St.
Joseph Vaz was born on 21st April 1651 at Benaulim, Goa. An interesting
fact is that he was born on a Friday, baptized on a Friday and he passed into
eternity on a Friday. He was the third son of Christopher Vaz and Maria de
Miranda. The day on which he was born his father Christopher Vaz saw a star in
the sky around midday. He wrote in his personal diary that his son would become
a great man someday. One night when he went to visit the Blessed Sacrament the
doors of the Cortalim Church opened by themselves. He was called “the little
saint” as a boy. He used to recite the Rosary on his way to Church and his
school. He did his schooling at the elementary school in Sancoale. In Sancoale
he learnt Portuguese and studied Latin in Benaulim. He was a smart student and
was respected by his teachers and fellow students. Since he made such rapid
progress in his studies that his father decided to send him to the city of Goa
so as to do further studies in rhetoric and humanities at the Jesuit college of
St. Paul. Further on he studied philosophy and theology at the St. Thomas Aquinas’
Academy of the Dominicans in Goa city. He went on to become one of the greatest
missionaries that Asia has produced.
He
resolved to have kanji for his food
(which was called as the food of the poor) all through his life. In 1675, he
was ordained a deacon by Custódio de Pinho, the Vicar Apostolic of Bijapur and
Golconda. In 1676, at the age of 25, he was ordained a priest at Old Goa by
Monsignor Antonio Brandao, Archbishop of Goa. Later in March 1681 he set out
for Kanara from where there was no turning back. His ministry took him to
Ceylon ie present day Sri Lanka where he proved himself to be a missionary par
excellance at Kandy. He bravely faced the problems and the weather. Not only
this he also underwent imprisonment, suspicion and hardships of every kind only
so that the Word of God could be proclaimed and His love could be made to reign
supreme. He started the first Milagrists or Oratorians (as they are famously
known today) an indigenous order after coming back from South Kanara having
made peace among the warring factions. The Oratorians served the Church in Sri
Lanka and other countries for 150 years and still continue to do so.
He
masqueraded himself as a coolie wearing a loin cloth around his waist when he
entered Sri Lanka as part of his mission since no priest was allowed on the
island. His wheatish brown complexion facilitated him to slip onto the island
where the Dutch oppressed Roman Catholics. He entered Sri Lanka hiding a kit
under his loin cloth and wore a Rosary around his neck. Later he built the
first Church in Sri Lanka and dedicated it to Mother Mary. He worked
unaccompanied in Sri Lanka for 10 years and the next 14 years he was
accompanied by the Goan Oratorians. He learnt their culture, sang their songs,
and helped build their own local Church, by no means imposing the western
Church on the faithful. He baptized, catechized and built 300 chapels, churches
and built homes for the old, sick and the deprived next to the churches. He
would at all times keep a sack of rice to be distributed to the poor after
mass. Under the fear of being caught by the Dutch who were ruling over Sri
Lanka at that time, he disguised himself as a baker, dhobi, coolie, servant ,
businessman, porter and even a fisherwoman. He would also work at night by the
light of the moon.
He
issued a command over snakes to never bite a priest. The amazing fact is that
till date, not a single priest has been bitten by a snake. He made fruitful use
of his time in prison, he learnt Tamil and Sinhalese. He translated Catechism
books and wrote the Stations of the Cross in the local language. He won the
hearts of the Buddhist kings with the exemplary life that he led. He was
invited by the kings to pray for rain when the island witnessed a drought. He
executed the miracle of rain in Kandy, a record of which can be found in their
archives. It had rained all over the island except on the Saint and the Altar
he had built to pray for rain. He never kept any currency with him; he always
depended on divine providence and his fellowmen. He didn’t own anything and
there was nothing that he could call his own. He wore and owned one cassock,
which was mended and sewn all over. The Sri Lankans called him Samasu Swami (the angelic priest). He is
the first and the only missionary of the East to have his mission in the East.
His simplicity was to such an extent that he would always sleep on a mat on the
floor and would never seek for glory. He educated his neighbor and companion,
John who accompanied him in Sri Lanka and requested the superior of the
Oratorians to ordain him a priest. John on returning to Goa was ordained a
priest (the first Dalit priest).
Long
before the onset of the use of the word inculturation, Joseph Vaz had already
shown how authentic Christian asceticism could be joyously blended with Indian sanyasism. His love for the mission was
to such an extent that he not only learnt the local language i.e. Sinhala but
also compiled a dictionary (English- Sinhala) for the benefit of his
companions. His practice of the Catholic faith and the methods he used drew
non- believers to the faith. He was referred to as “the perfect model of an
apostle” because of the way in which he dealt with people of all ranks, kings
and paupers.
His
pioneering efforts in putting up the first ever aboriginal missionary institute
in the third world known as the Oratory of the Cross of Miracles of Old Goa not
only ensured a steady supply of missionaries to continue his work in various
places but actually helped revive the Church in Sri Lanka and save it from virtual
extinction. We come to know that his love for Our Lady was phenomenal through a
letter written by him shortly after his ordination. In the letter he states
thus: “Let it be known to all who see this ‘Letter of Bondage’, angels, human
beings and all creatures, that I, I Fr. Joseph Vaz, sell and offer myself as a
perpetual slave of the Virgin Mother of God.”
He
met his death just the way he was meeting life everyday- serene and peaceful, a
light to all around him. He breathed his last just before the verge of Friday
16th January 1711, at Kandy with a lighted candle in his hands and
the sweet name of Jesus on his lips. 284 years following his death i.e. on 21st
January 1995 at Galle Face Green, Colombo, Sri Lanka he
was proclaimed “Blessed” by Pope John Paul II. He was canonized on 14th
January 2015 at Galle Face Green, Colombo, Sri Lanka by Pope Francis. He is adorned
with a mitre placed to his side, holding a crucifix, the sun icon and the
oratorian habit.
He served 30 years as a
priest with 24 others in the Sri Lankan Vineyard. He walked barefoot for the
most part of his life. Despite his thin figure, he walked through the jungles
like the wind. He passed away on the day he had foretold. Before dying he
advised those who had gathered around him in Sinhala telling them, “Hardlyl
will you be able to do at the time of death what you have not done during your
life.” He sent the crucifix given to him by the Pope to Goa, which is now
preserved in the oratory room of the shrine of St. Joseph Vaz at Sancoale, Goa,
the only relic which is present in India.
“The
one who illumines us…….. is our good Jesus, the saint of saints, the light of
lights, himself eclipsed on the Cross. May he give you eyes of the body and
much more of the soul…. To desire to imitate him and follow his example and his
doctrine in everything.” (Excerpt from a letter of Fr. Joseph Vaz to his
nephew, Deacon Joseph Vaz)
