>From the Joseph Naik Vaz Institute, Berkeley, California www.josephnaikvaz.org
Make your support for the canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz in 2015 felt and heard in Rome! The people’s support will generally be taken into account by the Pope and the Sacred Congregation for the Saints when they reach a final decision about calling him “Saint” and enrolling him in the Catholic Calendar of Saints. We are cautiously optimistic and hopeful of a positive outcome and that a canonization will occur. Your support is needed now. We join the Bishops of Sri Lanka and the Archbishop of Goa in response to their appeals for a prayer campaign for the Canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz which is believed to be entering a critical stage. The Joseph Naik Vaz Institute of California invites you to join our program of Masses in September for the canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz and for the success of the Pope’s visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January 2015. We invite you to sponsor a local Sunday Mass in September in your parish and join the world-wide celebration which already includes Rome at the historic Chiesa Nuova Oratorian church presided by Rev Mario Avilés, C.O, Procurator-General of the Oratorians. Plans for Masses at Lourdes, Fatima, California, Toronto, Goa, Kandy, Mangalore, Calcutta, Mumbai and other cities are in progress and will be communicated when confirmed. Please offer a Sunday Mass in your area for the following intentions: - The commemoration of the beginning of the missionary Goa Oratory, branch of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Goa on September 25, 1685 by Blessed Joseph Vaz - For the canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Kanara and Sri Lanka (1651-1711) - For inter-religious peace and harmony inspired by the protection granted to Blessed Joseph Vaz by the Buddhist King of Kandy, Vimaladharma Surya II from Dutch persecution - For the success of the Pope's visit to Sri Lanka and to the Philippines in January 2015 For more information about how you can participate in this outreach campaign in preparation for the visit of H.H. Pope Francis to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in 2015, email [email protected] Why a September Mass? Some historical background: The Goa Oratory was the first fully native religious Congregation and Missionary Society in modern times. It accepted and trained Indian priests who worked in Goa, India, and also sent Indian Oratorian missionaries to Malabar, Mangalore (Kanara), Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and Indonesia for almost 150 years until it was suppressed by the Masonic government of Portugal and became extinct in 1834. On September 25, 1685, Blessed Joseph Vaz joined a small group of Indian priests from Goa at the Church of the Holy Cross of Miracles (Cruz dos Milagres) in Old Goa, who had banded together to live as a religious community. He was made Superior and began to establish it as a branch of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. From this Oratory Convent and Church, Blessed Joseph Vaz and other Indian missionaries set out on their journey to minister to the abandoned and persecuted Catholics of Sri Lanka for the next 150 years.
