Thousands of devotees throng the beautiful hill of Pilar for the nine-day novena of Ven. Fr Agnelo, culminating in the feast on November 20
The month of November is long-awaited by thousands of devotees of Ven. Fr Agnelo de Souza, who throng the beautiful hill of Pilar for the nine-day novena, culminating in the feast on November 20. Fr Agnelo’s popularity and devotion is increasing day by day. This is evident by the increasing number of people who visit Pilar throughout the year and from testimonies of favours received through his intercession.
Fr Agnelo is truly a model for each and every one of us, and more so for priests. As a preacher, confessor, spiritual guide or counsellor, he excelled in all his roles and has a lot to teach us, not by just his words but by his exemplary life.
This article cannot even touch a fraction of his countless virtues, but I would like to write a few things about his life and his upbringing which inspired me. Parents play a very important role in the foundation of faith of a child and can be the greatest influence on their vocation.
Fr Agnelo was born of simple, honest, hardworking, god-fearing, disciplinarian parents. He was one among nine children and had a brother who was a priest. His mother taught him catechism along with other children and fostered a special devotion to Mother Mary. Though he was orphaned at a very young age, he never lost direction, but his priest brother, Fr Manuelinho, and relatives continued guiding him the right way.
As a child and youngster, his love for the sacraments, daily mass, desire to teach catechism to others, and guide the youth, kept him focused on his goal. His true commitment and love for his priestly vocation is evident from his saintly virtues.
As a student in the seminary, he was known to be simple, hardworking, obedient, quiet, highly modest and holy. He made a fervent retreat to prepare himself for the grace of holy priesthood just before his ordination. He even stood the testing period of scruples and emerged victorious. He renounced all those persons and things of the world and embraced a life of obedience, sacrifice and mortification throughout his priestly life.
His homilies are much talked about and were always well prepared with time spent in prayer at the Blessed Sacrament before preaching. He was aptly known as the “Lion in the pulpit and lamb in the confessional” a well-deserved description which he elaborated by saying, “In the pulpit, we throw our nets and in the confessional, we collect our catch.” When people knew he was preaching, the church used to be full much before his arrival.
He was the epitome of holiness and humility to the point of self-effacement, conscious of his nothingness and unworthiness, seeking always the last and the least place. Obedience of his superiors was followed to the core, so much so that he never questioned or criticized their decisions but carried out the slightest wish and order of his superiors.
What mattered to him was to do God’s will, wherever he was and in whatever he did. A man of prayer that he was, he would love to spend hours in the Eucharistic presence of the Lord. He had a great devotion to Mother Mary, specifically to Our Lady of Sorrows.
He accepted sufferings joyfully and consoled others too by saying, “If Jesus suffered so much, why should we not suffer? Sufferings are for our good”. He was totally detached from the material world, he had hardly any possessions; and it is said, when he passed away, there was not a single decent shirt to clothe his body. He would give away his possessions to the poor.
His popularity as a Confessor and Spiritual guide is evident from the statements of many priests who said that they owed their perseverance in their vocation and their spiritual stability and balance to the valuable guidance they received from Fr Agnelo. In spite of his failing health, he was always available for confession and spiritual guidance.
He emphasized devotion to the Sacred heart of Jesus and said that we have to have hearts that burn with love for the Sacred heart. He had expressed a desire to die on the feast of the Sacred heart of Jesus and God heard his prayers, a testimony enough of his relationship with his creator.
He showed interest and concern for all his parishioners by frequent visits, especially to the sick, the poor and the distressed. He had a special love for children and loved to instruct them in faith. He offered masses for souls in purgatory as was seen in his mass intention book.
His maxims, sayings and letters are full of wisdom and inspiration, depicting his saintliness and also his concern for others to grow in holiness. He said, “We ought to be saints to attain our goal. And in order to be a saint, one has to suffer much and talk little. Saints were not fools to do penance.”
This saintly priest has left us a rich tribute of virtues and examples to emulate. He rightly said, “It is not clothing that honours a man, but his virtues”. We need to make efforts to read about his life in detail and pray fervently for his sainthood, which I am sure is not far away. This year as we celebrate his novena and feast, let us seek his intercession to grow in holiness and be pleasing in the eyes of God.
(The writer is a consultant paediatrician based in St Cruz)
