Rachol Seminary
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| Motto | Luceas sicut luminare |
|---|---|
| Type | Major Seminary |
| Established | 1609 |
| Rector | V. Rev. Aleixo Menezes |
| Students | 95 |
| Location |
Rachol, Margao, Goa, India 15°18′36″N 74°0′5″E / 15.31000°N 74.00139°E |
| Campus | Urban |
The Rachol Seminary, also known today as the Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol (known as Raiturchi Patriarkal Siminar in Konkani, the native language of Goa; Seminário de Rachol in Portuguese), is the diocesan major seminary of the Primatial Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.
The edifice that presently houses the seminary was constructed by the Jesuits with donations from the boy-king of Portugal, Dom Sebastião, in the area occupied originally by a Muslim fortress.
The foundation stone for the main quadrangular portion was blessed and laid on 1 November 1606 by Fr. Gaspar Soares. Three years later, on 31 October 1609, with the solemn celebration of the Vespers, the “College of All Saints” (Colégio de Todos os Santos) was blessed and inaugurated. Somewhere between 1622 and 1640, the name of the College was changed to "College of St. Ignatius" (Colégio de S. Inácio). The change was to pay homage to St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, who had been canonized in 1622. The retable of the main altar of the Seminary Church testifies to this fact. The Seminary community still celebrates the feast of St. Ignatius, the titular of the Seminary Church, with a solemn high mass with Gregorian chant.
This festivity is preceded by a novena of preparation for the locals around and a week-long Retreat (Spiritual Exercises) for the seminarians. The Seminary also possesses a 19th-century Pipeorgan, that is played during liturgical services.
The Jesuits controlled the College for a century and a half. Having begun as a school for the training of natives, it gradually adopted the curriculum for training Jesuits and later even secular priests from 1646.
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