Invitation from Joseph Naik Vaz Institute

Invitation to our 48th Annual Feast of St. Joseph Vaz
first canonized Saint of Goa and Mangalore (Kanara) in India
and the island nation of Sri Lanka

and
for the Beatification of Ven. Fr. Agnelo of Pilar, Goa
and other Indian-Sri Lankan native candidates for the sainthood

From Joseph Naik Vaz Institute, Berkeley
www.josephnaikvaz.org
Date for 2026 Feast Mass
On Sunday January 25th, 2026
to be said by Fr. Louis Laval, S.J. at 11:30 a.m.
at Church of the Resurrection
1399 Hollenback Avenue
Sunnyvale CA
94087

Information about St. Joseph Vaz
St. Joseph Vaz (1651-1711) was born in Goa, India and died in Kandy, Sri Lanka
His major contribution was to the persecuted Catholics in India and Sri Lanka, to whom he took the Mass and the Eucharist at the risk of his life for 27 years as an underground
missionary

Called “Second Founder of the Church in Sri Lanka” at his Beatification by Pope St. John Paul II
He worked underground to save the Church under a ban on priests and the Catholic religion
in the large area around Mangalore, India
and the island country of Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka)