Placing St Gonsalo on the Map
Fr Francis Correa
150 years have rolled by since India’s first-ever Saint was canonised in Rome on June 8, 1862, on the Feast of the Pentecost. It was a long-awaited day when the 26 martyrs of Nagasaki were canonised by Pope Pius IX. On this auspicious day, some professed religious as well as some lay
faithful were declared canonised and raised to the honour of the altar. It was quite a long list of martyrs who had shed their blood on the hill of Nagasaki. The said list consisted of three Jesuits, six Franciscans, two Franciscan tertians, three altar boys, a Korean layman in addition to 11 Japanese Catholic lay faithful.
These martyrs of Nagasaki were, all along, venerated on some of the altars as ‘Blessed’ and were gratefully remembered by the respective religious in some parts of the world, as special liturgical celebrations were allowed in their honour. The real devotion in their honour, however, spread all over when they were canonised. As far as we are concerned, St Gonsalo Garcia was honoured as India’s only Saint for almost 140 years, till we were recently privileged to have India’s beloved daughter, Sr Alphonsa, raised to the honour of the altar.
The people of Bombay did gratefully remember their first Saint, though little was known and published about his life and mission. The Archdiocese of Bombay celebrated the 4th centenary of the birth of this Saint with great pomp and fanfare. The faithful of India, however, failed to adequately celebrate the occasion of the centenary of his canonisation. As a matter of fact, there should have been a grand celebration to mark this momentous occasion. It is in the fitness of things that we, the people of India, rise to the occasion and celebrate the 150th Jubilee of his canonisation in a befitting manner.
Much more would have been published and many more shrines could have been raised to his honour, had Gonsalo been a Confessor. Usually, a Confessor is gratefully appreciated and imitated even before he is beatified and canonised, as his life and ministry is made widely known. In the case of the recent spiritual luminaries of our country such as Bl. Mother Teresa and St Alphonsa, many people wanted to gratefully remember them even before they were declared ‘Blessed’. Some parents started naming their children after these spiritual icons, even before they were beatified. It was, however, not to be the case with our martyr who had shed his blood, as his heroic sacrifice remained hidden from the public eye.
Due credit must, however, be given to the then Catholic Association of Bombay which, in spite of many difficulties, continued organising annual pilgrimages initially to Vasai Fort, and later on to Gass, where a magnificent shrine was raised in his honour and inaugurated in 1962. The information about the Saint was made known to the public as Fr Peter Fernandes of St Teresa’s Church, Girgaum wrote a series of articles in The Examiner in 1903, and later published a short biography of this saint: ‘The Life of St. Gonsalo Garcia’ (1924) to keep the flame of devotion alive in the hearts of many a faithful of Bombay. Fr Roque Pereira, also of the Archdiocese of Bombay, went all out to spread the devotion to this saint. Periodically, these priests printed pictures and distributed medals. Mention must be made of Jesuit scholars like Frs. J. H. Gense and A. Conti, who after a long research published their voluminous work in 1957 entitled: “In the Days of Gonzalo Garcia, 1557 – 1597”.
In spite of the pains taken and the projects undertaken by priests and lay faithful, efforts to make St Gonsalo known have fallen short. We were also not able to stir the devotion of the faithful towards this son of the soil and therefore, probably we were not able to achieve what was needed to place our St Gonsalo on the map.
But one does feel that justice is not done to this missionary hero of our land. Now as the 150th anniversary of his canonisation providentially coincides with the Year of Faith, India cannot have a greater leader than St Gonsalo Garcia who by shedding his blood on the Cross became India’s model of faith par excellence – in the perfect imitation of Christ who gave us the Faith. The visual media and the internet may do much to make the life and message of St Gonsalo Garcia known to the faithful. As far as the print media is concerned, The Examiner is privileged to dedicate this special issue to him.
