A tribute to Fr Vincent Martis

By Felcy Frank, Muscat

07 February 2010: We are deeply saddened by the untimely death of our dear uncle Fr. Vincent Martis. For all brother/sisters, nephews/nieces and the people who have known him, he was an extraordinary human being and truly an anointed priest. He was a selfless man, full of love, compassion, patience and humility in any situation.

In coping with any struggles of life, he never complained nor requested anyone’s help. He just surrendered himself to God’s will and his faith in God was unshakeable.

He was a man of simplicity and focus on his path in life. He had great contentment in life that God has called him to serve the people. He had lot of admiration for his people irrespective of their religion. He felt the sufferings of other people acutely and he couldn’t rest until he had helped a family in poverty that needed his help.

He was a man of few words but his good works were so many and he hated publicity. Whenever people/family members offered something for his personal use, he would turn them away pointing out other instead in difficult situations who could use that as aid.

He dedicated his life for the service of the people and parish, who were his top priorities. When we met him last June, we asked him to take a break and visit the Gulf, he mentioned that he had no interest and didn’t want to waste money on a leisure trip. He aspired to work towards accomplishing all the social responsibilities he had set out to work on, before he could take a break. He was working on a project which he intended to complete by the end of 2010 and he had one wish to visit the Holy Land and experience the presence of God. Instead God himself called our dearest uncle to the Holy Land. He had strong dedication for the Blessed Sacrament. God might have been pleased with Fr. Vincent‘s work and called him to his heavenly abode, to give this untiring instrument of his earthly work some well deserved rest. He was truly an example of a life well lived.

Words cannot express our sorrow and what Fr. Vincent means to us. With a heavy heart, we had to say Good Bye to him as God wanted him to be with him in his Heavenly Kingdom. We thank the Lord for gracing our lives with the presence of this very special person in it. His memories will remain in our hearts forever. May the departed Soul Rest in Peace.