Goan pilgrims to participate in Feast, inauguration of renovated Chapel on January 16
The renovation work at the Chapel of St Joseph Vaz at Kandy in Sri Lanka.
PANAJI
When a group of 41 Goans visit Kandy in Sri Lanka to celebrate the Feast of St Joseph Vaz, an illustrious son of Goa, on January 16, their pilgrimage will be memorable for a special reason.
The Goan group will celebrate Mass for the first time inside the restored Chapel where St Joseph Vaz once stayed during his mission in Kandy.
But what has made this possible is the fact that the Chapel, which had been in ruins for a number of decades, was restored following contributions from Goans.
Bishop Emeritus Joseph Vianney Fernando of Kandy will celebrate the Feast Mass at the Chapel of St Joseph Vaz along with a number of priests, nuns and a group of 41 Goan pilgrims.
The Konkani hymn in honour of St Joseph Vaz will also be sung by the Goan pilgrims at the Feast Mass. The restored Chapel will also be inaugurated on the occasion.
Paul Siqueira, who operates Zion Tours and Travels in Panaji, had spearheaded the restoration work after he was shocked to see the Chapel in ruins.
“Our groups from Zion Tours and Travels have been going to Sri Lanka since May and the pilgrimage would always include the Chapel dedicated to St Joseph Vaz, which is based near the Ampithya seminary in Kandy. This is the place where St Joseph Vaz stayed while he was in Kandy,” said Paul Siqueira.
“Whenever our groups used to go there, we would only see the Chapel from the outside as the structure was in ruins and it was dangerous to celebrate Mass inside the Chapel.”
Since Siqueira had planned a group trip in January to coincide with the Feast of St Joseph Vaz on January 16, he was keen to have the Chapel restored and to seek permission to have their Mass celebrated there.
“I approached my Sri Lankan agent about this idea who, in turn, asked authorities of the Ampithya seminary, who are in charge of the Chapel,” said Siqueira.
“They reverted with a detailed proposal for the renovation work, which included the roof, electrical connections, benches, staircases, lights, etc. They also sent me pictures of the Chapel from the inside and when I saw it, I was shocked to see the extent of damage.”
“The Chapel did not have proper benches to sit, the electrical fittings were all broken and left dangling, trees were growing inside the roof. It was a terrible sight.”
Determined to restore the Chapel in collaboration with his Sri Lankan agent, Siqueira volunteered to contribute towards the restoration work.
“The amount for the basic renovation came to about 11.5 lakh in Sri Lankan Rupees, which when converted, came to about Rs 3.5 lakh in Indian currency,” said Siqueira.
Siqueira immediately contributed most of this amount to the Ampithya seminary. He also put forth a proposal before Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, who willingly contributed towards the renovation work from the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.
With the required amount, restoration work on the Chapel began in mid-December 2023 and priests at the Ampithya seminary supervised the work. A few customers of Zion Tours and Travels who travelled with to Sri Lanka also donated money for the benches.
“The work is now completed, and we are so happy to be able to celebrate the Feast of St Joseph Vaz on January 16 in the same Chapel where our Goan saint lived. We praise and thank the Lord for having given us the opportunity in this mission to restore the Chapel,” he added.
