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Masses in Honour of St Josemaría Escrivá in Goa
July 22, 2011
This is the second year we have had a Mass in honour of St Josemaría Escrivá in Goa, India.
Calangute (North Goa)
This year we had the Mass in Calangute (North Goa) as early as 17th June 2011. More than 100 people came. They were all very happy and everyone took a prayer-card of St Josemaría. English seemed to be the popular language even though we had prayer-cards in Konkani, the local spoken language.
We also have Masses booked for 30th June 2011 in Porvorim (North Goa) and Curtorim (South Goa) organised by Cooperators who live in these areas.
In Goa this year most of the Parishes have had new Parish Priests move in on 1st June. I went to see my Parish Priest a few days after he arrived to introduce myself and Opus Dei and to ask him if he would be kind to celebrate the Mass in honour of St Josemaría. I was very happy to find that he had already heard of St Josemaría and of Opus Dei. I gave him a Mass booklet of the Feast in English and asked if he could say this Mass. He said he would be happy to say the Mass and I left very excited.
Invitations for the Mass were printed, and every day I tried to visit people to invite them to the Mass starting with my neighbours and then friends. The lady in the shop that printed the Mass booklets even gave me a discount because it was for the Church. My parents contributed with the flowers for the Church and making their home available to watch a DVD of St Josemaría.
I invited people to watch the DVD on three different days before the 17th so that they would be able to see St Josemaría and hear his voice and appreciate his warmth and personality. All the people who came were really impressed and especially about his love for the Church, the Mass and our Lady and how relevant his advice is to their lives today. Some of those invited to the DVD couldn’t make it, and after the Mass they all said that they too would like to see the DVD, perhaps on a weekend rather than a working day. I think my parents too have come to love and appreciate St Josemaría even more and are very happy with the vocation of their daughters. They have been praying the prayer-card every day after the Rosary for the last few years.
30th June, St Josemaría in Curtorim
I went to visit the Parish Priest in Curtorim with the Mass booklet and give him some information and a prayer-card of St Josemaría. He was very happy. Unfortunately he has no access to the website. A few days later he visited my Parish for the day as his family are from Calangute. When he saw me he recognised me and confirmed, “30th June, St Josemaría in Curtorim”. I was so happy that he remembered.
A Cooperator from Porvorim went to visit her new Parish Priest with her husband and to request him to say the Mass and they gave him a booklet. The day of the Mass, he read the Gospel of the Feast and gave a wonderful homily of about 10 minutes in Konkani. One of the things he said is that they are all called to be saints as God had shown St Josemaría and that sanctity is not just for the Priests and Religious.
My Parish Priest has also said I should book the Mass for next year as soon as the diary becomes available so that we can be sure to get the 26th June as the day proper for his Feast. He was very happy with what Opus Dei is doing and said we should keep up this work. I gave him a copy of The Way as a present and he was very happy.
I also had the opportunity of giving a prayer-card to another visiting Priest from Andra Pradesh. He had also heard about St Josemaría and was very grateful for the prayer-card. He said he would find out more from the website. I suggested he contacted the office in Delhi for further information.
After the Mass held in Calangute on 17th June 2011 it was decided that I should have invitations also for the Masses in Curtorim and Porvorim. I managed to get some invites for each Parish and delivered to the respective Co-operators for them to invite their friends.
The Co-operators from Curtorim however had gone to Nagua in North Goa to carry out work in their property there. I was sorry that they were not planning to get to Curtorim until the day before the Mass as I had organized the invites and had hoped to show the DVD beforehand. A couple of days before the Mass my friend rang to say she would not be able to go to Curtorim for the Mass as the workmen were still around but that her husband would be going the evening before and I could go with him. I tried not to show that I was disappointed and asked them not to worry even if they were not able to make it. I assured them that I would be able to find my own way there in the morning. I planned to take a taxi for part of the journey and public transport and would be able to arrive for 7.30 a.m. The journey is about 2 hours on public transport. Thank goodness, the day before my friend rang and said that she told her husband that she too wanted to get to the Mass. She asked me to come along with them the evening before.
By the time we arrived Curtorim on the 29th it was about 7.30pm. They started distributing the invitations to their neighbours and friends. The Priest also came to look for my friend to find out who would be doing the readings.
The next day there were quite a few people at Mass – the usual parishioners, and invited friends. The parents of one of the residents staying in our Centre in Mumbai also made it. The priest said the Mass of the feast of St Josemaría, and gave a beautiful homily about St Josemaría and the sanctification of work. I presented him with a copy of The Way as a thank-you.
Porvorim
I was not able to meet the priest in Porvorim before the Mass and hoped that the briefing that the Co-operator and her husband gave would suffice. My dad and brother went to the 7 a.m. Mass in Porvorim to represent me. My brother even helped with distributing prayer-cards at the end of Mass. He is normally very shy and this is not his kind of thing but he really helped with both the Masses in Calangute and Porvorim.
In Calangute we are still watching the DVD of St Josemaría. Those who were not able to make it before the 17th came over on the 26th of June. I hope to have another showing as there are still more people who couldn’t make it but want to come and see it.
Calangute (North Goa)
This year we had the Mass in Calangute (North Goa) as early as 17th June 2011. More than 100 people came. They were all very happy and everyone took a prayer-card of St Josemaría. English seemed to be the popular language even though we had prayer-cards in Konkani, the local spoken language.
We also have Masses booked for 30th June 2011 in Porvorim (North Goa) and Curtorim (South Goa) organised by Cooperators who live in these areas.
In Goa this year most of the Parishes have had new Parish Priests move in on 1st June. I went to see my Parish Priest a few days after he arrived to introduce myself and Opus Dei and to ask him if he would be kind to celebrate the Mass in honour of St Josemaría. I was very happy to find that he had already heard of St Josemaría and of Opus Dei. I gave him a Mass booklet of the Feast in English and asked if he could say this Mass. He said he would be happy to say the Mass and I left very excited.
I invited people to watch the DVD on three different days before the 17th so that they would be able to see St Josemaría and hear his voice and appreciate his warmth and personality. All the people who came were really impressed and especially about his love for the Church, the Mass and our Lady and how relevant his advice is to their lives today. Some of those invited to the DVD couldn’t make it, and after the Mass they all said that they too would like to see the DVD, perhaps on a weekend rather than a working day. I think my parents too have come to love and appreciate St Josemaría even more and are very happy with the vocation of their daughters. They have been praying the prayer-card every day after the Rosary for the last few years.
30th June, St Josemaría in Curtorim
A Cooperator from Porvorim went to visit her new Parish Priest with her husband and to request him to say the Mass and they gave him a booklet. The day of the Mass, he read the Gospel of the Feast and gave a wonderful homily of about 10 minutes in Konkani. One of the things he said is that they are all called to be saints as God had shown St Josemaría and that sanctity is not just for the Priests and Religious.
My Parish Priest has also said I should book the Mass for next year as soon as the diary becomes available so that we can be sure to get the 26th June as the day proper for his Feast. He was very happy with what Opus Dei is doing and said we should keep up this work. I gave him a copy of The Way as a present and he was very happy.
I also had the opportunity of giving a prayer-card to another visiting Priest from Andra Pradesh. He had also heard about St Josemaría and was very grateful for the prayer-card. He said he would find out more from the website. I suggested he contacted the office in Delhi for further information.
The Co-operators from Curtorim however had gone to Nagua in North Goa to carry out work in their property there. I was sorry that they were not planning to get to Curtorim until the day before the Mass as I had organized the invites and had hoped to show the DVD beforehand. A couple of days before the Mass my friend rang to say she would not be able to go to Curtorim for the Mass as the workmen were still around but that her husband would be going the evening before and I could go with him. I tried not to show that I was disappointed and asked them not to worry even if they were not able to make it. I assured them that I would be able to find my own way there in the morning. I planned to take a taxi for part of the journey and public transport and would be able to arrive for 7.30 a.m. The journey is about 2 hours on public transport. Thank goodness, the day before my friend rang and said that she told her husband that she too wanted to get to the Mass. She asked me to come along with them the evening before.
By the time we arrived Curtorim on the 29th it was about 7.30pm. They started distributing the invitations to their neighbours and friends. The Priest also came to look for my friend to find out who would be doing the readings.
The next day there were quite a few people at Mass – the usual parishioners, and invited friends. The parents of one of the residents staying in our Centre in Mumbai also made it. The priest said the Mass of the feast of St Josemaría, and gave a beautiful homily about St Josemaría and the sanctification of work. I presented him with a copy of The Way as a thank-you.
Porvorim
I was not able to meet the priest in Porvorim before the Mass and hoped that the briefing that the Co-operator and her husband gave would suffice. My dad and brother went to the 7 a.m. Mass in Porvorim to represent me. My brother even helped with distributing prayer-cards at the end of Mass. He is normally very shy and this is not his kind of thing but he really helped with both the Masses in Calangute and Porvorim.
In Calangute we are still watching the DVD of St Josemaría. Those who were not able to make it before the 17th came over on the 26th of June. I hope to have another showing as there are still more people who couldn’t make it but want to come and see it.
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