St. Francis Xavier
By: Louk Vreeswijk
Tags: Religion
| Aperture: | f/4 |
|---|---|
| Focal Length: | 22.2mm |
| ISO: | 400 |
| Shutter: | 1/0 sec |
| Camera: | DSC-R1 |
Faith is business. Not only for the Church, others try getting their share as well. Churches and stalls selling religious trash undeniably hold attraction for me. It must be because of my catholic youth in the catholic south of the Netherlands. For years I sang in the boys choir of the local church, was altar boy, went to a primary school run by friars and a secondary school run by priests. The catholic imagery takes me back to the days of my youth. It has taken root in my mind and memories to such an extent that a feeling of harmless nostalgia can come over me when exposed again to this kind of imagery.
What catches the eye in the stall of the photo is the multitude of little statues of St. Francis Xavier. We are in Goa where most of the mortal remains of this Jesuit missionary are preserved in the Basilica of Bom Jesus. The statuettes are copies of the big example in a niche in the same church that always attracts many devotees.
St. Francis Xavier, Basilica of Bom Jesus, Old Goa, India 2014
In case you would like to know more about the life of this saint and how his remains ended up in Goa, look here.
Photo of the week: religious stall in Old Goa, India 2014
καιρός remembered 
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