Location of Our Lady Of Mercy Church in Goa: South Goa
Where: Colva, Goa
Best Time to Visit: Any time of the year
How to Reach Our Lady Of Mercy Church in Goa: Take a bus/cab from Margao.
About: Our Lady Of Mercy Church, located in Colva, is a colonial church founded in 1630. It was earlier known as Nossa Senhora de Merces. The church houses a statue of infant Jesus Christ which is believed to be found on the Mozambique coast by Fr Bento Ferreira who brought it to Goa and installed it in the church in 1648.
Our Lady Of Mercy Church is one of the best places to visit here in South Goa.
Church of Our Lady of Mercy is one of the foremost testimonies of the hamlet of Colva, which is from Colonial era. The highlighting feature of this worship place is a statue of the infant Jesus. This object of admiration is believed to be found by Fr. Bento Ferreira, a Jesuit priest on the Mozambique coast. He brought the statue to Goa in 1648 and placed it in the church. The church also hosts an annual Fama Festival in the month of October. During this festival, they take the statue out from the church for procession on the streets and celebrate zeal. The church is positioned on the Margao-Colva road on the entrance of the village.
The Church of Our Lady of Merces is also referred to as Nossa Senhora de Mercês. Devoted to Our Lady Mercy, this sacred Church become composed in the year 1630 and later reconstructed in the 18th century.
According to legend, the statue of Menino Jesus was discovered in the 17th century off the coast of Mozambique by some shipwrecked sailors led by Fr. Bento Ferreira, a Jesuit missionary. Fr. Ferreira had the statue grandly enthroned on a special altar when he was posted to Colva in 1668. Soon after, the annual Fama began, with the statue kept for public veneration. Power struggles in Portugal, which resulted in the suppression of religious orders, drove the Jesuits to flee to the Rachol Seminary, carrying the statue with them. Attempts by the villagers of Colva to reclaim their statue were futile. They decided to recreate the original. Their only possession, a golden ring thought to have been discovered after slipping off the original statue, was mounted on the new one. As a result, the devotion was restarted.
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