Pilar Monastery Cloister: Historical Plaque About the Society of Pilar

Historical Plaque About the Society of Pilar
Embedded in the wall of the Pilar Monastery cloister, this historical plaque documents the history of the Society of Pilar, officially known as the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier. Here is the text from the plaque:

THE SOCIETY OF PILAR
THE SOCIETY OF THE MISSIONARIES OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER PILAR, GOA, INDIA (SOCIETY OF PILAR), ESTABLISHED IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF GOA AND DAMAN, WAS FOUNDED ON 26TH SEPTEMBER 1887 BY FR. J. M. C. BENTO MARTINS. ITS PRINCIPAL SEAT WAS SHIFTED FROM AGONDA, GOA TO THE MONASTERY OF OUR LADY OF PILAR, H.H. PATRIARCH DOM ANTONIO SEBASTIAO VALENTE WHO APPROVED ITS CONSTITUTION ON 1ST JUNE 1891. THEY ARE KNOWN AS CONSTITUIÇÕES DA SOCIEDADE DE MISSIONARIOS DE S. FRANCISCO XAVIER.
HOWEVER, WHEN THE SOCIETY WAS ON THE VERGE OF EXTINCTION, SIX PRIESTS AND TWO BROTHERS RE-ORGANIZED IT ON 2ND JULY 1939, BY UPDATING IT AND ADAPTING IT TO THE NEEDS OF TIME. THESE EIGHT RE-ORGANIZERS REVISED THE CONSTITUTIONS OF 1891 IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CODE OF CANON LAW 1917. PATRIARCH DOM JOSE DA COSTA NUNES APPROVED THE SAME ON 24TH JUNE 1946, KNOWN AS MENS CONSTITUTIONUM SOCIETATIS MISSIONARIORUM S. F. XAVIERII, THEY WERE THE SECOND CONSTITUTIONS. IN 1997, THE XV GENERAL CHAPTER OF THE SOCIETY UPDATED THE MENS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEACHING OF VATICAN II AND THE CODE OF 1983. THESE THIRD CONSTITUTIONS ENTITLED CONSTITUTIONS AND GENERAL DIRECTORY 1989 WERE APPROVED BY ARCHBISHOP PATRIARCH RAUL GONSALVES ON 12TH OCTOBER, 1998.
THE CONSTITUTIONS CALL THE RE-ORGANIZERS THE SECOND FOUNDERS OF THE SOCIETY. THEY ARE FR. MENINO CONCEICAO RODRIGUES, FR. FRANCISCO JASSO SEQUEIRA, FR. BALTAZAR REMEDIOS DO ROSARIO GOMES (THE LONE SURVIVOR OF THE OLD SOCIETY), FR. MANUEL JOSE BARRETO, FR. JOSEPH ALBUQUERQUE, FR. THEODOLINDO CABRAL, BRO. PETER MASCARENHAS AND BRO. PAIXAO LACERDA.
BY DEDICATING THIS CENOTAPIUM THE SOCIETY OF PILAR ACKNOWLEDGES THE UNIQUE ROLES PLAYED IN ITS LIFE BY ITS REVERED FOUNDER, THE SECOND FOUNDERS AS WELL AS BY THE ECCLESIASTICAL SUPERIORS, NAMELY PATRIARCH D. SEBASTIAO VALENTE (AT THE TIME OF FOUNDATION), PATRIARCH D. TEOTONIO VIEIRA DE CASTRO AND PATRIARCH D. JOSE DA COSTA NUNES (AT THE TIME OF RE-ORGANIZATION).

The plaque provides a useful historical record of the Society of Pilar and its long association with Pilar Monastery.

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