St. Joseph Vaz Church, Modera, Moratuwa, is situated close to the Modera Junction (Just before the Panadura new bridge from Moratuwa) and is on Mahawatta Road which is the second lane to the right (sea side) off Modera Road. This Church comes under the Katukurunda Parish. Rev. Fr. Cyril Perera and Rev. Fr. Andre Didon (OMI) were the pioneers in setting up this Church. Fr. Cyril who was Parish Priest of Koralawella/Katukurunda Parishes arranged for the purchase of the land in the year 1980 and built the old Church. Fr. Didon initiated action to build a new Church as the old Church was found to be insufficient to accommodate the faithful. Fr. Didon (French) was the last of the OMI foreign missionaries. Rev. Fr. Cyril Perera purchased this land from Mr. Susantha Siriratne – former Chairman of the UC, Moratuwa. Rev. Fr. Cyril Perera and Mr. Basil Fonseka laid the foundation for the Old Church. Mr. Fonseka did a great service in establishing and safeguarding the Church and even suffered personal damage to his house. He also served as the first Sacristan of the Church and did invaluable service for a long period.
His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis was the chief guest at the opening of the Old Church on 13th September 1986. Mr. Tyronne Fernando, former MP of Moratuwa, participated together with Rev. Fr. Benedict Jayatillake, the Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Church Katukurunda, at that time at the opening. The Picture of St. Joseph Vaz was unveiled by Mr. Susantha Siriratne former Chairman of UC Moratuwa and the Choir on that occasion. The feast of Christ the King was celebrated in November each year. Special mention must be made of Mrs. Flora Silva who initiated the Daham Pasala and did immense service in building up the religious activities of the Church at its commencement. Mrs. Lucy Fernando took the leadership in forming the Legion of Mary. She also served as the distributor of the weekly Catholic Newspapers in the area for a long period. The feast day Procession was held for the first time on 22nd November, 1987 with the guidance of Rev. Fr. Cyril Perera. The first archbishop to celebrate the festive high Mass on the feast day was His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando in the year 1989. The hoisting of the flagstaff for the first time happened on 24th November, 1990. A life size statue of St. Joseph Vaz was erected in the Church premises on 28th November 1991. The main contributor to the building of the statue shrine was Rev. Sister Irene Seneviratne of the Franciscan Order. She arranged to build the roof, as well, to protect the Statue. She also helped in building houses for the needy in the area (mostly orphans). This statue has subsequently been relocated, facing the road. A wooden Statue of St. Joseph Vaz, carved by Mr. Raymond Fernando, was brought on Vespers Day – 27th January 1996. There was heavy rain and blowing when the vehicle carrying the statue entered the church premises and even when the rear door of the van was opened but Mr. Raymond told not to hold any umbrellas and when the statue was taken out, the heavy rain stopped immediately.
In view of the inadequacy of space in the old Church, Rev. Fr. Didon arranged to build a new Church and laid the foundation stone blessed by him on 19th March 1995. It is pertinent to mention that funds for the construction of the foundation was with the personal money of Fr. Didon. Thereafter some parishioners rallied round Fr. Didon and started collecting funds by visiting most of the Churches from Colombo to Kalutara and also going house to house in the Moratuwa area. When work came to a standstill due to lack of funds, Mr. Anthony Christopher arranged to obtain ten thousand US dollars from a foreign Church through a friend of his and with those funds most of the work was completed . Funds for the construction of the belfry too was obtained through his intervention.
The first Church Development Committee was formed under Rev. Fr. Srikantha Fernando, comprising of:
- The Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Srikantha Fernando – President & Treasurer
- Joint Secretaries – Mrs. Rasika Joseph and Mrs. Ranmali Silva
- Treasurer – Mr. Maxwell Abeyratne
- Coordinator – Mr. Ranjith Fernando
Committee Members
- Anthony Christopher
- Dayasiri Fernando
- Premalal Arseculeratne
- Annesly Perera
- Lakshman Fernando
- Asanga Perera
- Damian Dharmaratne
- Srikanthi Abeyratne
- Pemsiri de Silva
- Basil Fonseka
It was during the period of Rev. Fr. Srikantha and Rev.Fr. Marius Fernando that most of the balance work in the Church was completed. The FIRST FEAST of ST. JOSEPH VAZ was celebrated on 28th January 1996 in a partly built Church with a temporary altar. The Statue of St. Joseph Vaz was carried in procession. Special mention must be made of Mr. Dayasiri Fernando, who being a Buddhist, participated and helped in numerous ways in the activities of the Church.
Holy Mass was celebrated, on 21st April 2002 to commemorate the 351st Birth Anniversary of St. Joseph Vaz, by Rev. Fr. Kingsley Jayamanne, former Vicar General of Colombo. The new gate to the Church, the bell and the stained-glass picture of St. Joseph Vaz were also blessed by Fr. Jayamanne on that day.
The entrance gate to the Church was made by Mr. Lakshman Fernando, the present Sacristan. The construction of the New Church which was started by Fr. Didon, on 19th March 1995, was completed in the year 2002 and was blessed and opened on 1st February 2004 by His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis. Considering the very limited resources which were available, the completion of the Church in such a short time was definitely a miracle with the Grace of God Almighty and through the intercession of our beloved Apostle St. Joseph Vaz. The Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith officiated at the Archdiocesan celebrations to mark the first feast of St. Joseph Vaz, after Canonization, on 17th January 2016. His Eminence also blessed and inaugurated a statue stand of the Saint and a candle shrine, the work of which was initiated by the Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Rasika Lawrence. The unveiling of the Name Board of the Church, at the entrance to Mahawatta Road, was done under the guidance of Rev. Fr. Rasika Lawrence.
When considering the interior of the new Church, a special feature is the wooden rear Tridentine Altar with many intricate carvings and the front Altar with the engraving of the Emmaus story in front of it. The upright Cross at the altar, St. Joseph Vaz’s large statue and the small statue used for blessings were all carved by Mr. Raymond Fernando of Laxapathiya, Moratuwa. A stained-glass picture of St. Joseph Vaz is also fixed on the facade.
