Meet the Mendes family from Goa Velha which plays a major role in the procession of saints

For three generations, the Mendes family has been taking the initiative of assembling, dismantling and dressing up these 31 wooden sculptures for the procession, at St Andrew's Church, Goa Velha. “We have been doing this for the last three generations, now my son helps me - which makes it four. I know that my father used to go with my grandfather to help him dress up the 31 saints. It is something very dear to our hearts,” says Alfred Mendes. He adds that all the saints are entirely made of wood and no plastic is used in them. “Mostly teak wood is used to make the statues, which makes them very heavy to carry. The statues can be dismantled.” But how would it be sure the saints have their own bodies and not some others. Alfred explains that “All the saints have a small number painted on them. The same number is on the hands, legs, heads, and bodies. We take around two weeks to get them fixed and we have a few people who help us,” says Tomas Mendes, from the family who helps in initial states of getting the saints ready for the procession. “by now we know which hand is of which saint, and we no longer need to look for numbers, we also know what clothes fit, which saint. But as my father would teach us, he would tell us to always pray to every saint, in case there are any mistakes in the fixtures. In the past I had fixed a wrong hand for a wrong saint and there was some magical force which made me realise it was a mistake. I got it fixed immediately before the procession started,” says Tomas. Every saint has two to three dressings which needs to be worn and the Mendes family makes sure that they get them ready. We don’t prefer getting the clothes ironed in the laundry but do it themselves.”
Linette Mendes, the sister also has a role to play, where she does the final amends if there are any in the clothes they wear. She has to stitch them accordingly and look if they are presented well.