Taking the route of faith to end the monsoon dry spell

PANAJI: Heavy rainfall during the Sao Joao festival recently eased the state’s deepening water crisis. In a similar crunch, not long ago, the local folks would have banked on their faith to move the water from the sea to the sky for a shower on earth.
If the monsoon was delayed or crops burnt due to weak activity, the simple folks would take recourse to prayer.St Anthony, considered a worker of miracles, was, and still is, central to the invocations. “Sant Anton anje, anje, paus ghal sanje” (St Anthony, you are an angel, please send rain by evening).
Each area or taluka had its own version, as some even carried stones on their heads and climbed a hill. But most carried St Anthony’s statue, and the penitential procession would first head to the nearest water body for a simple ritual. The saint’s feet would be dipped in the water, and back to the village the participants went, often joined by people of other communities.
The old and the young alike fervently sang a string of invocations. ‘Saiba mhojea Sant Anton, deva lagim magon paus ghal, paus ghal.’ This was just another one of those popular ones.
Another one, ‘Sant Anton altarar, paus ghal sousarar’, is typically from Bardez.
“We would climb the hill near the Saligao seminary with stones on our heads. By the time we returned, it would often start raining,” said Fr John D’Silva, an elderly priest from Saligao.
A few decades ago, agriculture was the economy’s mainstay, and the people practiced various religio-cultural traditions. “The largely agrarian society was steeped in nature and was god-oriented, but now we are detached from reality. The younger generation is distracted by gadgets, and there is a complete change in their lifestyle,” said D’Silva, who has compiled the invocations in a book titled ‘Sant Anton Milagrincho Bhokt, 2006’.
Some blame the erosion of faith for the vanishing traditions. “Earlier, the people had deep faith. We would go about the village prayerfully with stones on our heads and an image of St Anthony, the ritual culminating at the church with blessings of the Blessed Sacrament,” said Jose Carmino Joao, a senior resident of Merces.
But Fr Mousinho de Athaide, professor at the Saligao seminary, has a different view. “Tradition may have faded, but people still have faith that St Anthony will intercede in bringing rain to end the dry days,” he said.
De Athaide doesn’t seem to be off the mark, as a couple of videos of invocations are circulating on social media.