San Francisco: The annual mass for the feast of St. Joseph Vaz, Apostle of India and Sri Lanka, and for the Beatification of Ven. Fr. Agnelo De Souza, SFX of Pilar, Goa will be held at Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland (CA) on Sunday, January 29, 2023, at 11 a.m. The celebrant of the Mass will be Rev. Fr. Brandon Macadaeg, Rector of the Cathedral.
The Joseph Naik Vaz Institute of the Bay Area has extended an invitation to all the Indian-Sri Lankan community and friends in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.
St. Joseph Vaz is the first canonized Catholic Saint of Goa, formerly Portuguese India where he was born, and of the Mangalore region in India and of the country of Sri Lanka where he worked under Dutch persecution of the Catholic faith.
The 17th-century Catholic Saint, Joseph Vaz, who totally engaged himself in deep meditation and prayer while also working to solve the real-life problems and difficult circumstances of the people. He is a saint who communed with Nature and wild elephants.
Saint Joseph Vaz served all the people, not just Catholics. His ancestors were Hindu and he kept his Indian heritage, language, and culture. His lifestyle was that of a true Indian sannyasi. He studied with the Buddhist monks of Sri Lanka and taught meditation to children. He won the lifelong love and protection of the Buddhist King of Kandy from Dutch colonial forces who persecuted Sri Lankan Catholics for political reasons. At one point in his life, he was rescued by the Muslim physician of the King.
Because of present concerns over Covid and its infectious devastation, the members of Joseph Naik Vaz Institute of the Bay Area in a statement have expressed their desire to especially remember St. Joseph Vaz’ nursing care of the abandoned victims of a smallpox epidemic in the Buddhist kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka on 1696. At his Canonization in 2015, H.H. Pope Francis noted that St. Joseph Vaz’ care of all victims regardless of race, creed, caste, or social standing was an example of the Church’s charitable work of mercy toward all, the statement said.
There will be a short Program on the life of St. Joseph Vaz and a festive reception after the Mass in the Cathedral Hall. Those wishing to attend this program and reception may register by emailing at [email protected] or text at (510) 325-1803.