The chapel dedicated to St Anne in Salem ward in Salvador do Mundo is a wayside chapel off the road on a hillock, that leads from Panaji to Aldona and it is surrounded by a thick forest. Earlier, it was a private chapel and belonged to the Soares family. When the epidemic struck the villages of Chorao, Pomburpa and Salem, the aristocratic families of this ward fled to safer areas and settled there. Hence, the chapel was neglected and what exists today is only one part of it and so too of the grand house of the Soares family, which is just behind the chapel.
ORIGIN
There is no documentary evidence to fix the exact date of the origin of the chapel, but the Catholics of this ward celebrated its centenary in 1996. Today, they celebrate the feast of their patroness on the first Sunday of May with great religiosity, which this year falls on 7 May.
The chapel has only one altar, which is dedicated to the patroness, St. Anne, whose image is behind in a glass case.
In 1888, a double tragedy struck the Soares family. On August 15, the only son Antonio Maria Soares and the daughter Ana Rosaria Clara Pinto (1835-1888), married to Fortunato Martinho Pinto of Saligao, died. Hence the Soares family was left without a male heir; the title then came to be vested in the granddaughter Ana Candida Pinto. With the death of Maria Aurora Soares on March 17, 1893, the grand house was neglected, with the exception of the chapel which the Salem ward was identified with.
The donor, Ana Candida Pinto and her husband Santa Ana Graciana Pinto, both domiciled at Saligao donated the chapel along with the Soares family house, which is just behind the chapel, some rice fields and orchard properties in Salem, named Morandem and Cumbarvollo property in Pomburpa, for its maintenance, through Escritura de declaracao e entrega (Deed of declaration and delivery) dated October 31, 1896 drawn by notary Public of Bardez Miguel Jose Ribeiro, to the donees who were represented Joao Mariano Pinto, Caridade de Andrade, Caridade Maciel, Joal Manoel de Noronha, Salvador Fernandes, Damiao de Souza and Santana, all residents of Salem ward. The deed was signed by Antonio Calisto de Athaide of Salvador do Mundo on behalf of Damiao de Souza and Santana Fernandes.
The deed of donation of October 31, 1896 discloses that the chapel was initially dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary whose statue is kept in the niche at the top of the altar. Subsequently, the chapel came to be dedicated to St Anne, when the Soares family installed a rare and unique wooden altar depicting St Anne offering candy to baby Jesus who is seated on the lap of His Mother Mary, while St Joseph looks on. On the panel is painted the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove hovering over the child and a solitary star shines brightly over the scene.
LATER DEVELOPMENTS
In 1907, the ward people of Salem, with their generous donations, repaired the chapel; they voluntarily chopped the trees that shrouded it, and gave it a new look. The front portion of the chapel was also extended.
On the occasion of the centenary of the chapel in 1996, it was completely renovated and the expenses of the same were borne by the villagers of this ward. There are two plaques of the walls of the chapel, one with the list of donors who contributed towards the centenary celebrations and the other a brief note on the handing over the chapel to Salem ward. The altar panel was repaired and an additional room was constructed on a side. The ward members have also created a sizeable fund for uninterrupted religious services here.
THE FEAST
The faithful of this ward celebrate the feast on first Sunday of May, preceded by the Maddi and the nine-days thematic novena. After the Feast Mass is a procession with the statue of the saint in the marked area, followed by the blessing and the Veneration.
(The writer is Superior at Casa Professa, Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa)
