‘Walking pilgrimage’ to St. Francis Xavier binds faiths in India

As the once-in-ten-year exposition of St. Francis Xavier’s relics draws near in Goa, western India, hundreds of Christians, joined by Hindus and Muslims, are to undertake a “pilgrimage on foot” to honor the Jesuit missionary.

Dec 05, 2024

By Michael Gonsalves
As the once-in-ten-year exposition of St. Francis Xavier’s relics draws near in Goa, western India, hundreds of Christians, joined by Hindus and Muslims, are to undertake a “pilgrimage on foot” to honor the Jesuit missionary.

The pilgrims aim to venerate the 16th-century Spanish saint’s relics, which will be on display for 45 days from Nov. 21 in Old Goa, the former capital of Portuguese-ruled India. The silver casket holding the life-size relics will be taken from its resting place at the Basilica of Bom Jesus and placed at Se Cathedral, some 450 meters away.

Each year around the Saint Francis feast on Dec. 3, hundreds of pilgrims walk 100 to 250 kilometers from neighboring dioceses, defying the tropical sun, to pay homage to the saint credited with his evangelization mission across Asia.

Marking this year's exposition of the relics, a team of 1,500 men and women comprising "Catholics, Protestants, Hindus and Muslims will cover about 200 kilometers on foot from different parishes and villages in Maharashtra to Old Goa,” Catholic Guru Santaji, co-founder of the Old Goa Padayatra (walking pilgrimage), told UCA News.

Jesuit Father Swami Prabhudhar joined Santaji as he spoke enthusiastically about the upcoming event.

Some 10 Catholic priests and 15 Protestant pastors will join the pilgrims, who plan to start the journey on Nov. 28 morning. They are expected to reach Old Goa on Dec. 2, before the saint’s feast day.

“At night, we rest at the Hindu temples and Catholic parishes, singing bhajans (devotional songs), praying, and blessing people, who welcome us by washing our feet. They also join us in prayers,” 73-year Santaji said.

Last year, over 700 Catholics and Hindus from three dioceses — Sindhudurg and Poona in western Maharashtra and Belgaum in southern Karnataka — walked for seven days to Old Goa for a spiritual encounter.

The lay leader, who has been leading such pilgrimages for the last 42 years, said devotees join the pilgrimage because of their faith and the favors received through the saint's intercession.

Prabhudhar, Santaji first undertook the pilgrimage in 1981 with around 100 devotees.

“Pilgrims come on foot from near and far, out of deep faith, seeking blessings and to pay homage to the saint,” Father Henry Falcao, diocesan convenor of the Exposition Committee, told UCA News.

“This year is the 18^th decennial exposition. We expect 8 million people from different faiths to visit Old Goa from overseas and India,” he said. Some 5.5 million people visited during the last exposition in 2014.

Falcao said the pilgrimage on foot to venerate the saint and seek his blessings is as old as the exposition that began 230 years ago.

He said Catholics and Hindus from the neighboring Maharashtra and Karnataka states bordering Goa and groups from various parishes in Goa follow this tradition.

“People start pouring in on Dec. 2 itself and rest and sleep the whole night in the garden around the churches to attend the first feast day Mass at 3.45 am on December 3. Even buses and other vehicles also start arriving by December 2 evening,” he said.

Falcao said, "This deep faith has been passed on through centuries and from generation to generation, cutting across religious affiliation."

“One woman, who did not conceive for 19 years after marriage, gave birth to twins and came back to the saint to offer homage,” Jesuit Father Patricio Fernandes, rector of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, told UCA News.

He said that during the Covid-19 pandemic, he blessed a man with a piece of a saint's relic, and he was healed. The man and his family came back to thank St. Francis Xavier.

“Daily, over 5,000 men and women of various faiths come here with their children to catch a glimpse of the saint,” Fernandes said.

“St Francis Xavier is one of the greatest missioners after St Paul, who was responsible for spreading Catholic faith among thousands of people and deepening it from India to Japan,” said John Marshal, a lay hermit and doctoral researcher at Goa University, who is documenting the religious heritage of Old Goa.

He said some 80 percent of visitors wonder how the saint's body is still in good shape although he died in 1552.

"So, people visit Old Goa out of deep faith, curiosity and to seek blessings irrespective of their faith,” he said.

“This is a holy land. I have seen and experienced miracles and healing,” Hugo Gonsalves, a Catholic and volunteer at the Basilica of Bom Jesus, told UCA news.

“People who visit the relics of St Francis Xavier go back with happiness,” he noted.--ucanews.com