In 2015, Pope Francis canonized the Indian St. Joseph Vaz who did extraordinary missionary work in Sri Lanka under Dutch persecution of the Catholic faith in the seventeenth century. He helped found the Oratorian Congregation for native Indian priests in his birthplace Goa, India. He re-built missions in present day Karnataka on the west coast of India that had fallen under Dutch, hence Calvinist, control. He then re-built the Catholic Church from the ashes of persecution of the Catholic faith by the Dutch conquerors in Sri Lanka. St. Joseph Vaz smuggled himself into the Dutch occupied north of Sri Lanka in 1687. In order to avoid constant Dutch pursuit and capture, he finally sought refuge in the Buddhist kingdom of Kandy in 1693 which was ruled by King Vimaladharma Surya II.

The King first imprisoned him as a Portuguese spy. When he observed that this was a highly realized saint, he decided to release him from prison. This Buddhist King and then his son took him under their protection from Dutch pursuit, exile and even death, and gave him freedom to preach and minister in his kingdom for the remaining twenty three years of the saint’s life.

The Smallpox epidemic in Kandy of 1697
In 1697, a smallpox epidemic struck first in the capital of Kandy, then spread to outlying towns and areas in the kingdom of Kandy as well as in Dutch occupied areas.
By contrast to the present covid-19 pandemic, the cause for that epidemic was unknown. There were no protections for First Responders. There were no hospitals or doctors in the kingdom of Kandy where victims could get treatment and be cured. Vaccination was unknown as a prevention of an infectious disease like smallpox. So the only escape was to leave an infected geographical reason and flee to a safe zone where there were no cases of smallpox. The King, nobles, and the wealthy fled the capital of Kandy, abandoning the infected victims to die in the streets and jungles.

What did St. Joseph Vaz and his Oratorian Companions do for the victims
We learn from contemporary accounts of the smallpox epidemic of 1697-1698 what St. Joseph Vaz and his nephew, Fr. Joseph Carvalho, did :

1. He put up sheds with branches of trees to shelter the sick from wild animals
2. He gave food to all; arranged for them the place where they were lying down; squeezed the matter from their pocks; killed the vermin that were breeding; cleansed the sores and washed them with water;
3. He went through the streets both morning and evening, carrying always on his shoulders pots of rice and other food stuff for the sick
4. Making no distinction whether one was a Christian or a pagan, he and his nephew visited all with the same charity and helped all according to heir needs, cleansing and washing all, even the filthiest. As many had deserted the city to flee from the pestilence, there were houses left vacant. The Fathers chose four of them near the church and transformed them into hospitals. He thus established the first hospital in Kandy.
5. They always carried food on their shoulders and spent the whole day visiting both the hospitals and the houses of the sick, administering the Sacraments to the dying.
6. They were often engaged in burying the dead. There were days when ten or twelve victims died and the Fathers would accompany the bodies to the burial place.
7. He inspired his fellow priests, Fr. Pedro Ferrao in Negombo and Colombo, and Fr. Joseph de Menezes in Puttalam, as well as his Catholic converts in these areas to join him in his charitable work. They contributed money, food, and clothing for the victims and sent them to Kandy. And they took compassionate care of victims of the
   smallpox in their own local areas, following the example of St. Joseph Vaz.

The Buddhist King’s gratitude to St. Joseph Vaz
Several of his contemporaries wrote that the Buddhist King used to say that he wished he had in his kingdom four priests like him and that his city would have been left without inhabitants if this Father had not been there. He wanted to give a great sum of money to the Venerable Father. When the members of his council pointed out that he would not accept it since he did not touch money, the King was filled with admiration at such disinterestedness.
Thus, St. Joseph Vaz embodied what was best in compassion and loving concern for the sick, the abandoned, and the dying during a great epidemic which is what our First Responders are doing today.

Note about the author:..

Filomena is an Indian Catholic, born in Goa, brought up and educated In Singapore, then in Australia and the U.S.

After reading the biography of St. Joseph Vaz by Fr. S. G. Perera S.J., she undertook studies for a Master’s in Theology from the Jesuit School of Theology, Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley. Her Master’s thesis was on the aspect of Indian “Sannyasa” (Renunciation) in the life and missionary work of St. Joseph Vaz.

She founded the Joseph Naik Vaz Institute in 1980 to keep alive the memory of then Venerable Fr. Joseph Vaz and to work for his Beatification and Canonization. The work of the Institute is recorded in the Positio Historica (historical documents and proof of devotion) for both his Beatification and Canonization.