Thank you Tony Fernandes for your detailed description of a Goan tradition called Ladainha. In the colonial days i.e. in the forties and fifties, a ladainha in my village was almost a routine evening affair.People who came to the chapel for ladainha were mostly poor and uneducated villagers, but the most beautiful part was that these people without knowing how to read and write were adept at singing the ladainha in Latin. During the daily mass they heartily responded with Et cum spiritus tuo and Abemunos Dominum ( pl. pardon my latin ) and on special occasions sand Laudate with gusto. In my opinion we should pay tribute to Mestri of the parochial school who trained villagers in hymn singing but sadly training in 3Rs (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic ) was given a low priority.
Antonio
