70 long years have passed! A precious diamond hidden in the Goan soil, resting unnoticed
from the eyes of his own people, needs to be unearthed and set on high as a
beacon of light to inspire and guide.
He was a man of God, he was a man for
people, especially the orphans, the poor, and those in distress. He was a
priest with the heart of a pelican. He belonged to that exceptional category of
selfless people, who like a burning lamp, illumined the lives of the poor with
his compassionate, caring and self emptying love, consuming himself for the
other and then fading into oblivion.
Msgr. Herculano Gonsalves, the Founder of
Little Flower of Jesus School in Sonapur, Mumbai, St. Alex Orphanage,
Calangute, Little Flower of Jesus School in Calangute and the Congregation of
the Sisters of St. Alex, now known as Handmaids of Christ, having completed his
earthly mission on 21st March 1950, silently continues his mission of saving
lost souls and reaching out to those in distress in imitation of his favourite
saints – St. Joseph, St. Terese of the Child Jesus and St. Alex. He who
preferred to be forgotten in life has also been conveniently forgotten in
death. But that does not keep him from reaching out to those, who in faith call
out to him in their distress. He continues even from heaven to be a silent
worker for Gods kingdom entrusting to Jesus though Mary, the humble prayers and
petitions of the faithful.
I would like to quote a few lines
(translated from Portuguese) that appeared three days after his death in the
newspaper ‘O Heraldo’ dated 24th March 1950. These lines express the deep
reverence that the then editor, Mr. Amadeu Prazeres da Costa had towards this
noble soul, Msgr. Herculano Gonsalves.
“It is to this sublime soul that I have
come to pay my final homage today – not as a journalist, not as the editor of
“O Heraldo”, neither due to the bonds of affinity that bind me to this parish
(Calangute) where his mortal remains are laid to rest, but only as a father
among the many thousands of fathers from my land, to add my voice to the
tortured voices of the hundreds of orphans of my land, among whom – who knows!
perhaps will tomorrow be my own children, to tell Mons. Herculano Gonçalves,
the father of orphans, quoting the poet:
“Go, Saint, may all the angels receive
you.
Narrate to them the secrets
That you heard over here;
And when you catch sight of the seat of
the Lord,
Pray to him for us”.
The void that Mons. Herculano Gonçalves
today created in our land cannot be filled, and this is why, because this void
will remain forever, we will feel the need for him and we will feel the need
for his presence.
We will not feel the mere absence of a
priest – he was a giant among priests, a true ornament and glory of our clergy,
due to his virtues and his wisdom. However, there are many priests, selfless
and full of dignity.
It is not also as a person who would get
things done that his memory will live on – there are many deeds done by people,
which are valued more by the noise they made when these deeds were “trumpeted”
as famous, rather than by its intrinsic worthiness.
Mons. Herculano Gonçalves will live on,
not merely as a memory, albeit sweet, but will remain as a living presence, as
a real and palpable being, as a necessity. He will live on in each and every of
our homes, as a family member, as invisible as Providence, hovering over our
day to day tasks, because he, while alive, perhaps never entered any house,
never tried to impose his presence always hiding behind his work, never tried
to seek fame, glory and gratitude from the multitudes, never sought publicity
from the media – a priest who in spite of occupying the highest positions in
the ecclesiastic hierarchy, was perhaps one of the rare Monsignors who never
wore red…….”.
May
the sanctity of this silent and virtuous priest, Msgr. Herculano Gonsalves
inspire us all to live the great gospel command: ‘Love of God and Love of
neighbour’. May he as our powerful heavenly intercessor, pray to God for us and
for all people in the wake of the present pandemic of COVID-19, for Msgr.
Herculano Gonsalves has assured us of God’s protection in the following words, “God
who has protected us, will not abandon us”.
