VASCO
The Feast of St Joseph Vaz, Patron Saint of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, will be celebrated at the site of the old Church of Our Lady of Health, Rua Escravo de Maria, Sancoale, on Saturday.
Masses on the Feast Day will be celebrated at 7 am (Konkani), 8.15 am (English) and the concelebrated High Mass at 10 am (Konkani) will be presided over by Archbishop-Patriarch Filipe Neri Ferrão, with a limited participation of representatives of the Clergy, Religious and Laity.
The theme for the Novena and Feast this year is "Let us be Jesus' witnesses by living His Beatitudes through the example of St Joseph Vaz".
All Masses on the Feast Day will be live-streamed on the archdiocesan website, the CCRTV and the GCTV, which will be available also on their respective YouTube channels.
On the Feast Day, the Sanctuary of St Joseph Vaz at Sancoale will be open to pilgrims and devotees for the veneration of the statue and sacred relic of St Joseph Vaz from 8 am to 1 pm and from 3 pm to 7 pm.
The Feast of St Joseph Vaz will also be celebrated in parishes and chapels across the archdiocese.
The feast, which usually attracts hundreds of devotees from all over the State, will be held this year with a limited capacity of devotees due to the pandemic.
When contacted, Sancoale Parish Priest Fr Louis Alvares said the main feast mass will be celebrated with limited devotees by following social distancing and other SOPs.
"We have had Novena Masses on an online platform due to the pandemic and Masses were live-streamed for devotees. The statue of St Joseph Vaz has been kept for devotees since the Novena began on January 7."
"This year, we will celebrate the first two Masses on the feast day on the online platform, while the main Feast Mass at 10 am will have only 200 devotees and accordingly, we made all arrangements.”
“Social distancing will be strictly followed and all devotees will have to wear masks. Devotees will be subject to thermal checking as well.”
“We will not have vendors selling food items and other stuff around the feast site,” Fr Alvares added.
