Our Lady of Fatima refers to the Virgin Mary appearing to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. She gave them messages about praying, repenting, and living better lives. These messages were about finding peace and turning back to God. Since then, the message of Fatima has spread around the world and inspired many people.
Bringing a statue of Our Lady into our homes is a way to keep her messages close. During such visits, the statue is honored with prayers and songs. This practice helps bring the spirit of Fatima directly into our homes and hearts.

Deepening Our Faith
When Our Lady visits our homes, it helps us grow in our faith. Having the statue in our home reminds us to pray and think about her messages. Families come together to pray, reflect, and renew their commitment to living according to their faith. It shows that faith should be part of everyday life, not just something that happens at church.
Building Community
The visit also helps strengthen family and community bonds. When we participate together in honoring Our Lady, it brings us closer as a family and as a community. It reminds us that faith is a shared experience and encourages us to support each other.
When families invite friends and neighbors to join in, it’s a chance to share the message of Fatima and the teachings of Christ. This helps build a stronger, more connected community.
Encouraging Change
The visit of Our Lady is also a call to change for the better. Her messages focus on repentance, prayer, and peace. Having her statue in our home encourages us to think about our lives and make positive changes. It’s a reminder to seek forgiveness, work on personal struggles, and live according to Christian values.
The visit of Our Lady to our homes is a powerful experience. It helps us grow in our faith, strengthens our community and encourages personal change. This tradition is more than just a ceremony; it’s a way to bring the spirit and teachings of Fatima into our daily lives. It reminds us of the support and inspiration that faith can bring to our lives.

The Diocesan Day of Mass Media Apostolate in Goa will be held on 13th October 2024. Most recently it was held on 9th October 2022. This event emphasizes the importance of using social media responsibly and positively, and it includes various activities and a special Eucharistic celebration.

“This is a Unique program touching the day to day living of the people, giving practical tips about interpersonal communication skills needed in the family and how to deal with modern Media, these tips are of utmost importance in the present times with so many technological changes” Said Fr. Rocklin D’Costa, to his parishioners as he gave a vote of thanks to the Diocesan Centre for Social Communications media team, on the occasion of Media Mission held at Holy Trinity Church Nagoa-Arpora during the Novenas of Nativity of Mother Mary, from 30th August to 8th September, this year. All the sessions were based on Scripture and teachings of the Church regarding Communications Media.

The Feast of the nativity of our Blessed Mother is celebrated every year with spiritual fervour and zeal at St.Sebastian Church Aquem. The joy of “Motherhood” is celebrated keeping in mind the birthday of Our Heavenly Mother. This year being a Sunday all the masses had the fervour of the feast mass. A prelude to the feast day were the nine days novena for which the arrangement was done by the different catechism classes, the youth and the catechists. The Marian Rosary was Sung by the Children on all 9 days for which they were trained by Catechist Savion Fernandes. On all the novena days Children offered grains and pulses as offerings which then will be distributed to the needy and poor.

Spreading the love of God and helping those in need is what our catholic church teaches us. By helping others come unto Him, we will find that we have come unto Him ourselves. Keeping this in mind, we celebrate the World Mission Day.
World Mission Sunday is a day when Catholics around the world come together as a community of faith, to recommit to being missionaries through prayer, baptism, participating in the Eucharist, and giving towards the collection for the society for the propagation of the Faith. This day was instituted in the year 1926, by Pope Pius XI, to renew the Catholic Church’s commitment to missionary work and to recognize the common responsibility of Christians to evangelize the world. This day is celebrated on the penultimate Sunday in October and this year (2024), the World Mission Sunday will be celebrated on the 20th October.
Each year the Pope sends a message to the entire Church for its celebration of World Mission Day. The theme, chosen by Pope Francis for the mission Sunday this year, is rooted in the Gospel of Mathew: “Go and Invite Everyone to the Banquet,” reflecting the inclusive and urgent call to bring God’s love to everyone.

The Deanery Level Quiz competition was held on 25th August 2024 at Grace Church at 3:30 PM, with 12 parishes from the deanery participating in a thrilling and intellectually stimulating event. The quiz was masterfully conducted by Nety Gomes, who kept the competition engaging and challenging. The rounds were as follows:

1. General Question Round
2. Visual Round
3. Lot Round
4. Clue Round
5. Rapid Fire Round

Cholera is an acute bacterial disease caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.

A cholera infection can be mild, with no symptoms. But about 10% of infected people develop severe symptoms, 12 hours to five days after ingesting the bacteria. These symptoms include:

Motherhood, a journey that evolves with time, offers rich emotional experiences. From the elation of holding a newborn for the first time to the bittersweet pride of watching a teenager grow into their own person, and finally, the deep reflection that comes with being an elderly mother, each stage of this journey is uniquely profound. Here, I explore the emotional joys of being a mother through the eyes of a new mother, a mother of a teenager, and an elderly mother, each experiencing the transformative power of motherhood in their own way.

The month of May is generally very hot and humid but the parishioners of St. Sebastian Church, Aquem had an added dose of unhappiness when they got the confirmed news about the transfer of their both Parish Priests.

Before we could even realize the seven year term of Fr. Andrew Pereira as Parish Priest is over and its’ time for him to hand over the reigns to the incoming Parish Priest. His care and attention to all the members of the Parish family, his visitation of the sick and elderly with Holy Communion, his energy, skill and organizational ability, his provision of Mass and Sacraments all add up for being much appreciated by the parishioners. He has always been generous with his time for his flock. In the fight against Covid, which forced the closure of our Church for months on end, he continued to engage directly with the people through electronic media and found ways to keep them connected and growing in spirituality. We can’t thank you enough Father Andrew. Together we have achieved a lot under your strong and energetic leadership. We wish you Fr. Andrew every success at Holy Cross Church, Quepem. Read more

Shania Miranda, a 9-year-old studying at Bloomz International School, has marked her niche in academics and sports alike and has bagged several awards for the same. She has published her first book, Shania’s Adventures, and received a Silver Star Medallion award for being the best-selling young author at the state level by NYAF (National Young Author’s Fair). She secured third place in the NELTAS International Olympiad in the Science Grand Finale and won the Achiever’s Medal in Maths, science, English, and spelling bee competitions. In sports, she has excelled in various events with golds and has bagged the all-rounder Best Athlete Trophy by BIS. She also won at the BPS club-level chess tournament and was felicitated by BPS Sports Club at the 84th Annual Club Meet for her state-level achievements in April 2024. She has also bagged gold in the freestyle swimming medley relay at the 34th All Goa Swimming Sub-Junior and Junior Level Aquatic Championship organized by SAG (Swimming Association of Goa). Congratulations to Shania on all her achievements and wishing her more power and strength to conquer her dreams.
(Shania Miranda is the daughter of Mukesh Miranda and Dr. Trisha Torcato of ward 12)

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