Africa-Press – Angola. The Parish of São Baptista, one of the main historical symbols of Cacuaco, was founded on the 24th of June, 1935. On the same date that the village ascends to the category of Administrative Post, current municipality. This is 83 years ago.
To narrate these historical facts, the reporting team of Jornal Metropolitano de Luanda heard António Januário, catechist of the village community, who considered that the Parish is closely linked to the municipality and that its emergence derives from the transformation of the former local Christian community, into a effort by Baptista Peixote, an Angolan from the province of Huambo who came to work in Salinas in the company of three other elements, namely Horácio, António and Manuel, all from Huambo.
António Januário says that Baptista Peixote, who was transferred to the current town of Cacuaco as a worker at the Salinas, arrived in Luanda already converted by the word of God, committed himself to the faith and, in his spare time, began to evangelize, from house to house. home, the population, made up mostly of fishermen who lived in the space where the current Municipal Market is located. It was called the village.
Like a good believer, Baptista Peixote held services with the faithful, initially in the open air and later in a wattle and daub chapel. The fact reached the ears of the Catholic community in Luanda. Moved by the information, the then priest Avelino, of Portuguese nationality, who lived in the Parish of São Domingos, in Luanda, and who only came to Cacuaco on Sundays for the celebration of mass, met with the faithful fishermen to indicate the name of the patron saint and erect the chapel, which was named after São João Baptista.
To give the Catholic community greater dynamism, Father Avelino once again held a meeting with the locals, asking them to contribute with a monetary value to exchange the image of São João Baptista, who became the patron saint of the parish.
In 1954, Mariano year, the Capuchin priests built the chapel in the village of Cacuaco, which is, until now, the first definitive structure classified as a church.
Worship and Conversion of the Faithful
From the moment the image of the aforementioned patron saint arrived, the faithful began to adore it and during the celebration of each mass, they placed it on a table and in the morning knelt down in front of it to pray.
“After a certain time, several people were converted and baptized. They created the first community that gave rise to the church at the commune level that taught the doctrine of the church to the people”, said António Januário.
According to our interviewee, the idea of the fishermen was that Saint John the Baptist had come from the desert to bless the sea and the performance of the fishing activity in the circumscription, which is why, at the time of the festivities of the patron saint, the fishermen took and continue to take the image of the Saint to the sea for pilgrimage.
In the same way, they threw and still throw money, food, drinks and various props into the sea with songs as a gesture of thanks and to see the increase in fishing in the area.
Faithful from various parts of Angola
Catechist António Januário said that the chapel of São João Baptista, as a historic temple, is frequented by national and foreign faithful from the 18 provinces of the country. Pilgrims who seek the chapel claim to dream of revelations that indicate that they must come to the church to do the prayer work, in order to overcome any problem that afflicts them.
According to António Januário, pathologies such as mental disorders, infertility, family problems, work and traditional diseases have been the biggest occurrences, but which are cured from the moment the devotee sets foot inside the church, naturally happening the miracle
” One of the many miracles we had was that of a lady, from the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, who arrived, on someone’s recommendation, at this chapel of São João Baptista with her son in a very serious condition. improvement,” he testified.
Who was John the Baptist
John the Baptist was miraculously born in Aim Karim, a city in Israel, which is 6 kilometers from the center of Jerusalem. His father was a priest of the temple of Jerusalem, called Zechariah, and his mother was Saint Elizabeth, who was the cousin of Mary, mother of Jesus. He was consecrated to God from his mother’s womb. In his adult mission, he preached conversion and repentance of sins, manifested through baptism. He baptized the people, hence the name João Baptista, that is, John, the one who baptizes.
first congregations
The first Congregation in Cacuaco was that of the Salesian Sisters. They arrived on October 1, 1988, followed by the Sisters of the Holy Trinity, who arrived on September 15, 1999, while the church became a Parish in 2008, its first parish priest, André, from the Congregation of Divine Word.
The Parish of São João Baptista has approximately 16,500 servants and has 13 communities of faith, which are under the responsibility of the Diocese of Caxito.
testimonials
Maria Filipe, a devotee of São João Baptista for over thirty years, said that previously, when the festivities of the patron saint approached, devotees came from all the municipalities of Luanda. They spent the night outside the church grounds and, throughout the night, they prayed the rosary, said individual prayers and sang songs.
According to the devotee, inside the church there have already been records of people who have died due to the fact that they arrived with very degraded health. But, they believed they would have the miracle of healing.
Another devotee is Margarida Sonhi, 86 years old. The elderly woman told Jornal Metropolitano de Luanda that she has been participating in all parties to cry out in favor of her family, so that they achieve prosperity and health of body and soul.
“I am from the province of Moxico, I have lived in the municipality of Cacuaco for over 40 years. I have to remember that in the past, Sunday masses were held at the madres house, which is in the neighborhood of Pescadores. But over time , moved to the village church,” he said.
Having been on pilgrimages for a long time, Margarida Sonhi also explained that the devotees who came from other municipalities and other provinces brought their food, while the residents of Cacuaco cooked outside the church.
Christians also brought monetary values, drinks, such as soft drinks and food to give to the Parish at the time of the offertory that takes place during the celebration of the Holy Mass.
In turn, the elderly Conceição Lourenço, 84 years old, devotee of the Legion of Mary group, from the same Parish, said that she goes to the sanctuary in search of peace, health, divine protection and to present the difficulties of everyday life.
In the opinion of this elderly woman, “by praising Saint John the Baptist, the faithful place themselves under his protection and are inspired by him as a model for their lives, taking into account his historical path as a very humble, charitable and strong man”, manifested.
Conceição Lourenço is no longer able to walk due to her advanced age. When she was younger, she told Jornal Metropolitano de Luanda, she worked in the Church with other sisters who are no longer part of the world of the living.
“We cleaned the whole church and prayed the rosary every day with the sisters,” he revealed.
Like the figures mentioned above, Teresa Elias is a devotee of the aforementioned Parish and a seller of religious items, such as bibles, rosaries, sweaters, cloths and perfumes. You, in addition to contributing to the spread of the gospel, are selling these items that you often seek to support your family.
Teresa Elias is also a catechist at the Parish, from where she claims to have received many healing and liberation blessings, bearing in mind that she did not enjoy good health, but that, since she started with the devotion, in 2007, she has registered improvements in her life.
The catechist reveals that the great advantage she had in the church is linked to her professional training, as she successfully completed courses in Catechist, Biblical, Administration, Pastry and Decoration.
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