Old Goa: The 45-day-long decennial Exposition of Holy Relics of St Francis Xavier began at Old Goa on Thursday with the Holy Eucharist in the morning.
Thousands of devotees thronged to Old Goa since Thursday morning to witness the procession of Relics of St Francis Xavier, who is revered at the Patron Saint of the coastal state.
The relics Holy Eucharist was concelebrated by a Cardinal, four Archbishops, Bishops and 400-500 priests.
Archbishop of Delhi Most Reverend Anil Couto was the main celebrant for the Holy Eucharist.
Bishop of Daltonganj (Jharkhand) Theodore Mascarenhas, Bishop Emeritus Alex Dias and Bishop of Port Blair Selvaraj and Archbishop of Goa and Daman Filip Neri Cardinal Ferrao, the Superior General of the Pilar Fathers concelebrate the Mass, along with around 400-500 priests at Basilica of Bom Jesus where the relics are originally housed.
The Holy Relics were taken in procession to the Se Cathedral, in a specially designed e-vehicle, accompanied by the clergy and selected representatives of various sections of society.
Around 1,000 youth formed human chain on both sides of the procession, due to security reasons.
Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai and chief minister Pramod Sawant offered prayers at the relics on Thursday morning, before starting of the religious celebrations.
Fr Henry Falcao, convenor of the exposition said that everyday, veneration of the Sacred Relics of the Saint will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be no veneration on January 5, 2025.
He said that everyday, there will be 7 Masses in Konkani and one Mass in English.
