The Solemn Feast of St. Joseph Vaz, a luminous son of Goa and Apostle of Sri Lanka, who was canonised by Pope Francis on 14th January 2015, was celebrated at the premises of Old Sancoale Church, Sancoale, Goa with great fervour and devotion on 16th January 2023. Being the Patron of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, St. Joseph Vaz is being remembered and evoked by the faithful in all the parishes of the Archdiocese, neighbouring states and Sri Lanka. The Solemn celebration of the Archdiocese was held at Sancoale, at the site of the old Church of Our Lady of Health, whose facade has stood the test of the times. The masses were celebrated at 5 am, 6.15 am, 7.30 am, 8.45 am, Solemn High mass at 10 am, 12 noon at the Oratory room of St. Joseph Vaz, Sancoale, 4 pm and 5.30 pm.
The Solemn high mass was presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Patriarch Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao at 10 am. Bishop Alwyn Barreto (Sindhudurg Diocese), Bishop Alex Dias (Emeritus Bishop of Port Blair) along with several other priests and religious. Thousands of people participated and praised God for the gift of this powerful Goan intercessor and paid homage to this great saint of the soil on this occasion.
In His Homily, the Archbishop urged the People to take the example of St. Joseph Vaz and be true disciples of Jesus Christ. He highlighted that Jesus called his disciples, and invited them to follow Him and have a deep encounter with Him so that they may go to the world and fulfil the mission entrusted to them by remaining in union with Him. He further explained that St. Joseph Vaz always remained in union with God, helped the people he encountered to also be in union with God and in his service to the people he tried to build union within them too. Furthermore, he remained firm in his faith even in the midst of trials and hardships. He pointed out that St. Joseph Vaz is a model for us to build this union with God and Neighbours in our neighbourhood and society.
At the end of the celebration His Eminence released three books, two of the books were related to the Synod of Bishops 2022 to 2024 which have the synthesis, feedback and inspirational promptings from the consultations held in the pre-Synodal meet in Goa. The third book was a prayer book related to St. Joseph Vaz, to help in the spiritual growth of the faithful.
