Chandor celebrates Feast of Epiphany
Feast of Epiphany was celebrated with great pomp and grandeur at Chandor on January 6 to commemorate the three Magi from far East, visiting Baby Jesus with their gifts to worship and adore him.
While it is commonly called the Feast of Three Kings, that is an aberration as the Catholic Church does not have any such celebration. “The three Magi were pagans,” explained Fr Jean Ruby da Cruz e Fernandes, Parish Priest of Chandor.
At Chandor it is officially the Feast of Our Lady of Bethlehem, the patron of the parish while at Cansaulim it is celebrated as the Feast of Our Lady of Remedios.
Three youngsters from the village, namely Niel Jose Fernandes from Culsabhat, Johan Leander Mascarenhas from Marrod, Guirdolim and Jayden Cardozo from New Township represented the three Magi who gifted baby Jesus with gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Incidentally, these gifts have specific relevance as gold symbolises kingship while myrrh or embalming oil symbolises death and frankincense or incense symbolises deity. The gifts are best summarised in the ancient adage “Gold is to a king, myrrh is to one who was mortal and incense is to a God.”
Fr Alban Fernandes from Family Service Center was the main celebrant at the High Mass which had seven other priests as co-celebrants. In a stirring homily Fr Alban lamented that treasured traditions are being slandered in present times through wasteful expenditure. He specifically referred to Catholics wasting a lot of money on so called traditions associated with holy matrimony like roce and even having large number of bridesmaids and equal number of males as escorts for them; as against the earlier tradition of keeping these traditions simple and symbolic. “Unfortunately, these are now turning into status symbol and means of showing off ones wealth,” he lamented.
The three youngsters came on horseback from the Our Lady of Piety Chapel at the Mount to the Chandor Church to the accompaniment of music and their friends and relatives.
As part of the festivities, Mount Youth Association held the 48th edition of its Three Kings Fete on two days, namely 6th and 7th January. Two tiatrs were also staged, Maim Paichem Kalliz by Sally at Chandor Club Hall and Ho Inam Koslo? By Ulhas Tari in St Joseph’s Educational Institute compound.