It’s remarkable that more people have not heard of Joseph Vaz, he is considered the greatest saint missionary in Asia since Francis Xavier. And his missionary journey’s are epic boy’s stories, better than anything Ian Fleming can conjure up for his James Bond character. His Feast day 16th January.
Some of these would not be out of place in the Old Testament, such as parting the waters of a river in flood during the monsoon rains, calming wild elephants, and going head to head with devil worshiping magicians in the Kandyan kingdom of Ceylon to pray for rain during a bad drought. The latter event was recorded by buddhist monks, in the historical chronicle of ‘Culavamsa’ - a document that spans from the 4th century to 1815 detailing significant events in the lives of the monarchs of the island.
St Joseph Vaz passing by guards:
Joseph Vaz was born on the 21st of April in 1651 in the Portuguese colony of Goa in India. The house of his grandparents, where he was born in the little hamlet of …More