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Centre for Pandyan Spirituality, Panjim (2026)

10/06/2024

"Indian king (Pandion) was probably the paramount ruler of the Pandyas, one of the most powerful peoples of South India. He may well have been seen as the overlord of the lesser kings of the region, and Porus could have been acting at his behest. For westerners, the name recalled the archaic Athenian king, who had given his name to an Athenian tribe, Pandionis, and the Athenians of Augustus' day were no doubt ready to see a connection between the Pandion of antiquity and the contemporary Indian king"

P. 83, After Alexander The Time of the Diadochi (323-281 BC), 2013, Oxbow Books
Editors:Edward M. Anson, Victor Alonso Troncoso

08/06/2024

A HAPPY 398TH MEMORIAL OF SERVANT OF GOD. MADRE. PHILIPPA DA TRINIDADE, FIRST CATHOLIC NUN OF INDIA & FIRST PRIORESS OF THE AUGUSTINIAN SANCTA MONICA CONVENT.

By God's grace, a small booklet on her life was made and presented to His Lordship Archbishop of Goa & Daman Rev. Fr. Felipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao- President of Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference (FABC) . Today is also the Diamond Jubilee of the Mater Dei Institute, Old Goa located in the premises of the Sancta Monica convent founded by out Madre Sr. Philippa da Trinidade and it is a source of double joy.

Also a copy was presented to Rev. Fr. Charles Borges, a reputed Jesuit Historian along with Rev. Fr. Canon. Rosario Olivera, Parish priest of Se Cathedral- Old Goa & Rev. Fr. Shaun SJ along with Social worker Glen Cabral, Old Goa.

May God bless you all
And may Madre Philippa da Trinidade intercede for us. Amen.

PRAYER FOR HER CANONIZATION:
Heavenly Father , you had chosen Servant of God. Madre. Philippa da Trinidade to serve you as the first nun of our nation,and she served you in humility for the salvation of Souls with an ardent love for your beloved Son Our Lord Jesus Christ obeying the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Grant that if it be your will may her be elevated to sainthood for your greater glory.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
1- Our Father 1- Hail Mary 1- Glory be
Servant of God. Madre. Philippa da Trinidade pray for us! Pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Amen.

May God bless you all,
Asking your prayers,
John Marshal of S. Mary Magdalene & Mission in the Kingdom of the Pandyas.
(Lay hermit/Solitary)

07/06/2024

3 DAY NOVENA IN HONOUR OF SERVANT OF GOD. SR. PHILIPPA DA TRINIDADE- (FIRST CATHOLIC NUN OF INDIA ) DAY III

After leaving Bassein , Donna Philippa and her daughter reached Goa where they were welcomed by the Augustinians. Initially they lived in the Recolhimento da Nossa Senhora da Serra ( Recollection House of Our Lady of Mountain) in Old Goa made by D. Aleixo de Me**es, the archbishop of Goa.

Meanwhile this archbishop was doing the construction of Sancta Monica convent in a fast pace. Three streets and 42 houses were purchased by this Archbishop and the Convent was constructed. On July 2, 1606 the foundation stone was laid and on that occasion a wing of the convent was already finished and was inaugurated.

Remember those first moments ... When the first nunnery of India was made and D. Philippa and her companions travelled from the city centre where there was Serra and moved to Sancta Monica on the Holy Hill ( Monte Sancto)... Some 65 years before this event a great saint walked those steps towards the Church of Our Lady of Rosary located little ahead the location of Sancta Monica convent- It was none other than our beloved St. Francis Xavier...

After the inauguration, the archbishop D. Aleixo de Meneses appointed D. Philippa to become the first prioress... She attained a new identity in Christ... She took the religious name as Sr. Philippa da Trinidade ( Philippa of Trinity)... Holy Trinity is the first principle of everything... The communion of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit is what the primordial mystery is as well the ultimate mystery of our humanity... Isn't it resonates beautifully that the first nun of India should take the invocation of the Holy Trinity- the first principle of everything?!

She became the matriarch for the first convent of nuns in India... Was that a small responsibility?! There were people who weren't in favour of nuns during that time... She had to tackle that... She had to take care of her spiritual daughters not just spiritually but also materially... How many trials? But only these trials? There is much more!

Her biography states that she underwent many persecutions even from evil powers and she remained strong until the end resisting them and overcoming them. Remember here what St. Paul said, " For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12) . But she endured every trial for the love of Christ...

But in all these who comforted her? Her biography states that she had a great devotion to a miraculous image of Menino Jesus (Baby Jesus). The 'Baby Jesus' representing the fullness of divinity as a human child comforted so many saints across the ages... Sr. Philippa must not be an exception to this fact...

She laboured zealously for the welfare of her own spiritual daughters in the Convent, especially after the departure of D Aleixo de Me**es in 1612. After labouring zealously for the welfare of her spiritual daughters she died in the year 1626. Interesting thing is that her own daughter D. Maria also followed the footsteps of her mother, joined the convent as a nun and finally became a 'Servant of God' like her own mother.

The earliest hagiographic account published in 1699 states that she died on June 8 during the feast days of the Holy Trinity while the epitaph of her tomb in the convent and some other sources mention that it was on July 8 that she died. Her hagiography mentions her as "Venerable", while her epitaph mentions her as "Servant of God". It is clear that her cause of canonisation must have opened, but paralysed and her memory must have been venerated only within the convent.

Sr Philippa da Trinidade was a forgotten female saint of Goa. A forgotten first-ever Catholic nun of India. As her title "Servant of God" implies she must have also been the first woman Servant of God from India. In any case, the life, witness and sanctity of this forgotten first Catholic nun of India.

Let us love Jesus like Sr. Philippa and plant the seeds of the kingdom of God which is the peace of Christ everywhere. May God bless you all!

PRAYER FOR HER CANONIZATION:

Heavenly Father , you had chosen Servant of God. Madre. Philippa da Trinidade to serve you as the first nun of our nation,and she served you in humility for the salvation of Souls with an ardent love for your beloved Son Our Lord Jesus Christ obeying the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Grant that if it be your will may her be elevated to sainthood for your greater glory.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

1- Our Father 1- Hail Mary 1- Glory be

Servant of God. Madre. Philippa da Trinidade pray for us! Pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Amen.

May God bless you all,
Asking your prayers,
John Marshal of S. Mary Magdalene
(Lay hermit)

06/06/2024

3 DAY NOVENA IN HONOUR OF SERVANT OF GOD. SR. PHILIPPA DA TRINIDADE- (FIRST CATHOLIC NUN OF INDIA ) DAY II

Her Story of Religious Vocation... "God teaches us through sufferings and uses distress to open our eyes "(Job 36:15)

Philippa married a wealthy Portuguese gentlemen namely Gaspar Lousada de Sá of Thane, Mumbai about 1580. A daughter was born to them on June 7, 1589, and when the child had reached its sixth year, her father died.

D Philippa was grieved and gave up the world and its joys and its pride which are filled with sorrows and sufferings. "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure" (Ecclesiastes 7:4 ). She learnt wisdom like the holy Job through sufferings. She set her mind on the crucified Lord.

St Nicolas of Tolentino the divine helper!

Having one day fallen sick, she made a vow to go to Bassein (today's Vasai) and perform a Novena in honour of St Nicolas of Tolentino (born c. 1246 – died. September 10, 1305; An Italian mystic. He ministered to the poor and the criminals. He is said to have cured the sick with bread over which he had prayed to Mary, the mother of God. He gained a reputation as a wonder-worker. He is the patron saint of poor souls in purgatory) in the church of the Augustinian monks in that city. Here, she was noted by the curate of the church, Frei Diogo de Sant Anna, for her virtues. He found that she was truly inspired by God to devote her life to Christ. He told her about the plans of Frei. Aleixo de Me**es, the archbishop of Goa to found a convent for nuns in Goa for the first time in India. Philippa was in joy and she accepted the calling of the Lord. She was recommended by him to Archbishop D Aleixo de Meneses to be received as a nun.

Determined determination like St. Teresa of Avila...

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" (Romans 8: 35)

When God called Abraham he left his country and took whatever possessions he had accumulated and embarked a journey. (Genesis 12: 1-6). Our heroine of faith, Sr. Philippa did the same. She left Thane forever and along with her daughter ans her servants and her riches embarked a journey to Goa from Bassein (Vasai). Bible says that Abraham became patriarch by obeying the call of God. The same way Sr. Philippa became the matriarch for the first ever convent of nuns in India by surrendering her will to God.

But, on the way from Bassein to Goa, they suffered a shipwreck and lost a considerable fortune. It was a great distressing situation.But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:13). The devil knows what a soul determined to serve God can do by ruining his plans. Therefore he brings trials to destroy them. But God the loving Father allows the trails to strengthen us and fortify us against evil (see James 1:2-4).

Sr. Philippa, without loosing their determination, embarked on board another vessel and arrived in Goa in 1604.

(Tomorrow we will see the story of rest of her life)

PRAYER FOR HER CANONIZATION:

Heavenly Father , you had chosen Servant of God. Madre. Philippa da Trinidade to serve you as the first nun of our nation,and she served you in humility for the salvation of Souls with an ardent love for your beloved Son Our Lord Jesus Christ obeying the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Grant that if it be your will may her be elevated to sainthood for your greater glory.

We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.

1- Our Father 1- Hail Mary 1- Glory be

Servant of God. Madre. Philippa da Trinidade pray for us! Pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Amen.

May God bless you all,
Asking your prayers,
John Marshal of S. Mary Magdalene
(Lay hermit)

05/06/2024

3 DAY NOVENA IN HONOUR OF SERVANT OF GOD. SR. PHILIPPA DA TRINIDADE- (FIRST CATHOLIC NUN OF INDIA & FIRST PRIORESS OF THE AUGUSTINIAN SANCTA MONICA CONVENT)

The Church in Asia cannot exist without the contribution of the nuns and a rough estimate suggests that around 25,000 nuns are serving in India alone. However, the pride of having the first-ever Catholic nunnery in Asia goes to Old Goa. It was on July 2, 1606, that the Convent of Santa Monica, the first-ever Roman Catholic nunnery in India, was set up by Archbishop D Aleixo de Meneses in Old Goa.

Who was the first ever Catholic nun in India? Interestingly, the very first vocation to the Convent of Santa Monica was the noblewoman D Philippa da Ferreira and her daughter D Maria de Sá.

D Philippa Ferreira was born at Ormuz in today's Iran, the daughter of Belchior Cerniche and Elena Mendes. Ormuz was under the control of the Portuguese till 1622. Though, she was of Portuguese descent, her parents were like many of the Portuguese who had left their mainland and settled in the Orient for many years. This servant of God was a daughter of the Orient, though of foreign extraction.
(Tomorrow we will see her story of religious vocation)

PRAYER FOR HER CANONIZATION:
Heavenly Father , you had chosen Servant of God. Madre. Philippa da Trinidade to serve you as the first nun of our nation,and she served you in humility for the salvation of Souls with an ardent love for your beloved Son Our Lord Jesus Christ obeying the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Grant that if it be your will may her be elevated to sainthood for your greater glory.
We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
1- Our Father 1- Hail Mary 1- Glory be
Servant of God. Madre. Philippa da Trinidade pray for us! Pray for the poor souls in purgatory. Amen.

May God bless you all,
Asking your prayers,
br. John Marshal of S. Mary Magdalene

04/06/2024

HAPPY FEAST OF ST. METROPHANES , FIRST ARCHBISHOP OF BYZANTIUM! PRAY FOR HAGIA SOPHIA!

St. Metrophanes of Byzantium- June 4

Bishop of Byzantium. A nephew of Emperor Probus, he was a convert and entered the Church. After studying for the priesthood, Metrophanes was ordained by Bishop Titus of Byzantium whom he succeeded in 313. His devotion to the faith as bishop was so remarkable that Emperor Constantine the Great was supposedly influenced by him in placing the new imperial capital at Byzantium, on the Hellespont. The new city was named Constantinople.

The see of Byzantium, whose foundation was ascribed to Andrew the Apostle, was originally a common bishopric, who was known as the Bishop of Byzantium. It gained importance when Emperor Constantine elevated Byzantium to a second capital alongside Rome and named it Constantinople in 330. It is said that at the First Ecumenical Synod in 325, the Bishop of Byzantium was elevated to an archbishopric, making Metrophanes the first Archbishop of Byzantium. The see's ecclesiastical status as the second of five Patriarchates were developed by the Ecumenical Synods of Constantinople in 381 and Chalcedon in 451.

PRAYER:

Lord God, who made blessed St. Metrophanes of Byzantium. an archbishop in your Church, eminent for his ardent love and that faith which overcomes the world, at his intercession grant that we ourselves, persevering in faith and love, may join him in your glory.
(We make our prayer) through our Lord

(Common of Bishops, Breviary)

PRAY FOR THE RESTORATION OF HAGIA SOPHIA , ANCIENT CATHEDRAL OF THE EASTERN CHURCH CONVERTED AS A MOSQUE .
1- Our Father 1- Hail Mary 1- Glory be

MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL

Asking your prayers,

br. John Marshal of S. Mary Magdalene & Mission in the Kingdom of the Pandyas.

Sources:
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5102
https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2018/06/synaxarion-of-saint-metrophanes.html?m=1

19/12/2023

INAUGURATION OF THE "PANDYAS, GOA KADAMBAS AND CHRISTIANITY" WITH THE BLESSINGS OF SG KADAMB, DESCENDANT OF CHITAKULA KADAMBAS.

05/02/2023

RELICS OF BL. PAUL MIKI & COMPANIONS IN BASILICA OF BOM JESUS, OLD GOA:

Roman Martyrology commemorates today the martyrdom of Bl. Paul Miki and Companions. His chest was pierced with a lance while tied to a cross on 5 February 1597. Their relics are kept in the Basilica of BOM JESUS, Old Goa. Today, our SROG member ELIZA FERNANDES and a Volunteer BERNARDINE venerated the relics of Bl. Paul Miki and Companions.

Paul Miki (Japanese: パウロ三木 (Pauro Miki (三木 means "three wood")); c. 1562 – 5 February 1597) was a Roman Catholic Japanese Jesuit seminarian, martyr and saint, one of the Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan.

BIOGRAPHY:
Paul Miki was born into a wealthy Japanese family. He was educated by the Jesuits in Azuchi and Takatsuki. He joined the Society of Jesus and became a well known and successful preacher – gaining numerous converts to Catholicism. The ruler of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, began persecuting Catholics for fear of the Jesuits' influence and intentions, and possibly that of European visitors.

Miki was arrested and jailed with his fellow Catholics, who were later forced to march 966 kilometers (600 miles) from Kyoto to Nagasaki; all the while singing the Te Deum. On arriving in Nagasaki – which today has the largest Catholic population in Japan – Miki had his chest pierced with a lance while tied to a cross on 5 February 1597.

He preached his last sermon from the cross, and it is maintained that he forgave his executioners. Crucified alongside him were Joan Soan (de Gotó) and Santiago Kisai, also of the Society of Jesus; along with twenty-three other clergy and laity, all of whom were canonized by Pope Pius IX in 1862.

MAY BL. PAUL. MIKI & COMPANIONS INTERCEDE FOR US AND FOR THIS GROUP. AMEN.

May God bless you all,
John Marshal of S. Mary Magdalene & Mission in the Kingdom of the Pandyas.

05/02/2023

ST. POLYEUCTUS, PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Why we pray for Constantinople in SROG?
(Note: Constantinople is today known as Istanbul in Turkey)
The Rome of the Western Roman Empire is the Popular Rome. It is where Vatican is - the Vicar of Christ resides here. The Rome of the Eastern Roman Empire is Constantinople. The Rome of the Orient is Old Goa. Three Romes, require our prayers.
The fall of Constantinople, the Second Rome in 1453 led to its conversion as a Muslim city. Churches were abandoned or converted to Mosques; Christian population decimated. Thus it requires restoration. This impetus of restoration explains why Pope sent Carmelites to Persia in 1600's to form an alliance with Shah of Persia to fight against Turkish sultan and liberate Constantinople. From Persia, the Carmelites came to Goa and thus beginning the Carmelite life in India itself.
The Oriental Rome, Old Goa severely underwent epidemics and the city was abandoned. The Portuguese gave final blow to the life of City of Goa- Rome of the Orient by anti religious confiscation in 1835. Thus its spiritual riches were burried underneath. To recover it is the aim of SROG.

LIFE OF THE SAINT:
Saint Polyeuctus the Younger was born in Constantinople. From an early age, he devoted himself to the ascetic life, obeying the Holy Gospel to all those who want to be get away from worldly things for the sake of perfect union with Jesus Christ.

After the passing of Patriarch Theophylact of Constantinople in AD 956, he became his successor. Saint Polyeuctus had a great theological education and was distinguished for the modesty, morality, temperance and integrity. During his patriarchal ministry, large monasteries were built on Mount Athos, such as those of the Great Lavra and Iviron Monastery.

Following the example of Martyr Agatha and Saint Polyeuctus, after deciding to follow the path of the Gospel, everyone feels spiritual joy despite the sorrow and toil.

PRAYER:
LORD GOD, WHO MADE BLESSED ST. POLYEUCTUS , A BISHOP IN YOUR CHURCH, EMINENT FOR HIS ARDENT LOVE AND THAT FAITH WHICH OVWRCOMES THE WORLD, AT HIS INTERCESSION GRANT THAT WE OURSELVES, PERSEVERING IN FAITH AND LOVE, MAY JOIN HIM IN YOUR GLORY. (WE MAKE OUR PRAYER) THROUGH OUR LORD. AMEN.

(Breviary- Common of Bishops)

May God bless you all
John Marshal of S. Mary Magdalene & Mission in the Kingdom of the Pandyas.

05/02/2023

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SOULS OF THE BENEFACTORS OF CARMELITE MONASTERY, OLD GOA:

Rodrigo Mascarenhas dalmada and his heirs, D. Maria de Azevedo 🡪 5.2.1663

ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO THEIR SOULS O LORD AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM. MAY THEIR SOULS REST IN PEACE. AMEN.

05/02/2023

POPE LANDO: PLEASE PRAY FOR HIS SOUL

Pope Lando (also known as Landus) was the bishop of Rome and the ruler of the Papal States from around September 913 to his death around March 914. His short pontificate fell during an obscure period in papal and Roman history, the so-called Saeculum obscurum (904–964).
According to the Liber pontificalis, Lando was born in the Sabina (Papal States), and his father was a wealthy Lombard count named Taino from Fornovo.The Liber also claims that his pontificate lasted only four months and twenty-two days. A different list of popes, appended to a continuation of the Liber pontificalis at the Abbey of Farfa and quoted by Gregory of Catino in his Chronicon Farfense in the twelfth century, gives Lando a pontificate of six months and twenty-six days. This is closer to the duration recorded by Flodoard of Reims, writing in the tenth century, of six months and ten days.The end of his pontificate can be dated to between 5 February 914, when he is mentioned in a document of Ravenna, and late March or early April, when his successor, John X, was elected.

Lando is thought to have been the candidate of Count Theophylact I of Tusculum and Senatrix Theodora, who were the most powerful couple in Rome at the time. The Theophylacti controlled papal finances through their monopoly of the office of vestararius, and also controlled the Roman militia and Senate. During Lando's reign, Arab raiders, operating from their stronghold on the Garigliano river, destroyed the cathedral of San Salvatore in Vescovio in his native diocese. No document of Lando's chancery has survived. The only act of his reign that is recorded is a donation to the diocese of Sabina mentioned in a judicial act of 1431. Lando made the large personal gift in order to restore the cathedral of San Salvatore so that the clergy who were then living at Toffia could return.

ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO HIS SOUL O LORD AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON HIM. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE. AMEN.

May God bless you all
John Marshal of S. Mary Magdalene & Mission in the Kingdom of the Pandyas.

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