Faithful flock to receive Pope's blessings

By Manjula Fernando

Suchira Liyanaarachchi, her 7-year-old daughter and her mother were among the first to arrive at the Galle Face Green hoping to have a glimpse of the Pope Francis and be blessed by his touch.

Travelling from Ja-Ela, she had arrived at Galle Face on Monday and managed to enter the premises on Tuesday at 3.00 pm. They were getting ready to spend the night on the open ground, inches away from where the Pope mobile would pass at the Holy mass the next day when Sunday Observer met them. They hoped to have the best view of the stage where Sri Lanka's first saint would be canonised.

“We met a Korean family yesterday and they invited us to spend the night at their home at Crescat Residencies. All I wanted was to be here and I did not give much thought as to how we, the women, would spend two nights out in the open until the day of the Mass."

Problems

“For me their kindness was a miracle, inviting strangers whom they met on the roadside and tending to us that way, we were blessed even before the Mass,” Suchitra said with tears rolling down her cheeks.

She had worked in Korea with her husband. Her daughter was born there. “We had to come home unexpectedly and had to face a lot of problems.

We lost our home and the land. I am here seeking blessing from the Holy Father to put our lives in order.“

She was there without her husband and I felt that she was burdened with more woes than that could be divulged to a total stranger.

Bending over to touch a little boy

Pope being handed a white dove in Madhu

The canonisation ceremony

Winifrida Kuruppu Arachchi, 59, was suffering from acute Arthritis in both legs, With a walking stick by her side she was seated on a foldable chair under the scorching sun. She had come from Wilegoda in Kalutara North with her cousin, Clenita Fernando.

“I have heard that Pope Francis has a special way with the sick and the suffering. My hope is to cure my legs affected by arthritis for the past 30 years. I have a lot of faith in him.”

We spoke to her around 3.20 pm, she too is among the lucky few to be allowed into the Galle Face Green first.

Mallika Shanti Fernando from Lunuwila had come in the train the previous night and spent the night at the Fort railway station. The family right next to her was from Kurunegala.

“The police officers on duty at the Galle Face Green offered their lunch to us,” they said with gratitude.

Chamara Taranga Nawaratna, a 34-year-old serving in the Air Force had hired a van from Matale to attend the Mass at Galle Face.

He had come with his wife, two daughters and the two year old son. “ My son has a kidney problem and is on medication since he was 18 months. He has to under go surgery shortly.”

Chamara is seeking blessings to cure his little son and a sprained nerve on his neck. Chamara's brother has come with the wife seeking Pope Francis' blessing to conceive a child.

“My mother, Teresa, who is in Cyprus arranged everything for us.

She is calling to update us on the route of Pope Francis's convoy from the airport to Colombo.”

“We have heard that his holiness has healing powers. He has touched and kissed even people with oozing rashes.”

The trickle of people started to arrive on Monday, turned into a river about to overflow by Tuesday evening. It filled up the entire sea front of Galle Face Green and then spilled over to the adjoining roads.

Rare occasion

Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando said the crowd at the Holy Mass would have exceeded half a million by 6.00 am on Wednesday with more and more people arriving from all streets leading to the venue.

Around 6.30 am some of the routes to the Galle Face Green, including the Slave Island entrance was closed temporarily fearing a stampede but later re-opened to allow the flow of devotees.

It was one rare occasion where the rich of the society stood as one with the poor and the sick on the dusty sand. The people were overwhelmed with anticipation.

Suddenly around 7.45 a.m., the sombre ambiance of the venue was broken by loud cheers and waving of yellow flags by the faithful as Pope Francis entered the Galle Face Green in the pope mobile.

On his way the Pope blessed the people as they bent over craving his touch. He rode right round the Galle Face Green, among the faithful in the open car. Later, he blessed a group of differently abled and the ailing before proceeding to the highlight of the event – the canonization of Fr. Bl. Joseph Vaz, Sri Lanka's first Saint.

Homily

Blessing an infant at Galle Face Green

The massive crowds

A group of Goan Catholics who came down to attend the Canonisation ceremony of Fr. Joseph Vaz

A group of Sisters from India

Bishop Vianney Fernando requested permission to proceed with the Canonisation Rite of blessed Joseph Vaz as per the custom. Then the Archbishop of Goa, Fr. Joseph's native land, read out a brief Biography of Fr. Joseph.

In his homily, Pope Francis said “In Saint Joseph we see a powerful sign of God's goodness and love for the people of Sri Lanka.”

He said Saint Joseph continued to be an example and teacher for many reasons but he would like to focus on three. First for being an exemplary priest, second for showing the importance of transcending religious divisions in the service of peace and finally for giving an example of missionary zeal by his service till his death at 59 due to illness and exhaustion.

Pope Francis was the third Pope to visit Sri Lanka after Pope Paul VI in 1970 and John Paul II in 1995. During Pope John Paul's visit in 1995 Fr. Joseph Vaz was beatified in a similar ceremony at the Galle Face Green.

Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith in his vote of thanks at the conclusion said, “I am sure that by now you have had the opportunity to experience the simple and genuine faith of our people and the loving sense of loyalty and respect with which they have surrounded you from the moment Your Holiness touched our soil.”

Kandy

“What is more, over and above the gift of your presence on this soil, you have given us the gift of a Saint: Saint Joseph Vaz. That gift makes us truly happy, for Sri Lanka has now its own saint, the pride of Goa and God's precious gem for Sri Lanka.”

Among the half a million devotees at the Mass, were thousands of priests and people from Goa and other States in India.

Augusto Lourenco, a young man, was with a team from Goa representing the Church, Crusaders for Jesus with Mary. “Saint Joseph is from my home town. We are proud to be here to witness his canonisation,” he said standing near a stall selling memorabilia after the Holy Mass.

He was with 65 members of his church. The previous day they had made a pilgrimage to Kandy where Fr. Joseph Vaz lived during his missionary days in Sri Lanka. The team had two Go-ans currently domiciled in UK and three in Dubai in addition to a Go-an priest settled in the US.

Tressy de Almeida from Bangalore said she came with a team of 80 parishes. They left India on Sunday night and headed to Kandy soon after arrival to spend Monday night there. “Sri Lanka is a lovely country and we want to come back with our son and daughter one day.”

Fortunate

Among those who attended the Holy Mass were, hundreds of nuns of different order, Sisters of Charity wearing the mother Theresa garb and the nuns of Contemplative Carmalites who are destined to live a solitary life, were the most distinct of all.

While other bigger and powerful nations still awaited a blessed visit by a Pope, Sri Lanka was fortunate with not just one but three visits by a spiritual leader of the Catholic Church. In that, the faithful see a miracle by Saint Joseph whose love continues to enthrall Catholics of Sri Lanka even after four centuries.

Rev. Fr. Federico Lombardi (SJ), the Vatican spokesperson, impressed with the rousing welcome the Pope received in Sri Lanka said, “We didn’t expect this warm welcome in a country where Catholics are a minority.” Catholics represent slightly over 6 % of the 21 million population in Sri Lanka.

Pope Francis left for Madhu in an Airfore helicopter the same evening to hold a Liturgical ceremony at the Our Lady of Madhu Shrine in Mannar. The shrine draws thousands of Catholics as well as people of other faiths every year. Over 300,000 people, including those from the North and the East gathered at the Madhu shrine for the Mass.

The next day after blessing Our Lady of Lanka statue, in a brief stop over at Bolawalana the Pope boarded a Sri Lankan flight for Manila. The President and the Prime Minister were there to bid him farewell.Engineering Regiment designs Pope mobile The special open car that Pope Francis travelled in during his stay in Sri Lanka which is known as Pope Mobile was designed by the Mechanical Engineering Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army to Vatican specifications.The personal security officer for Pope Francis Col. Mahendra Fernando said the Vatican wanted the vehicle to be simple as per the wishes of Pope Francis. The jeep was a defender from the President's Security contingent and the roof was made up of ordinary fibre glass. He did not want it to have bullet proof material.

The Pope was strictly specific that the car he travelled in was not of luxury type, therefore he was taken in a white Toyota Axio when he was not in the Pope mobile. A bullet proof vehicle had trailed the convoy right at the back in case the Pope needed shelter in an emergency.The Pope's 30-member delegation included the Secretary of State who is the Prime Minister of Vatican, two Ministers, Vatican spokesperson and Swiss Guards who provide security to the Pope.

Engineering Regiment designs Pope mobile

The special open car that Pope Francis travelled in during his stay in Sri Lanka which is known as Pope Mobile was designed by the Mechanical Engineering Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army to Vatican specifications.

The personal security officer for Pope Francis Col. Mahendra Fernando said the Vatican wanted the vehicle to be simple as per the wishes of Pope Francis. The jeep was a defender from the President's Security contingent and the roof was made up of ordinary fibre glass. He did not want it to have bullet proof material.

The Pope was strictly specific that the car he travelled in was not of luxury type, therefore he was taken in a white Toyota Axio when he was not in the Pope mobile. A bullet proof vehicle had trailed the convoy right at the back in case the Pope needed shelter in an emergency. The Pope's 30-member delegation included the Secretary of State who is the Prime Minister of Vatican, two Ministers, Vatican spokesperson and Swiss Guards who provide security to the Pope. Seventy seven Vatican accredited journalists arrived along with the papal delegation.