A proud moment for Banalkars

BENAULIM: Banalkars (residents of Benaulim village) are bursting with joy and pride that their fellow villager—Blessed Joseph Vaz—will be Goa’s first saint, after he is canonized on Wednesday.
Till late Tuesday, preparations were under way in the village for a grand celebration befitting the event.
At the St John the Baptist church, hectic renovation works were in progress at the baptismal font, still preserved, where Vaz was baptized in 1651.Photos depicting Vaz’s life are already on display around the font.
Parish priest Fr Nelson Colaco said, “On Wednesday, at 9am, as per the instructions of archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao, the bells of all chapels and churches will be rung. In the evening, at 4 there will be an adoration service followed by the Eucharistic celebration at 5. After the Mass, there will be a procession in the church compound holding aloft the statue of the saint accompanied by the brass band. A group of parishioners will play the brass band throughout the evening to celebrate this happy moment.”
On the imprints left by Vaz and Goemcho Saib, St Francis Xavier, Colaco said, Vaz “is a giant in the missionary work he undertook single-handedly” as compared to Xavier who was backed heavily by his congregation.
He opined Vaz was a mere ‘child’ in comparison to Xavier, yet he formed small Christian communities (SCC) in Sri Lanka and taught catechism to the people in the local language.
“Vaz was a symbol of inculturation as he dressed like local residents. He was friendly to other faiths and gathered Catholics together. He formed small human communities where he taught them to tackle as a community the problems they faced. He is a giant but was ignored by European church officials and should have been made a saint a long time ago. Anyways, this was God’s will,”said Colaco.
Assistant parish priest, Fr Glorio Barbosa, along with those assisting in the maintenance of the church, like Bento Menezes of Paroda, Sebastian Fernandes of Curtorim and Rita Dias of St Jose de Areal, expressed their joy at a Goan becoming a saint. They prayed that Vaz would shower his blessings upon them.
Echoing the sentiment was Salvacao Colaco, drawing water from the well in front of the locked maternal house of Vaz at Pulvado, Benaulim. Sources told TOI that the house is now inhabited by residents of Pune in Maharashtra.
Former deputy sarpanch Agnelo Fernandes, who is also president of Cana Benaulim Sporting Association, said the club had written to the village panchayat as well as the Church requesting that the plot of 900sqm where Vaz was born be either acquired or purchased as a heritage site. This was also raised in the gram sabha, he said.
Preparations were also under way at the special shrine dedicated to Vaz (close to his maternal home) where the chaplain of the Patrocinio chapel, Benaulim, Fr Benjamin Sacrafamilia has plans to celebrate the feast of the saint on Friday, January 16. A procession from the chapel to the shrine will commence at 4.30pm, followed by the feast Mass at the shrine at 5pm, states a banner put up at the beautifully decked-up shrine.
TOI also spoke to a few Benaulim residents—Remeth D’Costa, Augusto Soares, Seby Fernandes and Geraldine Fernandes—who also expressed their joy that Vaz is now a saint. Geraldine said, “We were very proud of him as a Banalkar when he was first declared ‘Blessed’ in 1995. Now words cannot express how overwhelmed we feel. We should follow in his footsteps.”
Seby said, “It is God’s gift that he has been declared a saint. We pray that he continues to bless our Benaulim village in a special way.”
Behind Vaz’s statue at the shrine is written: Jezu suria, tum chondrim za! (Jesus is the sun, you be the moon).