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- Saint Joseph Vaz (1651-1711)
- Some Miraculous Favours received
Saint Joseph Vaz
Catholic priest and missionary Founder of the Goan Oratory of St. Philipp Neri Apostle of Sri Lanka
1938
A lady from India, pregnant in April 1938, began to suffer from hemorrhages after four months, with the consequent danger of a miscarriage. She was hospitalized for two weeks in Bangalore, where her condition was stabilized. After some weeks, the hemorrhages started again. She was then hospitalized in Goa. The case was diagnosed as “placenta previa”. In November, the hemorrhages increased, a Caesarean section, considered particularly dangerous in those days, was considered. Before that, relatives and friends of the patient implored divine help through the intersession of the Servant of God Joseph Vaz. The next morning, November 27, 1938, the hemorrhages stopped suddenly, with no possible explanation, without any surgical intervention. On the evening of November 27, 1938, a healthy boy was born. The boy later on became a priest. In 1991 this cure was the object of a canonical investigation in the Archdiocese of Goa. Pope John Paul II signed the decree on the miracle on July 16, 1993. It led to the beatification in 1994.
1996
A lady living in Sao Paolo, Brazil, reported a favour, regarding the cure of her brother of “menengitis menigococcemica C”. He was hospitalized in Sao Paolo. After the diagnosis, he was told that he had very little chance of surviving and that, if he survived, he probably, would have serious brain damage. Soon he entered into a coma and was unconscious for 10 days. After 10 days he became better. He recovered in another 10 days’ time. After 4 weeks he went home, completely cured. During the time of he was unconscious, his sister prayed a prayer of intercession of Blessed Joseph Vaz.
1997
A lady from Sri Lanka, living in Glendale, California, USA, reported a miraculous cure of her brother. He was diagnosed with Fournier´s Gangrene. He had an emergency operation and was told that his disease had a high mortality rate. After two weeks he had recovered and, after three weeks, he went back to work. On the night of the operation, his sister begged the intercession of Blessed Joseph Vaz.
1998
Rose de Leema Jayatilake, Waga, Sri Lanka: Mrs. Rose de Leema Jayatilake reported in 2006 that her daughter, after her marriage in 1995, had a difficult pregnancy which led to a miscarriage. In 1997, she had a second miscarriage. The young couple gave up any hope of having children. Mrs. Jayatilake took the whole family to the Kandewatta church where they made a vow to Blessed Joseph Vaz. Only three months later, Mrs. Jayatilake´s daughter became pregnant. She gave birth to a baby girl.
1999
A diocesan priest of Badulla, Sri Lanka, reports the unique recovery of his sister. She had suffered two miscarriages. In 1999 she suffered of septicemia, a generalized infection involving the major organs of the body through the blood stream. Her situation was critical. After an operation, she remained unconscious for nine days. Family members and several priests started to pray through the intercession of Blessed Joseph Vaz. Pictures of Blessed Joseph Vaz were brought to the bed of the ill person. Other difficulties occurred. Her right hand, above the wrist, became paralyzed. The physicians suspected her hand would have to be amputated. The family members continued their intercessory prayer to Blessed Joseph Vaz. After another operation, the question of amputation was not raised again. After two and a half months, she was able to leave the hospital. Physicians affirmed that only 10% of these cases recover to lead a normal life.
1999
An eight year old Sri Lankan developed an open wound on the upper part of his left thigh. He was hospitalized in Kandy. Cancer was suspected. Suddenly the surgeons discovered, to their surprise, that the wound had healed. The family was told to take the boy home. From the moment the mother was told that her son had to undergo surgery for a suspected cancer, she went to Saint Anthony’s Cathedral and prayed before the picture of Blessed Joseph Vaz. The documentation was handed over to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome on June 28, 2013.
2002
A lady from Sri Lanka, living in Connecticut, USA, was pregnant with twins. The pregnancy was considered high-risk due to multiple-gestations. There was a concern about the development of one of the twins. The parents were advised to undergo further testing. At the same time, they had been asked to consider an elective termination of the sick twins. The parents were confronted with the possibility that one of their children would be malformed and not even survive the pregnancy. Ultrasound revealed a cerebellar abnormality of one of the twins. The presumed diagnoses were: 1. Dandy-Walker or Arnold-Chiari malformation; 2. Neural tube defect; 3. Delayed fusion of the vermis. None of the physicians ever mentioned to the parents that there was a chance that the abnormality would heal by normal progression. At that time, the couple turned to fervent prayer. Blessed Joseph Vaz was known, through their aunt from Sri Lanka, as the patron of the unborn. Daily they recited a prayer from a holy card. Friends and family joined them in reciting the prayer for about two months. At the subsequent ultrasounds, the brain abnormality had disappeared. The mother gave birth to two healthy twin baby girls. In 2003 the parents contacted the Bishop of Kandy to inform him about a miracle that had happened via intercession of Blessed Joseph Vaz on the unborn twins. The documentation was handed over to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome in 2013. On October 14, 2013, a canonical rogatory session took place in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
2004
A Sri Lankan Mother of two healthy children, became pregnant for the third time. After four months she had a miscarriage. In 2004, at the age of 43, she conceived again. The pregnancy was considered a risk. After consulting a priest, the family started daily prayers through the intersession of Blessed Joseph Vaz. The lady gave birth to a healthy boy
2006
A lady from Goa had been married since 2001. The couple was unable to conceive a child, although they approached the best of the gynecologists in Goa and even one in the United Kingdom. All they were told was that the only possibility to conceive a child was through “In Vitro” fertilization, which was against their Catholic faith. In 2006, the couple participated in the evening Mass at the Sanctuary of Blessed Joseph Vaz in Sancoale, on the day before the feast of the Blessed. At the end of the Mass, when the recessional hymn of Blessed Joseph Vaz was being sung, the wife had a vision of Blessed Joseph Vaz with a smile on his face. A few days after this incident, she conceived without any medical means. A son was born in October, 2006.
2007
A couple from Nalladrankattuwa, Sri Lanka, had been married for five years. As they suffered much from not having children, in December, 2007, they presented their problem to the parish priest. He gave them the advice to seek the intercession of Blessed Joseph Vaz. After the daily rosary, they recited the novena to Blessed Joseph Vaz. In 2008 the wife was pregnant. She gave birth to a healthy child.
2008
A twenty-year-old man from Kandy, Sri Lanka was hospitalized in 2008 because of a high fever and severe headaches. After a month there was no improvement. A lumpy growth appeared on the left side of the neck, which revealed that the patient was suffering from cancer. His mother prayed to Blessed Joseph Vaz for his intercession. His sister touched her brother’s body with a prayer card while begging the intercession of Joseph Vaz. A close friend of the family visited the young man in the hospital and prayed over him for a cure through the intercession of Blessed Joseph Vaz. The fever subsided. He improved day by day. In the following month he underwent inception therapy. To the surprise of the doctors, the patient was fully cured. The documentation of the diocesan inquiry was handed over to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome in 2013, but medical expertise came to the conclusion that the essential “inexplicability” could not be granted.
2009
Al lady from Quepem, Goa, India, testified that her niece could not open the eyelid of her right eye. The eye specialist at Chennai, India, could not find the reason why the eyelid remained closed. The family visited the Sanctuary of Blessed Joseph Vaz in Sancoale at about 6.00 p.m. The director of the shrine prayed over the girl before the statue of Blessed Joseph Vaz in the Sanctuary. He also handed over a prayer to Blessed Joseph Vaz, and told the family to say it before going to bed. They faithfully and devoutly said the prayer before going to bed. When the girl woke up next morning, she found that she could open her eyelid at will, just as before.
2011
A Hindu boy from Cansaulim, Goa, India, 7 years of age, was advised to undergo hernia surgery. The date of the surgery had already been fixed. A neighbor came to the Sanctuary in Sancoale and went to visit the Oratory Room in the paternal house of Blessed Joseph Vaz. There, under the famous jackfruit tree of Blessed Joseph Vaz, she found two pieces of jackfruit bark. She took them home and gave them to the boy’s mother and asked her to grind those pieces of the bark and apply the paste to the infected part of her son’s body with a prayer to Blessed Joseph Vaz. The boy’s mother did so. The neighbor, too, prayed to Blessed Joseph Vaz for the boy´s recovery. When the boy was taken to the hospital for the operation, the doctor observed that the boy did not need surgery any longer. The boy was discharged from the hospital.
2014
A couple from Goa, India, both Hindus by religion, had been going from one medical doctor to another for nine years in the hope that the wife would conceive. All medication had no effect on her. The couple remained childless. Finally, at the suggestion of a Catholic friend, the couple took part in a retreat for childless couples during the novena of Blessed Joseph Vaz in January, 2013. From then on the Hindu couple began praying through the intercession of Blessed Joseph Vaz for the gift of a child. Within two and half months of the retreat, the wife conceived without any medication and, in 2014, a healthy child was born.
