Agnelo: An Indigenous Goan Saint By Fr Desmond de Sousa CSsR, SAR NEWS
PANAJI, Goa (SAR NEWS) -- Venerable Father Agnelo D'Souza spent his entire fifty-eight years of life in the Goa region. His 79th death anniversary celebration November 20 is an occasion to reflect on secret of his sanctity. He lived his ordinary everyday life in an extraordinary way. Agnelo was born to a very pious Catholic couple, Minguel Mariano D'Souza and Maria Perpetua, January 24, 1869, in the village of Anjuna, north Goa. The ancestral house still stands, with his relatives living in it. Anjuna parish is cared for by priests of the Missionary Society of St Francis Xavier (SFX), an indigenous Goan religious society based at the village of Pilar in central Goa, of which Father Agnelo was a member. Even as a child he displayed extraordinary love for his neighbour. His sister relates how Agnelo, unlike his other siblings, was always at the disposal of his saintly mother. He gladly did whatever domestic work she required. He was extremely helpful to his neighbours, so parents in the village pointed out Agnelo's example to their children for imitation. As a young adult, his piety was so transparent that his parish priest appointed him to teach catechism to the other village boys. Agnelo performed this service with great joy and care. He joined the SFX at Pilar July17,1897, at the age of 28. He was ordained a priest a year later on September 24 and appointed pastor of Shiroda and then Sanvordem in Goa and later of Kumta in the present diocese of Karwar. He was a model of humility and kindness as priest, administrator, preacher and confessor. There is a story that during his tenure in Kumta some drunkards demanded money from the parish funds. Though very meticulous about parish accounts, Father Agnelo obliged them and won them over, so that they gave up their habit of drinking! Father Agnelo was in great demand as a preacher and confessor. Many parish priests used to request his superior at Pilar to send him to preach missions in their parishes. He was promptly obedient to the directives of his superior, even when, on more than one occasion, he was ill and feeling feverish. Many moving stories circulate of his extraordinary ability to touch and transform the lives of people. One Dr. Leon Pinto of Calangute village testified that he was suffering from a nagging problem that deeply disturbed him. Father Agnelo happened to come by, looked at him tenderly and blessed him. The man instantly felt comforted and peace returned to him. Valente Fernandes narrated how after pouring out his heart to Father Agnelo in the confessional, like so many others, he experienced immense peace and a firm will to avoid sin in the future. Many others recounted the extraordinary healing powers of Father Agnelo. One interesting story is related by Francis Fernandes, a tailor from the Goa Velha, a village adjoining Pilar. He once planted chillies in his kitchen garden, toiled hard watering and manuring them, but they refused to grow. Innocently, he uprooted one of these plants and took it to Father Agnelo. The priest pulled out a branch and returned the sampling with the advice, "Go and plant it again. It will certainly produce chillies." Within three weeks he got such an abundant crop of chillies that it amazed even the people in the village. The news of his sanctity reached the then Patriarch of Goa Dom Matheus de Olivera Xavier, who appointed Agnelo spiritual director of the Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol in south Goa May 20,1918. He remained there till his death on November 20, 1927. At Rachol seminary, both professors and seminarians referred to him as a model priest: humble, ascetic, saintly. He was lovingly called 'our saint'. Father Aloysius Rego, in his book Secrets to Share, mentions that Agnelo used to sleep without a mattress on his bed, would put ashes in his food and meticulously prayed his breviary every day. Sometimes, if he was inattentive at prayer, he would repeat that particular 'hour'. Venerable Agnelo D'Souza was truly a man of God and compassionate towards human beings. His intelligence, his ability to preach and to give guidance to others was outstanding and greatly appreciated by people. The special novena on the theme "Fr Agnelo: A Model of Christian Witness" is being celebrated from November 11 to 20, at the Church of the SFX in Pilar, where his mortal remains are venerated. -- FN 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 (phone calls after 1 pm please) _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org