Manapad
Encyclopedia
Manapad is a coastal village in India
, 60 km from Tuticorin and 18 km south of Tiruchendur
, and one of the first places to be visited by St. Francis Xavier
in 1542 when he initiated missionary
activity on the Fishery coast. Francis Xavier is said to have lived and prayed in a cavern on the seaward face of a cliff. Holy Cross Church close to the sea was built in the year 1581. This church has what is believed to be a fragment of the True Cross
of Jerusalem. Thousands congregate during the festival season from 1 to 14 September every year when the cross is publicly displayed.
trading vessel
, while sailing around the Cape of Good Hope
on its way to the East, encountered a violent storm splitting its sails and snapping the hind mast, leaving it at risk of foundering. The captain, who was devoted to the veneration of the Holy Cross, implored and entrusted the safety of the vessel and that of the crew to the crucified Christ. He also made a vow that he would construct a cross from a portion of the splintered mast and have it planted on the shore where they alighted in safety. By chance, the vessel after having drifted for several days sought haven in the then well known port of Kulesakharapatnam.
A miracle
is said to have occurred when the cross was still in the form of a log cut off from the broken mast; when lying on the shore an inhabitant of the village who had trampled on filth had cleansed his foot on this log. No sooner had he wiped his leg than he felt a pain and instantaneous swelling. That night the man had a vision in which it was revealed to him that the ailment was due to his defiling the log intended for a sacred purpose. He was asked to wipe the muck off the log, smear the log with oil, and then apply the same oil to his foot to cure it. Early next morning, the patient was carried to the log, and to the amazement of the crowd that had collected there, the man was cured immediately and able to walk back home unaided. This remarkable event made the planting of the Cross by the captain an occasion of great piety
and festivity. From then onwards, the name and fame of the captain's cross spread throughout the Coromandel Coast
.
in 1532. However, for want of missionaries, the neophytes remained nominal Christians until the arrival and ministration of St. Francis Xavier in October 1542. Xavier chose a grotto
which he preferred to use for a home. The cave was known in pre-Christian era as "Valli's cave", a counterpart of the one at Tiruchendur
. It is now a signal grotto with a carved stone at its entrance carrying the words: "This cave, the dwelling of a saivite sanyasi, has been sanctified by the prayers and penance of St. Francis Xavier".
Xavier used the Captain's Cross which, with its raised platform and an overhead covering, worked as a built-in chapel
, enabling him to offer daily services. St. Francis ministered the area until November 1543 when he returned to Goa
. He was again at Manapad in March, June, August and September 1544 and went to Travancore
in November.
While at Manapad, the saint had two youngsters, Augustine Paiva and Anthony Miranda, trained as acolyte
s. One day at dawn when Augustine was on his way to the Captain's Cross where Xavier offered the Eucharist
ic Service daily, a few yards away on the pathway, he saw his companion Anthony lying still and frothing at the mouth with a cobra
crawling away. Augustine approached Anthony and tried to rouse him, but upon finding no pulse, ran to the saint's niche. Xavier raised his head heavenwards, exclaimed some prayers and rushed to the scene. Blessing Anthony's body, he called upon Anthony to get up. To the amazement of all gathered there, Anthony Miranda not only got up, but followed the saint and assisted him at the Holy Mass as usual.
The first miracle of his life had such an impact that the people in and around Manapad started venerating him as a saint long before he was canonized
by the Church.
of the True Cross. In 1583 he appealed to Rome through the General of the Jesuits
Rev. Fr. Aquaviva for a fragment of the True Cross. Pope Gregory XIII
obliged and the relic appears to have arrived at Cochin in the first week of August 1583. Rev. Mathew de Medina of the Order of Christ
, the prelate
of Cochin, received the relic, after exposing it for three days for the veneration of the faithful, he inaugurated the grand tour of the relic all along the coastal belt with halts in places of Catholic predominance. The procession reached Manapad a few days before the festival of the Exaltation of the True Cross. Many Catholics followed in procession with the relic, in later years Manapad came to be a traditional place of pilgrimage
to those of the Malabar Coast.
of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated annually by the Catholic Church on 14 September, as one of thanksgiving for the recovery of the True Cross
from the Persians by the great Emperor Heraclius
. Fragments of the True Cross were in due course brought from Jerusalem to many churches dedicated to the Holy Cross in the East and West. These churches sought to imitate the solemn ceremonies in use at Jerusalem in order to do homage to the Holy Cross. Possibly one of the earliest dedications to the Cross in India was the Church of the Holy Cross in Manapad. Throughout the year many pilgrims visit the church and thousands congregate during the festive season from first to fourteenth September.
Though with the conferment of the fragment of the True Cross, the feast attained a certain dignity, it was only after the inauguration of the Confraternity
of the Five Sacred Wounds of Our Lord that the festival won recognition as a major festival. The Confraternity was approved by His Holiness Pope Benedict XIII
on 25 February 1725 and on May 28 of the same year was established in the Church of Holy Cross in Manapad. Thereafter the Confraternity of the Five Sacred Wounds of Our Lord has been instrumental in the celebration of the festival with pomp and piety.
The most solemnity and pageantry occurs during the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, when mostly maritime pilgrims throng to Manapad from the Coromandel and Kerala Coasts. They can be seen in village or family groups performing the Way of the Cross as they cover the fourteen stations built on the hillock, reminiscent of Jesus Christ's last journey on Mount Calvary. Presumably, it is this resemblance that prompted His Holiness Pope Leo XIII
to refer to Manapad as "A Little Jerusalem". Incidentally, there are many who decline quick transport to trudge many miles as reparation for their sinful lives. For many, the hardship is eclipsed by joyful participation in a 300 year-old tradition, the procession of the relic of the True Cross when they join the thousands singing praises:
that adorns the high altar of Holy Cross Church. The most popular belief is that the crucifix had come together with the well-known "Our Lady of Snows" statue in the Our Lady of Snows Basilica
in Tuticorin. This assumption is untenable, because there was no church or priest in Manapad until sometime in the 1570s. However, both the crucifix and the "Our Lady of Snows" statue originate from Manila
, with the crucifix sent at a later date.
The two aforementioned items, as well as a statue of Child Jesus
, were carried to Manila by Captain Ferdinand Magellan
, a Spanish explorer who arrived in Cebu
, Philippines, in March 1521. The first converts by Magellan were a chief named Humabon and his queen. The latter, baptized as Juana, was given the statue of Child Jesus, which came to be known as Santo Niño de Cebu
, standing to this day above the high altar of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño. This statue for many millions of Catholic Filipinos is a national heritage. Magellan's statue of Our Lady is a replica of the statue in the church of St. Mary of the Snows in Rome
. It was gifted to Tuticorin by the Prioress of the convent
in Manila in 1555. Subsequently, Fr. John de Salanova sought Magellan's crucifix for his newly constructed church of the Holy Cross in Manapad. The Prioress was cooperative due to the rare papal conferment of the relic of the True Cross to Manapad. The exact date of the receipt of the crucifix is unknown.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, 60 km from Tuticorin and 18 km south of Tiruchendur
Tiruchendur
Thiruchendur is a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This town has a different name called Thirucheer Alaiwai.-Demographics:...
, and one of the first places to be visited by St. Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier
Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a student of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits, dedicated at Montmartre in 1534...
in 1542 when he initiated missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
activity on the Fishery coast. Francis Xavier is said to have lived and prayed in a cavern on the seaward face of a cliff. Holy Cross Church close to the sea was built in the year 1581. This church has what is believed to be a fragment of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
of Jerusalem. Thousands congregate during the festival season from 1 to 14 September every year when the cross is publicly displayed.
History
Traditional stories say that in 1540 a PortuguesePortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
trading vessel
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
, while sailing around the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
on its way to the East, encountered a violent storm splitting its sails and snapping the hind mast, leaving it at risk of foundering. The captain, who was devoted to the veneration of the Holy Cross, implored and entrusted the safety of the vessel and that of the crew to the crucified Christ. He also made a vow that he would construct a cross from a portion of the splintered mast and have it planted on the shore where they alighted in safety. By chance, the vessel after having drifted for several days sought haven in the then well known port of Kulesakharapatnam.
A miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
is said to have occurred when the cross was still in the form of a log cut off from the broken mast; when lying on the shore an inhabitant of the village who had trampled on filth had cleansed his foot on this log. No sooner had he wiped his leg than he felt a pain and instantaneous swelling. That night the man had a vision in which it was revealed to him that the ailment was due to his defiling the log intended for a sacred purpose. He was asked to wipe the muck off the log, smear the log with oil, and then apply the same oil to his foot to cure it. Early next morning, the patient was carried to the log, and to the amazement of the crowd that had collected there, the man was cured immediately and able to walk back home unaided. This remarkable event made the planting of the Cross by the captain an occasion of great piety
Piety
In spiritual terminology, piety is a virtue that can mean religious devotion, spirituality, or a combination of both. A common element in most conceptions of piety is humility.- Etymology :...
and festivity. From then onwards, the name and fame of the captain's cross spread throughout the Coromandel Coast
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent between Cape Comorin and False Divi Point...
.
St. Francis Xavier
Manapad was mostly inhabited by the Paravars who had embraced ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in 1532. However, for want of missionaries, the neophytes remained nominal Christians until the arrival and ministration of St. Francis Xavier in October 1542. Xavier chose a grotto
Grotto
A grotto is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide...
which he preferred to use for a home. The cave was known in pre-Christian era as "Valli's cave", a counterpart of the one at Tiruchendur
Tiruchendur
Thiruchendur is a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This town has a different name called Thirucheer Alaiwai.-Demographics:...
. It is now a signal grotto with a carved stone at its entrance carrying the words: "This cave, the dwelling of a saivite sanyasi, has been sanctified by the prayers and penance of St. Francis Xavier".
Xavier used the Captain's Cross which, with its raised platform and an overhead covering, worked as a built-in chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, enabling him to offer daily services. St. Francis ministered the area until November 1543 when he returned to Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
. He was again at Manapad in March, June, August and September 1544 and went to Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
in November.
Xavier's first miracle
Xavier was held in high regard by the people of Manapad for his austerity, moral strictness, compassion, and wise counsel. During his stay there, with the help of the pandits of Manapad he translated the rudiments of the common prayers and trained the first catechists.While at Manapad, the saint had two youngsters, Augustine Paiva and Anthony Miranda, trained as acolyte
Acolyte
In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone who performs ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In other Christian Churches, the term is more specifically used for one who wishes to attain clergyhood.-Etymology:...
s. One day at dawn when Augustine was on his way to the Captain's Cross where Xavier offered the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
ic Service daily, a few yards away on the pathway, he saw his companion Anthony lying still and frothing at the mouth with a cobra
Cobra
Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...
crawling away. Augustine approached Anthony and tried to rouse him, but upon finding no pulse, ran to the saint's niche. Xavier raised his head heavenwards, exclaimed some prayers and rushed to the scene. Blessing Anthony's body, he called upon Anthony to get up. To the amazement of all gathered there, Anthony Miranda not only got up, but followed the saint and assisted him at the Holy Mass as usual.
The first miracle of his life had such an impact that the people in and around Manapad started venerating him as a saint long before he was canonized
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
by the Church.
Church of the Holy Cross
After more miracles, the church of the Holy Cross was built in the year 1581, encasing the Captain's Cross. Contributions towards building of the church were spontaneously given by the inhabitants and Rev. Fr.John de Salanova, the parish priest of the only church in the village (then dedicated to the "Queen of Heaven"), was able to complete construction long before the scheduled time.Relic of the True Cross
With the erection of the church, Rev.John de Salanova decided it should possess a relicRelic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
of the True Cross. In 1583 he appealed to Rome through the General of the Jesuits
Superior General of the Society of Jesus
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus is the official title of the leader of the Society of Jesus—the Roman Catholic religious order, also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position carries the nickname of Black Pope, after his simple black priest's...
Rev. Fr. Aquaviva for a fragment of the True Cross. Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
obliged and the relic appears to have arrived at Cochin in the first week of August 1583. Rev. Mathew de Medina of the Order of Christ
Order of Christ
Order of Christ may refer to:* Order of Christ – former Knights Templar Order awarded initially by the kings of Portugal, now by the Portuguese state...
, the prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
of Cochin, received the relic, after exposing it for three days for the veneration of the faithful, he inaugurated the grand tour of the relic all along the coastal belt with halts in places of Catholic predominance. The procession reached Manapad a few days before the festival of the Exaltation of the True Cross. Many Catholics followed in procession with the relic, in later years Manapad came to be a traditional place of pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to those of the Malabar Coast.
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
The feastFeast
Feast may refer to:* Banquet, a large meal* A Festival or feria* Ramadan, Muslim's holy month* Nineteen Day Feast, a monthly meeting held in Bahá'í communities to worship, consult, and socialize....
of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is celebrated annually by the Catholic Church on 14 September, as one of thanksgiving for the recovery of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
from the Persians by the great Emperor Heraclius
Heraclius
Heraclius was Byzantine Emperor from 610 to 641.He was responsible for introducing Greek as the empire's official language. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Africa, successfully led a revolt against the unpopular usurper Phocas.Heraclius'...
. Fragments of the True Cross were in due course brought from Jerusalem to many churches dedicated to the Holy Cross in the East and West. These churches sought to imitate the solemn ceremonies in use at Jerusalem in order to do homage to the Holy Cross. Possibly one of the earliest dedications to the Cross in India was the Church of the Holy Cross in Manapad. Throughout the year many pilgrims visit the church and thousands congregate during the festive season from first to fourteenth September.
Though with the conferment of the fragment of the True Cross, the feast attained a certain dignity, it was only after the inauguration of the Confraternity
Confraternity
A confraternity is normally a Roman Catholic or Orthodox organization of lay people created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy...
of the Five Sacred Wounds of Our Lord that the festival won recognition as a major festival. The Confraternity was approved by His Holiness Pope Benedict XIII
Pope Benedict XIII
-Footnotes:...
on 25 February 1725 and on May 28 of the same year was established in the Church of Holy Cross in Manapad. Thereafter the Confraternity of the Five Sacred Wounds of Our Lord has been instrumental in the celebration of the festival with pomp and piety.
The most solemnity and pageantry occurs during the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, when mostly maritime pilgrims throng to Manapad from the Coromandel and Kerala Coasts. They can be seen in village or family groups performing the Way of the Cross as they cover the fourteen stations built on the hillock, reminiscent of Jesus Christ's last journey on Mount Calvary. Presumably, it is this resemblance that prompted His Holiness Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
to refer to Manapad as "A Little Jerusalem". Incidentally, there are many who decline quick transport to trudge many miles as reparation for their sinful lives. For many, the hardship is eclipsed by joyful participation in a 300 year-old tradition, the procession of the relic of the True Cross when they join the thousands singing praises:
Notable Religious Art
There has been much speculation about the crucifixCrucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
that adorns the high altar of Holy Cross Church. The most popular belief is that the crucifix had come together with the well-known "Our Lady of Snows" statue in the Our Lady of Snows Basilica
Our Lady of Snows Basilica
Our Lady of Snows Shrine Basilica is located at Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Catholic pilgrimage centres in India dedicated to the Virgin Mary.-History:...
in Tuticorin. This assumption is untenable, because there was no church or priest in Manapad until sometime in the 1570s. However, both the crucifix and the "Our Lady of Snows" statue originate from Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, with the crucifix sent at a later date.
The two aforementioned items, as well as a statue of Child Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, were carried to Manila by Captain Ferdinand Magellan
Magellan
Magellan may refer to:*Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer who led part of the first expedition around the world*Magellan , a progressive rock band*Magellan , a forerunner of the Excite web portal...
, a Spanish explorer who arrived in Cebu
Cebu
Cebu is a province in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 surrounding islands. It is located to the east of Negros, to the west of Leyte and Bohol islands...
, Philippines, in March 1521. The first converts by Magellan were a chief named Humabon and his queen. The latter, baptized as Juana, was given the statue of Child Jesus, which came to be known as Santo Niño de Cebu
Santo Niño de Cebu
The Santo Niño de Cebú is a Roman Catholic figure of the Child Jesus highly similar to the Infant Jesus of Prague. Like the image's counterpart in Prague, the figure is clothed in expensive textile robes mostly donations from fervent devotees in the Philippines and abroad...
, standing to this day above the high altar of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño. This statue for many millions of Catholic Filipinos is a national heritage. Magellan's statue of Our Lady is a replica of the statue in the church of St. Mary of the Snows in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. It was gifted to Tuticorin by the Prioress of the convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
in Manila in 1555. Subsequently, Fr. John de Salanova sought Magellan's crucifix for his newly constructed church of the Holy Cross in Manapad. The Prioress was cooperative due to the rare papal conferment of the relic of the True Cross to Manapad. The exact date of the receipt of the crucifix is unknown.