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| Sunday, 20 January 2002 |
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A life modelled on Christ by F.N.C. MIRANDA
The beatification of Fr. Joseph Vaz was concelebrated on 20th January, 1995 when His Holiness Pope John Paul II pronounced the Beatification at the Galle Face Green, Colombo in the presence of a very large gathering of the faithful and people of all walks of life. The official state ceremony was held at the Square of the Presidential Secretariat where His Holiness was welcomed by Her Excellency the President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and the late honourable Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike who also had the unique distinction of receiving two Heads of the Vatican to Sri Lanka in her tenure as Prime Minister of Sri lanka. Birth of Fr. Joseph Vaz In Sancoale, a village in the province of Salesette close to Goa, Joseph Vaz was born on April 21, 1651.
His parents, Christopher Vaz and Maria Miranda were both Concani Indians belonging by descent to the Brahmin caste, but in faith Catholics and well-known in the country for their piety and good deeds. Joseph Vaz after having brilliantly ended his studies at the Goa University received the order of priesthood at the hands of Monsignor Antonia Brandao who entrusted him with the ministry of preaching.
The viceroy who held this young priest in high esteem for displaying such talents would have him for his confessor. Once a Canon of the Goa Cathedral after his mission to China was compelled to stay in Colombo when the ship that brought him had to undergo some repairs in the harbour. He was witness to the sad straits to which the Catholics of Ceylon were subjected to by the Dutch. This narrative made a deep impression on Fr. Vaz. The Dutch, after taking possession of Colombo and Jaffna, turned out all the Catholic priests; And an Old Jesuit Missioner, confronted with great age and infirmities and being unable to follow his companions was publicly he headed (1658) under pretext that he has not denounced a plot which he had known only under the secret of confession. All the Catholic churches the Dutch came across were sacked and desecrated. Catholic worship was abolished. Orders were given to all Catholics to send their children to protestant schools and even the death penalty was on anyone who concealed or even received into his house a Catholic priest. Many Catholics had gone into exile and sought refuge under the King of Kandy who still possessed almost half of the island and who let them practise their religion. Catholicism was well-night extinct in Ceylon when the Goanese Canon was forced to land in Colombo and he had to conceal himself to avoid being thrown into jail by the Dutch authorities. Fr. Vaz's association with King Vimala Dharmasuriya II The charitable virtues of Fr. Vaz was the cause of the respect paid bay King Vimala Dharmasuriya II to Fr. Vaz. King Kandasala, the son and successor of King Vimala Dharmasuriya, followed the paternal examples. One day when the King was passing in state before the church in Kandy, Fr. Vaz came out to salute him. The King stopped, received him with great cordiality and would not resume his walk until Fr. Vaz was indoors again. On 16th January, 1711 towards the hour of midnight with Fathers Gonzalves and Almeida kneeling down near fr. Vaz's death bed noted the Subvenite Sancti dei. In the morning Fr. Gonzalves informed the King who testified his deep sorrow and at once enjoined on all the Christians in the Palace to attend the funeral. The obsequies lasted three days and on Monday January 19th after a funeral oration pronounced by Fr. Gonzalves the body was deposited in a wooden coffin, lined inside with silk and buried infront of the High Altar in the Church of Our Lady of the Conversion of Pagans, built by fr. Vaz in the Bogambara suburb. Fr. Vaz died in the 60th year of his age, his apostolate in Ceylon having lasted 24 years. he was of middle size, of handsome features and his demeanour was dignified and sympathetic. In perceiving the Hand of God in these good dispositions of the two Kings of Kandy, the Christian community now existing in Sri Lanka could never have been created had Fr. Vaz no set foot in Ceylon. |
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