Anjuna - Ven Fr Agnelo's cradle
BY AGNELO REBELO
Anjuna, as the sound of this beautiful name strikes one's mind, it makes to
think that it means "Anjiancho Ganv". In fact the patron saint of this
Parish Church is the St Michael the Archangel.
This beautiful village of Goa is situated in the Bardez Taluka as an unique
picturesque landscape in the Northern side the majestic Chapora Fort and a
long stretch of white sandy beach, the Western side, gives a natural
protection to this village, along with a vast greenery of the hills and
fields, the Eastern and Southern sides, invite the folks from all five
continents of the World to relax in the midst of its Divine Bliss.
This is the cradle of Venerable Fr Agnelo Gustavo Adolfo de Souza. He was
the sixth child of Senhor Minguel de Souza and Dona Maria Sinforosa
Mergulhao. He was born on January 21, 1869. Due to his very bad health
conditions the rites of the Baptismal Sacrament were performed, in their own
house.
When little Agnelo was in the primary section of his Portuguese studies his
father left for his Heavenly abode and soon after a year had passed his
mother followed him. This saintly and virtuous lady sensing that her last
moments of her days of life were nearing she called around her bedside all
her children and pointing to a picture on the wall, of our Blessed Virgin
Mother, she whispered her last wishes saying: "Children, now I will no
longer be with you. Look at that, your Mother in Heaven. Hereafter, She will
stand in my place and will take good care of you all. Try to be Her very
loving children."
Ven Fr Agnelo though health wise was very weak, intellectually he was very
brilliant and spiritually a saint. He completed his priestly studies with
highest honours 'The Accessit' and yet he remained silent and humble, in all
the days of his life, like Jesus. "Erat subditus ilis" means, he was
obedient to them. Yes, extremely obedient to his parents, home people, his
Superiors and even to a stick had someone told him that it was his Superior.
This is proved by a fact that once though burning with high fever Fr Agnelo
left for sermon obeying the orders of his Superior in Pilar. And as a Divine
Miracle and a reward for his obedience, he returned to the Pilar Monastery
completely recovered from his high fever, without help of any medication.
It was a great proof of his very deep spirituality to see him at any time of
the day or night spending hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament and
talking to Jesus so intimately, and at the same time looking at the
Sorrowful Mother "with Her heart pierced with seven arrows, who is till this
date on the left side altar of Pilar Church. He would meditate over her
seven sorrows for hours together and grow his devotion to the Sorrowful
Mother.
The Almighty God was so pleased with Fr Agnelo that He would in his
journeys, in the dark hours of the night send bright clouds in front of him
as a guiding light through those dark streets leading to Pilar Monastery or
any other places where he would go for preaching or visiting. In the
Missionary Society of Pilar there were, and are still many fathers and
brothers who walked and walk with Fr Agnelo's shoes on sharing their
spiritual values in this tiny world of ours.
The Halo of sanctity of Ven Fr Agnelo was fully bloomed when he collapsed
whilst proclaiming the Word of God with his usual fervour from the pulpit of
the Rachol Seminary on the Vespers of the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
in the evening of November 20, 1927. Those all present in the packed church
treasured his last words delivered in his sermon on Eucharist: "My flesh is
true bread and my blood a true drink."
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