God's Power of Goa, India(印度牧牛国神威)-儿歌荟萃-万维博客-万维读者网（电脑版）

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		God's Power of Goa, India(印度牧牛国神威)	2020-03-18 13:22:05

2013-12-16

【Aiden in English】

We sailed from Mumbai to Mormugao off the western coast of the Arabian Sea. Mom and I would tour the town of Old Goa, where the Portuguese colonized and used to live as the former capital of the Portuguese Indies in the 16^th-18^th centuries. Back in ancient times, Goa used to be a nation of cowherds and had quite overpopulated. The villagers were forced to abandon their homes and escaped the plague and malaria diseases in history.

We went across the mountain chain of the Western Ghats and definitely saw signs of Portuguese influence. Some houses had balconies that overlooked the gardens, streets, and the town. Most of the homes were furnished with fancy stylish porches. Beautiful church architecture spread over the places after the Portuguese brought Christianity over. Today we came to see two important churches out of many more. Those churches and the Western Ghats were all listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The first church, the Basilica of Bom Jesus, was more famous than the other. It was built of black laterite stone with marble and inlaid precious stones and set up the best example of Baroque architecture in India. However, the most important of all was to hold the body of the patron saint of Goa, Francis Xavier who taught people about evangelism. On the journey to China from India, St. Francis Xavier felt sick and passed away. The captain decided to bury him locally. Half of a year later, his body still stayed in the condition it was when the captain dug it out and wanted to carry it back to Goa. It was the very salty and dry weather that helped to preserve the body well. Eventually, the captain moved his body back to India and buried it in this church. Years later, the scientists dissected the corpse and accidentally lost all organs. Now the body was completely hollow inside but remained in decent shape. I think this happened due to the good deeds he did in his life.

The second church, Se Cathedral, consisted of a convent surrounded by a huge courtyard with exotic plants, the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, the Church of St. Caetano, etc. The interior had a beautiful showcase of Portuguese columns, pediments, altars, wall paintings, and frescoes. The exterior of the Italian columns, platform, and doorway was another example of Renaissance architecture. This church was larger than anyone in Portugal. The complex was so big that we only explored a quarter of it.

The most striking story to me was that a lot of rich people were buried underneath the church after death. When people came to pray and walked over their tombstone-paved aisles, the rich ones would make it a way of saying that anyone else was better than I, which released all the sins they did in the past.

Sometimes, the universe will give the good thing back to you if you give the good thing to it.

【红霞译文】

离开孟买(意指“母亲”)后，我们继续沿阿拉伯海南行，直到果阿邦(意指牧牛国)港口城市魔木高(意指“三村落”)，我和妈妈打算去牧牛国老城一趟，游览这座葡萄牙殖民者曾于16～18世纪期间设成驻印首府的古都。据历史记载，作为“牧牛者国度”的牧牛国人口过剩，当地人一度为摆脱鼠疫和疟疾而被迫离乡背井。

我们穿越西高止山脉(意指“登岸阶梯”)，一路上昔日葡萄牙殖民遗风犹存，诸如伸出房外可以俯瞰庭院街道马路的阳台、时尚别致的走廊、风格讲究的基督教堂之类的西洋建筑结构屡见不鲜，今天我们重点参观众多教堂中的两个，连同登岸阶梯一起均被联合国教科文组织列入《世界遗产名录》。

第一个是最著名的仁慈耶稣大教堂，其建筑上全部采用当地黑色红土石、大理石和镶嵌宝石材料，风格上号称全印度巴洛克艺术极品，另外这个教堂更因拥有牧牛国守护神传教士主保遗体而为各地朝圣者心向往之。传教士主保曾为葡萄牙基督传教士，在去中国布道路上不幸病亡，起初船长就地入殓，半年过后当他挖出遗体准备运回牧牛国时，发现整个遗体因高盐干燥有利条件而保存完好，最后得以如愿送回印度并入棺下丧到仁慈耶稣大教堂。过了若干年，科学家们对传教士主保的尸体进行了解剖研究，不知怎么搞的，所有内脏器官竟先后不翼而飞，现存的传教士主保遗体实际上只剩下一具外观尚好的空壳，我觉得这是他生前积德行善的结果。

第二个是牧牛国最大的主教大教堂，整个建筑群气势浩瀚，包括修道院及其种植了多种奇花异草的庭院，玫瑰圣母教堂、盖塔圣徒教堂等散落在周围不远的地方。教堂内部木梁、山形墙、祭坛、壁画和浮雕等优美地再现了葡萄牙建筑之精华；教堂外表石柱、平台、大门入口处巧妙地借鉴了意大利文艺复兴艺术手法，就其规模大小而论，葡萄牙国内任何一个教堂都无法与主教座大教堂相比，正是基于这个原因，我们这次远道而来也只能参观其中的四分之一。

值得一提的还有，许多富人死后都情愿葬身主教座大教堂下面，当前来祈祷的教徒脚踩由死者墓碑铺成的过道时，死者“内心”释然，因此而了却生前所欠的孽债，以求心地纯净并尽早随主升天。

世间万物就是这样，善待他人就等于善待自己。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2012: 机场文化(Airport Culture)

2009: 梦系新西兰长白云之乡(Land of the Long White Cloud)

Basilica of Bom Jesus (慈悲耶稣大教堂 12-16-2013)

Façade @ Basilica of Bom Jesus (慈悲耶稣大教堂·正面观)

Relics of St. Francis Xavier @ Basilica of Bom Jesus

(慈悲耶稣大教堂——传教士主保遗物)

The Baroque-style main altar is gilded and bears the statue of Ignatius of Loyola standing between Solomonic pillars above which is the name of Jesus in the IHS monogram and the Holy Trinity.

(镀金的巴洛克式主祭坛，在智者柱之间立着耶稣会创始人雕像，上面是象征基督的耶稣名字和三位一体)