NESHWIN ALMEIDA
neshwin@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: He would have turned 58 on August 10, 2017, but the Lord seemed to have had a different plan for Fr Lawrence (Mascarenhas) while he returned to Him on April 12, 2017.
A former research scholar in Chemistry at St Xavier’s College Mapusa, Fr Lawrence believed that the Lord called him for a different PhD and he quit his PhD studies and ventured into preaching, healing and deliverance (PhD) as he would often tell his followers and intercessory prayer groups.
An irony was that Fr Lawrence spent a lot of his time in prayer groups and healing sessions and leading people to intercede as the Bible says which means encouraging people to pray for others who are in need of prayers.
Fr Lawrence had fixed April 23, 2017, for the inauguration of the first wing of the Divine Mercy Intercessory Retreat Centre at Banda, Sindhudurg.
Fr Afonso Mendonca, who was the Assistant Director of the St Joseph Vaz Spiritual Renewal Centre at Old Goa at the time of Fr Lawrence’s death and is currently Director of the Diocesan Centre for Liturgy, tells us that Fr Lawrence’s death was a huge setback and the new retreat centre mass took place in his absence but is yet to be thrown open to the general public.
“Fr Lawrence conducted so many retreats at Banda with the assistance of Bishop Allwyn Barreto and he was completely dedicated to the retreat centre at Sindhudurg and would travel even daily to oversee the work. He single-handedly motivated people to work towards building that retreat centre to help people in Sindhudurg to grow in faith,” remembers Fr Afonso.
“It was at Gandaulim parish that Fr Lawrence got close to the people as he got lot of visions; he would reach out to the people who he saw in his vision and tell them what he saw in his vision,” said Lourdes Vaz, a resident of Old Goa, who lives near St Joseph Vaz Retreat Center where Fr Lawrence lived and worked and conducted a healing session for the physically and spiritually sick every Wednesday.
Fr Lawrence was the rector of the Church of Cruz dos Milagres, Old Goa, when he passed away in the wee hours of April 12 after a massive heart attack. He is well known for his preaching, teachings and healing sessions. He travelled across India, UK, Middle East and Australia to conduct his prayer sessions through the Goan Diaspora.
Originally from Carona, Aldona, late Fr Lawrence was a priest of the diocese of Goa and Daman and born on August 10, 1959 and was ordained a priest on May 7, 1988.
Fr Lawrence served in various parishes in Goa, before he was appointed the Rector of Cruz dos Milagres Church at Old Goa in 2012. He served as the director of the St Joseph Vaz Spiritual Centre, Old Goa.
Fr Henry Falcao, the Director of St Joseph Vaz Spiritual Renewal Centre at Old Goa who worked closely with Fr Lawrence as they resided in the same complex, remembers the priest known for healing and prayer as being someone who was down-to-earth and a humble priest blessed with his healing touch and a priest who continuously led people to prayer while he never considered himself privileged.
His mortal remains stand buried but his memory, his smile and joy continues to radiate in Banda and in Goa amongst all his intercessory prayer groups and many people whose lives he touched through counselling.
Bishop Allwyn Barreto distinctly remembers Fr Lawrence as a nice person who always made time for the elderly, sick, marginalised people. He also remembers him distinctly for his contribution to Banda and his hard work and dedication to start an intercessory prayer group in Banda to get people to prayer and deliver them through healings.
“Goa will truly miss an amazing priest like him,” says Bishop Barreto.
