BELAGAVI
Scores of Goans will be among the thousands of Christians poised to visit Nandgad, the site of the Miraculous Cross, every Friday during Lent.
Every Friday beginning from March 7, priests and preachers from Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra will be offering special prayers and special homilies.
The Lenten prayers and Eucharistic celebrations will be held in English, Konkani and Kannada languages for the benefit of pilgrims visiting from different states, Parish Priest of Immaculate Conception Church, Nandgad Fr Shantappa Borker said.
Beginning from March 7, the first Friday, there will be prayers, Eucharist, Way of the Cross, confessions, etc. that will be conducted till Friday, April 4. The Friday services will commence at 9.30 am and culminate at 4.30 pm.
Fr Franklin D’Souza, (March 7), Fr Joseph Fernandes of Pilar-Goa (March 14), Fr Richard Almeida of Belagavi (March 21), Br Prakash and team of Mumbai (March 28), and Fr Joseph D’souza of Mangaluru (April 4) are among the priests and preachers who will be preaching in Konkani, English and Kannada.
Fr Borker has appealed to Goans to attend the Lenten prayers in large numbers.
Like every year, the Diocese of Belgaum will be observing Diocesan Day of Reparation on April 14, which is observed as the day of fasting penance and prayers across the Diocese.
The prayers will commence at 8 am followed by Rosary and a Live Way of the Cross at 11 am. Apart from the Holy Eucharist, Bishop Derek Fernandes will be presiding over the Eucharist in Konkani at 12 noon.
Bishop Fernandes has also invited Goans to take part in the Lenten prayers at the Miraculous Cross in large numbers.
“Pilgrims come to the Cross with their prayers and petitions and return with a special blessing and satisfaction as the Miraculous Cross has worked miracles in thousands of lives across the globe. The Cross has become a place of hope and repose and solace for scores of them,” Bishop Fernandes.
With the entire stretch of road between Sanquelim to Jamboti and beyond has been re-carpeted, Goans can now travel to Nandgad with comfort and ease via Chorla, Fr Borker said.
