The Works

| 2003 |

The Guardian Angel of Sanvordem

With its history stretching a little over 115 years, the Guardian Angel church at Sanvordem is relatively young in comparison to many other churches in the Archdiocese of Goa.

But the Guardian Angel Church has a unique chapter of its own in rich annals of the Archdiocese. Its identity.

Nearly all of the 156 parishes in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman are either dedicated to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, Mother Mary or saints. But the Sanvordem church is the only one to have been dedicated to the Guardian Angel.

A few theories have been put forth regarding the genesis of Sanvordem church’s unique identity. The first theory revolves around the devotion of the numerous travellers from Sanvordem.

“Many decades ago, Sanvordem was an important dock for people travelling by boats between North and South Goa,” recalls a parishioner Martin Fernandes of Sanvordem.

“Passengers travelling between Panjim and Sanvordem had to change boats at Cortalim. The boat from Cortalim would come to Sanvordem and would halt for the night, before returning to Cortalim the next day,” adds Fernandes, whose father once served as a coxswain along the route.

Fernandes mentioned that a number of workers from the River Navigation Department (RND) hailed from Sanvordem and that, many images in the Sanvordem Church have in fact been donated by people from the RND.

“These workers and travellers used to seek the protection of the Guardian Angel during their journey to and fro. Hence, it is possible that the church may have been named the ‘Guardian Angel’ church because of this devotion,” suggests Fernandes.

But by far, a more plausible explanation for the church’s unique identity may rest with a priest who was instrumental in introducing the Catholic faith in the area.

Fr Custodio Rosario Caetano Barreto from Loutolim had founded the ‘Association of Missionaries’ for the evangelisation of the New Conquests of Goa in 1873.

Fr Barreto is credited with the baptism of some 3,000 non-Christians, besides constructing the residence at Uguem Chapel, church at Tilamol and chapels at Sanvordem and Rivona.

Fr Barreto used two of his Portuguese names to identify the two chapels of Guardian Angel (Anjo Custodio) in Sanvordem and Our Lady of Rosary (Rosario) at Rivona. Incidentally, an altar was dedicated to S Caetano (his third name) at the Tilamol church.

According to historian Fr Cosme Jose Costa SFX, Fr Barreto in one of his mission tours through Sanvordem, befriended a Catholic contractor, Tome Caetano da Costa from Aldona, who was laying the railway line and the Sanvordem station.

Fr Barreto was very interested in having a chapel in Sanvordem and offered to defray a part of the expenses of construction. The two of them drew the plans and calculated the cost of construction at Rs 4,000. In a public document on July 17, 1885, Da Costa was awarded the contract of building the chapel.

Then Archbishop-Patriarch D Antonio Sebastiao Valente on August 14, 1885 decreed the construction of the chapel and its dedication to the Guardian Angel (Anjo Custodio) and the foundation stone was blessed on September 5,1885.

Following its completion, the chapel was canonically erected as filial to the church on Tilamola by Provision of April 9, 1887.

The new chapel was later blessed by Fr Barreto on April 26, 1887.

The Chaplaincy was elevated in 1915, with the chaplain — now known as Chaplain-Curate — being given the care of the souls exempting them from the jurisdiction of the parish priest of Shiroda and Tilamol.

The Curacy was entrusted to the Society of Pilar on January 15, 1917, with Fr Antonio B N Pereira being appointed Chaplain-Curate with ‘attributions of a missionary parish priest,’

He was succeeded by the saintly Fr Agnelo de Souza from April 1917 to May 1918.

As the Pilar Seminary had no priests to substitute Fr Agnelo in Sanvordem, a secular priest Fr Francisco da Costa administered the Curacy on behalf of Fr Agnelo for the next eight years.

In an order on January 7, 1924 the Archbishop-Patriarch further extended the jurisdiction of the Curacy with the inclusion of Xelvona and parts of the Paroda parish.

The chapel edifice was extended in 1933 and in a partriarchal order on January 10, 1936, the Curacy was elevated to a full-fledged parish, with Fr Camilo Conceicao da Alcantara Costa as the first parish priest.

The third parish priest, Fr Basilio M E de Andrade of Velim founded a medium school ‘Colegio Anjo Custodio’.

The Pilar Society took over administration of the Parish for the second time, in March 1953 till May 1997. The Church was rebuilt in 1999.

At present, the Guardian Angel Church caters to the needs of about 7,000 catholics spread over Curchorem, Sanvordem and parts of Cacora.

“Most of our parishioners depend on mining activities as their primary source of income. Agriculture is also a livelihood for many people in Xelvona and Cacora,” remarks the Parish Priest Fr Ligorinho D`Costa, who is assisted by Fr Jesus Rodrigues.

“One hallmark of this parish is the high literacy rate among parishioners,” Fr D`Costa adds.

Besides the Guardian Angel Church, four chapels under the purview of church spread the message of Christianity to the far-flung areas of the parish.

These chapels are the Our Lady of Fatima (Xelvona), St Sebastian’s chapel (Odar), Sr Francis’ chapel (Capxem) and Our Lady of Ajuda (Periudak).

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