It is no secret that Father Joseph, who risked his life to spread the Dutch religion in Sri Lanka for over a century, was a miraculous gift from God Himself to our island.
Father Joseph, who took on the difficult task of cultivating the Christian field in Sri Lanka, prepared a blueprint for fulfilling that mission while experiencing it. With the primary objective of bequeathing the difficult and challenging mission entrusted to him to the future, according to the wisdom of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and seeking the help of his community, he personally invites his nephew, Father Jacome Gonsalves, to this difficult task. He did so by using his innate ability and knowledge of language, aiming for the future of the Word of God.
Taking the original goal of his master as his own, the young Father Jacome Gonsalves never hesitated to use the divine gifts of literature, knowledge, various skills and talents that God had given him to spread his Dhamma in the country.
As well as being a linguist and possessing a deep knowledge of literature, he also had other unique abilities that were second to none. He creatively manipulated the language to make it accessible to literary enjoyment, and embellished it by applying a new musical universal language to the prose and poetry he composed. There are many books written in his own style. Among them, Even today, the book of nine sermons, Pasam, which is still in the possession of many elderly Christians, is considered a national heritage. Because of his expert knowledge of the language, he is known as the Venerable Pandithara Jacome Gonsalves Pooja Prasad Thero.
Like Rabindranath Tagore, who was called the scholar of the Mahabharata, although he was not born in our country to leave a mark on the world map as a native Christian, it is not an exaggeration to call him the great Christian scholar of the country who contributed to our country and its culture. Among the many advances that he has given to local literature, the fast-dying Pasam and the Latin mournful folk singing style are universal literary heritages that no Christian should forget.
Among the greatest discoveries in the world and the creations of the universe itself, linguistics and creative language have always been number one. It is truly a universal creation. Recognizing its weighty essence, he not only made language his heartbeat, but also transformed very complex religious teachings and principles into very simple language for the people through the subtle waves of language, but also added qualities to its language and literature, created prose and poetry, delicately touched the subtle varieties of human emotions, and added the three divine teachings of Jesus' suffering, death on the cross and resurrection, and the flavor of sorrow to bring them to the people's use. His efforts are highly commendable. I see it as a miracle.
