BOW BAZAR PARISH

BOW BAZAR PARISH

My Generation

A Self- Sufficient Parish

Divine Providence would have Bow Bazar Church’s Centenary coincide with the Jubilee Year 2000, which could qualify it as one of the major churches for obtaining the jubilee indulgence. St. Francis Xavier’s Church was for most of last century a “city set on a hill” and paved with perfection. Parishioners of my generation will recall with nostalgic ardour how BB parish was indeed justly proud in its self-sufficiency. Splendid liturgies, Novenas of grace, Eucharistic processions, Missions, the schools run by the Loreto nuns and Irish Christian Brothers (they were all Irish and the students were all Catholic) made it a sort of city state. There was a period in the 1920’s when every family on Bow Bazar Street was Roman Catholic. The British still ruled India, and history seemed to stand still. However, the arrival of Independence signaled the departure of a substantial number of families. Anglo-Indian was an embattled cultural form. They broke ranks and migrated to different parts of the English-speaking world, taking the Faith and the parish devotions with them. Their posterity will never know the magnificent church that stands in the middle of Bow Bazar Street, that nurtured men and women in solid loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church, and in the process, provided innumerable priestly and religious vocations.

Great Pastors and Teachers    The priests, brothers and nuns who accomplished this great work have their names writ indelible in the grateful hearts of those they served. The greatest among them: Frs. Alexander Dessa, Wawters deBesterfeld, Anthony deBono, Salvino R. Galea (of Y.C.W. fame), Mothers Mercedes and Gertrude, Bros. J. E. McClaughlin, Titus Chandler and Francis Peters ( that unforgettable “foxy”). If there is a Book f Life, then this is it. Families received regular visits and the sick were cared for. The boys and girls won trophies on the sports field and the examination hall.

The church building and furnishing were kept in mint condition, the sacred vessels and vestment crinkle clean. Noting was left to happenstance or fluke or miraculous intervention. The consistent devotion of the priestly and religious personnel ensured that slovenliness and all manner of hanky-panky bowed to smartness and order.                                                                                        Sodalities of men, women, boys and girls flourished by dint of prayers, May devotions and May candle offerings. The SVP Conference was the first ever in India. Those were the days of the Latin Mass (which some understood and nobody minded), polyphony, Gregorian chant and the “Three Hours Agony” service. The church was packed to the doors for all occasions. Every nook and cranny of the parish echoed its testimony to Roman Catholicism.

Landmark Event  

The Diamond Jubilee 1975 Souvenir mentioned a “landmark event” in the history of the Bow Bazar church in the appointment of Fr. Alexander Dessa as vicar. It was he who imported the Italian marble for the high altar, a new set of gold and silver braided vestments from Europe and a magnificent monstrance crafted by the Geraert family. The Conquos donated a heavy gem-encrusted gold chalice, costing Rs. 2.5 lakhs in today’s currency. A Burma teak pulpit was commissioned. It bore bronze paneling of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary and the four evangelists, a splendid monument of wood carving by Wong carpenter. Shipped also from Western Europe and the U.S. were some hundreds of hard and leather bound tomes of theology, sermons, spirituality, saints’ lives and classics. These books were finally transferred to and carefully preserved in Morning Star Regional Seminary, Barrackpore. An immense pipe-reed organ was shipped in from Germany and assembled in the choir loft. It is there still, and its deep vibrant diapason rings out on big occasions even today.

Stalwarts and Relicts

The majestic Latin liturgies have long since faded into history. The gold braided vestments, the precious chalices and monstrance have disappeared, and the ornate pulpit disposed off to God knows where, the Dresden china no more visible on the damask that is not there. (Only the books have been saved by timely intervention by Fr. Mervyn Carapiet). Was it by deliberate intent or administrative negligence? Either way the enormity of the loss is utterly inexcusable!

The massive attendance of yesteryear has dwindled. Today’s Sunday congregation is sparse. The stalwarts have gone to their reward: the Conquos and Carapiets, Gomezes and Hendries, the Lees, Davids and Madeiras…

The relicts of my generation can only reminisce the days that will never come again, yet grateful that they had seen the best. For them there will not be another Jubilee of Bow Bazar Church, and it is well there won’t. But when they do alight on the further shore, they need only look for the beckoning crowds of parishioners who have gone before and hear them say, “Over here, we are from St. Francis Xavier’s, too. Here is where you belong forever.”

-         Fr. Mervyn Carapiet