Hightlights & Landmarks

He was born on April 21, the third child of Christopher Vaz of Sancoale and Maria de Miranda of Benaulim.

Ordained a Priest by the Propaganda Bishop of Hierapolis Dom Antonio Brandao after receiving Minor orders and Subdiaconate at the hands of the Goan Bishop from Verna Dom Custodio Pinho.

Offered himself to the Virgin Mary as her perpetual slave with his Letter of Bondage written on his knees before her Altar on August 5.

Vicar Forane of Canara Mission: Takes care of the sacramental, catechetical and other needs of Catholics bewildered by a jurisdictional controversy between the Sees of Goa

On his return to Goa, he joined a small community of Goan Priests, Fr. Pascoal da Jeremias, two more priests and a deacon on September 25, in the Church of Santa Cruz dos Milagres, so known because the Lord appeared there on the Cross several times in 1619. He immediately sought to obtain from Lisbon rules of the Oratory founded by St. Philip Neri through Fr. Bartholomeu de Quental and was soon elected Superior of the Community which this was the first fully native (Began to grow Religious Community in the whole Third World.

Leaves Goa forever on a 'secret' mission to Sri Lanka in the company of Fr. Paulo de Souza,Bro. Estevao Sequeira and Joao, a 'gaudi' boy. They travel via Karwar, Honavar etc. to Mangalore teaching, healing, administering on the way to the thirsty Christian Communities long deprived of spiritual food. On reaching Telicherry, Fr. Joseph Vaz sensing danger of numbers and color advised his two companions with white complexion to return to the Mangalore Mission. At Topo the Jesuits received them warmly and advised them to learn the Tamil language first and then to switch over to disguise.

After full twenty days journey owing to rough seas they fell sick on landing ashore in

April 1687. They landed in Sri Lanka disguised as coolies in order to evade the strict Dutch Surveillance. Being Calvinists, the Dutch had banned Catholic Missionaries from their domains under severe penalty of death. The Catholic priest was seen on the Island (for thirty years).

Does clandestine apostolate i.e. works in disguise in Jaffna for two years. His presence being detected, he flees to Puttalam.

He carries on his Apostolate in Puttalam for two years till his departure for Kandy (1691) where he is imprisoned as a Portuguese spy.

The Buddhist king Vimaladharma Surya II, after some months, allows him a limited freedom as he personally realizes the mischievous allegations to be groundless. He does apostolate in and from Prison.

At the King's request, holds a public prayer service to invoke rain during a long drought. Whereas the prayers of Bonzes alia produce no results, it rains before the service itself is over in answer to the prayers of Fr. Joseph Vaz. The king sets him free and grants him special protection and freedom to spread the Good News and to preach all over the kingdom.

He embarks on a long missionary tour throughout the Island: His First Mission Tour.

1697

After ten years of solitary endeavours, the first batch of three fellow Oratorian arrives from Goa and the Oratorian Mission of Sri Lanka is founded. Later with further staff reinforcement eight missionary districts are created. At this time Fr. Joseph Vaz gives proof of unbounded Christian charity towards the small-pox patients for the whole year at Kandy where he does heroic work in the small-pox epidemic. Many outstanding Buddhist families and even some opponents moved by his unselfish service, ask for Baptism. He is praised by the King and gifted with total freedom of movement.

His Second Mission Tour. Fr. Joseph Vaz criss-crossed the whole Island including the Dutch sector under ever-varying disguises in an intensive evangelizing activity.

1703

Other Oratorians arrive and the work of Inculturation is continued with renewed vigour. 1705 His Third Mission Tour takes place. Attempts are made in vain to appoint him the first Bishop of Sri Lanka.

He dies at Kandy in the odor of Sanctity. His body is kept for 3 days at the instance of the king and is buried in the Church of Kandy with large participation of people of different creeds and walks of life. The Goan Oratorians carry on his apostolic work with missionary zeal and ardor in Sri Lanka for 150 years till their very extinction in Goa in 1835.

Just two years after his holy death, on account of the widespread reputation of

sanctity and reports of favours granted, the Bishop of Cochin Rt. Rev. Pedro Pacheco started the first informative process for his Beatification.

1911

The Bishops of Sri Lanka in their Pastoral letter in celebration of the bicentennial of the death of this pioneering missionary bestow on him the title "Apostle of Sri Lanka".

1934-52

Fr. Faustino D'Souza, infuses a new vigour into the Cause by spreading devotion to enlists the support of the laity and the Bishops of India to the Cause and petitioning successive Popes to raise Fr. Joseph Vaz to the status of a Saint. His untiring efforts have been bearing fruit only after his death.

1953

The diocesan Ordinary Process is sealed in Goa and sent to Rome.

1954

The Sacred Congregation of Rites revives the investigation of his Cause of Beatification in the Marian Year 1954.

Pope John Paul II promulgates the Decree of the Heroicity of Virtues of Ven. Fr. Joseph Vaz.

The Pope approved the first Class Miracle wrought by Ven. Fr. Joseph Vaz in the miraculous birth of Fr. Cosme D'Costa sfx (on July 6, 1993).

His Holiness Pope John Paul II during his visit to Sri Lanka beatified Ven. Fr.Joseph Vaz on January 21, 1995)

Blessed Joseph Vaz was proclaimed as the Patron of the Archdiocese amidst thunderous applause of the Bishops, Priests and Laity in the Se Cathedral by the Archbishop-Patriarch on January 16, 2000.Blessed Joseph Vaz worked for 24 years on the island and for the first 10 years all alone. He learnt Tamil and Sinhalese, the 2 languages spoken by the people of the island of Sri Lanka .By the end of his life he had built a network of 17 churches, 400 Chapels with schools, dispensaries and hospitals criss-crossing the land.

The 290th death anniversary of Blessed Joseph Vaz will take place on January 16, 2001, the 350th birth anniversary of the Blessed will be on April 21, 2001.

Blessed Joseph Vaz has been declared the patron of the diocese of Goa on the sixteenth of January 2000. A request by us to canonize Blessed Joseph Vaz by 2000 has been sent to the Holy Father. He is a very important model for our times. In a period where people are becoming consciously proud of their origin and identities and the ancient cultural identities are reviving and resurrecting. It is important to see Blessed Joseph Vaz as a Sadhu from the Hindu perspective. The word 'Sadhu' in Hindu tradition has no exact watertight kind of definition.

The term Sadhu, Swami or Sannyasi are interchangeably used. We have tried to pick out five criteria, which is more specific to the word Sadhu in comparison to the word swami.

Blessed Joseph Vaz in his unique circumstances of life fits these descriptions. 'Bikhu' is a Pali word which is the same as bikshu in Sanskrit. In the Buddhist tradition a bikhu (sannyasi) begs his single meal by walking meditatively towards any of the houses to stretch out his begging bowl for his food. In Buddhism because of this a monk is called a bikhu Blessed Joseph Vaz begged from door to door and did live on arms. Instead of the title (surname) 'Vaz', we have written the original Hindu name Naik. This change represents both the apostolic responsibility of offering Jesus to our 'parental-faith' brothers and sisters and our right to be Hindu or Sanathani-disciples of Jesus in the mother church (Catholic Church, Adli-sanga) In the Catholic Church the sanity has been recognized in an apparent hierarchy such as servant of God, blessed and saint.

The hierarchy is apparent but not real. These titles are bestowed only after the life has been lived and completed. Therefore it is only a recognition or promotion of devotion in view of its relevance to time and people. It is relevant to discover the titles, which are more closer to the psyche of our people and people to whom we are called to share Jesus. Against this background we have qualified Fr. Joseph Vaz as a 'Paramahamsa' The word Paramahamsa has two parts that is Parma and Hamsa.

Parma means ultimate and Hamsa means the bird swan. The bird Hamsa is believed to have the rare quality of separating milk from the water as it drinks. It means it drinks the milk and leaves the water. Therefore Parma Hamsa is the one who lives in the samsara (word) takes into him the Sath (truth and divinity) rejecting the Asath (untruth or Maya) , the passing phenomenal reality. In this Father Joseph Vaz was a Paramahamsa. His life was a drinking in the divine wisdom and rejecting the attraction and fears of the samsara. He is in the world but not of the world (Jn 17: 15). He offered the amruth (nectar) of wisdom in his sevas (services) and taught the same to others. His spiritual patrimony challenges the disciples of Sath Guru Yesu (along with sevaks, religious and priests). We shall capture his life and message for our times in the following statements:

Fr. Joseph Vaz appointed to be a missionary under the archdiocese of Goa with its Portuguese Royal Patronage. He was sent to Kanara-Mangalore region where vicar apostolic of the Propaganda Fide too had his Jurisdiction. Fr. Joseph Vaz had to live under a situation where two church leaders had ecclesiastical and juridical authority. With humility and tact he pursued his mission. We could say, "He was as simple as a dove and as shrewd as a serpent." However when he returned to Goa he was looked down as a betrayer of Padroado cause. After 300 years this betrayer son has been declared as the patron of the diocese of Goa.

In the year 1677 on the 5th of August he made himself a slave of Mary and wrote his famous letter of captivity at the feet of Mary in the Church of Sancoale. He decided like an Indian Yogi to be barefooted in his life style as a missionary

In Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) land of Ravana and Buddhism the Dutch were rulers at that time. The Dutch being Calvinists had forbidden the exercise of catholic faith and had expelled all catholic priests. The existence of a catholic priest would be illegal and the practice of catholic priest forbidden by law. The sheep were left without a Shepard. Compassion of the great Shepard Jesus moved the heart of Joseph Vaz when he volunteered to be the Shepard. He along with his servant Joao disguised themselves as coolies and boarded the ship. The journey took them 20 days. On landing they were already sick. They had to remain disguised for their security. And they had to identify the Catholics to start their ministry. He put on a rosary went about begging from door to door for three months. From the reaction to his rosary he recognized who were the Catholics and revealed his identity as a priest. Gladly but secretly the faithful accepted him as their leader. They gathered secretly to celebrate the Eucharist and to receive the sacraments. As Christmas approached, they planned to celebrate it secretly in many places. Unfortunately a traitor betrayed them; the captain Van Rhede organized a raid. Fr. Joseph Vaz, father of the underground 'sangha' (church) escaped. But men, women, and children were stripped naked and thrown into Jail. Fr. Joseph Vaz continued his mission journey with his servant boy to Kandy.

In the midst of all his apostolic activities he taught the boy Latin and trained him intellectually and practically to be a priest. Later on when Fr. Joseph sent Joao to Goa to bring other missionaries, he highly recommended his ordination though he belonged to low caste origin. This was thought to be a hindrance to ordination at that time, but did not hold good in the eyes of Fr. Joseph Vaz. This great guru Joseph Vaz accepted a chela (disciple) who was his servant and of low caste origin. This shows the high and the low, the rich and the poor dichotomies did not exist in this Paramahamsa's mind. He had spontaneously accepted a Guru Kula system of training.

It is an undisputed fact that western cultural influence was strongly and unavoidly present in the history of the Christian faith in Asia. Faith in Jesus has been identified with a western style of living and ministering. This has hindered the immense attractiveness and influence of Jesus to the masses. Instead we find a growing cultural resistance. Against this background the life of Fr. Joseph Vaz is very significant to the future of witnessing and sharing Jesus in this continent. In the past the churches operated under the dominance of western culture, colonial political and economic power. Fr. Joseph Vaz did not have any political and colonial power backing him. On the contrary colonial power was against him. He also did not have any economic power backing him from outside. He relied on the gifts from local people for his needs. We can say the Gandhian Principle of swadeshi was operating with him. He relied heavily on the cooperation of the lay people. Could we not think that he was a promoter of lay ministry, which is very much in need of our times?

In the Church of today we are facing linguistic, caste and rite conflicts. Fr. Joseph Vaz a Brahmin in ancestral origin, Goan in culture, Konkani in language ministered first in the Kannada belt and later he learned both Tamil and Sinhala. He ministered to other cultural groups than his own. He was above petty, linguistic caste and juridical differences.

The great Paramahamsa is a special patron to our Darmodaya Seva Ashram at Bellary. This ashram is a synchronization of discipleship to Jesus in the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi with the broad sannyasic spirituality of India. It's desire is to witness Sath guru Jesus and bring him to our ancestral faith and all people who are open to him. Honouring the 3rd millennium apostle on the ashram plot we drilled the bore well on his feast day in the year 1997 and struck the spring. May the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman - "the water I shall give will turn in to a spring inside him welling up to eternal life (Jn. 4; 14b) come true in many souls through the powerful model and intercession of Paramahamsa Joseph.

Archbishop-Patriarch of Goa Raul Nicolau Gonsalves applied the words of the Holy Father John Paul IInd spoken to the European Bishops in 1985 to Fr. Joseph Vaz: "Heralds of Gospel are experts in humanity, profoundly knowing the heart of contemporary man, who share his joy and hopes, his fears and sorrows, and at the same time, who are contemplatives in love with God." May the example of this great apostle of Asia inspire a new generation of inculturalized sevaks who will make the sin-redeeming Sath-Guru Yesu incarnate in the new millennium. May the powerful intercession of this great Paramahamsa bring about this most needed miracle of love and service.

Sanctuary of Blessed Joseph Vaz, 413 Blessed Joseph Vaz Road, P. O. Cortalim, SANCOALE - Goa - 403710-INDIA

Contact Office Tel: 00 91 832 2550263 / 2550517 e-mail: sanjovaz@blessedjosephvaz.org [www.blessedjosephvaz.org]