The church at Desterro, Vasco da Gama, located on a hillock, is dedicated to Our Lady of Desterro. The parish celebrates the feast on the fourth Sunday of January, which falls on January 25 this year.
THE HISTORY
The Portuguese constructed a small chapel in 1672 in the fort to meet the religious needs of the soldiers stationed here. It was dedicated to St Thomas. From here, the missionaries took care of the Catholics around.
Later on, the Public Department took charge of this area. It demolished a portion of the chapel to carry out departmental works. In 1885, the sacristy part of the chapel collapsed during the rains and the remaining structure came down during the next monsoon. This prompted the construction of a new chapel at a different site.
Archbishop Dom Antonio Valente (1882–1886) gave permission to construct a new chapel. Engineer Randolfo Correia Mendes selected a new site for the chapel, and authorisation to lay the foundation stone was granted on November 9 or 11, 1885.
The new chapel was dedicated to Our Lady of Desterro (Nossa Senhora do Desterro) and it was affiliated to St Andrew’s Church, Vasco. It also had a resident chaplain. The chapel was about 2,000 metres from the church.
The chapel had 3 altars; the middle altar was dedicated to Our Lady of Exile, whose feast used to be celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of January. On one of the other altars had the image of Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, another image was put in its place later, donated by Joao Agostinho Lobo in 1908.
Fr Elizeu Barreto was appointed chaplain in 1978 and he brought about a number of changes in the chapel. He erected a liturgical altar in the centre and the image of Our Lady of Exile was fixed to the wall behind it.
In 1980, the corridors on the right side of the chapel were repaired and catechism classes began to be held here. Two years later (1982), the corridors on the other side were also repaired. In 1983, the old parochial house was brought down and a new one was constructed. Mons. Caetano da Cruz Fernandes, the Vicar General, blessed the Chapel on January 14, 1984. The other changes that were done were the replacement of tiles on the floor and the side walls of the church, fixing fans and put the image of the patron encased in glass on the façade.
Archbishop Rahul Gonsalves raised the chapel to the status of the church on January 26, 1997. The last chaplain here and the first parish priest of the newly established parish was Fr Jorge Norberto Aguiar. The parish celebrated its Silver jubilee in November 2022, with the Thanksgiving Eucharist presided by the Cardinal Filip Neri Ferrao.
THE CHURCH
The church architecture is a blend of the Portuguese and Indian influences. On the façade of the Church, below the bell is a picture of the Flight into Egypt. The church is like a fortress with its sturdy, buttressed walls and high windows. The facade is divided into three stories and includes a two-storied portico. It has two cylindrical towers flanking the facade. The south tower contains a winding staircase, while the north tower houses the baptismal chapel on the ground level.
The exterior has simple decorations like “rope twist” devices wrapped around the towers and cornices, which is characteristic of the Portuguese Manueline style.
THE ALTAR
The main altar is dedicated to the patron, Our Lady of Desterro, whose image is encased in glass on one side of the altar. There are two more altars just outside the sanctuary.
A little away from the church below the railway lines is a chapel, dedicated to Our Lady of Vailankani.
