The pealing of bells and bursting of crackers was especially felt in Salcete and people travelling along NH 17 were treated to the sound of the ringing bells at every church and chapel they passed.
In Sancoale, where the saint spent his childhood and youth, a mass was held immediately at the sanctuary dedicated to him after the canonization rite in Sri Lanka was completed and villagers greeted each other with warmth and cheer. A special postal cover was also released at Sancoale depicting St Joseph Vaz.
While special prayer services were held at many parishes in Salcete, adoration and Holy hours were observed at the St John the Baptist Church, Benaulim, the birth place of St Joseph Vaz. The adoration was followed by an eucharistic celebration.
Devotees later joined a procession accompanied by a brass band which was taken from the church to the shrine of St Joseph Vaz at Pulvado-Benaulim located near the house of his birth.
Parish Priest of St John the Baptist Church Fr Nelson Colaco said that the adoration was arranged by the parish to mark the sainthood of . St Joseph Vaz who was born in Benaulim village and was baptised in the church. We have to emulate the work and follow the footsteps of St Joseph Vaz,” Fr Colaco said.
At the Holy Spirit Church, Margao, the church bells were rung exactly at 9 am. The statue of St Joseph Vaz located at the church square was also decorated on the occasion.
It was a different celebration in Old Goa, where a number of Catholics gathered to participate in the solemn thanksgiving mass offered by the canons at the Se Cathedral at 8 am.
Canon Saturnino Dias, president of the Cathedral Chapter, was the main celebrant along with other canons.
When the mass ended at 9 am, around the same time that Pope canonized St Joseph Vaz, the congregation was given a rare opportunity of hearing the pealing of all five bells of the Se Cathedral which have the distinct sounds of Do, Sol, La, Si, Do.
“I was overjoyed to see that the cathedral was full, beyond my expectations, as people were divided in four directions: some went to Sri Lanka, others to Sancoale, others preferred to watch the canonization ceremony on TV and a large number of people came to the cathedral. This shows that the faith of our people is still strong and they want to give witness to their faith in their life,” Fr Dias told Herald.
All parishes in Canacona responded by pealing church bells and simultaneously bursting firecrackers, to rejoice over the canonization. Almost all chapels in the Canacona deanery within the parishes of Khola, Agonda, Chaudi, Bhatpal, Sadolxem, Galgibaga, Chiplem and Loliem also pealed bells and burst fire-crackers. Members of different small Christian communities got together at their respective locations and recited prayers, sang hymns at 9 am. Later in the evening, Catholics in the Canacona deanery proceeded to Sancoale to participate in the novena for the feast of St Jose Vaz to be celebrated on Friday.
In Calangute, a large number of Catholics stayed glued to their TV sets and watched the ceremony telecast live from Sri Lanka, while others offered prayers at churches and chapels.
Parishioners of Candolim installed statues of St Joseph Vaz in nine chapels, followed by Eucharistic Celebrations in the respective chapels.
Most churches in Vasco celebrated the event in the morning by adoration and prayers services, with the Our Lady of Candelaria Parish at Baina and St Andrew’s Parish at Vasco seeing great religious fervour.
Parishioners of Our Lady of Candelaria decorated the streets with lights and banners of St Joseph Vaz. After the eucharistic celebration, Parish Priest Fr Vithal Miranda led a procession which was accompanied by a brass band through the parish wards with the image of St Joseph Vaz. After the veneration, they placed the image at the altar.
In the morning, the St Andrew’s parish at Vasco conducted a prayer session and after the adoration, parishioners took part in a procession accompanied by a brass band and later assembled in front of the grotto in the church.
