Goa’s Ladainha Tradition

Goa’s Ladainha Tradition
Ladainha is a prayer, a plea to Our Lady and to the Saints and their names and symbolic attributes are cited and a request made to them to pray and implore to God for the well being of the faithful. In Goa we have Ladainhas throughout the year. These can be an annual or occasional event.

The first one includes the commemoration of the enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which may coincide with the wedding anniversary or the birthday of a member of the house; devotion to a particular Saint like Saint Anne, St Anthony preferably on the day of the feast. It is a tradition for catholic homes to have a cross installed in front of their houses. In this case the family celebrates the annual Ladainha

of the many traditions followed by Goan Catholics, the Ladainha is another that has been brought and implanted by the Portuguese in this territory, and it became a religious-cum-sociological practice. It is an age old tradition amongst the Roman Catholic that has been followed for centuries and it continues till today, though with some modifications. The Ladainhas are a kind of folk oratorio and consist of singing and recitation, hymns and prayers (earlier these were rendered by all-male singers).

Ladainha is a prayer, a plea to Our Lady and to the Saints and their names and symbolic attributes are cited and a request made to them to pray and implore to God for the well being of the faithful.

The word litania in Latin meant in the beginning a prayer and applied to the liturgical functions in which the Church and the Catholic people proposed to address God in supplication. The invocations carry with it such final supplications like: Kyrie eleison, misere nobis, ora pronobis… The Ladainha today has a common preamble (invocation of divine persons in Greek or Latin) and a common part of conclusion (the three invocations Agnus Dei…) and the invocation in honour of Our Lady or of the Saints. The responsorial and prayers vary according to the Ladainhas. At present the Church has approved for public cult only the Ladainhas of Saints, Our Lady, Holy Name of Jesus, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Saint Joseph and the church services for the dying persons.

In Goa we have Ladainhas throughout the year. These can be an annual or occasional event. The first one includes the commemoration of the enthronement of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which may coincide with the wedding anniversary or the birthday of a member of the house; devotion to a particular Saint like Saint Anne, St Anthony preferably on the day of the feast. It is a tradition for Catholic homes to have a cross installed in front of their houses. In this case the family celebrates the annual Ladainha. It is also held at the various crosses which are seen dotting the villages and a number of small chapels. At these places annual Ladainha is held by the people of the ward or members responsible for the upkeep of the cross. These Ladainhas are predominant during the month of May, when feasts of the crosses in the wards of the village are celebrated.

This month is ideal because students are on vacation, the Goan emigrant in the neighbouring regions of Goa, especially Mumbai, returned home to spend some time in their beloved Goa and participate in the social activities of the village, like the village feast, weddings of relatives and so on. Some decades ago May was the favourite month for weddings.

In some cases the Ladainha is held for nine days (similar to the novenas in preparation to the feast) and on the feast day. Different persons or families are entrusted with the responsibility of conducting it on each day. Of late the rosary has been introduced before the Ladainha is sung and the latter used to be in Latin and Greek but now there is a Konkani translation for those who want to sing it in this language.

However, the invocations and prayers were always in Konkani. After the Ladainha, the following hymns are sung: Salve Rainha, Virgem Mai de Deus (both in Portuguese), and a hymn to the Saint or the patron of the village and to the Holy Cross, if the Ladainha is near the cross. No Ladainha ends in Goa without a hymn in praise and honour of the patron of Goa, St Francis Xavier.

Special events like birthdays, anniversaries, housewarming, and specific intentions which include the eve of embarking on the first trip by an individual, thanksgiving by the emigrant who comes to Goa, either at the beginning or end of the holiday, etc. The emigrants, who married outside Goa, organised a Ladainha when they came home after the marriage or on the occasion of the first child’s christening. Besides seeking blessings for the newborn, the couple and their families, it also acted as an announcement of the marriage.

There was also a time when a Ladainha was an indispensable item in the programme of the nocturnal vigil kept on the sixth day after birth, sou disanchi ladin to bless the newborn and ward off any bad spirits. It is believed that “Sotti” a Goddess, looks after the child and she needs to be kept happy by the family if the child needs her protection from any evil. Otherwise she can harm the child. On the sixth day the child is not left unattended and even during the night a close watch is kept as the Goddess visits the newborn on this day. It is believed that if there is no one to receive the Goddess then she would be angry and harm the child. The belief of “Sotti” is deeply marked amongst the Hindu community even today.

The head or any family member or an elderly person starts the Ladainha with the sign of the cross and intones the first line of the antiphon in Latin “Deus in adjutorum meum intende” which is followed by the chorus. The music is usually provided by the Church choir master, ‘mestre’, and he is accompanied by his choir or some men who are trained to sing the Ladainha.

After the Ladainha come the relevant hymns and then the prayers. The latter duly prefaced with a brief ejaculation covering the different intentions for which the prayers are being directed. These included the interests of family concerned, special aspirations, well being of a member of family, and also that of the village and villagers, for the soul of the dead and what cannot be specifically mentioned is covered by a generic intention that the people concerned may obtain all that they wish and aspire. Before ending the prayers the person asks the family or the person responsible to organise the Ladainha if more prayers are to be said.

According to the intentions three, four or more Our Father and Hail Mary are recited. If the Ladainha is to celebrate a wedding or christening first few versus of Te Deum are also sung.

Gram, boiled or baked, was served. Now, different types of snacks or chewda, is served with soft drinks. Earlier it was the trend to serve local liquor to the men. Very few women attended the Ladainha in olden days. It was an all men show. With more sophistication the change in the serving of eatables has taken place, and on the feast day a meat stew, xacuti, pulao, cake and drinks are served by some.