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Dear Friends
Perahps you , specially those away from our Goa, are not aware the new trends
that are being followed here for our funerals.Recently, we had the funeral of
Brigadier Inocencio Monteiro, husband of Mrs. Sofia Cordeiro Monteiro.His
funeral has its own innovations( if we can call them so) that impressed me
very much.I sent a letter to the Goa press about the same which perahaps you
will like to read:
Fernando do Rego
143-Fontainhas
Pangim. Goa
To
The Editor
Renova��o- Navhind Times � Gomantak Times � Herald -
Vauraddeacho Ixtt and Goan Observer.
Christian Funeral Rites in Goa
Sir,
It is historically worthy of note and devotionally a very welcome change that
the funeral rites of the Christians have changed for simpler and more
significant ceremonies. Here in Goa, in the bygone days, they were for the
families of the deceased a time for �display�, sometimes an almost ridiculous
show with de-luxe coffins and other particulars rather long to mention. The
religious ceremonies were also melodramatic, with the Celebrant in black
vestments, the whole liturgy in church and cemetery held in Latin, including
hymns that �painted� death as a tragedy rather than a smooth awaited passage
from this life to the eternal. Hope, a living Hope in the resurrection that
awaits us, as Jesus promised, could hardly be fostered in such a context.
The new orientation given by Vatican II to the life as well the religious and
civic actions of Catholics was the dawn of long overdue changes. Religious
rites are now in the local languages, and so understandable to the respective
participants. The Readings from the Scriptures (in the vernacular), chosen
according to each occasion, as also the changes introduced in the rites
themselves make the respective liturgical ceremonies much more meaningful.
So the funeral rites have now become the occasion for gaining a deeper
Christian understanding of death itself and of afterlife.
More radical changes for the better have begun to take place also for the
actual funeral. As per tradition among us Christians, the dead person had to
be buried, perhaps a custom which came from the Jewish background of
Christianity. But now the Church allows cremation, and this is being done
occasionally even in Goa.
Some weeks back, when I attended the funeral of Brigadier Inocencio Monteiro,
I was happy to notice that the coffin was not the usual wooden one -
expectedly expensive for the burial of a Brigadier! - but rather a modest one
made of bamboo and very beautifully adorned with flowers - these being a
very significant token of the affection and respect due to the deceased person
and a discreet way of dispelling the gloom that usually surrounds the
departure of a loved one. I had seen the same on two earlier occasions, but
this time I was most impressed by it. I was also impressed to see that the
body was not dressed in full Army regalia to which he was entitled,but with a
simple and modest kurta- pijama
According to Brig. Monteiro�s instructions, as I learnt, the body was
cremated at the SantaInes Crematorium, previously meant for the Hindu
Community, but now open to one and all who so desire. Having attended also the
cremation, I personally feel, for various reasons, that an optional electric
crematorium should be installed in Panjim, maybe within the very same
premises. Perhaps also in other cities.
Reverting now to the question of coffins, this time I inquired from where the
Monteiro Family had brought the coffin, as they are not seen among our usual
suppliers of Coffins. And I learnt that it was prepared at Ishaprema-Niketan
(Assagao- Tel:268.8913), a charitable institution also open to all creeds and
maintained since its inception exclusively by freely offered donations towards
any and all of their various social services.
So the I-N does not charge any fixed fees to those who approach them to
prepare a bamboo coffin. The Sisters accept to comply with the request
according to their concrete possibilities. They leave it to the concerned
parties to become aware of the kind of Home that renders them this service and
all that the same demands, and so to contribute freely towards the Home.
The use of such modest coffins is certainly, in my opinion, an example to be
followed and encouraged among all Christians. If the Church has radically
changed for the better the religious rites, we must also change our civic
customs.
Quite a few persons, I suggest, could take up the preparation of such coffins
as one of their means of livelihood.
Fernando do Rego
143-Fontainhas.Pangim 403.001.
GOA. INDIA TEL:222.6353.
