Panaji: Following resistance from the faithful in Sancoale and neighbouring villages to the Church’s decision to shift the venue of the feast of St Joseph Vaz from the sanctuary to the considerably larger site of the old Our Lady of Health Church, archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao after listening to their concerns, reminded them that St Joseph Vaz has now reached a larger-than-life proportion after being declared a saint in 2015.
Ferrao explained that the crowds of devotees flocking to the sanctuary in Sancoale have only been growing with every passing year. He also reminded them of the importance of the old church. The saint would often visit it to pray and more importantly, it was where he wrote the well-known ‘Letter of Bondage’ to the Virgin Mary, he pointed out.
“We want this to happen as we would like our saint to be known far and wide,” Ferrao said, reminding the faithful that in 2015 there was a grand celebration of the canonization of Vaz at Old Goa and that a new book on the saint was released and sent to all bishops in India and to some abroad. A new diocesan committee for the promotion of the devotion to St Joseph Vaz was also set up.
(Source:The Times of India)