Christened as Mariano Conceiçao Chagas D’Silva, he was miraculously born to Mousinho and Luzia on February 13, 1955 at Orlim, Salcete. The pregnancy was so complicated that the family doctor Dr Samiro had advised Mousinho to abort. Mousinho and his two sons –Menino and Antonio– knelt before the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception statue and started reciting the Rosary. The operation was successful; both mother and son were saved.
Conceiçao grew up as a simple village lad, who worked in the fields to meet the expenses, even though his father was a seaman. He completed his primary education at St Pius High School, Orlim. As a youth, Conceiçao actively participated in the church activities and always prayed the Rosary. His mother provided him periodicals like Vauraddeacho Ixtt and Dor Mhoinneachi Roti. At the age of 14, Conceiçao entered the Minor Seminary at Saligao on June 18, 1969.
On May 7, 1983, St Michael Church, Orlim, celebrated a special occasion - Conceiçao was ordained priest by then-Archbishop Patriarch Raul Gonsalves. He was posted at the Holy Cross Church, Verna, as an assistant to the parish priest. He strengthened the Legion of Mary and the Altar Boys Associations. He would teach the altar boys to pray and visit the sick with them. Two of them entered Seminary and Fr Derrick Rodrigues and Fr Mariano Barreto are serving in the vineyard of the Lord.
Posted as an assistant to the parish priest at the Mae dos Pobres Church, Tilamol, he proved to be a priest with a difference. He knocked on the doors of the Education department and got sanction to commence high school classes. For 130 years, there was not a single priest in the village. He appealed for prayers for vocations, and soon youth came forward to join the Seminary. Fr Rosario Oliveira, Fr John Diniz, Fr Simon Fernandes, Fr Peter Raj and Fr Phillip Rebello SVD are serving in the vineyard of the Lord.
His next posting was at St Alex Church, Calangute, as an assistant to Fr Vasco D’Souza. He began house visits to acquaint himself with the parishioners and their problems. He strengthened the church associations and altar boys group, and many youths came forward to join Seminary. Fr Alex D’Souza, Fr Xavier Braganza, Fr Peter Mascarenhas are fruits of Fr Conceiçao efforts. He was later posted as Chaplain in Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel, Ambelim.
In 1995, he received a divine call to start a renewal movement at the Divine Retreat Centre. He started it with a handful of people, who experienced physical and spiritual miracles. Then he was posted as a parish priest at Mandur, where he undertook restoration work of Our Lady of Amparo church. In 2008, he was posted at the St John the Baptist church, Carambolim, where he worked with the same zeal and gave a major facelift to the church and its surroundings. From 2011 to 2018 he served at St Michael church, Taleigao, where he set the parish on spiritual fire through retreats. He carried out major church renovation, started a fund-raising campaign, and commenced the construction of St Michael Community Centre. He continued his mission at the Our Lady of Snows Church, where he passed away at the age of 65, on February 7.
A recipient of the State award for Meritorious Services to Society, he is a die-hard Goemkar and a lead activist of the Konkani movement. After the death of Fr Freddy J Da Costa in May 2004, Fr Conceiçao supported Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) financially till it got funds from the state government. Since 2011, he was the vice-president of DKA. He instituted Dr Jack Sequeira Konknni Puroskar which is awarded by Thomas Stephen Kendr for the promotion of Konkani literature. In 2015, he was awarded Gulab personality of the Year. He contributed several books in Roman script.
(The writer is a resident of Taleigao)
