Santmodi is a hamlet of Chinchinim village with about 24 houses but it is
the hillock behindit
( about 100 to 150 metres  high ) that comes to life  every year on the
fifth sunday of Lent.
It would appear as if a Crucifixion scene is being enacted here.  Round
about 3 pm in the
afternoon  one sees long lines of devotees approaching the hillock. They
come silently from all
directions using all the available village paths and gather at the foot of
the hillock. They move
upward inch by inch  towards the top of the hillock ( where there is a small
chapel dedicated
to the Holy Cross,  pausing fourteen times on the way up ( and each time
saying OF,HM &
GB  in unison ) signifying fourteen stations of the cross. They gather
around the small chapel
where mass is said reminding them of the Calvary scene. And once it is all
over one sees
mass of devotees slowly descending down the hillock  equally silently and
then spread in all
directions  towards their homes.
The movement of the people up and down the hillock  under the blazing sun (
there are no
umbrellas or caps and some are bare footed )  has to be witnessed personally
to gauge
the fervour of  catholic masses

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