Miracles
in particles of dust

&nbsp;
 &nbsp;By Paulo Afonso

&nbsp;

(Published
in the Navhind Times edition of January 17, 1994) 

&nbsp;

 PANJIM, JAN 16:&nbsp; Sancoale, the ancestral village of&nbsp; Fr Joseph Vaz&nbsp;
make no impression to someone visiting it for the first time as it is no
different from any other village in Goa.&nbsp;
Even the paternal house of the Roman Catholic saint&nbsp; to be, who has done the Goans&nbsp; and the rest of humanity, especially the Sri
Lankans, proud, has no extraordinary look to it. 

&nbsp; The house which faces the main road is a mud
and laterite structure painted white and green on the exterior and resembles
any other ancestral house in the village, except for&nbsp; a majestic jackfruit tree which is considered
to be sacred by the faithful 

&nbsp; Even the original&nbsp; room of Fr&nbsp;
Jose Vaz still has a pristine look to it&nbsp;
with a confessional and a tabernacle preserved in their originality.
It&nbsp; also contains a message&nbsp; sent by the Bishop of Jaffna in 1936 assuring
that the cause of sainthood will be taken up for good as soon as possible. 

&nbsp; In the room facing this one are a series of
greenish- tinge&nbsp; oil paintings depicting
events in the life of Fr Vaz., The paintings date back to 1936 and are the
works of Sister Josephine , the co-foundress of the order. 

&nbsp; A portion of the floor in the adjacent room
is broken as devotees&nbsp; believe that even
the floor where Fr Vaz treaded on is sacred. Many come here to pick up a
sprinkling of the&nbsp; cement powder beneath
or a piece of tile in the hope that it will cure some of their ailments. 

&nbsp; At present the ancestral house is managed by
the Holy Family of Nazareth sisters who have been looking after its maintenance
since 1935. 

&nbsp; The Holy Family of Nazareth sisters have even
varnished bits of bark from the jackfruit tree which they&nbsp; hand over to visitors.&nbsp; Inside the compound is a two-storey pink
building –- the Centre of the Holy Family&nbsp;
of Nazareth Sisters--- which undertakes among its activities , caring
for orphaned girls. 

&nbsp; &nbsp; When we reached there, the nuns and girls
were actively engaged in gardening and planting ornamental plant in open
spaces.&nbsp; Some were sweeping the portion
or road outside the residence. 

&nbsp;&nbsp; The nuns, had once taken to growing grapes
and a parched&nbsp; vineyard can be seen near
a well on the rear side of the house.

&nbsp; &nbsp;One of the long-term projects undertaken for
the preparation of the beatification in the state&nbsp; is the renovation of the Sanctuary of St
Felipe Neri , Sancoale built in 1909 to encourage devotion to the evangelizer
to be done at a cost of Rs 15 lakhs for which donations are already pouring in.
This includes rebuilding of the altar which was constructed&nbsp; in 1940. Once renovated the sanctuary will be&nbsp; rededicated to Fr Jose Vaz. 

&nbsp; &nbsp; The
sanctuary was spruced up in connection with the death anniversary of the patron
saint of Sancoale which falls on January 16 and is celebrated as a feast by the
villagers. Stalls and pandals are being erected for the feast mass which will
be concelebrated by the Archishop Patriarch Raul Gonsalves. 

&nbsp; &nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Miracles in particles of dust

Useful links

Company

Information

Content Writers

Freelancers

Freelance Jobs

Online Jobs

Designers

Developers

Translations