Millions of prayers made over three centuries were answered when Pope Francis proclaimed Joseph Vaz as an intercessor for the Universal Church. While Goa has given the Church many priests, bishops and cardinals, it hadn’t produced a single saint. And though that has now changed, Sainthood didn’t come easily or quickly to this great Goan missionary. He died in 1711, but it was only about 20 years ago that he was Beatified allowing Goa and Sri Lanka to have devotion to him.
The Cause for his Canonization that began in 1713, just two years after his death, took three centuries to reach a successful conclusion and today Goa has its first Saint. It faced its hurdles, but just as in life St Joseph Vaz overcame obstacles in his mission in Sri Lanka, so did the Cause for his Canonization. The long struggle for his Sainthood did not in any way diminish the devotion that the people of Goa and Sri Lanka had for him. They continued praying to him and the list of favours and miracles wrought through his intercession grew. They continued storming heaven for his Canonization and on January 14 that too was achieved. During this time the devotion to the Saint has only grown. In the past few months, especially after his Canonization was announced, the number of Goan Catholics who have discovered St Joseph Vaz has increased tremendously, giving the Church in Goa a great boost of faith and an opportunity to build upon.
For centuries St Catherine of Alexandria remained the Patroness of Goa. It so happened that the Portuguese Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Goa on her feast day – November 25, 1510 and so the Saint was installed as the Patroness. It was only after 1995 when the Church recognized and beatified Joseph Vaz that the Church in Goa was able to install a statue of him in the Cathedral at Old Goa and name him the Patron of the Archdiocese. He became the intercessor of Goa in heaven.
If since Beatification Joseph Vaz was just ‘our’ Saint and that of Sri Lanka, the Canonization makes him the Saint of everyone. It should be a matter of pride for every Goan that Goa, in the 17th century was able to give the world a person such as Joseph Vaz, who is remembered, venerated and called upon even centuries after his death.
It took less than 200 years after Roman Catholicism was introduced in Goa for this land to produce a missionary as great as Joseph Vaz. It took another 300 years before his heroic deeds and sanctity would be recognized by the Church. January 14, 2015 will therefore be remembered in Goa for a long time by all those who attended the Canonization rite in Colombo, Sri Lanka, or watched it at home on television, or attended mass in their parishes or just kept in touch with the happenings through the newspapers.
The Canonization gives the Church in Goa a fresh impetus to increase the faith among its flock. With him as patron, the Church in Goa has a model missionary to emulate and to take forward its work. Coming so soon after the Exposition of the Sacred Relics of St Francis Xavier, this will work in keeping the embers of faith burning for a while. In the last century, Sancoale, the village where St Joseph Vaz grew up in, has turned into a major centre for his devotion. The Church has plans to develop this by building a Basilica there in honour of the Saint, besides other plans.
But, other than buildings, there is a lot more to be done by the Church in Goa to increase devotion to St Joseph Vaz in the Archdiocese. The suggestions are coming. One of them is including aspects or stories of the new Saint’s life in the catechism that is taught to children. The Archdiocese takes catechism classes very seriously and if children could be taught about the new Goan Saint, it would go a long way in giving them a role model.
St Joseph Vaz needs to enter every house in Goa. By this, one does not suggest that every Catholic house merely install a statue of the Saint but he should be there as the model by which everyone lives their lives.
