Celebrating Saint Joaquim in Borda, Goa, is a vibrant and culturally rich event. Saint Joaquim, also known as Saint Joachim, is traditionally honored as the father of the Virgin Mary and the grandfather of Christ. In the context of Borda, Goa, the celebration of this saint is deeply intertwined with local customs and religious practices.
St. Joaquim was the ever-chaste husband of St. Anne, the mother of our Blessed Virgin. Though advanced in years, St. Joaquim and Anne remained fervent in their prayers to be blessed with a child. God was pleased with their devotion and chose to bless them with a miraculous conception, long past child-bearing years, as a result of their love of Him and love of each other.
Tradition teaches that while Joaquim was away from home, an angel of God
appeared to him in a vision. This angel promised that he and Saint
Anne would bear a child who would be blessed through the ages.
Upon waking from this vision, St. Joachim rushed home to share his
excitement with his beloved wife. She was there to greet him,
only to reveal the same good tidings as she was promised in another visitation
from God's messenger. Images of Saint Joaquim are often identified
by the presence of his associated symbols. A book or
scroll represents linen makers, a shepherd's staff for the Christian
word, and a basket of doves represents peace. He is
almost always dressed in green, which is the color for hope.
Both, portraits and narrative images usually represent St. Joaquim as a man in later middle age, with a forked beard, usually gray, that reaches to about the breastbone. He often carries a staff, referencing his journey into the mountains. In some images there will also be a lamb or sheep, referring either to his rejected offering or to the flocks he took into the mountains. Doves also figure sometimes in Joaquim's images. One might imagine that they are the sacrifice that the priests rejected in the Temple. But in images of that episode, his offering is a lamb. In Leviticus doves are what a person may offer in the Temple if he is too poor to offer the required beast, whereas both the written tradition and the images have it that Joaquim was well off. It may be that the doves refer to the offering the couple make when they take Mary as a baby, to the Temple for the ‘purification’, though again the problem is that they were wealthy enough that their offering should be one dove and one lamb, not two doves. In Goa, the devotion the Saint Joaquim is not as huge. Statues of him are very rare as independent-standing images. However, occasionally one may see ensembles composed of the saint shown standing besides his wife St. Anne, accompanying his daughter Mary.
From
time immemorial the Greeks have celebrated the Feast of St. Joaquim on the day
following Our Lady's Nativity. The Maronites kept it on the day after the
Presentation in November, and the Armenians on the Tuesday after the Octave of
the Assumption of the Mother of God. The Latin Church at first did not keep his
Feast. Later on, it was admitted and celebrated sometimes on the day after the
Octave of Our Lady's Nativity, September 16, sometimes on the day following the
Immaculate Conception, December 9. Thus, both East and West agreed associating St. Joaquim with his illustrious Daughter when they wished to do
him honour.
About
the year 1510, Pope Julius II placed the Feast of the Grandfather of the
Messias upon the Roman Calendar with the rank of double major; and remembering
that family, in which the ties of nature and of grace were in such perfect
harmony, he fixed the solemnity on March 20, the day after that of his
Son-in-law, St. Joseph. The life of the glorious Patriarch resembled those of
the first fathers of the Hebrew people; and it seemed as though he were
destined to imitate their wanderings also, by continually changing his place
upon the liturgical cycle.
Hardly
50 years after the Pontificate of Julius II the critical spirit of the
day (the Protestant revolution) cast doubts upon the history
of St. Joaquim, and his name was erased from the Roman breviary. Pope Gregory
XV, however, re-established his Feast in 1622, and the Church has since
continued to celebrate it. Devotion to Our Lady's Father continuing to increase
very much, the Holy See was petitioned to make his Feast a holy day of
obligation, as it had already made that of his Spouse, St. Anne. To satisfy the devotion of the people without increasing the number of days of
obligation, Pope Clement XII in 1738 transferred the Feast of St. Joaquim to
the Sunday after the Assumption of his daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and
restored to it the rank of double major.
On
August 1, 1879, the Sovereign Pontiff Leo XIII, who received the name of
Joachim in Baptism, raised both the Feast of his glorious Patron and that of
St. Anne to the rank of double of the second class.
In
Goa there is only one Catholic edifice dedicated to Saint Joaquim. This Chapel
is situated in Borda, South Goa. Permission to construct this chapel was
granted on October 09, 1783, after a large number of residents from Rachol shifted
here. The Chapel was built in 1786 and consecrated on August 20 in the same
year. The chapel annually celebrates its patron on 03rd Sunday of August with
the feast traditionally being known for guavas. Locally it was referred to as ‘Perãchem
fest’ or ‘Festa das goiabas’. The chapel boasts of Goa’s renowned personalities i.e. Dr. José Pereira’s fresco completed during
the end of the 20th Century. ‘Besides the religious significance of
the feast, I go to buy garden equipment from the feast fare. Local ‘Kamaar’ (Blacksmiths) get for sale various
locally made tools like sickles (Viddo/Kantul), Koiti, Horem (Spade), Pikas
(Pickaxe), Paroi, etc. And yes!! My family always enjoys having the typical Goan
ladoos and kadio-bodio from the sweet vendors’, says Sameena Falleiro from Borda,
Margão.
Many couples looking for the gift of a child come here to seek the blessings of
Saint Joaquim.
‘As
we Celebrate the 'Perãchem Fest' this year with
"Ekcharan paulam marum-ia, xubvortomanache porgotnad zaum-ia" as the
theme, for us 'Bodekars' this is not simply a feast but an emotion and an
opportunity to grow andimprovise’, says Darwin Fernandes from Borda. Further he
mentions that just like many places across Goa celebrate August 15, which is the
day ofthe Feast of Our Lady Assumption, as their harvest feast, here in
Bordaresidents celebrate one of the famous local fruits i.e the guava which one
would find in abundance during this season.
Traditionally guavas were blessed here during the High mass and later
distributed among the faithful. Guavas were also sold outside the chapel. In
the good old days, after the high mass there would be a procession led by the
celebrant priest, holding an image of St. Joaquim, accompanied by a brass band.
However, today this procession is no longer held due to excessive traffic on
the road outside the Chapel. The Confraria de Deus Espírito Santoe Santíssimo Sacramentoof the Holy Spirit Church would
be an integral part of this procession. It is noteworthy that traditionally,
the brass band would play before the novenas, on all nine days. However, in
today’s times one can hear it only on the occasion of the vespers and the feast.
‘Now, guavas
are not blessed like how they used to be in the bygone era’ says Darwin. But
many locals he says still donate/distribute guavas during the feast. ‘As per stories
passed down from generation to generation, the local community of Borda would offer guavas during this feast seeking blessings on to their cultivation’,
says Darwin.
‘Traditionally
the fair was limited only to roasted gram, Guavas, sweet vendors and
blacksmiths’, says Florina Almeida from Borda. Further, she mentions that these
vendors would remain for a week after the feast while today, they are seen only
for about two days after the feast.
‘In my ward i.e. Marlem, annually on the day of the feast,boys would come out to play a game called ‘Mittanni’ at 2 pm after lunch. Somewhere about at the same time outside the chapel, there was another interesting game being played, where blindfolded men had to breakopen a de-husked coconut, using a solid bamboo. Each player had three chances’, recalls Florina. Sadly, these traditional games are no longer played. Today, a sports event is held on a larger scale on the Multipurpose ground at 3:00 pm. The niche of Saint Joaquim was heavily decorated only with locally grown white fragrant flowers called Zuio, which filled the whole chapel with their mild pleasant fragrance. This year the feast will be celebrated on August 18 with the feast mass to be held at 9:00 am. The main celebrant for the High Mass will be the auxiliary bishop of Goa and Damão, Msgr. Simião Purificação Fernandes.