BARADI CROSS AND VANXIM CROSS

The Holy Cross Chapel at Baradi Cross is very famous for its miracles. It is very well known for miracles of childless couples,unhealing wounds and sick infants.

Holy Cross Chapel, Baradi is situated on top of the hill in South Goa. The view form the hill is really beautiful.

I would like to speak specifically about the holy cross popularly know as "baradi khuris". It is situated in velim Goa on a high hill surrounded with greenery all around and you get a magnificent view from the top.

A large number of people visit this place very often and believe that it is a miraculous cross. A lot of teens and old people come here to while away their  time as it is a very peaceful place. There are lots of cashew trees and coconuts trees all surrounded around the cross.

 Miraculous Crosses, where people, irrespective of their faith, flock for favours and to express their gratitude and for solace of mind, are spread across Goa.

The feasts of many of these Crosses are celebrated in May. The feast of the Baradi Miraculous Cross in South Goa and the Miraculous Cross in Vanxim in North Goa are celebrated on May 3.

Talking about the cross it is a very huge cross founded on a white base. It has a staircase around It where people go up and kiss the cross. The feast of the holy cross is celebrated on 3rd may.  People gather in large numbers from different places of Goa to celebrate this feast . As I have said it is a miraculous cross it is well know for miracles such as childless couples, unhealing wounds and sick infant's.

Baradi Cross

Baradi is a scenic village in Velim, famous for the Miraculous Cross atop the hill, called the Baradi Cross. It has no canopy over it although many attempts had been made to provide one; this has proved difficult because of its location.

The cross here is very huge and is founded on a white base. It has a staircase around it that allows people to reach the top to kiss the cross, garland it with flowers, light candles, and spend a moment of two in deep prayer. As a tradition, devotees circle the cross thrice to offer their prayers.

There was also a custom prevalent then, when nearby villagers, in prayer, singing hymns and accompanied by a brass band, would make a trip on foot to the cross during the season of Lent.

According to legend, after the revolt of the Ganvkars in Assolna and Cuncolim in 1583, the government confiscated all the village property which also included lands up to Betul.

These were handed over to Don Pedro de Crasto, who in turn, passed them over to the Paulist fathers. In 1585, Velim and Betul villages were converted to Christianity. As a symbol of their victory, the Paulists erected a cross here. Much later, due to the prevalent conditions then – probably when the religious orders were suppressed in Goa – this cross was abandoned.

At the beginning of the last century, it is said that the vicar of Velim, Fr Simphriano Caetano Dias, saw in his dream the cross whose pedestal was puckered with holes and steps leading to it. He made enquiries about it in the village.

A Kunnbi from Baradi told him that there was a similar cross on the hill which, by then, would be in ruins as nobody went up there. The priest cut his way up the hill only to find the Cross lying under a thick cover of trees. He cleaned the place, and built a small chapel next to it.

Another miracle that took place was a woman had no children for past 14 years and an old lady informed her about this cross. So she went there and prayed with full faith and after few months she came to know that she was pregnant and then she was blessed with twins. And because of this blessing the couple offered 5 benches in the chapel as a way to thank God.

There are many more miracles about the holy cross which I will never finish talking about them in my blog . Hence one should go and feel the magic of the cross.

Vanxim Cross

Vanxim or Capão is an island of Goa situated in the Ilhas region. One can reach here by taking a ferry from Divar.^[1] The colonial name for Vanxim was Capão. One may see a lot of houses with few villagers many of whom are fisher-folk in the area. Silveiras, Furtados, Vas, Olivera are surnames of people. Archdiocese of Goa played key role in selling the island to broker Mahendra Gaunekar who in turn sold it to Ozone corporate. Luxury hotel and Golf Course is sort to be forced upon this island but faced resistance from alert islanders and others.

Vanxim is a small, beautiful island with mangroves on every side, in Tiswadi taluka. It has a Chapel of the Miraculous Cross which is visited every year by people who come to make or fulfill vows.

The exact date or year of the construction of the cross here is not known, but the present elders of the village remember that it was built by one villager whose ancestral house still stands in the village with a cross having the same design as the Miraculous Cross.

Since hundreds of people began flocking to Vanxim village to pray and ask for favours at the cross, the villagers decided to build a chapel there. Funds were collected both, from the village and elsewhere; however, this decision created a dilemma in which some villagers suggested breaking and rebuilding the original cross while others were against this move. Ultimately, it was the original cross that was retained.

Villagers who do not reside on the island gather on the feast day for the Mass to pay their respect, and to thank the almighty for the prayers answered and all the personal favours granted.

The islet of Vanxim

Vanxim or Vanusim as it is also known is very tiny and is surrounded by mangroves on every side. In the old days, it was only accessible by canoe. Now it is also accessible by ferry from Divar and there are, or used to be just 40 families living on the island. Their occupations usually tended towards farming or fishing. There is a small church on the island named the Church of Santo Cristo which was built sometime in 1879 AD. Vanxim also has a Chapel of the Miraculous Cross which is visited every year by people who come to make or fulfill vows. Both feasts are celebrated during the summer months of April and May respectively.

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