On September 25, 1685 St. Joseph Vaz founded the first fully native religious Congregation, the Goa branch of the Oratory of St. Felipe Neri in the Church of the Miraculous Cross, Old Goa.

In an article titled “Sri Lankan Pioneer Beat Persecution” in the New York Tablet (August 1987), American Msgr. John Condon writes aptly that St. Joseph Vaz is looked on mainly as:
“Saviour of the Catholic faith in Sri Lanka, founder of a native religious congregation at a time when such institutions were non-existent, coordinator of a missionary society which supplied Asian missionaries to another Asian country, and capable Church administrator even during a time of persecution, Father Joseph Vaz holds a very special place in mission history.”

St. Joseph Vaz educated the tribal Kunbi servant, John Vaz, who had accompanied him from Goa to Ceylon at the risk of his life, in Portuguese and Latin. In 1696, he sent him back to Goa with a letter of recommendation to the priesthood.

Fr. Olvin Veigas S.J. Will be offering Mass in St. Joseph’s Chapel, Hassan, Bangalore to commemorate the 340th Anniversary of this historical mission event on September 25 , 6:30 a.m. for all our native missionaries, nuns and priests and laity on behalf of Joseph Naik Vaz Institute, California.