The Parish Church of Batim is dedicated to Guadalup Saibinn i.e. Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe. Next to Batim is Ganxim Hill which forms a part of the village of Ganxim. It is surrounded by the villages of Talaulim, Goalim de Moula, Azossim, Neura O Grande and Batim. The region is very picturesque with coconut palms, paddy fields and ponds forming most of the nature strip. The imposing Church on the Ganxim hilltop was constructed by the Augustinian Archbishop D.Frei Aleixo de Menezes between 1596-1610 and was dedicated to the apostles St.Simon and St. Jude

 

This Church atop Ganxim Hill (now popularly known as Mt Batim) was deserted since the infamous plague that struck the region more than 200 years ago. The Church and cemetery stood lonely and rejected -utterly isolated for over 200 yrs. The Church was exposed to nature's elements. The roof was beginning to give way, the timber deteriorated and creepers and wild plants began to grow inside. When the plague came to Ganxim, it devastated a way of life, sweeping away the pattern of centuries, destroying the families that lived there. The mountaintop laid barren - devoid of body, soul and spirit.

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It was Fr Pedro Franscisco Pereira from Betalbatim who was instrumental in reviving and renovating the Ganxim Church with help from the locals and the Holy See (as can be seen from the plaques in the Church). He was also helped by Fr Inacio Mariano do Rosario of Pilar. After completion of the restoration work, the Holy Mass was celebrated on June 3rd, 1973 and thereafter on every first Thursday of the month. The locals recall that Fr. Pereira would frequently say that Ganxim would one day be a place of pilgrimage: “Ek dis zateli hi suvat peregrin asanvachi!” The feast of Sts Simon and Jude after which the Ganxim Church is named is celebrated in the last Sunday of October.

 

The Batim village received widespread publicity in 1994 due to the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Mrs Iveta Fernandes at Mt Batim on 24th September 1994. The devotion to Our Lady of Fatima reinvigorated in that part of Goa and since then regular Fatima Prayers and First Saturday Devotions have been held in Honour and Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

Since Her first ‘Visitation’ at Batim,  Our Blessed Mother has been speaking through Iveta and giving messages for the Church (both domestic and Universal). Much of these messages at Batim are prophetic and constitute warnings for the Church - for our own admonition and correction. The tenets of the Fatima Devotion figure prominently in the Church services, namely: The Holy Rosary, Confession, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Communion of Reparation and Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Much prayers have also been requested by Our Lady for the Marian Dogma, namely: Mediatrix of all Grace, Co-Redemption and Advocate. Our Blessed Mother awaits that hour of proclamation of this dogma on Earth that She “may dispense all Gifts, Grace and Power to resist the temptation and fight the Spiritual battle against the forces of darkness - Satan himself ; thereby bringing about the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart”. (Message of Jan 1,2016) 

 

At Fatima, Our Lady came to bring us the Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: ‘God wishes to establish devotion to My Immaculate Heart  in the world. If what I say is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace’.  ‘Batim’, Our Lady tells us ‘lies in the shadow of Fatima and yet it is the forerunner of the future to build the culture of life into the era of peace where man will walk with  God in the Holy Eucharist” alluding to the fulfillment of the scripture in the Book of Revelation. For we are fighting a spiritual battle - against the forces of evil - 'against these hours of darkness against the culture of death to build the culture of life as God intended it from the beginning" (Message of 24th Sept 2019)

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At Batim , Our Blessed Mother also speaks of encouragement and protection and gave us the 'Scapular' and the 'Miraculous Medal' as sacramentals for these times and offers Her Immaculate Heart as a secure refuge to carry us through these times.

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At the 25th Batim Apparition Celebration on 24th Sept 2019, Our Lady in a message through Iveta requested the re-building of the Sts Simon and Jude Church atop the Batim Mount. “I desire with great desire that this Holy Church, once a full and living Tabernacle of God, bringing souls back to God, that lies in a state of semi ruins, be rebuilt and consecrated to Me under the title of ‘Mary, Mother of the Church, Our Lady of Mount Ganxim – Batim.’ ”

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At Her Visitation of 24th September 2019, Our Blessed Mother has indicated a new direction for the Church at Mt.Batim.  Through the centuries, Our Blessed Mother is known to have appeared in various parts of the world and proclaimed under different titles - relevant to that moment and location in history – like Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Our Lady of Loreto, Our Lady of Fatima, Mary Help of Christians, Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven, Our. ..etc..for Mary's help is sought for a large amount of human needs and in varied situations and locations. She also comes to caution us and bring us back to the harbour of truth as She anticipates the future unfolding as “we are entering the purification before the era of a thousand years of Peace.”

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On 24th Sept 2019, Iveta beholds a vision of Our Lady with 'the Catholic Church, the Vatican in Her Immaculate Heart'. Further in the Message, Our Lady asks Iveta: "Do you understand the Church into My Immaculate Heart?' Our Lady Herself answers the question: "I will protect the Church. I am the Mother of this Holy Church entrusted by God to all humanity."

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'Mother of the Church' is a title, officially given to Mary during the Second Vatican Council by Pope Paul VI. The title was first used in the 4th century by Saint Ambrose of Milan. "Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as that Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John.  Thus, in her new motherhood in the Spirit, Mary embraces each and every one in the Church, and embraces each and every one through the Church." – Pope St John Paul II.

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Rebuilding the current dilapidated Church and consecrating it to Our Lady under the title of 'Mary, Mother of the Church, Our Lady of Mount Ganxim-Batim' is an earnest desire of Our Lady and would bring huge benefits and graces to the local and universal church in general for Our Blessed Mother has assured us of Her protection of this Holy Church at Batim which has been entrusted by God to all. Furthermore, Our Lady desires that this Church be entrusted to the Carmelite order –‘ for the Mediatrix of all Grace Scapular has its origin in the Carmelite Scapular, that is My Garment’. 

 

'In this way it shall be that in these times I shall protect and conquer souls for God’ speaking about the Scapular of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces, in a Message on 31st May 2011.

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But perhaps the title that is so dear to Our Lady and so necessary for these times is the anticipated proclamation of the Dogmatic Title: "Mediatrix of All Grace, Co-Redemptrix and Advocate of all humanity.’

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So do you see a connection between the to-be-dedicated  and to-be-Consecrated Church at Batim: 'Mary, Mother of the Church, Our Lady of Mount Ganxim-Batim' and the fulfilment of Our Lady’s Salvific role that God has entrusted Her with as Mediatrix of Grace, Co-Redemptrix (with JESUS the Redeemeer) and Advocate before JESUS Her Divine Son, The Divine Judge ?.

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O God, giver of every good, you have chosen this mountain as a centre of special devotion to the Mother of Your only begotten Son; grant us the aid of the Virgin Mary, so that we may safely reach that mountain which is Christ. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.