The Goan pilgrims who celebrated the Feast of St Joseph Vaz in Sri Lanka.
PANAJI
As many as 117 Goan pilgrims on Thursday celebrated the Feast Mass of St Joseph Vaz in Kandy at the official shrine where St Joseph Vaz had stayed during his missionary work in Sri Lanka.
The Feast Mass was presided over by Bishop Emeritus of Kandy Joseph Vianney Fernando and concelebrated by 3 Goan priests from the parishes of Caranzalem and Taleigao.
“The highlight of the Mass was Fr Saturino who trained the choir of brothers from Kandy to sing hymns in Konkani for the first time. We also sang the Konkani hymn in honour of St Joseph Vaz at the end,” said Paul Siqueira, the founder of Zion Tours, who had organised the pilgrimage, while interacting with The Goan from Kandy.
“We were so blessed to lead a large group of Goans for the feast of St Joseph Vaz. People were blessed and had a deep spiritual experience.”
Siqueira informed that the renovation work at the St Joseph Vaz Shrine which was started at the behest of Zion Tours last year is almost complete.
“After the Feast Mass, many Goan pilgrims lined up to give donations for the continuous work needed for the shrine and one pilgrim even sponsored the permanent sound system required in the shrine,” said Siqueira.
The Goan pilgrims also visited the Ebony Cross in the jungle in Galgamuwa. A priest from Srilanka took out the cross from the casket and every pilgrim got a chance to venerate the cross.
According to Siqueira, the story of the Ebony Cross goes back to the time when people in Galgamuwa were attacked by wild elephants and poisonous snakes, and they had sought the intervention of Joseph Vaz.
“Joseph Vaz blessed a wooden cross made of two unpolished pieces of ebony wedged together and planted it at the entrance to the village to safeguard the village from wild elephants and venomous snakes. From that day till today, no elephant or snake has ever harmed the villagers,” said Siqueira.
He said the Goan pilgrims also visited the tomb and museum of Fr Jacome Gonsalves, a saintly Goan priest hailing from Divar, who is considered as the Father of Catholic Literature in Sri Lanka.
