Saints in the Catholic Church do not come a dime a dozen. Goa is blessed with its holy connections to St Francis Xavier and St Joseph Vaz. And for many years the prayers on the lips of Goans of many backgrounds especially Catholics is “Lord make our Padre Agnel a Saint in your Holy Church”.
Even when he was alive Fr Agnelo was talked of as a saint. Be it his superiors, his fellow Priests, his students or even the seminary servants, he was their beloved saint priest.
The then Patriarch of Goa, Dom Matheus, on seeing his frugal eating habits, would chide him saying, “Eat Saint Agnelo eat.” The Patriarch would also comment on his frail body comparing him to a walking corpse.
But within this frail physical body did beat a heart filled with a deep love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and also for his Heavenly Mother Mary. These two loves would transform Fr Agnelo from a lamb to a lion when the need arose.
When a colleague asked him how he could be a lamb in the confessional but a lion in the pulpit; Fr Agnelo replied that in the confessional he was like fishermen beating the waters to drive the shoal of fish into the net but once in the net the fish were treated with great love and care.
Without any doubt Fr Agnelo was among the best if not the best preacher of his time. In today’s Church scenario there are many preachers, both among the Priests and among the laity, who are in great demand. Were Fr Agnelo among us today one can imagine the tremendous pressure he would have been under to conduct retreats for parishes and prayer groups. He would have been a fiery Charismatic preacher. YouTube would have been buzzing with his sermons.
In a way our Venerable seems to be doing just that albeit through his very own revamped and re-energized Society of St Francis Xavier Pilar.
Fr. Agnelo’s stellar quality was his humility. He perfectly lived up to the meaning of his name. Agnelo means lamb and he was as meek as a lamb always. He would always take his place at the dining table last and that too at one end. He followed the teaching of his Master Jesus to the T.
Fr Agnelo died doing what he lived for and that was preaching the Word of God. What a joy it must been to be called to his eternal reward on the Vespers of the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to which he had a great devotion.
In death, as in life, Ven. Fr Agnelo is always regarded as a saint. On this, his remembrance Day, let’s double our prayers and pleas to our Heavenly Father to grant Fr Agnelo the honours of the Altar, through the intercession of Mother Mary and the solemn declaration of Provident Mother the Church.
