From a young age he would remember sermons heard at Mass and would teach doton'n, that is the catechism, to other children, some even older than him.

[1] With the encouragement of an older brother who was already a priest, de Souza pursued a call to the priesthood.

Always in very poor health, he was allowed to live in a private dwelling off the seminary grounds, where he was able to do his studies diligently.

Souza wanted to enter a religious institute, but they had been banned in the lands under the Portuguese Crown since 1835.

After much prayer and reflection, de Souza joined the Diocesan Missionary Society of St. Francis Xavier of Pilar on 17 July 1897.

He was ordained on 24 September 1898, by the Archbishop of Goa and Patriarch of the East Indies, António Sebastião Valente.

The parish priest who buried him roughly said these words "Hanvem atanch eka Santak matiek laila", which means "I have just laid a Saint to rest."

As de Souza is not yet beatified or canonized like Joseph Vaz or Francis Xavier, he does not have a feast day.