The Joseph Naik Vaz Institute invites all Sri Lankans, Goans, and Mangaloreans to continue celebrating the extraordinary life and work of Blessed Joseph Vaz (1651-1711), Apostle of Kanara and Sri Lanka and Patron of the Archdiocese of Goa.
We are sponsoring the 3rd mass this year (held on the 4th Sunday of every month in 2014) at St. John the Baptist Church, El Cerrito, California on Sunday, March 23rd at 12:30 p.m. for the special intention of his canonization. Church: St. John the Baptist Church, 11152 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito, California, 94530, USA Time: 12:30p.m. St. John the Baptist Church is within walking distance of the El Cerrito Del Norte Bart station. For further information and to RSVP please email [email protected] Our special focus in March will be his missionary work in and around Mangalore for which he set out from Goa in March 1681. By the time that Blessed Joseph Vaz was ordained a priest in 1676, Portuguese power and influence in Mangalore and on the south west coast of India had been replaced by the Dutch who now controlled the seaports and were allied to the local Indian rulers. The Portuguese abandoned their forts and factories and the missions and churches they had built in that region. In March 1681, the Archbishop of Goa sent him to Mangalore as Vicar Forane. He worked in many villages and towns in Kanara such as Bhaktal, Sirur, and Barselor on the way to Manglaore. He restored the Portuguese chapel in Mangalore and built new churches at Barselor and Gadalyn, and ministered to the sick and dying. Today, there is a new church and center at the famous miraculous Bl. Joseph Vaz Shrine at Mudipu near Ullal where he was attacked. His attackers were going to put him to death when he asked to kneel and say his last prayers. Three miraculous springs gushed out where he knelt and put down his staff. His attackers fled in fear when they saw this phenomenon. Mudipu has been a place of pilgrimage and healing for Catholics and non-Catholics alike from that time to the present day. Thank you. Joseph Naik Vaz Institute http://josephnaikvaz.org/
