PANAJI
The Church, situated along the road leading to the Divar ferry in Old Goa, is dedicated to St. Cajetan. It is a World Heritage monument. The feast of the patron is celebrated on August 7, preceded by the Maddi and the thematic Novena. Masses on this day will be celebrated at 7 am and 9 am.
ORIGIN
The Italian Friars – St Cajetan of Thiene, Paolo Consiglieri, Bonifacio da Colle and Giovanni Pietro Carafa, established a Congregation of Clerics Regular (Theatine Congregation) in 1524 in Central Italy.
In 1639, Pope Urban VIII sent three Italian friars to Golconda under the leadership of Dom Pietro di Avitabili, to evangelise the people. Since the rulers there would not welcome them, they came to Goa in 1640. They settled behind St Paul’s College, but later due to health reasons, they moved from there and bought a piece of land near Santa Monica convent.
They wanted to construct a hospital here but the Portuguese authorities in Goa did not grant them permission since they were Italians and on March 13, 1645, the Portuguese Viceroy Filipe Mascarenhas banished them from Goa.
Their leader, Dom Pietro de Avitabili went to Lisbon and met the King John IV and convinced him of starting a hospital in Old Goa, as it would help in evangelisation work. The king granted them permission to construct a hospital in Goa in 1650 and in 1655, also gave them permission to construct a Church and a small convent near it, with the condition they would be under the control of the Portuguese there.
The friars decided to construct the Church close to the banks of the river Mandovi. The construction was completed in 1661 under the supervision of Italian architects, Calo Ferrarini and Francesco Maria Milazzo and it was dedicated to the Our Lady of Divine Providence, but it has been named after its founder, St Cajetan.
Touching the Church is the convent of St Cajetan, built much later. In 1835 it was enlarged with the addition of two large halls. Other additions to it were done later with the financial help from the government. At present, it houses the Pius X Institute of Pastoral Theology for the training of priests and the liturgical office.
THE CHURCH
The Church building is considered to have been modelled on St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, however some, like the 17th century travellers, Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careti and Pietro Della Valle, say that it is modelled on the Sant’ Andrea della Valle, in Rome, the seat of the Theatine order.
The church is a dome-like structure in the shape of a Greek cross and the Theatine motto “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you” (Mt. 6:33), is inscribed around the cupola in Latin. The interior of the dome has elaborate inscriptions from the gospel of St. Mathew. The luminous walls inside are furnished with paintings depicting the scenes from the life of St Cajetan.
Directly under the dome of the church is a raised square platform, on it is an altar and under it is a 72-foot deep well. When one peeps in through the opening, one can see light from the windows set around the dome reflected on the surface of the water.
In 1842, the cemetery below the main altar, which was earlier for Religious, was converted into a vault for the bodies of the Governors and Viceroys and other Portuguese officials before they were transferred to Lisbon. It has four granite sculptures of saints Peter, Paul, John the Evangelist and Matthew inserted in the walls of the front façade of the church.
ALTAR
The main altar is dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Providence. Besides it, there are 6 other altars. The left three are dedicated to the Holy Family, Our Lady of Piety and St Clare, while the right-side altars are dedicated to St Agnes, St Cajetan and St John.
(The writer is Superior at Casa Professa, Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa)
