Fr H O Mascarenhas

Rev. Fr H O Mascarenhas, the trailblazing firebrand who lit up the liturgical firmament

Mascarenhas family, Poona 1928. Standing L>R: W.X., Fr Olymph. Sitting L>R: Adelaide, Matriach Raquelina and Gladys. The boys are Ivan and Ossie Gonsalves

Introduction: This is a homage to my father’s uncle, the Rev Fr Hubert Olympius Mascarenhas, known to the family simply as Fr Olymph, a generational talent of rare intellect and spirituality who like Halley’s Comet blazed a trail, leaving a powerful albeit oft misunderstood legacy. Shout out to Dr Joan Dias, Director of the Heras Institute of Indian History & Culture at St Xavier's College, Mumbai, who furnished valuable historical documentation. I updated this blog after receiving valuable inputs from Fr Mousinho De Ataide and Brigadier Kevin Mendosa.  My sincere thanks to Andrew Mascarenhas, my editor-at-large - Kieran Gonsalves

We know that Fr Hubert Olympius Mascarenhas was born in 1905 in Porvorim, Goa, the third child of Antonio Jose Phillipo Mascarenhas (son of Caetano Francisco Hermenegildo Mascarenhas and Maria Guilhermina) & Raquelinha Anna Felicia Gomes. His other siblings include my grandmother Adelaide Mafalda Estrelita Gonsalves, the pre-eminent Civil Engineer William Xavier Mascarenhas and Gladys Pinto.

I have reason to believe he, like his elder brother W.X.,  graduated from St Vincent's High School in Pune. After this, he did his early religious studies at the Papal Seminary in Kandy, Sri Lanka, and taught Mathematics at St Xavier’s College, Bombay, before going to the Propaganda Fide University in Rome, where he earned a Doctorate in Philosophy, a Licentiate in Canon Law, and a Doctorate in Theology. He was clearly a scholar with a sharp mind, curious mind and a voracious reader too!

In 1934, at age 29, he was ordained a Diocesan priest in Rome and returned to Bombay where he continued his studies obtaining an M.A. (English), M.A. (Sanskrit) and Ph.D. (History) from the University of Bombay. He even learned Sanskrit for his thesis on 'Incarnation according to Hindu philosophy'. Again he showed his grit and determination, holding back no punches to achieve complete mastery of his subject.

Around this time, he was appointed as a post-graduate teacher of ‘Ancient Indian History and Culture’, by the University of Bombay for MA students.

Linguaphone records (Photo: Internet)

One thing is for sure, Fr Hubert was a polyglot (one who knows or uses several languages) with a natural flair for languages and is said to have studied 20 languages, being fluent in several including Marathi, Sanskrit, Urdu, Latin and French. His entire collection of Linguaphone phonograph self-study records (double-sided LP 12-inch diameter, 33+1⁄3 rpm gramophone) with supporting printed study material was neatly stacked along the wall of the attic of his sister Adelaide Mafalda Estrelita Gonsalves' Poona residence, Villa Maria. Years later, in the early 1980s, all these materials were donated to the library of the Bishop of Poona.

He was known to recite by rote any verse from the Bhagavad-gītā and the Upanishads (उपनिषद्). Once, he faced off in an anonymous debate with a noted Hindu Pūjari (पूजारी or priest) on the tenets of Hinduism. After several hours of back and forth in Sanskrit, the Pūjari was very impressed with the depth of understanding but was stunned when the identity of Fr Hubert was revealed - he wasn’t expecting to see a Catholic priest in a cassock.

Fr Hubert travelled extensively throughout the coastal towns of India and wrote extensively about the enduring influence of St. Thomas on the religious customs of Indians. Small wonder then that his comprehension of multiple religious traditions attracted audiences from all religious backgrounds to his religious discourses. 

He was a renowned research scholar of pre-Portuguese Christianity in India and researched the oral tradition pertaining to the presence in the Konkan area of the Apostle Bartholomew (also Nathaniel of whom Jesus said, 'Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him. I saw him sleeping under the fig tree' - Jn 1-47:50) in his treatise "Apostolic Christianity in the Konkan", which unfortunately I have not been able to locate, and even if I find it I'd probably need to see a translation because the original titled 'Konknnantlem Khristanvponn' is written in Konkanni using the Kannada script. In this, Fr Hubert states that the Apostle Bartholomew (referred to in Goa as Bethal or Bhethal) passed through Goa and preached in Betalbatim and Chorao. The feast of St Bartholomew is celebrated on August 24th in Betalbatim and Carmona.

Fr Mousinho de Ataide recalls an energetic discussion between the great historian Fr. Georg Schurhammer, S.J. and Fr Hubert in The Examiner magazine, wherein Fr. Hubert held that St. Bartholomew Apostle evangelized the Konkan region, including Goa, and Fr. Schurhammer adamantly denied it.

Fr Hubert proposed a theory of pre-Portuguese Christianity in Goa. Jose Cosme Costa reports that Fr Hubert even proposed that there were Christian temples dedicated to the persons of the Trinity: Abanath / Bhutnath (Father Lord), Ravalnath (from Rabboni - Rabulna - Rabulnath) / Bhai rav (Brother Lord), and Atman / Bhavka Devta, Santeri, Ajadevi (Spirit). The archaeological discovery of a St Thomas-era Cross, in April 2001, hidden in a smallish monument, surmounted by a Latin Cross, near Dandi, Agasaim in Goa, lends support to this hypothesis. The Cross bears an inscription in Pahlavi (also Pehlevi, the Middle Persian script developed from Aramaic that was prevalent between 200 BC and 600 AD and was eventually replaced by the Perso-Arabic script), which, Costa reports, was the liturgical language of the church associated with the Metropolitan of Fars (Persia).

It should surprise no one that his doctoral knowledge of Hinduism and Catholicism, as well as pre-Portuguese Christianity in India, combined with his command of many languages, earned him the moniker Satyānanda (सत्यानन्द) which is Sanskrit for 'true bliss'.

Rather than subscribe to prevalent norms of scorning outright diverse spiritual traditions, he promulgated the notion that God's Providence could be found guiding all faithful people to the Eternal truth. In this regard, he is sometimes cited as one of the predecessors to the Belgian Jesuit priest Fr Richard De Smet, in their 'realist' interpretation of Śaṅkara, the Hindu god, Lord Shiva. 

Fr Hubert had a razor-sharp intellect and a memory to match - this was supplemented by his unquenchable thirst for the ultimate truth which led him to assiduously study Indian, Middle Eastern, Egyptian and European histories, weaving in his fertile mind a complex realization of a God-centric view of man's role from the standpoint of Eternity. 

Fr Hubert saw through situations and philosophies that left almost everyone else perplexed. When his colleagues had difficulty digesting Pope Paul VI's, "Solemni hac liturgia" aka Credo of the People of God, which was solemnly proclaimed in Saint Peter's Square on June 30, 1968, Fr Hubert couldn't understand why they were unable to see its relevance, asking them to study it in-depth and to contemplate over it instead of dismissing it as being inopportune. Such reactions made him seem aloof and haughty but he clearly had put in the honest hard work as to connect the dots.

Book by Rev H O Mascarenhas

At the request of his superiors, he wrote the seminal book on Hindu philosophy titled “Quintessence of Hinduism: the Key to Indian Culture and Philosophy (1st ed.)”, published in both Sanskrit and English in 1951 by Gemini Printers, Bombay, India. The imprimatur (right to publish) from the Vatican took nearly 10 years to be granted and entailed an ecclesiastical censor! However, once it was published, it received wide acclaim in the Indian press and continues to be studied today by students of Indian culture and religion.

But not everyone had his level of understanding. In his youthful zeal, Fr Hubert called into question the dominance of Western culture on the enquiring Indian Catholic mind and espoused ideas of Ecumenism (aka the promotion of cooperation and unity among different denominations of Christians) and sought interfaith dialogue long before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) validated these ideas as being Catholic pedagogy. 

Not surprisingly his broadmindedness and iconoclastic ideas resulted in him being mischaracterized as an Indian philosopher who has strayed from the pre-Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) orthodox Catholic traditions. This brought him into philosophical conflict with the then-British Archbishop of Bombay Thomas d'Esterre Roberts SJ (1937-50) and his auxiliary Bishop Valerian Gracias (1946-1950, later the first Indian Archbishop Valerian Gracias from 1950-1953 and subsequently Valerian Cardinal Gracias 1953-1978), who proscribed him from preaching his avant-garde views, choosing instead to appoint him as the Principal of St Sebastian Goan High School in Dabul for almost 12 years (late 1940s and early 1950s), a post he unquestioningly embraced. Rather than wither away from the limelight, his office quickly flourished as a nerve centre for students of mathematics, history and philosophy.  

Fr Hubert was a dyed-in-the-wool Indologist, an ardent student of Indian literature, history, philosophy, etc., and counted among his closest friends, the famed avant-garde Goan artist Angelo da Fonseca. They shared a strong belief in the Indianisation of Catholicism. 

He attracted the attention of nationalist leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Kaka Kalelkar and S.S. Mulgaonkar. His patriotism and espousal of Indian nationalism brought him into conflict with the ecclesiastical authorities.

He was also a pivotal voice in the Konkani movement in Bombay and did foundational work for the Konkani Bhasha Mandal. Inevitably the nascent struggle in the 1950s for the Liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule since 1510, spurred Fr Hubert into action. Leaders in Bombay sought his advice and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru (1947–1964) invited him in March 1961, along with other Goan scholars, to Delhi for consultations. 

Once the goal of liberation was achieved in December 1961, he quietly slipped out of the publicity, resisting all attempts to foist upon him a political appointment which was his for the taking, choosing instead to retreat to the now-defunct Institute of Indian Culture at Bandra where he focussed his energies on studying the theological and cultural impact of Jews on the Western Konkan Coast and Southwestern Malabar Coast of India.

In the mid-60s, Fr Hubert also served as a member of the Central Board of Film Certification, a censorship regulatory body set up in 1950 under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Members of this group, selected from eminent persons from different walks of life, were tasked with film censorship before public release. 

Through it all, Fr Hubert developed a deep and abiding attachment to the Sacrament of the Mass and even in the sunset years of his life, he made sure to celebrate Mass with his dear friend Fr Holdonker. 

A few days before he died he confided in Fr Bento de Souza, "Bento, you cannot imagine what lights I have seen. I hope I have the time to write. But the will of God is more important than my wretched plans."

He was looking forward to travelling to South India to help with the commemorative celebrations of the arrival of the Apostle Thomas, who according to Indian tradition brought the religion when he first came ashore in South India in 52 A.D. at Malankara or Malancara, Kodungalloor (Cranganore). Unfortunately, this was not be, as Fr Hubert fell ill and succumbed shortly thereafter, breathing his last at the Clergy Home in Bandra on the 9th of February 1973. His mortal remains were interned at St Andrew's Church in Bandra, Bombay and were later transferred to the Clergy Home also in Bandra.

Fr Hubert was a savant, ahead of his time. Bishop Longinus Gabriel Pereira, auxiliary Bishop of Bombay (1955-1986), had this to say by way of an eulogy at his funeral, "Fr Hubert Mascarenhas was a man of scholarship. His contribution to the life of the Church in Bombay and Poona was not in the field of pastoral work, normally associated with the diocesan Clergy. He dedicated his talents, his energies, his erudition, his flair for languages - he knew as many as twenty languages - to a field of work less popular but certainly no less important - that of being a pioneer in effecting a synthesis between Christian Revelation and Indian Culture, of expressing Christian theology through the vehicle of Indian thought."

Rest in peace, dearest Fr Hubert Olympus Mascarenhas. Our Lord Jesus says: “Come to me, all who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

References

1. Costa, C. J. (2009). Apostolic Christianity in Goa and in the West Coast (ISBN10: 8190389807). Xavierian Publication Society. 

2. De Souza, B.  Archdiocese of Bombay. (1973). Fr Hubert Olympus Mascarenhas. The Examiner Catholic Newsweekly, 103.

3. Vaz, J. C. (1997). Profiles of Eminent Goans past and present. Concept Publishing Company. http://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BA46124694

4. Fernandes, P. (2017, September 10). Tracing St Bartholomew’s footsteps to Betalbatim. The Times of India. Retrieved October 8, 2023, from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/tracing-st-bartholomews-footsteps-to-betalbatim/articleshow/60447144.cms