TEAM HERALD
DABOLIM: Hundreds of faithful thronged the Blessed Joseph Vaz Sanctuary at Sancoale for the feast of Blessed Joseph Vaz on Thursday.
The theme of the feast was ‘Blessed Joseph Vaz, model of Small Christian Communities.’ The feast mass was celebrated by Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao along with the Rector of the Sanctuary Fr Erimeto Rebello and 40 other priests. Fr Snehan, former Vicar General of Diocese of Gaul from Sri Lanka was also a celebrant.
In his homily, the Archbishop briefed about the life of Blessed Joseph Vaz and his work in Sri Lanka in a very hostile situation. “The life and missionary spirit of Blessed Joseph Vaz has to be inspiration to all Goans and also frontiers beyond Goa, as Joseph Vaz is considered the Patron Saint of Goa,” added the Archbishop.
“All Catholics through the Sacrament of Baptism are marked with this missionary spirit and therefore it is the duty of every Catholic to be the witness of Christ,” he said.
The Archbishop called upon the laity to imitate the missionary spirit of Blessed Joseph Vaz and also called upon the people of Goa to pray for early canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz.
On the occasion of feast, Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao blessed three lay missionaries, Anthony Correia, Maria Correia and Stephany D’Souza, who are deputed as lay missionaries in the African country of Malavi.
Fr Rebello thanked the police for effectively managing traffic from 3 am to 4 pm. For the first time, the schools affiliated to the Diocese education schools were given a holiday.
