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The
Church of Our Lady of Miracles, Milagres, better known as
Milagres church, was built by Bishop Thomas de Castro, a
Theatine priest of Salsette in 1680. It is thus more that
300 years old. Now to get here is not very difficult. It
is about a kilometer from the railway station and the service
bus stand, and about 3 kilometers from the KSRTC bus Stand
Bejai. It stands tall at the Hampankatta Junction and so
is easily accessible. Almost every bus passes through Hampankatta
and so, I will avoid the cumbersome task of listing out
the route numbers. Travel by auto from the service bus stand
will cost you about Rs. 10/-
Moving
on to this splendid piece of art, Attached to the Church
is the Chapel of St. Monica, the Patron of the Catholic
Mother's Sodality, the first of its kind in the Diocese
when Fr. Torri, S.J, started it in 1887. He built the Chapel
probably the same year. It contains a magnificent altar
with a French painting of St. Monica and St. Augustine,
which is a rare piece of art.
In
the seventeenth century Christianity was in a sorry state
on account of a dearth of priests and the rival claims to
the territory by the Sees (Regional heads of the Catholic
church) of Verapoly and Goa. In fact the See of the archbishop
of goa was vacant for over twenty-two years. Msgr Antony
Brandao was appointed Archbishop later. The Holy See seeing
this state of affairs appointed Bishop Thomas de Castro
Vicar Apostolic of canara and Malabar. He took up his residence
at Calicut but later moved to Mangalore where he abode at
Milagres near the site of the present Church.
He obtained this site from Queen Chennamal and the Bednore
Kings as 'inam'. He built the first Church at the site of
the present cemetery in 1680. He died on 16 July 1684 and
lies buried at the southeastern corner of the cemetery.
His grave with a bronze slab can still be identified.
Some time later, Queen Chennamal and King Basappa resumed
the land. In about 1715 a Mangalorean, Fr. Pinto, secured
the land again from King Somashekar II (1714-1739). His
nephew Fr. A. Pinto, who succeeded him, built a new Church
on the site of the present one, in 1756. After his death
his brother Xavier's wife, Maryanne Monteiro, took possession
of the land.
In 1763 Kanara fell under the suzerainty of Hyder Ali and
in 1782, his son, Tippu Sultan. He suspected the loyalty
of Christians and on Ash Wednesday, 24 February 1784 about
1,80,000 were seized by his soldiers and herded to his capital,
Srirangapatnam. They also destroyed 27 of their Churches
including the Milagres Church. Some of the stones of this
Church were utilized by Tippu to erect the Idgah on Lighthouse
Hill. The Idgah still exists.
Amongst those who returned to Mangalore from Srirangapatnam
after the death of Tippu was Lawrence Bello, a Baker to
the Europeans who built a chapel to replace the Church demolished
by Tippu, on the site of the present Church at a cost of
about Rs. 400/-. Father Mendez, the Vicar, secured the necessary
furniture, etc. Raised funds and got a contribution of Rs.
600/- from the Government with the help of Salvadore Pinto
(brother-in-law of Maryanne Monteiro and former Munshi under
Tippu and laid the foundation for a new spacious Church
in 1811. Amongst the more distinguished families who contributed
towards the building were the two Coelho families, the Gonsalves's,
the Mascarenhases and Vazes. Sir Thomas Munro, the Governor
of Madras on a petition from the Christians of Kanara exempted
the land of the Church from assessment.
As stated, Fr. Mendez built a new Church in 1811. Exactly
100 years later in 1911, the facade of this Church collapsed.
Fr. (later Msgr) Frank Pereira was the Parish Priest at
the time. The same year he erected the present magnificent
Church with Fr. Diamanti S.J. (of Jeppu Seminary fame) as
architect. This is the present Church except for a portico,
which was put up later.
The Church is probably one of the many artistic houses of
prayer in the District. It measured 49.5 by 275 meters with
portico 17.5 by 7 meters. Mounted on pedestals are six statues
of apostles and the facade with the statues reminds on of
St. Peter's Basilica, Rome. The main altar with the life-like
statue of Our Lady contains the superscription "Altare Previlegiatum".
It is a magnificent monolithic marble altar, the gift of
the late Mr. Nicholas Britto, the illustrious Tahsildar
of the last century. So are the statues of St. Antony, St.
Joseph, and St. Francis Xavier, considered the best of their
kind in the south and the smaller bell, which has since
been given to a church in the mofussil. The Church contains
the miraculous shrine of st. Antony of Padua, the great
Wonder Worker. It was founded by Fr. (later Msgr) M. P.
Colaco in 1898. The Altar was conferred the privileged status
on 22-1-1902 by Pope Leo XIII. The Shrine has attained all-India
fame and attracts on enormous congregation every Tuesday
at the weekly devotions and the two feasts of the Saint
on 4 February and 13 June and the Triduums preceding them.
It is known for its record of votive offerings as also for
its model Charity Institutes sprawling over an area of 50
acres in Jeppoo and catering to the needs of all kinds of
humanity, suffering or otherwise, children, youth, the halt,
the infirm and sick, numbering in all about 500.
Thanks to its central location in the heart of Mangalore,
the Parish claims some of the leading Catholic Institutions
in the District. To name a few we have the Bishops House,
St. Aloysius College, the Great Carmel, M.C.C. Bank Ltd.,
the Catholic Club, the Catholic Educational Co-operative
society, Catholic Association of South Kanara, the Konkani
Natak Sabha with its Don Bosco Hall the venue of periodical
dramatic entertainments, meetings and weddings.
Sodalities, Confraternities, etc.: The Parish contains an
unique institution, name the Confraternity of Our Lady of
the Seven Dolours, probably the only one of its kind in
the country and the second in the world. The members drape
themselves like acolytes with white surplices and a black
satin cape to which is attached a silver emblem containing
a heart with a sword piercing it, reminding one of the Sorrowful
Virgin Mother.
Sunil
Gonsalves.
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