THE BLESSED
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THE TERCENTENARY PASTORAL ON BLESSED JOSEPH VAZ:
We the Catholic Bishops of Sri Lanka, writes to you dearly beloved brother and sisters, the Priests and Religious, and the Laity, on this great occasion for joy - the Tercentenary of the arrival of Fr Joseph Vaz in this beloved country of ours.
At the very outset, we are reminded of the words of the great Apostle Paul. In his letter to the Romans he says:
“We know that by turning everything to their good, God cooperates with all those who love Him, with all those that he has called according to His purpose”. (Rom 8: 28). Two major events in the history of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka bear out what the Apostle has said, namely, that God in His goodness and mercy turns evil to good.
Political independence is something highly prized by any country. Even the partial occupation of Sri Lanka by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century was a great blow to independence and sovereignty. But God turned this evil to good by making the Portuguese the means of bringing the Catholic faith into our land. The Franciscans, Jesuits, Dominicans and Augustinians who came in the wake of the Portuguese Conquistadors planted the faith in Sri Lanka and it thrived. The period that followed, the Dutch period, brought another evil. It was the loss of religious freedoms of Sri Lanka’s Catholics. The Calvinist Dutch subjected the Catholics to a violent persecution.
Again God turned this evil to good in an extraordinary manner. He sent to SriLanka a remarkable man of God who not only saved the Catholic faith in the island but also built it up on surer foundations.
AN APOSTLE FROM INDIA:
When all the European Catholic missionaries in the country had been banished by the Dutch, when all the efforts of the Holy See to bring a few missionaries into Sri Lanka had failed, when it was not possible for European missionaries to work in the Island even in disguise because of their color, when humanly speaking her was no help possible from any quarter, God in His mercy sent us helps in a most unexpected manner an Apostle from India.At a time when ‘missionaries’ meant European missionaries – members of European religious orders – the call from providence to undertake the arduous and perilous mission of succors to the Catholics of Sri Lanka came to an Indian secular priest of the Archdiocese of Goa-Joseph Vaz.
There was no direct call to him such as “come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 1:9), but God’s mysterious cal touched the generous heart of this young priest when he heard of the sad plight of Sri Lanka’s Catholics. He wanted so much to help them that while engaged in pastoral work in Kanara, he even thought of having himself sold as a salve to Dutch traders from Sri Lanka in the hope of getting into the island that way; both his plan did not work.
The step he took, under God’s guidance, in joining the group of clerics at Goa, became an incalculable blessing to the church in Sri-Lanka.
DIVINE INTERVENTION
Ever ready to do God’s will as manifested through the will of Superiors, Fr. Vaz had, before proceeding to Kandy, written to his superior at Goa to ask him if he should continue in Sri Lanka or return to Goa. The reply came when Fr. Vaz was in Kandy. The reply was that he should return to Goa. Had he gone, what a loss it would have been to Sri Lanka! Again providence intervened. Fr.Vaz could not go since by then he was a prisoner in Kandy his imprisonment, by King Wimaladharmasuriya II, become, under God’s providence a blessing to Sri Lanka.
When the King saw for himself that Fr. Vaz was not a foreign spy as earlier reported to him, but a religious teacher, a man of ascetical life and dedicated to the service of fellowmen, he gave him freedom to minister to the Catholics. When later the King saw how devotedly he nursed the stricken, both Christians, when a virulent smallpox pestilence raged in Kandy in 1697-98, he was full of admiration for him and treated him with, the greatest respect, regard and esteem. His successor, Sir Vira Narendrasimha was equally friendly to him.
When Archbishop Charles de Tournon, Papal delegate to India and Chine, came to know of Fr. Vaz and his work in Sri Lanka, he proposed to appoint him Vicar Apostolic (bishop) for the island, but Fr. Vaz tactfully evaded the appointment. He did so, precisely because of his concern for Sri Lanka, for he knew from what had happened in India that such a move might irritate the Portuguese Padroado authorities who could retaliate by preventing Goan Oratorians from coming to Sri Lanka.
When we reflect on the historical events of Dutch period, two main factors emerge. One is that at a time when an all-out attempt was being made to crush and destroy the Church in Sri Lanka, and all hope of help had vanished, God’s loving providence saved the Church in a remarkable manner; secondly, the man who become God’s instrument in saving the Church was Fr. Vaz. From the evidence of history we have seen God’s intervention at every turn in guiding Fr. Vaz to and in Sri Lanka. At the same time we have seen Fr. Vaz’s readiness to do always God’s will. If not for what he did for Sri Lanka. Personally and through the Oratory he founded, it is doubtful if, after over a century and quarter of Dutch rule, the Catholic faith would have survived in Sri Lanka. If it had, it would have been with a far smaller Catholic population than is the case now.
UNIQUENESS OF APOSTOLATE
What Fr. Vaz did for Sri Lanka is unique, but when we consider his work in the context of the history of the universal Church at that time, we see other unique features of great significance. The Oratory he founded is unique in Oratorian history in tat it is so far the one and only Oratory in the whole Asia. At the same time it became also the first successful attempt to found an indigenous community in Asia, the success Fr. Vaz. The great work the Oratory accomplished during the one and quarter centuries of its existence was the pastoral care of Church in Sri Lanka, and in this respect it became a unique instance at that time of an Asian country supplying missionaries to another Asian Country. At a time when only European missionaries were appointed to posts of leadership in mission lands, we have in Sri Lanka the unique situation of an Asian being the head of an Asian Church in a whole country manned by Asian clergy. We have therefore to appreciate also the fact that Fr. Vaz achieved in Sri Lanka stands unique in several respects when considered in relation to the entire Church.On the occasion of the tercentenary of Fr. Vaz’s arrival in Sri Lanka which w are celebrating, we have in the first place to raise our hearts to God in thanksgiving for the loving care he has so palpably shown us. Secondly, we have to be grateful to Fr. Vaz for what he did for us. It may be that we of the present time, far removed as we are from the events, have not taken sufficient cognizance of the magnitude and unique character of the service rendered to the Church in Sri Lanka by Fr. Vaz. The tercentenary is an occasion for us to study with greater interest and earnestness is an work, so that we may appreciate what he did for us and value the faith to preserve which in our land he strove so hard at such cost.
Today we enjoy religious freedom, but there are other things in modern society, which assail our faith. Secularism and materialism, permissiveness and moral laxity, licentiousness and mistaken broadmindedness, clamor for freedom to fallow one’s inclinations and freedom to pick and chose from Christian teaching - all these are dangers to our faith. Just our forefathers, following the guidance of Fr. Vaz and other Oratorians, remained true o the faith in spite of persecution, so let us, following their footsteps, stand firm I the faith, guided by he teaching of the Church.
TRUE MAN OF GOD :
Those who knew Fr. Vaz regarded him as a holy man. The documents of the period bear testimony of bishops, priests, fellow-Oratorians and Sri Lanka’s Catholic laity regarding his sanctity. For them he was true man of God. The documents speak of his deep faith, his concern always to do God’s will, his love of prayer, his apostolic zeal, his poverty and humility, his asceticism, his concern for fellowmen, his service to others without sparing himself, his courage and daring in exposing himself to danger in serving his flock, his abilities as an organizer and administrator. Those who had known him closely regarded him as a ‘saint’.
Apart from this ‘vox populi’ – the consensus of the people – we have to conclude that what he achieved, as we know from history, could only have been the work of a man of heroic mould, a man of great holiness of life. We do hope and pray that before the Church will officially recognize long Fr. Vaz’s holiness and that he will be raised to honors or the altar.We should study Fr. Vaz’s life not only that we may gratefully appreciate what he did for us, but also that we may follow in his saintly footsteps. He, our own Apostle, is a model par excellence for all of us. He is a model, above all, for the religious and the clergy. He is one who lived the Gospel counsels to a high degree of perfection. Poverty, chastity and obedience were virtues that shone in his life.
In him we have an exemplary priest, a devoted pastor, a zealous missionary and an ardent apostle. He is one whom every Sri Lanka priest could take as his model.The Lanka, Fr. Vaz knew so well and served with such dedication, has for the past several years been going through an excruciating ordeal, the like of which there has never been in its history. So many precious lives have already been sacrificed. The ethnic problem that has brought dissension and division, death and destruction, to our once happy land has become a national catastrophe. Things have gone so far and become so complicated and confused that only a miracle can save us.Apart from celebrating the tercentenary, shouldn’t we, engulfed as we are in this calamity, think of Fr. Joseph Vaz at this moment? No missionary, no pastor, has done so much for Sri Lanka as he has done. Serving Lanka became his life’s vocation. He loved this country, he came in search of its abandoned flock, and he toiled in it till his death.
He worked in North and in the South. He worked in Jaffna, Trincomalee and Batticaloa, as he did in Kandy, Colombo and Negombo. He learnt Tamil and worked among Tamil speaking people; he learnt Sinhala and worked in Sinhala-speaking areas. He worked in Dutch territory; he worked in territory under Sinhalese rulers. For him Sri Lanka was one country. The people were one flock. Wasn’t he for some Years the sole pastor of entire flock? Wasn’t he the sole administrator of the entire Sri Lanka Church? Wouldn’t he be concerned about us now in our hour of peril?One most significant aspect of his missionary endeavors is that he did not work alone. He joined to himself a band of laymen and women who reached out where he could not. He inspired them with his own zeal and enthusiasm to carry God’s message to four corners of the land. These were the first lay Apostles of the church in Sri Lanka. With them, he consolidated his work. And so far for us, today, when we highlight the importance and the mission of the laity, he stands as a model and beacon-light.
Let us therefore turn to God with the fervent prayer that in the name of Fr. Vaz, our beloved Apostle, He may design to look mercifully upon our helplessness and save us, and in saving us glorify also His humble servant. Let us cry to heaven: “Lord, save us: we perish”. (Mt. 8:25). Let us pray that all violence may cease, and that all concerned work towards amity, peace and brotherhood.
Colombo, 13th November, 1987
Pope John Paul II Message To The Bishop
ON THE THIRD CENTENARY OF FR, JOSEPH VAZ;AARRIVAL IN SRI LANKA (1687-1987)
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good tiding, who publishes peace” (Is 52:7).These words of the Prophet echo the deep joy that fills the entries Catholic community of Sri Lanka at the memory of our country’s great apostle and missionary of the seventeenth century, the Venerable Father Joseph Vaz, the Three Hundredth Anniversary of whose arrival in Sri Lanka you will solemnly commemorate on 17 January, 1988.
But this Anniversary falls too at a time of great suffering for the nation. In keeping with the example given by Father Vaz of an intense devotion to prayer and spiritual things, and in response to the present needs of your beloved country, you have called on the members of the Church to make this day of public prayer, with special celebrations to invoke upon the nation the divine gifts of peace and social harmony.On this solemn occasion, I am closely united with the entire Church in your land, spiritually sharing in your joys and likewise in your present sorrows. I ardently pray for peace in Sri Lanka. “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways” (2 Theses 3:16). And I exhort all Catholics to work courageously or mutual understanding respect and love among all peoples, for to this Christ has called you through the Gospel, which your forefather welcomed and which received a special confirmation in the preaching of Joseph Vaz.
FAITHFUL WITNESS indeed, the missionary journey of Father Vaz through the length and breadth of your island constitute a fundamental moment of the history of evangelization in Sri Lanka. His presence and labors, with their lasting effects upon the Christian community, must be seen as an extraordinary gift of God to the Church in your land. The universal Church, in which the Successor of Peter is “a permanent and visible source and foundation of unity of faith and fellowship” (Lumen Gentium’`18), rejoices with you and gives thanks to the most Holy Trinity for having sent this faithful witness to your shores.You have already written that “this Apostle of Sri Lanka ministered to all irrespective of language and others differences. He mastered both Sinhala and Tamil to be able to serve all communities” (Statement of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, 11 May, 1987) Today, in this Tragic hour of tension and violence in your land, Father Vaz’s approach of humble and courageous openness to every person, in evangelical love and fraternity, indicates the essential ministry of forgiveness, hope and reconciliation.
He, like Saint Paul, became all the things to all men (Cf. 1 Cor. 9:22) and he did so by following “the more excellent way”, the way of love (Cf. ibid 12:31, 13:1ff).The early life of Father Vaz was marked by a profound love of God, whom he saw present especially in poor and needy. It was his desire to give himself completely to the service of the Gospel, and this led him to embrace the priesthood and to work strenuously for the spiritual well-being of his contemporaries, first in his native India and then for twenty-four years in Ceylon. It was the search for the greater glory f our heavenly Father that led him to enter the community of clerics, which was to become the Congregation of the Oratory of Goa. This step was to prove providential for the defense and up building of the hard pressed.
HOLINESS OF LIFE:
Father Vaz went from place to place, encouraging, strengthening and comforting the faithful, who were under great duress because of the religious policies of the Dutch colonizers. His holiness of life, especially his prayer and penance, won for him the esteem and good will of Christians and non-Christians alike. His death at Kandy on January 16, 1711 evoked an outpouring of sympathy and devotion, which has never ceased to this day.
Father Vaz was a humble priest who pitted himself against great odds in order to be of service to his fellow men and women in their spiritual and material needs. His charity was inexhaustible. His self-giving total. In this he bequeaths a sublime example of priestly life and ministry to those who today are called to shepherd God’s faithful.As your brother in this ministry of grace, I encourage you, the Bishops and Priests of Sri Lanka, to follow in the footsteps of Joseph Vaz, walking the path of your daily tasks in the company of Jesus the Good Shepherd, the Crucified Lord, “shouldering the sacred task of the Gospel, so that the offering of the people can be made acceptable through the sanctifying power of the Holy Sprit”.
(Presbyter rum Ordinis 2). As you celebrate the Third Centenary of the arrival of Father Vaz in your island and the First Centenary of the establishment of the Hierarchy, may you be strengthened in faith and zeal both for the great challenges of the present difficult moment and also for the ever imperative task of building up a Body of Christ which is the Church.Father Vaz considered himself a servant of Mary, the Mother of God. Wherever he went, he proclaimed her praises and led the faithful in praying the Rosary. In this Marian Year, I Commend the Church in Sri Lanka to the Mother of the Redeemer, asking her to intercede for the peace and reconciliation of all your country’s citizens. Wherever you gather to commemorate the Three Hundredth Anniversary of the arrival of the Venerable Father Vaz on our shores, may she teach you to be of one accord, and devoted to prayer (Cf. Acts 1:14).To all who are celebrating this Anniversary, especially by taking part in public prayers for peace and harmony in Sri Lanka, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing.Given in Rome, on the twentieth day of the month of November in the year of our Lord 1987.Joannes Paulus II
Troubled History Of The Cause
Fr. Urbino Monteiro (article written before the beatification)
Fr. Joseph Vaz breathed his last on January 16, 1711 at Kandy in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Already in his lifetime people acclaimed his as a ‘saint’ for his eminently virtuous and holy life. Soon after death, devotees started reporting favors through his intercession. Therefore, Rt. Rev. Pedro Pacheco, Bishop of Cochin (the Ceylon Mission was under his jurisdiction), started the first informative process for the beatification well I 1713, just two years after Fr. Vaz’s death! However, “few causes have been so troubled with ups and downs, initiatives and interruptions, living hopes and discouragements as ours”.(1)
Bishop Pacheco died in 1714 and the investigations were interrupted. The Oratorians then prepared their own process (1730-38) but it was not accepted by Rome for lack of some canonical requirements. In 1740, Rt. Rev. Francisco Vasconcellos, the new Bishop of Cochin, in order to overcome a few pracedural hurdles, applied to Pope Benedict XIV who promptly granted the requested dispensations (1742). However, by the time the Papal documents reached Cochin, it was too late. One of the Venerable’s direct collaborators and main witness, Fr. Jacome Gonsalves, had already expired in July 1742 and, in 1745, the Oratorians were expelled from Kandy (under the pressure of Buddhist monks), their houses, churches, archives were sacked and destroyed.
As the eyewitnesses, so important in a process of this nature, were almost fast dying, the initial enthusiasm and interest gradually decreased, though it could not be completely wiped out.The Oratorians in Europe, particular those in Lisbon and Venice requested insistently, to the Oratorians, in Goa to gather all the exiting documents and other useful information on Ven. Vaz while the witness of his generation were still alive, and to possibly publish them. Fr. Sebastiao do Rego (a Goan Oratorian and Fr. Vaz’s close relative) then compiled the “Vida do Veneravel Padre Joseph Vaz”. It was printed in 1745 in Lisbon and in 1753 translated into Italian by the Oratorians of Venice. This old biography was fundamental for the process. For years there were some doubts regarding its reliability for the panegyrical flavour of some of its details. But parallel sources recently found in different achieves have assured that Fr. do Rego did his job with due seriousness and responsibility, though conditioned by his epoch’s biographical style.
No concrete steps were taken after 1745, but efforts to promote and keep somehow alive the Cause were continuously made by the Oratorians. A long period of crisis and stagnation instead followed the very extinction by the Portuguese Crown of the Oratory in Goa in 1835 (together with the expulsion of all Religious Orders) and the consequent end of the Oratorian Mission of Ceylon. Even a considerable fund collected by them year after year for the Cause was confiscated by the Government. The European missionaries sent by the “Propaganda Fide” to take over the Mission of Ceylon did not take much interest in the Cause.Then came Msgr. Ladislas-Michel Zalesky as Apostolic Delegate to the East Indies (1887-1911). A Polish national, Zalesky was our Venerable’s enthusiastic admirer and personal devotee. He set his domicile at Kandy where he founded the famous Papal Seminary for the formation of the native clergy. He used to indicate Ven. Fr. Joseph Vaz as a model to young seminarians and priests. Through his writing he tried to spread information about his life and apostolate among the missionaries of others countries. Back in Europe, he continued to make Ven. Vaz known there and worked for his Cause. Zalesky also visited Goa and encouraged our local friends of the Cause.
In the meantime, since the beginning of the XX century and mainly around 1911 (Fr. Joseph Vaz’s second death centenary), another revival and growing interest was in progress in Goa. Among other projects, some ardent supporters planned to build a Sanctuary at Sancoale to promote the devotion. Its foundation stone was blessed in 1909 and it was opened to public cult in 1922 it is dedicated to St. Philip Neri, the founder of the Oratorians.(2)
In the run of these events, the Archbishops-Patriarch of Goa, Mateus de Oliveira Xavier, gave a new push to the Cause by appointing, in 1928, a Committee in order to collect all available and useful documentary evidence regarding the life, virtues and apostolate an Ven. Fr. Joseph Vaz his successor, Teotonio Vieira de Castro, took a further decisive step by officially installing in 1935 a Tribunal held seventy-two sessions in Goa from 1935 to1952, hearing thirty-five witnesses. Thirty sessions were also held in Sri Lanka where twenty-three witnesses were examined. The process ‘de cultu non praestito’ was held in Goa in eight sessions (1950-1952). Finally, on January 23, 1953 the Archbishop-Patriarch of Goa (later Cardinal) Jose da Costa Nunes sealed the four volumes of the diocesan process, together with the process of non-cult, and sent them to the then Sacred Congregation of Rites in Rome.
The process non-cult, and the first part of the diocesan ordinary process (writings) were soon approved. But, as it was fundamentally an old historical Cause, regarding a candidate who lived in the XVII-XVIII centuries in a particular geographical, socio-religious and cultural context and as the supporting evidence was not so strong in the ordinary process, the whole case was directed to the Historical Department of the said Congregation so that the so called “Positio Historica” could be prepared (1957).The “Positio Historica was at last produced and handed over to the (new) Sacred Congregation for the Cause of Saints in 1985, thanks to the precious collaboration and very hard work Fr. Quintus Perera from Chi law (Sri Lanka) and the previous basic research work conducted in the archives of Rome and Lisbon (with respective translations into Italian) by late Msgr. Manuel da Costa Nunes. The “Positio” is a colossal, superb, well-articulated nd exhaustive presentation of the rich spiritual and humane personality of Ven. Vaz, supported by a huge quantity of well blanched docmentation. By the way, mention must be made here of the fact that Fr. Quintus Perera had extra, non-indifferent burden of learning ‘ex-novo’ the XVII century Portuguese (in which most of the original documents are written) and Italian (chosen to draft the “Positio”).
The Bishop of Kandy became he legitimate ‘Actor Causae’ in 1980, replacing the Oratorians. ‘Actor Causae’ is canonically the Bishop of the Diocese where the Servant of God died. As Kandy was not a diocese when Fr. Vaz died, the Bishop of Cochin initially and the Oratorian of Rome since 1931 (at the request of the Archbishop-Patriarch of Goa) were the ‘Actores’, the first postulators too were Oratorians. As the ordinary process had been prepared and sent to Rome in 15953 from Goa, the Cause was labeled there as ‘Goan’. For the sake of precision it has been now renamed ‘Kandyan or Goan’ Cause.The historical and the theological consulters unanimously approved the “Positio Historica” in 1985 and 1988 respectively. After the Congress of cardinals had given its formal assent on April 4, 1989 the Holy Father ordered the promulgation of the “Decree on the Heroic Virtues” on May 13, 1989.
The centuries-old Cause then entered the final stage of the Miracle. A case that took in Goa in 1938 regarding the rapid and perfect cure of Mrs. Quiteria Carmela da Piedade Noronha Costa of hemorrhage in delivery labor (for details see the text of the Decree on the Miracle, pg.24) was submitted to the Congregation for the Cause of Saints in April, 1991 by the Postulator of the Cause, Fr. James M. Fritz Patrick. On October 28, 1992 the Council of Medical Experts unanimously declared that the above “Rapid and perfect cessation of hemorrhage.. cannot be explained by our science”. On February 19,1993 the Special Congress of Theological Advisers as convened, followed, on May 4 of the same year, by the Ordinary Assembly of Cardinals and Bishops of the said Congregation. In both these session the verdicts was affirmative. His Holiness, Pope John II ordered the promulgation of the Decree on this Miracle on July 6, 1993, thus paving the way for the long awaited Beatification. It is scheduled for January 21, 1995 at Colombo.
Decree On The Miracle
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
KANDYAN or GOAN Cause of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God Joseph Vaz, Priest of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri (1651-1711)
On the doubt whether and what miracle can be ascertained, in the case and for the effect in question.The Venerable Servant of God Joseph vaz, priest of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, was born on April 21, 1651, at Benaulim, in the Indian diocese of Goa. Ordained priest in 1676, he exercised ministry in various places, displaying a special concern for the education of youth and an ardent devotion to Virgin Mary. Led by zeal of salvation of souls, he left for Sri Lanka where he expended an intense and fruitful missionary activity amidst danger and hardships. Broken by labors he died in Kandy on January 16, 1711, with a great reputation of sanctity.A few years later, his Cause of Canonization was started and, on May 13, 1989, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II declared that Joseph Vaz practiced the theological cardinal and other related virtues to a heroic degree.As the laws now in force prescribed that in order to obtain the beatification of the Servant of God, one miracle attributed to their intercession, should be approved, the Postulation of the Cause submitted to the judgement of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints an alleged miraculous cure performed in India and attributed to the Prayers of the above mentioned Venerable Servant of God.
The cure refers to Mrs. Quiteria Carmela da Piedade Noronha, married to Mr. Domiao da Costa, who, being pregnant in April 1938 after four months began to suffer from hemorrhages with the consequent danger of a miscarriage. Transferred to St. Martha’s Hospital in Bangalore where she remained for two weeks, her condition became stable. But, after one or two months, hemorrhages started again and he condition of the patient turned very difficult. After she was taken to Goan hospital named ‘Escolar’. The case was diagnosed as “placenta praevia”, and the chief of the clinical department declared the case to be serious. On November 26, as the hemorrhage was increasing, a Caesarean section considered particularly dangerous in those days was thought of. Before that was tired, relative and friends of the patient confidently implored divine help through the intercession of the Servant of God Joseph Vaz, praying for the health of both the mother and the to-be-born child. Next morning, on November 27, hemorrhages stopped suddenly and with no plausible explanation without any surgical intervention, and, o the evening of the same day, a premature boy was born alive and full of vitality, naturally, a leg having come out first. The child was called Cosme and is now a priest.
In 1991 this cure was object of a canonical investigation in the Diocesan Curia of Goa; its authority and validity was approved by a decree promulgated on October 18 of the same yar. On October 28, 1992, the Council of Medical Experts of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints was convened and its members passed the following sentence on the cure: “Rapid and perfect cessation of haemorrhage, followed by delivery by the child’s leg. This event cannot be explained by our science”. On February 19; 1993 the Special Congress of Theological Advisers was convened and, on May 4 of the same year, the Ordinary Assembly of Cardinal and Bishops took place, Cardinal D. Simon Lourdusamy being the Cause’s Proponent. And, in both the sessions, of the Theological Adviser and Cardinals and Bishops, regarded the doubt whether it can be ascertained that it was a miracle worked by divine intervention, the verdict was affirmative.
Having then the undersigned Cardinal Perfect submitted to the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II an accurate report on all these matters, His Holiness, accepting the votes of the Congregation for the Cause of Saints, directed that the decree on the aforesaid miraculous cure be prepared.This having been duly done, in the presence of the undersigned Cardinal Perfect Cardinal Proponent of the Cause, as well as me, the Prelate Secretary of the Congregation, and others convoked as per rules. The Most Holy Father declared today.
It is ascertained that a miracle was worked by God through the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Joseph Vaz, priest of the Institute of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, namely the rapid and perfect cure of Quiteria Carmela da Piedada Noronha Costa of hemorrhage in delivery labour.
His Holiness ordered that this decree be promulgated and recorded in the minutes of the congregation for the Causes of Saints.Given in Rome, on the sixth day of the month of July in the year of Our Lord 1993.
Perfect Tit. Arch. of Lumen
Secretary.
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
KANDYAN or GOAN Cause of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God JOSEPH VAZ, Priest of the Oratory of the 'Holy Cross of Miracle' in Goa, and Apostle of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Kanara (India): 1651-1711
On the question whether it can be ascertained that the Servant of God Joseph Vaz practised to a heroic degree the theological virtues of faith, Hope and Charity towards God and towards the neighbor, and the cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Fortitude and other related virtues, in the case and for the effect in question.Towards the end of his historic document on evangelization “Evangelii Nuntiandi”, Pope Paul VI wrote: “Let us…. Preserve our fervour of spirit. Let us preserve the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow. May it man for us – as it did for John the Baptist, for Peter and Paul, for the other apostles and for a multitude of splendid evangelizers all through the Church’s history – an interior enthusiasm that nobody and nothing can quench.
May it be the great joy of our consecrated lives. And may the world of our time, which is searching sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the Good News not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervor, who have first received the joy of Christ, and who are willing to risk their lives so that the Kingdom may be proclaimed and the Church established in the midst of the world”. (par. 80).One of the these “splendid evangelizers” in the history of the Church was the great apostle of Sri Lanka, Joseph Vaz, whose spirit and life is mirrored in these words of Paul VI.Born in Goa in 1651, Joseph Vaz was ordained a priest and started his ministry assisting aspirants to the priesthood. He worked in the mission of Canara; later joined a community of priests, founded an Oratory of St. Philip Neri, being elected superior. However, he felt drawn to devote himself to resuscitate the faith and rebuild Church in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). Here the Portuguese had been overthrown, and the Dutch had become masters of much of the island. They began a persecution of the Church, which was still small and fragile, and made adherence to the Catholic faith an obstacle to civil life, forbidding any exercise of the faith.
To these people Joseph Vaz felt himself called.In 1687, disguised as the lowest form of servant, he was able to smuggle himself into Sri Lanka. Under daily threat of discovery he gradually established contact with some of the remaining Catholic and started to exercise his priestly ministry. Under cover of darkness he moved around teaching, preaching, encouraging, celebrating Holy mass and administering the Sacraments. Time came when he was denounced, and he spent two years in prison for his faith, but even here his spirit was strong, and with truth, integrity and faith he was filled with “eagerness to spread the Gospel of peace” (Eph. 6: 14-17).His jailers realized that Joseph Vaz was a man of God, and he was eventually after having, like St. Paul, suffered much (2 Cor. 11:26-29). His work for the Christians, as well as for others, then expanded. To Buddhists as well as Catholics he was a messenger of the Good News. He ministered to peoples of all castes, the rich, the poor. Mile upon mile he walked through the jungles of Sri Lanka seeking out hidden Catholics, sharing with them the grace of Sacrament, uplifting them, confirming them in their faith. When a serious epidemic broke out in Kandy and the royal court and government fled it was Joseph Vaz who cared for the sick, rallied the Christians to help, consoled the dying, buried the death.
For this intense devotion over the year long plague, Fr. Vaz won to undying admiration of the King of Kandy. However Joseph still ventured into those territories under Dutch persecution to minister to the Catholics there. This he did at great risk to his life, but the love of Christ impelled him ever onwards (Cfr. Col. 1:24-29).The faith of Fr. Joseph Vaz was a faith fully founded in his confidence in God. In this he never wavered, despite the trials and difficulties of his apostolate. His faith was such that he was able to say in truth: “I wish to live and to die in this Holy Catholic Faith to the extent of offering my life for it; I would even offer many lives if I had them”. On this faith was founded his firm hope, and because of this same faith he reached out selflessly to those around him. His deep love for his fellowmen and women assumed heroic proportions in his long tiring missionary journeys through the country side, and above all in the courageous care he gave to epidemic victims.One virtue shines through in very special way in the life of Joseph Vaz.
This is his extraordinary fortitude in he pursuit of he things of God. Physical dangers, threat of imprisonment, loneliness-none of these colds deflects him from his cause (Cfr. 2. 4:8-9). He was the very embodiment of St. Paul’s advice to Timothy: “Be careful always to choose the right course; be brave under trial, make the preaching of the Good News you life’s work, in thoroughgoing service” (2 Tim. 4:5).When he died on January 16, 17711 he brought to a close a life made holy by supernatural faith and courage born of his love of God “amor facile tolerans omnia propter id quod amatur” (St. Thomas, “Summa Theol.” H- H, 123, 4). He was an apostle with an interior enthusiasm that nobody or nothing could quench. He gave himself fully to the people of Sri Lanka who were waiting with anguish and with hope to receive the Good News. As Pope Paul VI described I “Evanglii Nuntiandi”, Joseph Vaz was that heroic minister of Gospel whose life was a glow with fervor, who had first received he joy of Christ and who was willing to risk his life so that the Kingdom might e proclaimed and the Church established in the midst of that land (Cfr. Par. 80). In Joseph Vaz, was summed up the ideal of the evangelizer,” … simplicity of life, the spirit of prayer, charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor, obedience and humility, detachment and self-sacrifice”. (ibid. par. 76).
The Cause of his Canonization was introduce just two years after his death. Informative processes were held in 1713 and between 1730-1738. Renewed persecution of the Church, expulsion f the Oratorians and changing ecclesiastical authorities delayed he cause. But it was taken up again in 1928, with informative sessions between 1935 and 1951. The “Positio Super Virtutibus” was completed in 1985 and the historical consulters completed their judgment on May 29th 1985. The theological consulters at the “Congressus Peculiars Super Virtutibus” on October 11, 1988 unanimously gave an affirmative vote, moderator being V. Rev. Antonio Petti, Promoter General of faith. On the 4th of April 1989 he Congregation o Cardinals and Bishops, `Ponens Causae’ being Cardinal Simon Lourdusamy, held that the Servant of God Joseph Vaz practiced to a heroic degree the theological, cardinal and other related virtues.
An accurate report of all this work was then submitted to the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II by the undersigned Cardinal Perfect. His Holiness was well pleased to accept the votes of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and determined that the Decree on the Heroic Virtues of the Servant of God be duly prepared.done, in the presence of the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, the Cardinal.’Ponens Causase’, as well as me the Prelate Secretary of the Congregation and others convoked as per rules, the Holy Father declared today. “It is ascertained that the servant of God Joseph Vaz practiced to a heroic degree the theological virtues of Faith, “Hope and Charity towards God and towards neighbor, and the cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Temperance and Fortitude and other related virtues, in the case and for the effect in question”.His Holiness ordered that this Degree be promulgated and record in the minutes of the congregation for the Cause of Saints.Given in Rome, on the thirteenth day of the month of May in the year of our lord 1989.
L + S. Angelo Card. Felici +Traiano CrisanPerfect Tit: Arch. Of Drivast
Secretary
Pastoral Letter To CCSL
PASTORAL LETTER ISSUED BY THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE SRI LANKA
BEATIFICATION OF FR. JOSEPH VAZ AND VISIT OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE JOHN PAUL II Dear Rev. Father/Dearly Beloved Brethren,Having waited for almost 300 years, we have the exciting news of the Beatification of our beloved Apostle of Sri Lanka, the Ven. Joseph Vaz. This brought us great rejoicing, which is doubtless shared by neighboring India, whose son he was, and one of the most illustrious. Our joy is greatly enhanced by the fact that our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, will be visiting our country, to preside over the ceremony of the Beatification. We have been hearing for a visit by the Universal Shepherd as he has already visited several countries in the Asian continent as well as the rest of he world. Papal Visit Even though the Holy Father will be on our soil only for a period of 24 hours, his visit is a great privilege for the Church in Sri Lanka and the country as a whole.
Pope John Paul II is the Universal Shepherd of about 950 million Catholics. Born in Wadowice, Poland, on 18th May 1920 of devout Catholic parents, Karol Joseph Wojtyla lost his mother when he was nine years old. This loss of his mother at young age was a crushing experience for him. After a brilliant school career, father and son moved from Wadowice to Krakow. As a University student, young Karol was a keen sportsman, and an enthusiastic dramatist. He had to work part time in a Chemical factory to support himself and his father. Returning home after work, one day he found his father dead in his arm-chair.Not long after he enrolled himself for his Theological studies an was ordained a priest on 1st November, 1946. Father Karol’s exceptional intellectual abilities were noticed by his Bishops, who sent him to Rome for his Doctoral studies. On his return to Poland, Fr. Karol worked in different capacities in his ministry and was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Krakow in 1958. In 1965, he was appointed the Archbishop of Krakow. Pope Paul VI made him a Cardinal in 1967.
In the Conclave of October 1978, Cardinal Karol Joseph Wojtyla was elected Pope and took the name of John Paul II.Beside the unaffected warmth and love towards all people, sick and the suffering; beside the spontaneous joy and happiness to be with the people, specially children and youth, John Paul II is a man of deep prayer. After his election as Pope, he requested the assembled cardinal to stay with him in the Vatican for the night to pray together. He has a passionate love for Jesus, the Redeemer of mankind, and the central theme for the majority of his encyclicals is “Jesus the Redeemer”. The Pope has a loving and a tender devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The Holy Father shows great concern for moral issue confronting the human family. The unequivocal stand the Holy Father has taken with issues involving the sanctity of marriage and family life has made him true spiritual leader of our time.Peace is one of the main pre-occupations of Pope John Paul II. Wherever he goes, whether he is speaking to the youth, or the leaders of the world or to educators, or parents, peace is a constant recurring theme.
To peace is linked Justice and Love.The Holy Father maintains that the Church has to remain faithful to the Cause of peace. But the Holy Father maintains that it is useless to talk of Peace if the hearts of men are not changed, and that implies eradication of evil from within. He appeals in special way, to the youth of the world. “Young people; I say to you. Christ is waiting for you with open arms; Christ is relying on you to build Justice and Peace to spread love…. You must return to the School of Christ-to rediscover the true, full, meaning of these words”. The Supreme Pontiff’s visit to Sri Lanka has a specific purpose, namely to preside over the solemn ceremony of Beatification of Ven. Fr. Joseph Vaz, our Beloved Apostle of Sri LankaWe have appointed His Lordship, Bishop Malcolm Ranjith, as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, and under his direction several sub-committees have already been set up.
We are confident that everyone will be willing to cooperate generously with the Organizing Committee in ensuing that this occasion of the Beatification combined with the Pope’s visit will be a memorable one for the Church in Sri Lanka and our Beloved Country. We exhort all those whose assistance will be sought by the Organizing committee to extend their fullest cooperation. It is also our desire that the whole Church in Sri Lanka prepare itself spiritually for this grace-filed occasion. If we do not do so, we shall miss the whole significance of this great event.Ven. Fr. Joseph Vaz- Apostle of Sri LankaWe cannot fail to remember that Fr. Joseph Vaz set foot on our soil a time when, for over three decades, our forefathers had been deprived of priest in our country. This young priest from Goa, burning with zeal for God’s Kingdom, braved the risks of the Dutch persecution to come into our country to rebuild the church of the time literally from the ashes. Disguised as a “cooly” or an ordinary laborer, Fr. Joseph Vaz accompanied by his lay-helper, John landed on our shores with no material resources or help of any kind made available to him. He began his Ministry, by searching out the Catholic who were being hounded by the Dutch for their faith.
While waiting at Tuticorin to come over to Ceylon. Fr. Joseph Vaz had mastered the Tamil language. “Having laboured for two years to rekindle the faith of the faithful in Mannar and Jaffna, he organized them with dedicated lay-leaders to look after them, and after two years began his journey towards the Kandyan Kingdom. At Weuda, between Kurunegla and Kandy, our beloved Fr. Joseph vaz was taken prisoner, as he was suspected of being a Portuguese spy. Having been imprisoned for two years in the King’s prison in Kandy, Fr. Vaz was able to study the Sinhala Language thoroughly. He made use of every opportunity even the seeming tragedies, and disasters of his life, as providential moments for him to prepare for his Apostolate. Having won the favor of the King of Kandy, by his life of sanctity any great humility, Fr. Joseph Vaz was given freedom by King Vimala Dharmasuriya II, to exercise his Ministry freely in the territories of the Kandyan Kingdom.
From then on he made Kandy his Headquarters.Father Joseph Vaz was for several years the sole pastor of the entire country where quite a number of missionaries had worked in the Portuguese period. He walked the length and breadth of our land and ministered to the faithful, instructing them, and organizing them with the aid of dedicated lay-leaders. Along with his Priest-companions he built up the Christian Community to such an extent, that it is said that there were 70,000 Catholic, 300 Chapels and 17 Major Churches; at the tie of his death in 1711, on the 16th of January. The missionary efforts of Fr. Joseph Vaz, were greatly enhanced by fact that he set apart Fr. Vaz and Fr. Gonsalves, an illustrious scholar both in Sinhala and Tamil, who wrote books of prayers, hymns, and other literature in our National Languages. Thus Fr. Vaz and Fr. Gonsalves can be fully considered as the pioneers of our own Catholic Literature in Sinhala and Tamil. Lng before the 2nd Vatican Council, this Apostle of great vision, began a profound process of indigenisation and enculturation. Is it any wonder then that our beloved Apostle, Fr. Joseph Vaz, has thus been acclaimed the greatest missionary that Asia has produced, and the second founder of the Church in Sri Lanka?
At a time when it was thought by the Catholics of Europe and even by the Holy See that evangelization in non-Christian lands should be undertaken by missionaries from Europe, Fr. Joseph Vaz, by his life and work, proved of the Universal Church, that sons of newly-Christianized Asian countries could become missionaries and lives heroic and saintly lives. Not only did Fr. Vaz, an Asian serve as a missionary in another Asian country, but also founded an Institute, the Oratory of Goa, which became a Missionary society that supplied Lanka with Missionaries, all of them Indians, for over a century that is, till the British period.For us Sri Lankans, Fr. Joseph Vaz is the sign and symbol of God’s unfathomable love and providential care for our forefathers and our beloved land. As a young priest, Fr. Joesph Vaz had written a Letter of Dedication- to our blessed Mother, giving himself over to her, to be her “slave” for the Cause of her beloved Son, Jesus our Redeemer. Our profound devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus our Redeemer, has therefore been a singular characteristic of our faith-life. His heroic charity was amply demonstrated in the manner Fr. Joseph Vaz looked after the victim of the small pox epidemic that raged in the country about the middle of the year 1697. The fame of his sanctity, and unparalleled love of God, spread far and wide already during his lifetime. Hardly two years after his death, the Bishop of Cochin introduces his Cause. However, due to various vicissitudes, the cause of this Saintly Missionary, whose life is a beautiful combination of an oriental “Sannyasi” and a zealous Apostle of God’s Kingdom in our land, was delayed. We now can tank God that his sanctity has been acknowledged by the Universal Church, and that our Holy Father himself will declare him “Blessed” on the 21st January, 1995 on our own soil.
BEATIFICATION:
The Beatification not only gives us the official approval of the Church to give Fr. Joseph Vaz gratefully, the honors of the Altar, but also gives us official sanction for private and public supplications to him as a friend of God. He who, as none other, scarified himself generously and heroically to serve Lanka in its hour of need will surely not fail to hearken to our prayer depending on God’s will. Let us therefore turn to him with confidence in our personal, domestic, celestial and national needs. We have not only to venerate him as Lanka’s Apostle, but also look upon him as our special intercessor in heaven.We exhort all our priest, seminarians, religious and faithful to begin a deep spiritual preparation therefore for the Beatification.
There must be an all-round revitalizing of our faith and our Baptismal Commitment. This being the Year of the Family, we can begin our spiritual renewal with the family. Prayer must be brought back to family life; a true Christian atmosphere in which the children of our families would be able to imbibe good Christian and human values must be built up. Lapsed Catholic must be sought after and brought to the fold. Our Christian lives must be in every way revived that we may make the Gospel alive in our environment. The time has come for us to enthusiastically prepare ourselves as a Church for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our midst on the occasion of this great event. Ven, Fr. Joseph Vaz is truly the second founder of Christianity in our country and his “spirit-filed” Apostolate is reminiscent of Apostolic times. His example is a definite call for a radical renewal of all of us to be “spirit-filled” messengers of the Good News. We must respond positively to this call as our dear Apostle did. In Fr. Vaz’s life we see s shining example of an authentic Christian, one who combines love of God and love of neighbor.
In the context of our country today we need not only to inspire our faithful to a greater awakening of the faith, but also to live their Christian commitment to build up God’s Kingdom in our midst, namely a Kingdom of Justice and Love, a Kingdom of peace and Reconciliation, a nation where every human being will be accepted for his or her God-given human dignity.May the event of the Beatification of our beloved Apostle, by the Universal Shepherd of the Church, draw down upon our dear land, the much yearned gift of peace. We pray that Fr. Joseph Vaz, our beloved Apostle may intercede on our behalf so that every man, woman, and child of Mother Lanka would be able to live in peace and Prosperity and that our society would be permeated with Justice and Love.Suggestion for Spiritual Preparation
WORSHIP :
· A regular time to be set apart by every family member for family prayers everyday. A Holy hour in the family, or in the Parish at least once a week for our country. A special preparatory prayer for the beatification and the Papal visit to be recited everyday at the end of the Mass as well as family prayers. A day of fast and prayer, or other acts of penance and mortification to be encouraged, especially, for the peace in our land. A Till in every home to collect the families’ contribution, specially through mortification, towards the expense in connection with the Beatification. Parish Mission to be organized, with the theme to be ‘SPIRIT FILLED’ Parish communities through deep spiritual renewal at every level.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION & EVANGELIZATION:
· Organize Bible Study-Group in every Parish and in the neighbor hood to strengthen the acknowledgement of our people, of the word of God.· A stall to be set up in every parish for the diffusion of literature on Ven Fr. Vaz, Apostle of Sri Lanka.· Holy Childhood Cells and other children’s movement or organizations to work out programs for children to be acquainted with Fr. Joseph Vaz, his zeal, his Christian discipleship and his missionary commitment:· To foster and promote vocations to the priesthood, religious life and lay-leadership in a special way this year.· Exhibitions, Parish levels seminars and recollection days etc, to be organized specially on the theme of he missionary labor and the example of sanctity of Fr. Vaz, specially for youth and families.
CHARITY AND JUSTICE:
To organize in every Parish, groups who will work for Justice, communal harmony and peace in our society.Animate and motivate Parish Association Lay-movements, and Youth Groups about the need to eradicate social evils such as pornography, drugs, bribery and corruption and every from of discrimination.Some project in every Parish such as housing scheme for the benefit of the poorest of the poor.Emulating the example of our beloved Apostle, special concern to be promoted towards the sick and disabled, as well as prayer groups to be initiated and formed in Parishes to pray and organize vigils in homes on occasions such as funerals.
· Most Rev. Nicholas Marcus ‘Fernando - Archbishop of Colombo (President).· Most Rev. Frank Marcus Fernando - Bishop of Chilaw.· Most Rev. Edmund J. Fernando OMI - Bishop of Badulla.· Most Rev. Thomas Savandranayagan - Bishop of Jaffna (Vice-President· Most Rev. Henry Goonewardane OMI - Bishop of Anuradhapura· Most Rev. W. Don Sylvester - Bishop of Galle· Most Rev. Kingsley. J. Swampillai - Bishop of Trinco-Batticaloa· Most Rev. Vianney Fernando - Bishop of Kandy.· Most Rev. Raymond Pieris -Bishop of Kurunegala· Most Rev. Rayappu Joseph -Bishop of Mannar· Most Rev. Elmo Perera - Auxiliary Bishop, Galle and Apostolic Administrator· Most Rev. Oswald Gomis - Secretary General CBCSI and Auxiliary Bishop, Colombo
Most Rev. Malcom Ranjith -Auxiliary Bishop, Colombo.
Dear Brother Bishops, Priest, Sisters,
Our prayer this evening is one of joy and thanksgiving. This beautiful Cathedral of Saint Lucia, modeled upon Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome, is a symbol of our communion in the one faith, the faith which Peter and the other Apostles were sent to proclaim to all the world. As Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter, I am truly happy to be able to visit the Catholic community of Sri Lanka and to confirm you in your dedication to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (cf. LK 22:32)> I am grateful to Bishop Edmund Fernando for his kind words on your behalf. I am also pleased to acknowledge the presence of distinguished representative of the various Christian Communities established in Sri Lanka, and I thank them for wishing to share this Evening Prayer with us.The Church has come of age:
· The seed of Faith, planted on this island by the first missionaries and revived the tireless apostolate of Fr. Joseph Vaz, has borne abundant fruits of ecclesial life. Truly the Church in Sri Lanka has come of the age. You are guided by native hierarchy, served by many clergy, religious and lay leaders, and blessed with abundant vocations. Although you are a “little flock” (cf. Lk. 12:32), you contribute much to the life of the nation by your spiritual witness and your achievement in many fields of service, especially in education and human development…
CENTER YOUR LIVES ON CHRIST, THE HIGH PRIEST:
· In giving thanks for these blessing, remember that God’s gifts are the foundation upon which each generation is called to build. Let us pray that tomorrow’s celebration in Kingsley honour of Fr. Joseph Vaz will be an occasion for the Catholics of Sri Lanka to recommit themselves to living fully the faith for which their forefathers were willing to suffer so much. May Fr. Vaz be a perennial inspiration to the Church in Sri Lanka as she carries out her mission of bearing witness to the Gospel, which “is the power of God for salvation” (Rom 1:16)…· To proclaim the message of salvation in the first priority of the Chruch’s life and the most important service which she renders to individuals and society (Cf. “Redemptoris Missio”, N. 44). Every other work which Christian carry out flows from and leads back to the Church’s commitment to evangelization, understood not only as the proclamation of a message but as the communication of a “new life” in the grace of Christ. Every aspect of the apostolate-education, health care, social service, solidarity, inter-religious dialogues meant to manifest the love which the Father has given the world in Jesus, His Son, the love which He pours into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (cf. Rom. 5:5).
· Dear brothers and sisters, be joyful messengers of Christ, eager to share with others the new life you have received, in complete respect for the freedom and conscience of every individual. This witness is not always easy and it may often meet with rejection, but true disciples of Christ, like the Apostles, cannot fail to “speak about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
· Dear brother priests… center your lives on Christ, the High Priest, whom you meet each day in the Mysteries which you celebrate and administer. Yours spiritual development must be marked by constant conversion- metanoia -and growth I the Lords image. The pillars of your interior life ought to be the Eucharist and Penance, for in these encounters with God’s grace you come to know most deeply both your own sinfulness and the efficacy of God’s infinite mercy. Your union with the Lord should be clearly visible to the faithful who should know you as living sings of the transforming power of divine grace, just as Fr. Vas was· Your holiness of life is the indispensable condition for the authentic enculturation of the Gospel in this land of ancient religious traditions. Beware therefore of the temptation to allow the more immediate an practical aspects of your apostolate take you away from the time you need each day in order to “be with the Lord” (cf. Mk. 3:14-15). Be renewed in your mind and hearts, so that you will increasingly think with he mind of the Church-“seeing things with her eyes, and judging all things in the light of the surpassing power of Christ’s Cross….”
YOUR COMMUNITIES MUST BE MARKED BY FRATERNAL LOVE:
· I am especially glad to meet so many men and women religious. Dear brothers and sisters, you are sign of God’s love, messenger of His kingdom and witnesses to the joy, which comes from following Christ with an undivided heart. Seek to draw nearer each day to the Lord, in spirit of communion with all the members of His body. As men and women consecrated to Christ, you must be examples of evangelical poverty, reflecting simplicity and self-denial in the way you live. Let your consecration be shown by your rejection of styles of life, which go against the values of the Gospel. Absolute need of a responsible Laity.
· Dear members of the lay faithful, in the time of Fr. Vaz, the Church in Ceylon was able to survive persecution and flourish once more because of the fidelity of its laity. As individual men and women, and as members of lay movements and associations, your contribution to the Church’s mission is absolutely necessary, especially in the face of altitudes of secularism and materialism which are so contrary to the deep spirituality and respect for religious values which are part of your national heritage. Your specify task is to bring the light of the Gospel to your families and to the communities in which you live and work. In particular, as the Second Vatican Council pointed out, the laity are called to seek the Kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and ordering them according to the plan of God. (“Lumen Gentium”, n. 30) Catholics are being challenged to play their proper part in the Church and to take the initiative in being a leaven of Gospel values sin the world of business, of the professions and of politics.
· It is my hope that the laity and clergy alike fulfill their respective roles and responsibilities within the Christian community. I hope that will work together to face the challenges of this moment in the Church’s life…Fr. Vaz challenges you to be renewed in holiness:
· May the Lord to whom we raise our hearts in praise at this Evening Prayer grant all of you, the strength to recommit yourselves, in the spirit of your great apostle, Fr. Joseph Vaz, to Church’s mission of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ; Fr. Vaz, is an outstanding model for bishops, priests, religious and laity alike. His example of profound love of God and neighbour, his authentic piety and humility, his witness of evangelical poverty and his loving zeal for souls should be an inspiration to each of you, and to each of us.
This is “the acceptable year of the Lords” (LK 4:19), the year in which the beatification of Joseph Vaz challenges every Catholic to be deeply renewed in holiness and zeal for the Gospel. May Mary, Mother of the Church, to whom the Catholics of your country have always had tender devotion, help you all to achieve this.
"Praise the Lord all nations! Praise him, all peoples" (Ps 117:1)
Dear Sri Lankan Brothers, and Sisters,
The responsorial psalm of today's Mass speaks to the whole world, to every nation and people. The nations and peoples of the vast continent of Asia also are called to join in a chorus of praise to God. Today, in Colombo, I thank God for enabling me to add my voice to yours in this great symphony of praise, and to rejoice with you for the beatification of Fr. Joseph Vaz. I express my gratitude to everyone gathered here, to Archbishop Fernando, my brother Bishops, the priests, religious women and men and all of you whose presence makes this joyful celebration possible. I greet the civil authorities and thank them for their presence at this ceremony.This is a day of special happiness for Christ's followers in Sri Lanka !
From the very beginning of my Pontificate, whenever I have had occasion to meet your Bishops they have told me of your great desire to see Fr. Vaz raised to the honors of the altar. Today Joseph Vaz, the apostle of Sri Lanka, has been proclaimed one of the blessed in heaven. Sri Lanka's Catholics, with gratitude for all that God has done in the history of his people on this island, can truly repeat with the psalmist: "His love for us is strong! His faithfulness is eternal!" (Ps 117:2).Joseph Vaz is rightly considered the second founder of the Church in your country.
From his native India he came, a dedicated priest of Jesus Christ, to this land of ancient spiritual traditions, a land steeped in respect for the Sanyasi, the man of holiness, the man of God. During the last few months, as I prepared for today's beatification, my thoughts often turned to the respect for things spiritual which characterizes the peoples of Asia. This brought to mind the passage of the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Non-Christian Religions, which expresses the Church's deep esteem for the ancient religions of Asia, and especially for Buddhism and Hinduism.This is what we read in the document Nostra aetate: The Church respects these religions because of their ability to instill deep religious meaning into the lives of their followers.
Men and women look to the different religious for answers to the profound and troubling mysteries which surround human existence: Who is man? What is the origin and purpose of suffering? How do we attain true happiness? What is the meaning of death, and what is the ultimate mystery which surrounds and penetrates our whole being, the mystery which is our origin and towards which we are always journeying? (cf. Nostra aetate, nn. 1-2).And now I read other texts from Gaudium et spes. The Catholic Church "rejects nothing of what is true and holy in other religions, for she sees in them a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men: (ibid)., n.2). At the same time she exists to proclaim that the fullest answer to life's questions is found in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God. He is the Eternal Word of the Father and the New Adam.
Through him all things were made and in him all people find that light which is the life of the world (cf. Jn 1: 3-4). Christ, by revealing the mystery of the Father and his love, "fully reveals man to him and makes clear his sublime calling" (Gaudium et spes, n. 22).For this reason, the Church never ceases to proclaim that Jesus Christ is "the way, the truth, and the life" (Jn 14: 6), the One "in whom the fullness of religious life is found and in whom God has reconciled all things to himself" (Nostra aerate, n. 2). Fr. Joseph Vaz came to this land in order to proclaim the same message. He preached the name of Christ out of obedience to the Truth and out of a desire to share with others the way that leads to eternal life.Fr. Joseph Vaz was a great missionary priest, belonging to the unending line of ardent heralds of the Gospel, missionaries who, in every age, have left their own land to bring the light of the Faith to peoples not their own.
Among those following in the footsteps of St. Paul, who became all things to all men for the sake of the Gospel (cf. 1 Cor. 9: 22-23), the figure of St. Francis Xavier shines before us as the great apostle of Asia and the universal patron of the missions. Fr. Vaz was a worthy heir of St. Francis Xavier; he was also a true son of his native Goa, outstanding for its deep Christian and missionary traditions. Fr. Vaz was a son of Asia who became a missionary in Asia. The Church today needs more such missionary men and women among the peoples of different continents.Who was Fr. Joseph Vaz? Above all. What moved him to come to Sri Lanka ?
The Gospel we have heard today sheds light on his missionary vocation. Jesus went about proclaiming the kingdom of God in his native Galilee. People brought their sick to him and he healed them. He freed others from the grip of evil spirits, when he went off by himself to pray, people started looking for him. They did not want him to leave them. But he replied: I must preach the Good News about the kingdom of God in other towns also, because that is what God sent me to do" (Lk 4: 43).Fr. Joseph strove to follow in the path of his Divine Master. He too had been sent by God in order to proclaim "a kingdom of holiness and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace" (Roman Missal, Preface of Christ the King). Heeding the call of the Holy Spirit, he left his homeland to come to this country where the Church had no priests for over three decades.
He came here in absolute poverty and lived as a beggar, driven by a burning desire to draw people to Christ. Before he had even arrived he learned the Tamil language, and later when he was imprisoned in Kandy he learned Sinhala, so as to make the name of Jesus Christ resound in the languages and culture of your country.Joseph Vaz was on fire with faith. Guided by the example of his Divine master, he travelled the whole island, going everywhere, often bare-foot, with a rosary round his neck as a sign of his Catholic faith. As a true disciple of Jesus, he endured innumerable sufferings with joy and confidence, knowing that in those sufferings too God's plans were being fulfilled. His heroic charity, shown in a particular way, in his selfless devotion to the victims of the epidemic in 1697, earned him the respect of everyone.Dear brothers and sisters, Christians of Sri Lanka! What is the message of Joseph Vaz?
Blessed Joseph should inspire you to be tireless and spirit-filled witnesses to the Gospel in your families and in your communities. In Baptism you were remade in the likeness of Christ and given a mission to proclaim prophetically his presence in the world. In Confirmation you were strengthened by the Holy Spirit and sent forth to profess your faith in word and deed. To some of you is addressed a further call; to be Asian missionaries to Asia. On the eve of the third Christian millennium, the whole Church is called to take with fresh vigour the missionary mandate she received from Christ, and to meet the challenges of new evangelisation.
Among the peoples of this continent, holiness will always be the first and most effective form of teaching the truths and values of the Gospel. Asia's venerable traditions of silence, reflection, prayer, asceticism and self-denial will find their fullest meaning in a living encounter with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, an encounter which will certainly take place if you are people of deep personal holiness, filled with love and zeal for the Church and God's kingdom. Through your witness, "all the nations of the world will know that the Lord alone is God - that there is no other" (1 Kgs 8:60).In the first reading of today's Mass King Solomon prays: "May the Lord our God be with us, as he was with our ancestors; may he never leave us, or abandon us; may he make us obedient to him, so that we will always live as he wants us to live" ( 1 Kgs 8: 57).
These words call to mind how your ancestors in the faith joyfully received Fr. Vaz. At a time when the Catholic Church was banned and persecuted, and all her priests had been expelled, Sri Lanka's Catholics did not lose heart. They remained faithful to the Gospel they had received. And God did not abandon them. Joseph Vaz could count on the laity in the task of rebuilding the Church in your country; he trained lay leaders to look after Christ's scattered flock in the hour of difficulty.Can we not see here a lesson for our own times? The Church in Sri Lanka needs fervent Catholics who are "obedient to God's law, living, as he would have us live, and keeping all his laws and commands" (1 kgs 8.58). She needs dedicated priests to proclaim the Gospel and celebrate the mysteries of our redemption; she needs religious who are living signs of the joy, which comes from total dedication to the Lord and his works.
I should say that this joy I find in you, in your priests, your religious, men and women especially, I find this great joy of being Christian, being religious. There is also need for married couples whose faithful love will reflect the unbreakable bond of unity between Christ and his Church; there is a need for Christian parents who will be the first teachers of the faith to their children. The Church needs young people who will be apostles to their own generation: like the hundreds of thousands and millions of young people who gathered in Manila for the 10th World Youth Day and recommitted themselves to transforming the world around them according to the Gospel demands of justice, peace and love. Like Joseph Vaz, who freely shared the truth he had received, everyone who had received the gift of faith is called to share that gift with others.
"Praise the Lord who has given his people peace" (1 Kgs 6: 56)My brothers and sisters: it is my ardent hope that the beatification of Fr. Joseph Vaz will inspire Sri Lankans to work with ever greater commitment for peace in this beloved country, to bring about a definitive end to the tragic violence which has cost so many lives.Peace is the fruit of love! St. Paul reminds us that our love is shown in the way we treat others. He says: "Love one another warmly ... and be eager to show respect for one another... Serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion. Let your hope keep you full of devotion. Let your hope keep you joyful, be patient in your troubles and pray at all times" (Rom 12: 10-12). These words, which Paul wrote to the first, Christians living in Rome are also the message of Blessed Joseph Vaz, a man known for his meekness and humility of heart. These words are addressed to you - and to all who earnestly strive for peace in this country.
St. Paul insists: "If someone has done you wrong, do not repay him with a wrong, try to do what everyone considers to be good" (Rom 12:17). This is God's will for you. This is God's will for Sri Lanka. Forgiveness, reconciliation, peace: this is the challenge before you: all of you, Sinhalese and Tamils - Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians and all men and women of goodwill. This is the challenge before you all.May the example of Fr. Joseph Vaz speak to your hearts. Fr. Joseph loved your nation and all its people. He welcomed everyone as a child of God. And because of this love his name is now evoked as a blessing, here in Sri Lanka and throughout the world. "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Mt. 5:9). When lasting peace comes, all Sri Lankans will be blessed and your country will be restored to its full dignity and greatness. May almighty God achieve this through you. Amen.
May almighty God through the intercession of Our Lady and of Blessed Joseph Vaz achieve this through you.Rite Of BeatificationThe Right Reverend Vianney Fernando, Bishop of Kandy, together with the Most Reverend Raul Nicolau Gonsalves, Archbishop of Goa, and Farther James Fitzpatrick, O.M.I., the Postulator, approaches the Holy Father and requests the Beatification of the Venerable Servant of God, Joseph Vaz.Holy Father, the Bishop of Kandy and Archbishop of Goa most humbly ask that the Venerable Servant of God, Joseph Vaz, be proclaimed Blessed. An account of the life of the Servant of God is read in the three languages.Joseph Vaz, born of devout parents at Benaulim in Goa on 21st April 1651, lived a virtuous life from his early days and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Goa in 1676. He joined a small community of Indian priests in 1648 known as the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Fr Joseph Vaz, on hearing the plight of the Catholic in Ceylon under the Dutch persecution, came over in disguise as an ordinary laborer in 1687. Walking the length and breadth of our country, making Kandy his headquarters, he labored for 24 years to rebuild the Church in Sri Lanka. His burning love of God, heroic charity and personal holiness endeared him to the Kings of Kandy as well as to the people of all faiths. In the face of severe persecution by the Dutch and constantly facing the risk of his life, Fr. Joseph Vaz with his tremendous missionary zeal and heroic sanctity, revived the faith of our forefathers in our land.Worn out by his labors and afflicted by illness, Fr. Vaz died a beautiful death in Kandy on 16th January 1711.Formula Of Beatification21st January 1995, The Beatification not only gives us the official approval of the Church to give Fr. Joseph Vaz gratefully, the honors of the Altar, but also gives us official sanction for private and public supplications to him as a friend of God. He who, as none other, sacrificed himself generously and heroically to serve Lanka in its hour of need will surely not fail to hearken to our prayer depending on God's will. Let us therefore turn to him with confidence in our personal, domestic, eclectically and national needs. We have not only to venerate him as Lanka's Apostle, but also look upon him as our special intercessor in heaven.The Right Reverend Vianney Fernando, Bishop of Kandy, together with the most Reverend Raul Nicolau Gonsalves, Archbishop of Goa, and Father James Fitzpatrick, O.N.I., the Postulator, approaches the Holy Father and requests the Beatification of the Venerable Servant of God, Joseph Vaz. The Holy Father, the Bishop of Kandy and Archbishop of Goa most humbly ask that the Venerable Servant of God, Joseph Vaz be proclaimed Blessed. An account of the life of the Servant of God is red in three languages.Joseph Vaz, born of devout parents at Benaulim in Goa on 21st April 1651, lived a virtuous life from his early days and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Goa in 1676. He joined a small community of Indian priests in 1684 known as the Oratory of St. Philip Nery. Fr. Joseph Vaz on hearing the plight of the Catholics in Sri Lanka under the Dutch persecution came over in disguise as an ordinary laborer in 1687. Walking the length and breadth of our country, making Kandy his headquarters, he labored for 24 years to rebuild the Church in Sri Lanka. His burning love of God, heroic charity and personal holiness endeared him to the kings of Kandy as well as to the people of all faiths. In the face of a severe persecution by the Dutch and constantly facing the risk of his life, Fr. Joseph Vaz with is tremendous missionary zeal and heroic sanctity, revived the faith of our fore fathers in our dear land.Worn out by his labors and afflicted by illness, Fr. Vaz died a beautiful death in Kandy on 16th January 1711.The Holy Father:Acceding to the request of our brothers, Vianney Fernando, Bishop of Kandy, and Raul Nicolau Gonsalves, Archbishop of Goa, of many other brothers in the Episcopate, and of many of the faithful, and after consultation with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, by our Apostolic Authority we declare that the Venerable Servant of God, Joseph Vaz, shall hereafter be invoked as Blessed, and that his feast shall be celebrated every year on the 16th January, the date of his birth to eternal life, in the places and according to the norms established by Church Law.In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Congregation singsAmen.
What It Means To Be Blessed
Up until the beatification of a Servant of God Catholics must observe a strict rule of non cultus, meaning that while they may privately pray to and venerate an individual whom they believe to be in heaven there may not be any public acts of religious veneration. In fact, the presence of a cultus before the approval of the Church is given can end the candidacy of a Servant of God.With Beatification a number of marks of veneration can be given to a person. The most important one is that a feast day, with its proper Mass and Office (Liturgy of the Hours), can be granted to particular dioceses and religious orders and congregations. For example, Blessed Joseph Vaz, the jewel of the East, is celebrated on the liturgical calendars of Goa, Daman and Sri Lanka. In the U.S. and Mexico there is a feast day for Blessed Juan Diego, the visionary of Guadalupe. By analogy, this privilege is somewhat akin to the practice of Episcopal canonization earlier in Church history, except that a bishop manifests to Rome his flock's desire to venerate a Blessed and Rome grants such local veneration.With beatification comes the restricted right to venerate the relics of Jacinta and Francisco, to have public prayers to them and to honor their images in places of worship where the Holy See grants this. It is restricted in the sense that it is the veneration of a part of the Church and not the whole, and lacks the finality of canonization.
* Cultus. Certain negativity has attached itself to the English term cult (a false, exaggerated religious system), which should not be applied to the older, properly understood, Latin term cultus. The Latin term in the ancient world had the meaning of religious worship of God or a god. It could be applied to the True God (which would be legitimate) or to a pagan god among gods (which would be idolatry). In using the term, but with specific theological meaning, the Church distinguishes between the forms of worship appropriate to God, Trinity, Christ and the Blessed Sacrament (called latria, worship or adoration, in the strict sense), and the forms of veneration and honor appropriate to the Blessed Virgin, the angels and the saints (called hyperdulia or the greatest measure of veneration in the case of Mary and dulia or simple veneration in the case of the angels and other saints). It is a principle of justice that we must honor, respect and show gratitude in proper measure to those who are part of God's plan for our natural and supernatural life. God commands it in the Fourth Commandment. This includes our natural parents who gave us life, but also those to whom we owe a debt for their role in the redemption first among whom is the Blessed Virgin Mary. But without the fidelity of the angels, who served as God's messengers, of the prophets, of the apostles, the evangelists, the Fathers and the great and holy men and women of all ages, we today would not have the faith. That is the foundation of our individual and collective gratitude for the working of God's grace in their lives and thus of their cultus (in the way understood by the Church).
Record Of Fr Joseph Vaz's Wonders
-Fr. Premanand Naik S. "The present Ms. Independent in itself, is integrated in Ms Collection No 636 which I obtained from the National Archive, Torre do Tombo, Lisbon.Its author, Dr Custodio de Souza Albuquerque, a native of Pilerne, Bardez Goa, was a well known doctor and a great devotee of Blessed Joseph Vaz. His devotion prompted him to implore his intercession on behalf of his clients, who, he thought, could only be saved through divine intervention.
His introduction shows clearly that he had already years back submitted to the Mother House of the Oratory, Goa, the required information regarding extraordinary cured obtained through the intercession of Blessed Joseph Vaz, within 20 to 30 years of the death of our Blessed. In course of time this original fervor waned away.Therefore I trust that his dual publication will give a new fillip to our devotion to Blessed Joseph Vaz, who is the most precious Jewel of the magnificent crown of the Golden Goa."
Account which Dr Custodio De Souza Albuquerque Renders of the Wondrous Graces Obtained Through the intercession of Blessed Joseph Vaz: "Some years ago I recorded the wondrous deeds which Bl. Joseph Vaz wrought with me and handed over the account of the Oratory Congregation in Goa but, it was lost. In September of 1753 Rev. Fr. D. Sebastian do Rego, religious of Divine Providence, wrote to my uncle Rev. Fr. Ribeiro de Mendonsa in order to approach me and get the same re-written but I could never execute it not only owing to continued visits (of the sick) and other occupation but also due to some negligence which caused me to postpone its execution endlessly.
After some months in December of the same year, between 11 and 12, my wife Joana Liberata Colaco, took seriously ill with a deadly pleurisy. I noticed that all the medicines I administered were of no avail, hence I went to a picture of the Blessed which is preserved in my house and begged pardon of my serious negligence in writing earlier his wonders. Thus I promised him that on the day my wife showed improvement, on that same day I would not start recording the said excellent marvels, but would also offer a mass. Such wondrous was the favor he granted me that on the 16th of same month she showed such improvement as to be out of serious danger. On that day she sweated profusely, a thing she never did before and managed good sleep, which she never got from the day of her fever, nor did she experience any rest except with some sedatives (treasuries?). The fever ran high by 2 degrees and never cooled nor was she relieved of pain in spite of so many medicines administered with so much care.At this very moment I got another letter which very Rev. Sebasteao do Rego had sent to my uncle Rev. Fr. Antonio Rebeiro de Mendonsa of the (oratory) Congregation, who being seriously ill, sent the same for my perusal and execution. I obeyed immediately and wrote the favors in order not to prove ungrateful tot he graces, which I always obtained from the Blessed, not only for my family, but also for many of my patients when I had recourse for his intercession in my needs. The following are the favors:
On one occasion my wife Joana Liberata Colaco was worried when Rev. Fr. Martinho Xavier, my uncle, of the Congregation, came to my house. She told him about the miraculously successful delivery of the wife of Bernardo Lopes Duarte which the Blessed had obtained for her, as it will be explained below; He told her that not only Blessed (Joseph Vaz) was a patron of deliveries but also Ven. Fr. Pedro Ferrao. And she placed so much faith on both of them that, when she got panicky over the delivery, she (Joana) invoked the help of the Blessed and Ven. Fr. Pedro Ferrao and the usual promise, and obtained such a successful delivery that in less than one hour she delivered without much pain which she experienced in earlier deliveries. She gave birth t a son who was named Joaquim and from then on we always pray wit that family one O. F and H. M. to each of them after the Litany.
The same devotion was continued and after 3 years, at the time of her delivery, she implored help of B./V fathers with great faith as in her earlier delivery. The success was so great that in less than half hour she delivered a happy girl, who was christened Maria Conceicao. She felt no pains and of this we rendered thanks to God and his servants.· This Joaquim was once on the verge of death with motions and vomiting. These were so continuous that they could not retain in his stomach even a spoon of water in spite of several medicines I tried to administer. His eyes were sunk and gave no signs of life. The only thing that remained was to order preparations for his funeral. · At this hour it occurred to me to send for the picture of Ven. J. Vaz which was at the house of my uncle, Rev. Fr. Antonio Ribeiro de Mendonsa, and not my own. No sooner it was kept at the head of the boy and implored with the whole household his intercession, the family promising a mass and I to write these miraculous events, than on the same moment the boy began to retain in his stomach the food which was served and was also free from motions he was suffering from, so that, within an hour, he felt better.
In another occasion the same Joaquim was a victim of so grace a hydrates that he reacted adversely to the medicines of pharmacy. They had recourse to the treatment, and while availing of the same, the swelling grew so much that he could neither urinate nor pass motions and his fainting assumed such proportions that he gave signs of death. In this affliction we promised a mass in honor of the Ven. Father (Blessed Joseph Vaz) and from that day on his urine and motions became so normal that within three days he showed great improvement.· My daughter, Margarida Joana by name, got sick with burning fever which I tried to arrest with various medicines and leeches. The fever was so stubborn that it lasted for over a month with no sign of improvement. She became so weak that we gave up hopes.
Then I promised to the Ven. Father (Bl. J. V.) and she began to improve immediately.· Another daughter of mine, known as Ursula Maria was suffering from tape worms fever, which defying all the remedies administered her, continued in the body. As a result of this she was driven into a coma, which deprived her of senses for 2 full hours.· All of the household took her for dead and began weeping and mourning. In this anxiety my wife promised a mass in honor of the Ven. Father (Bl. J. V.) and addressed to him a short prayer, as a result of which she came to her senses, thus being free both of mortal coma as well as fever.· A slave of mine, Antonio by name, suddenly developed an acute pain in the chest and such high temperature that he could neither move from side to side nor could he stay in the same place and gave clear signs of breathing his last.
I thought it was pleurisy and ordered application of leeches and administered remedies which Bro. Constantino did in similar cases and which I sent for him while he was at Marna. I further promised Rev. Father that, no sooner he was all right, than I would offer five xerafins (coins) for his canonization. The success was really miraculous because within hours he improved so much that neither further remedies nor leeches were needed.· D. Maria L. Gonsalves de Oliveira, wife of Bernardo Lopes Duarte, who was Fetor of this city, was suffering from severe delivery pains for 4 continuous days without any consequence. For this purpose many midwives from among the best, from various places, got together and among them one could find some elderly women with vast experience. These applied her various remedies to no avail.
They gave her up declaring that the child n her womb was already dead as all pains had stopped, neither was there any signs of the child's movement nor the usual flow. As I happened to pass by on this occasion, her husband and also her uncle Francis of Oiverira asked me to give her any remedy which I had. I went in t check her and found her with a high fever, with convulsions, exhaustion, and anxieties. She was not at peace nor could she remain in one place but turned from one place to another. When I saw her rigidity I dared not apply her any remedy, but as she was more close to death than life, they persuaded me that it was preferable to die with remedies rather than without them With this in view I told them I would go home and returned with medicine.
On my way back I implored the help of Ven. Fr. J. V. and pleaded with him to help me in her grace crisis by lending virtue to the said medicine, which I administered her at 7 pm and requested the bystanders t recite one Our Father and Hail Mary. I further promised to offer in his honor one mass no sooner the delivery was safe. At that very hour she began her delivery pangs, flow, which three hours earlier had fully stopped and immediately she delivered a live baby girl. All rendered thanks to God and to his servant, the Ven. J. V.· D. Maria de Melo Texeira, wife of Francisco de Oliveira, present Secretary of Treasure, was under my treatment for burning fever which led to a cerebral attack, which became so stubborn that it would not yield to any medicine.
To my credit I had recourse to the intercession of the Ven. Father J. V. promising a mass after her recovery. From that moment on she began to improve until she was completely free from the sickness she was suffering from.· D. Maria de Souza e Melo, wife of Carlos de Silveira de Almeida, Captain-in-chief of the Teracol fort lived in the company of her parents, family of C. De Melo e Castro who was custodian of the same fort. Her son, Antonio, fell sick here with fever and was for nearly a month under the treatment of the Doctor of that fort. As there was no improvement, she came back t her house, at Verem, to seek my medical intervention. I visited him and applied various medicines, which yielded no effect. · In this anxiety she had recourse to other doctors, including the head Doctor who prescribed various remedies which bore no result. As she had faith in me, she called me again. After visiting him, I found him very weak and her very much discouraged as no remedy was of any consequence.
Then I told her that if she wanted her son to get cured, she should implore the intercession of the Ven. Father Joseph Vaz promising one mass and wearing of his cassock. She complied and did one and the other. Not to discourage her I went on applying some home remedies and from that moment on the fever gradually left him, and within a few days, eh regained perfect health.· When a young girl, Joana de Manoel Mascarenhas by name, residing in this village of Pilerne, was sick with fever and swelling. I was called to cure her. I tried various medicines on her, both from pharmacy as well as herbs and the one of (Baldados) without giving them any assurance. The sickness went on increasing day by day and the girl became so shapeless that she looked like a dead body and showed such signs of exhaustion that there was no hope of life. In these circumstances I told her father to apply other remedies, which he would in no way accept.
Her father told me that he would not give me up until I either killed her or cured her. That every day I was returning home from visit to the sick and on the way I thought of the predicament I was facing and the type of medicine I would apply, when I saw clearly that the girl could not escape without the intercession of the Ven. Father J. V. Immediately I went to visit her and assured her father that she would be free from that sickness if he promised a mass to the Ven. Father Joseph Vaz who would obtain from God that cure. And exactly it happened so. They prayed and promised to fulfill their vow, while I kept on applying some home medicine in order not to discourage them. From that day on she began to pass urine, which had long stopped and was so free from fever that within 3 days she was cured and is married to Dom Domingos de Lisboa, at Revora.
I was treating Pedro, son of Luis Braz, residing at Teis Magos, for malignant and contagious fever which caused loss of sense and convulsions (travails) and which grew from bad to worse. In spite of administering efficacious drugs, he was on the point of rendering account of God and with no hope of life. In this anxiety I told his uncle, Rev. Fr. Braz, to pray to the Ven Fr. J. V. and promise to offer a mass and some pardaos (money) for his canonization. This he fulfilled immediately with great fervor, both the mass and money offering, and the miracle was so great that he got completely all right within a few days without further relapse and he is so up to the present day.· Jose Pinto, from Saligao, was in his last agony due to some malignant fever. He was already given unction of the sick and was given up by well-qualified doctors, when they sent for me. While going there I carried my remedy but as soon as I saw the patient, I found him with cold sweat, without senses and in this anguish of the parents, I told them it was impossible to escape as he was more dead than alive.
Nevertheless I added they had a Protector before God in the person of Ven. Father Joseph Vaz, whom they had to pray promising t contribute 10 Xerafins (money) for his canonization as soon as he was cured. His parents promised the amount and went on giving him remedy every 2 hours, while at the same time I instructed the bystanders t say one Our Father and Hail Mary in honor of Ven. Father J. V. The success was so wondrous that within 24 hours he was cured and free from fever and immediately he rendered thanks to God. Gonsalo de Melo's wife, farmer and Gaunkar (component) of this village of Pilerne, by name Simoa de Souza, suddenly suffered from stiff throat which prevented even the passage of water. In this plight they sent for me to examine her, and on reaching there, I found her leaning against the wall and held by some of her relatives.
I asked the patient about her complaint, but she could not respond as her speech was blocked nor did she know what she was suffering from. I told her relatives that the case was very dangerous, yet I applied her some samples of various medicines, and after doing this I told them to warm her the next day with water to see the reaction and apply medicine. The husband having done this, came t me weeping and feeling sorry that no relief was found. My wife, who had great devotion to the Ven. Fr. J. V. consoled him saying not get discouraged and promising that God would cure her through his servant the Ven Fr. J. V. He advised her to pray to him to deliver her fro this grave danger with the promise to offer one mass in his honor and assured him that not only his wife would get cured but also would get a son from nine months hence as she had no issue for 14 years. He told my wife that he did not know such a Saint and requested her to make herself the promise and he would supply the required alms and it was done so.
And not to discourage them I prescribed some herb medicines. A day after, which was the 3rd day of her sickness; he came to thank my wife for the prayers she had offered to that Holy Priest. He asserted that through him his wife was all right. After some days, as I was going to the church, I found him working in the field. He beckoned me to stop for a while and handed over the half Xerafin, which he carried for same days with him in order to pass on to me for the mass I honor of the Ven. Fr. J. V., which had been promised by my wife. I ordered it to be said on that very day. After a short span of time he came to inform my wife that his wife was carrying and when she completed nine months she delivered a baby boy. He came over with his relatives to thank my wife and we are rendering thanks to God.
My son Jose Filipe had been to the Bishop's Chancery at Santa Inez to register himself on a Friday prior to one of the Sundays of September last on which the First Tonsure was fixed. He was faced with an impediment resulting from a mistake in his name referred to by his witnesses over his "Vita et moribus". The Rev. Vicar ordered the witnesses to be brought before him for reassessment and for which and application was submitted on Saturday. The youth reached so late to the Chancery that it was 3 pm when he reached there and 4 pm the company (pala) left with documents to the City and while on his way he met a known person. With him he sent home a message saying he was going to Goa to meet the V. General and they should not be anxious as he would, the same night return to Santa Inez where we should direct the process so that all papers being ready, he could take the first Tonsure. But, as his journey to and fro had to be conducted at night, myself and other at home were anxious because it was rainy season and soldiers, thieves and Negroes roamed about and the path was solitary.
In this plight we prayed to the Ven. Fr. J. V. with fervor and great trust to give us the pleasure to see him up and down safe and free form the impediment so that he might be admitted to First Tonsure and thereafter return soundly home.· For this favor I promised to recite the chaplet and the mother many other promises, for the Ven. Fr. J. V. granted us all we prayed for.· The Company (pala) returned at 11 pm of the same day (Saturday) to Santa Inez an safely free from the impediment which otherwise would require a longer time to solve, and the very next day was Sunday wherein the archbishop was to administer the minor orders. He was already dressed for the function when he ordered the boy to be registered and the boy, having received the First Tonsure, returned home and for this we gave thanks to God.
All the above-mentioned information, I confirm under oath of my medical profession.
Pilerne - 15th of January of 1754.
Signed: Custodio de Souza Alburquerque.
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Contact Office Tel: 00 91 832 2550263 / 2550517 e-mail: sanjovaz@blessedjosephvaz.org [www.blessedjosephvaz.org]
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