[This piece was written by Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas in January 2002. Additional inputs and photos are from the website of the Abbey of the Genesee]

At the Abbey of the Genesee in Piffard, NY, lives a community of 33 Cistercian monks, seeking God and following Christ. Among them is Fr Gerard D’Souza OCSO, whose roots are in Saligao. The Abbey of the Genesee is a community of contemplative monks belonging to the worldwide Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO), more commonly known as Trappists.

Gerard is the son of Charles Anthony D’Souza (son of Manuel Joseph D’Souza and Mariquinha Fernandes, both from Saligao) and Maria Imelda Sequeira e D’Souza (daughter of Aniceto Sequeira from Siolim and Maria Hermenegilda Rego from Verna). Gerard was born on 24 May 1958 in Doha, Qatar (UAE), where his father worked for British Petroleum. They returned to India in 1963.

Gerard did his schooling at Sacred Heart Boys’ High School in Santa Cruz, Bombay. After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Bombay, he joined the seminary in Bombay in 1979. Four years later he discontinued studies because of the exigencies of the family business. In 1988 he went to the United States and took a degree in Religious studies (MA from the Institute of Religious Studies of St. Joseph Seminary, Dunwoodie, New York). He also studied the Syriac language and Patristics at the Catholic University of America, Washington.

Monks of the Abbey of the Genesee, in 2005. Fr Gerard D'Souza is fourth from left in the front row.

Gerard entered the Abbey of the Genesee on 15 October 1992, took the Simple Vows on 9 April1995 and Solemn Vows on 24 May1999. He was ordained a priest on 23 June 2001.Though a professed monk, he was allowed by his abbot to return home in April 1997 to attend to his father who was seriously ill.

In August 1997 he went back to the monastery after his father’s death, winding up the family business and settling other family matters. During his sojourn in Mumbai he gave a talk to the staff and students of the seminary in Bombay (St Pius X College, Goregaon) on 28 July 1997. His talk was published in Vidyajyoti, the Jesuit journal.

Life at the Abbey

Located in the picturesque and historic Genesee River Valley the monks live close to the rhythms of nature. Within the monastic enclosure are some 1,200 acres of forest, ravines, rolling hills and a meandering creek. Wildlife indigenous to Western New York abounds. In addition, the Order has another 1,200 acres of woods and farm lands which serve to maintain their rural solitude.

The Cistercian community belongs to a monastic institute wholly ordered to contemplation. At the Abbey, Friar Gerard D’Souza and the other monks dedicate themselves to the worship of God in a hidden life within the monastery under the “Rule of St Benedict”. They lead a monastic way of life in solitude and silence, in assiduous prayer and joyful penitence.

He lives among other 33 members spanning several generations. About a quarter of them are priests. Necessary to the contemplative monastic vision is the creation and maintenance of an environment conducive to contemplation. To this end Friar Gerard and the other monks observe silence, speaking in a limited way, and excluding the use of radio and television and other irrelevant media. The well-stocked library of over 50,000 select volumes is designed to foster growth of the interior life. A few select journals, magazines, newspapers and limited use of the Internet keep the monks in touch with current events.

Monks’ Bread

“Monks’ Bread” has been baked at the bakery on the Abbey premises since 1953 and the revenues generated from its sale are used to sustain the Abbey and surrounding property. Fr Gerard and all the other able-bodied monks have a share in the common work of baking Monks’ Bread. In addition Fr Gerard and the other monks help out with farming, cooking, hospitality, formation, teaching, and care of the infirm, among other required tasks.

Monks’ Bread is a specialty loaf in which only the finest ingredients are used and baked according to the old-fashioned fermentation process. Currently the monks bake thrice a week and produce nine varieties of Monks’ Bread.

Monks’ Bread revenue also sustains monasteries in Africa and Brazil and the monks donate bread and money generously to various soup kitchens and charities in western New York. In an article on a news website, Fr Gerard was quoted as saying: “We are not just another loaf on the shelf. With Monk’s Bread, comes the entire package.”

Saligao Remembered

Fr. Gerard says: “Since there has been a felt need among the many of our friends and associates we have formed two lay groups known as Genesee Lay Contemplatives and Associates.” In his letters to my friend and co-villager Jose Remedios of Mumbai/Tabravaddo, Fr Gerard, who is from Arrarim, says: “I remember Saligao and pray for our villagers’ welfare in the silence of my abbey.”

A transcript of the homily of Fr Gerard D’Souza for 23 February 2010, the 1st Tuesday of Lent, is available here.

Before the Gomes’ house at Mapuça was demolished, I was fortunate to visit it. A relative of the family whom I knew as a youngster once took me there on a visit. We were ushered into the dining hall, the seat of Goan hospitality, and served coffee and dos. In such families, close friends are greeted with a kiss on each cheek, Latin style. The stranger is greeted with a warm handclasp. A flow of Portuguese, the old court language, follows.

The compact Gomes’ house at Mapuça is the ancestral house of Monsenhor Francisco Xavier Gomes Catão, a noted and meticulous Goan church historian. It was constructed from stones taken from the fortresses of Tivim and Colvale. As the first Goan commandant of Mapuça, Captain Gomes (Monsignor Catão’s forefather) apparently had ready access to such building material.

I recollect that when I was a student at the Seminary of Our Lady, Saligao-Pilerne, Monsenhor Francisco, who was our Professor, summoned me one fine evening in 1957. He inquired if I knew his niece who was married to a gentleman from Donvaddo in Saligao. I replied that I did indeed know the Fernandes family she had married into, and informed him that the family was known by the nickname Razamger. Then Mons. Catão related how he came by his curious surname (the original one being Gomes). His father was nicknamed fatão (the shrewd one) by the Portuguese, and thought it worth his while to retain this appellation. But he took the odium out of it by changing the first letter F to C.

In the 1950s the Noronha family from Neura came to settle down temporarily in Donvaddo. Fernando Noronha, a member of that revered family, sought admission at Mater Dei Institution. He was my brother’s classmate, and I too knew him then. Here is little story about the Noronhas:

“Perched on a rock in the rich farmland of Neura is Abelio Noronha’s stately mansion. The verandah provides the visitor with a breathtaking view of the lush green paddy fields stretching to the distant hills. Carved doors lead to the salon. The ivory-coloured ceiling has a rectangular floral border carved out of ebony—a symphony in white and black. Two lovely brass lamps hang from the ceiling. Of the rosewood furniture one sofa alone had been valued at Rs 18,000 in 1980. Blue china plates adorn the walls. The Noronhas trace their ancestry to the Kamat brothers of Kashmir, early converts to Christianity.”

Mons. Canon Castilho de Noronha was a member of the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon for three consecutive terms. The road from Neura to Old Goa is named after this priest-politician. Another ancestor, Romulo Salvador Noronha, was the famous lawyer of his day and a Mayor of Panjim. Once on a visit to the Noronha’s house in Donvaddo I had a chance to meet Monsenhor Canon Castilho de Noronha, Professor of Rachol Seminary, journalist and ‘Deputado da Nação’ or Parliamentarian at Lisbon. He was an erudite personality but was of short stature.

The Lozkar house at Donvaddo is now the prized possession of an Italian gentleman named Alexandro. He has kept the outer part of the old house and the nickname fixed to the fence as it was before, but has made changes to the internal structure and added some small rooms and a vast sitting room to entertain his friends. Alexandro is a keen reader of anything on Goa. Once I was invited by him to give an informal talk on the history of Saligao and its wards, its folklore and culture. He called a few of his friends to listen to me.   As I knew the Lozkar family from Donvaddo quite well I explained to them why the family of Carlotina and Frank Fernandes (he sold spectacles in Panjim and his shop was known as Frank Opticians, a joint enterprise) called their household “Lozkar”.  Many families in Saligao are known by their nicknames in addition to their names and surnames.  One of the guests asked me what my nickname was. I told them it was “Moskon”.

In the Book of Psalms one comes across verses about the transition and shortness of human life:

 For all our days pass under thy wrath

Our years come to an end like a sigh

The years of our life are threescore and ten

Or even by reason of strength fourscore

Yet their span is but toil and trouble

They are soon gone, and we fly away

 If this was in the far-off days of King David, the position has not changed substantially in our times, despite the great advances in medicine and allied sciences. Nevertheless, Saligao had its share of centenarians, and I was fortunate to meet and talk to some of them, including  Rita Joaquina D’Souza (Arrarim), Luis Caetano Figueiredo (Donvaddo), Antonio Sebastião Remedios (1896-2004), the longest-lived person in Saligao so far, from Tabravaddo-Mollebhatt), and Fr. Estevão Luis Gonzaga de Carvalho (Vhoddlem Morod).

The Hospicio do Clero at Margão and the Clergy Home at Alto Porvorim, run by the Goa Archdiocese, are perhaps institutions that shelter the largest number of longeral folk in Goa.  All of them are well past the biblical threescore and ten, and in the past, two of the inmates celebrated their centenary of their birth at Clergy Home, Alto Porvorim: Msgr. Diogo José Caetano Ave Maria de Almeida from Velim and Fr. Estevão Luis Gonzaga de Carvalho from Saligao (1885-1987).

As is commonly known to Saligao village folk, Fr. Luiz Gonzaga is the son of Damaso Luis Caetano Carvalho and Florentina Felicia de Nazaré.  He is the nephew of Fr. Desidério Ludovico Carvalho (1836-1908), son of José Salvador Carvalho and of Ana Francisca de Souza, born in Nachinola on 14-06-1886 (Ordained on 16-07-1865 at Bom Jesus Church, Old Goa, by Archbishop A. Pessoa, and died at Grande Morodd on 09-03-1908).  His brothers are Custodio, Maria Santana, Angelo Severino, Damaso Luis Caetano and Fernando do Rosario Carvalho).

Luis Gonzaga was born in Saligao on 03-08-1885 and after completing the Philosophy and Theology courses at Rachol Seminary, received Minor Orders on 23 September 1906. He was ordained a Priest on 01 October 1911 at Rachol Seminary Church by Patriarch D. Mateus and celebrated his first Mass on 15 October 1911 in Nagoa Church.

Thereafter he was for 10 years teacher and Spiritual Director at ‘Mater Dei’ school at Saligao, where he taught Mathematics, Latin and Catechism. Then in 1922 he was sent as a Missionary to the Diocese of Mylapore. He served as the vicar of the churches of Venkatakulam and Belatpuram, where he worked for 11 years.

After returning to Goa he lent his services in 1933 as curate in three different parishes — Tivim, Salvador do Mundo and Agassaim. Then he was English teacher and chaplain of the Chapel of Our Lady of Piedade at Chinvar, Anjuna, and for 24 years chaplain of St. Anthony’s Chapel on the Anjuna beach. Thereafter, probably in 1978, he sought admission to the Clergy Home, Alto Porvorim.

Questioned about his longevity, he first and foremost attributed it to the grace of Blessed Virgin Mary, for whom he had a special devotion. He added that he had always led a very regular life, walked a lot, and exercised in his room.  Though a nonagenarian, occupying a room on the first floor, he went to the dining room on the ground floor for all four meals, climbing up and down the stairs without any difficulty.  He ate everything, drank coffee and tea, occasionally had a glass of beer or wine, but never smoked.  He could see quite well with the spectacles he began wearing in Mylapore and did not need a hearing aid.  He celebrated Mass every day and was confident of completing a hundred years.

When Fr Luis Gonzaga celebrated his 100^th birthday, Vincy Cordeiro from Bairro Alto, in Saligao interviewed him at the Clergy Home. (Vide Saligão Newsletter Vol.I, No.1 April-June 1985, Bombay, p.12). Excerpts:

Q. We hope that you will live for many more years.

A. The doctors who examined me say that my heart is normal like that of a young man.  They say that I do not suffer from any ailment…  Even at this age I travel everywhere on my own by bus.  I thank Mãe de Deus for this unique privilege.

Q. Please shed some light on your earliest memory of Saligao and its people.

A. I still have the whole image of Saligao fresh in my mind as it used to be in my youth. The people were very hard working. They used to work in the wide open fields and they travelled from one place to another on foot. They indeed all loved one another. That made a deep and lasting impression on me. When somebody was ill all the neighbours would come and give the sick person all possible help. Some of them even spent their own money and purchased medicines.

Q. What is your most memorable experience?

A. My best experience is the 10 years of teaching in Mater Dei Institution.  I really enjoyed my stay there and was very happy with the school authorities.  The next best place was Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu. The Tamilians were nice and very warm towards me.

Q. What ism your recipe for a long life?

A. The secret of my sound health and strong constitution is that I am always in a happy frame of mind. Nothing worries me. I love everyone and never bear any ill-feeling towards others. Consequently, because both my mind and heart are clear of any tension, I enjoy excellent health.

Q. What is your message for modern youth?

A. I want them to be good, honest, respectful and God-fearing men and women.

Q. Would you recall the most striking incident in your life?

A. When I was posted to Madras, I learnt Tamil in just 15 days and could preach in Tamil.

A buoyant outlook shaped Luis Gonzaga’s life, and he stood erect even at the age of 100. On 6 February 1986 he met with Pope John Paul II at the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa, and was introduced by Most Rev. Raul N. Gonsalves, Archbishop of Goa & Daman, as the oldest priest and centenarian of the Archdiocese.  He received a warm embrace and a rosary as a gift from His Holiness.

He died in the Clergy Home on 31 December 1987 and was buried in Saligao Cemetery, aged 102 years.

My friend Salvador Mascarenhas and I were now on the last leg of our walk through the vaddo (ward) of Cotula in Saligao. Close to the former house of the Gama rose family that I wrote about earlier, is the house of Dr Raimundo da Gama and Camila Mariana Tereza da Gama. Dr Raimundo da Gama had a sizable clientele in Coimbra, Portugal. Nearby is the residence of Celly and  Gil Coelho’s large mansion. He was headmaster of various English high schools in Goa. In its proximity is the house of Annie Pinto whose daughter, Sr. Mary Jane, née Rita Pinto, was twice Mother General of Holy Family of Nazareth Congregation of Sancoale, Salcete.

Behind her house is the Krist Raj Bhavan (home for male senior citizens) established in September and run by FMCK nuns. Adjacent to it lies the stately house of the world-famous ophthalmologist Dr. Cláudio Raimundo da Gama Pinto, who has to his credit an Institute of Ophthalmology named after him in Lisbon, Portugal. At his birth centenary, the Portuguese Government brought out two stamps, one light brown and green in colour of 2 reis and another black and white of 3 reis entitled Republica Portuguesa 1853-1953 Gama Pinto, Correios, Estado da India. A road was named after him in Panjim and there is also an avenue named Avenida Professor Gama Pinto in Lisbon.

In 1978, on the 31^st of August, a tribute to Dr Gama Pinto was organized by ophthalmologists from Portugal and Goa at the Saligao Institute in Arrarim. After the session the eminent ophthalmologists went to Dr Gama Pinto’s ancestral house in Cotula, and at the hands of Prof. Dr J Ribeiro da Silva from Lisbon, a commemorative tablet inscribed in Portuguese was placed therein.  Its English translation is “The Great Ophthalmologist Prof. Cláudio Caetano António Júlio Raimundo de Gama Pinto was born here on 30^th April 1853.  Where a group of eminent Ophthalmologists from Portugal have gathered to pay their homage to the great Master who so honoured Portugal as well as his birth place Goa with the extraordinary contribution to the eye surgery placing a tablet offered by the Association of Ophthalmologists of India represented by its branch in Goa to commemorate the homage”.

I have written a book on Dr Gama Pinto, published in November 2002 and titled “A Paean to an Ophthalmologist: Prof. Dr. Gama Pinto”. Dr. Cláudio da Gama Pinto was born in Saligao (Cotula) on 30^th April 1853 and died in Lisbon on 26^th July, 1945 aged 92 years.  His parents were Francisco Salvador Pinto, leader of the old Progressive Party of the Council of Bardez and the first President of the Bardez Municipality and of Camila Mariàna Tereza da Gama.

Affectionately called Salu Pinto, Dr Claudio’s father was undoubtedly the greatest single benefactor of our village of Saligao.  It was he, practically single handedly, who gave us our beautiful church, of which every son and daughter of Saligao may be justly proud.

Next to the house of Gama Pinto is the house of Vitinho Mendonça. His son Lino Mendonça lives there along with his wife. Opposite their house, across the internal road, is Lynn (Ismael) da Gama’s house, who rose to be the President of the Central Council of Goa of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, as well as the Chairman of the Confraternity (now Association) of Our Lady of Victory in Saligao Church. For several years he ran the affairs of this Association with great responsibility. Dominic Soares from Cotula married Tereza da Gama, Lynn’s sister. Dominic Soares is one of the talented footballers of Goa, and represented Vasco Club. He now resides with his family at Tabravaddo on St. Anne’s Road running from Aula to Sangolda. 

Then there is the house of Sr. Celine Coelho. She too had been the Mother General of FMCK nuns. Her brother Cyril Coelho is also a dedicated social worker. Next comes the house of Napolean Vaz, who was for a long time in charge of the Church Committee and who freely shared his knowledge about church affairs with all.

Finally, a word on Mae de Deus House for senior lady citizens in Cotula. Mr & Mrs Luis Mendonça, to comply with the last request of their dear departed youngest daughter Dr. Lila Mendonça, herself a Holy Cross nun, bequeathed their ancestral home to the Holy Cross Society. It so happened that Holy Cross Society, due to unforeseen circumstances, were unable to undertake the task of caring for the aged.  They requested the FMCK Regional Superior to consider the matter and offered her the house together with a handsome donation.  In November 1973 the Home was opened, inaugurated and blessed by an illustrious grandson of Saligao, Archbishop Eugene D’Souza. A dream had been translated into reality and three Franciscans Missionaries of Christ the King took charge of the House with 19 women on the roll. This Home came into existence due to the tireless efforts put in by the late Fr. Albert Saldanha (Arrarim), President of the Committee of the Centenary Celebrations of Saligao Church (1873-1973).

In this walk through Cotula we may have missed some prominent personalities. We ask for their forgiveness, but would appreciate if their details are inserted here by someone (via comments) to make this walk a truly memorable event for anyone else embarking on it.