immaculate Conception.Besides Panjim, the feast of the Immaculate Conception is also celebrated on a large scale in Moira, Calangute, Margao (Holy Spirit Parish), Carmona, Dabal, Paroda and even in Diu which is part of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.Mary’s Immaculate Conception is a call for us for holiness, a call to do always God’s will, to be upright in our relationship with God and our fellow brethren. She invites us, as St Paul says, “to be pure and blameless, to value the things that really matter up to the very day of Christ” (Phil 1:10).Mary’s role in the history of salvation of humankind is visibly seen in her immaculate conception, for the Rising Sun came to visit us from on high through the Virgin Mary.Let today’s celebration bring God’s blessings of unity, solidarity and peace here on earth to one and all.
