June 13 World Visit

DEAR READERS, this year St. Anthony has been particularly active. In particular, for the June 13 feast, three friars from the Basilica in Padua took four different relics to four different parts of the world. Beth Griffin reports from New York, Vince J. Ciarlo from Ontario in Canada, and Anthony Barich from Australia and Singapore. Enjoy their accounts!

 

Sighting in New York

 

During a six-day tour in June, New Yorkers greeted the relic of Saint Anthony with the enthusiasm they generally reserve for secular celebrities. At each stop, they arrived early with friends and relatives, waited in long lines, took lots of photographs, spoke eagerly about their personal connections, spent time gazing at him and moved away only after a final, lingering caress.

The visit of the relic to seven churches in and near New York drew more than ten thousand people to Masses and veneration services. They represented the tremendous diversity both of the city and the Saint’s followers.

At St. Ursula church in Mount Vernon, Rohini Lewis described a longstanding devotion that included family visits to a St. Anthony shrine near their Bombay home. When her mother lost valuable gold jewellery before a Christmas Eve Mass, Rohini prayed to the Saint. The packet of jewellery was found in a hollow door of the family home in January.    

“My heart is very full tonight and I owe it all to Saint Anthony,” Father Robert Verrigni, pastor of St. Ursula, said after Mass. “You could feel Jesus present here.”

Franciscan Father Paolo Floretta accompanied the relic from the Basilica in Padua. He said the Saint appeals to people “as a member of your family, a big brother, someone you never have to hide from. He’s someone who will never betray you and moves the best part of you in an immediate, natural way, with no formalities.”

In his homily at the New York Masses, he called Saint Anthony a role model used by God to work wonders.

Carolyn Walters, a high school math teacher, said putting her hand on the Saint’s Tomb during a recent ‘bucket-list’ trip to Padua was a moving experience. “He’s my favourite saint and works even for my Jewish friends!” she laughed.

 

He is family

 

The visit began with a well-attended Wednesday morning veneration at Holy Family church in Flushing. In Franklin Square, Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre celebrated one of three Masses at St. Catherine of Siena church.

At Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Bronx, Father Eric Rapaglia offered a Mass in Italian to celebrate the Saint. Silvana DiBortolo expressed the sentiments of many worshippers. “My mother gave me the devotion. Saint Anthony is family. He brings the love of God to us and tries to give God our love through him. He always answers me,” she said. 

The relic was in New York during the celebration of the June 13 Feast of Saint Anthony. At the busy St. Francis of Assisi church in Manhattan, lines stretched out the door of the lower church, where veneration took place during and after seven Masses in the upper church. At the same time, people flocked to two tents outside the church, eager to make a freewill donation for blessed rolls known as the Bread of Saint Anthony.

 Vincent Pisani, the volunteer who has organized the Bread of St. Anthony distribution for many years, said they gave away 85,000 rolls tucked three-to-a-bag in paper sacks printed with a feast day commemorative.

As a young bride, Vincent’s mother pleaded on her knees in a hospital waiting room for Saint Anthony’s intercession to spare her sick husband’s life. She promised to spread devotion to the Saint if her prayers were answered. Vincent’s father lived for 35 years, and the incident planted a seed that developed fruit throughout the family.

 While the Portuguese and Italians claim Saint Anthony as their own for historical reasons, other ethnic groups have a fierce and growing loyalty. At St. Francis of Assisi, feast day Masses were celebrated in English, Haitian Creole, Korean and Tagalog, a language of the Philippines.

Throughout the busy week, generous New Yorkers, including the indefatigable Nancy Borgia, helped organizer Tom Muscatello distribute prayer request cards and answer questions. At St. Anthony in Oceanside, members of parish groups stood guard and helped with petitions all day.

Nancy recovered a lost wallet during veneration at St. Anthony and St. Alphonsus church in Brooklyn. Tom identified the owner by her photo ID. She was delighted to get the wallet and, of course, attributed it to the intercession of the Saint, who was present as a relic in front of the altar.

 

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Lost objects

 

“Tony, Tony, come around, something’s lost and can’t be found” is a rhyme people recited asking St. Anthony of Padua, the patron Saint of lost items, for assistance. His intercessions helped, leading Christians to a lifelong devotion.

In 2014, 751 years since his relics were uncovered, St. Anthony is still needed and prayed to. This devotion proved true when the relic toured four parishes in Ontario, Canada, between June 8 to 14 this year.

All Saints Roman Catholic Church in Etobicoke, the Franciscan Church of St. Bonaventure in Toronto, St. John the Apostle Parish in Kingston and St. Raphael’s Parish in Burlington. Catholics visiting the relic were found in silent prayer, thanking him for assistance and support in their lives. The parish pastors agreed that people have a tremendous devotion to St. Anthony and appreciated showing gratitude through their devotion.

Franciscan Friar Riccardo Giacon from the Basilica in Padua travelled with a relic and shared stories from people touched by the love of God and St. Anthony.  

All Saints Church is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Having the relic visit was a fitting gesture. Rev. Fr. Andrzej Glaba appreciated having St. Anthony’s presence and felt it was a privilege for the parish’s anniversary.

“It means a great deal to have the relic in the parish,” said Friar David Collins in Kingston. The city’s large Portuguese population were thankful to St. Anthony for his intercessions since St. Anthony was originally from Lisbon, Portugal.

Collins shared his devotion to St. Anthony. In 1976, while serving in St. Hubert, Quebec, a chalice with sentimental value was stolen. Months later, before midnight, on the last night of the novena, a young man assisted the friar in retrieving the chalice.

Friar Paul Lininger, at St. Bonaventure Parish, said St. Anthony is “Truly a saint who belongs to the people.” He visited Padua before making his solemn profession as a friar and being ordained a deacon. “I asked in prayer for St. Anthony’s assistance to be the friar that Christ wanted me to be as best I can,” he said. 

Nancy and Austin Fernandes, originally from Bombay, India, visited the relic in Toronto. Their families have a strong devotion to the saint and some are named after him. Nancy is very thankful for St. Anthony’s intercession. While in Bangalore, India with her sister, jewellery was stolen from her hotel by their driver. After praying to St. Anthony, all of her stolen jewellery was found one year later. “Everything was polished and was given back to me,” she said.

Anthonis and Mary Stella, originally from Sri Lanka, crawled up the church aisle in bare feet, to pay homage to the relic. Mary Stella prayed to St. Anthony to help her conceive a child. The couple now have three boys. She also prayed when suffering from recent heart complications and the Saint interceded.

 

Pen of the Holy Spirit

 

On June 15, Father’s Day, the relic was at St. Raphael’s Parish in Burlington. Pastor Friar Maurice Richard invited fathers present to the altar for a special blessing. Young children present were introduced to St. Anthony. Friar Giacon told parishioners that St. Anthony is, “the pen of the holy spirit, and that each of us can be that same pen with our lives.”

Artur, Csilla, and their daughter Blanka travelled from Hamilton to see the relic. Arriving from Romania over a year ago, for the sake of their daughter’s future, they expressed thanks for St. Anthony’s support, now and in times ahead. “Here is the best place to be for a bright future,” said Artur. “Our life is getting better now.”

The parish recently installed a colourful statue of St. Anthony from Italy. A gift from a parishioner in memory of his late wife and the Saint.

From the personal stories of the parishioners and pastors noted, the relic of Saint Anthony remains a strong light to many Catholics. They are not afraid to ask for assistance. God will deliver. They remain devoted. As Friar Lininger noted, “It is a time of grace.”  

 

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Two relics

 

St. Anthony became “the saint of workers” during a tour of Oceania that included Singapore and several parishes in Australia this June.

While young people were in abundance in the tour of two of the Saint’s relics – one of his skin and one of his flesh – in both countries, it was the almost complete dominance of young Indian men in the Singapore visit at Our Lady of Lourdes parish that was most striking.

Australian Angelo Fantasia, chief organiser of the tour, said the church in central Singapore was popularly known by the local Indian community as “the workers’ church,” because many people from surrounding regions and from India especially made it their spiritual home during their time in the country.

“I was taken aback by the number of single men in the church during the relics’ visit to Singapore, and it was explained to me that many young single men from India were there for construction jobs for a short time,” Fantasia said. “Even though they’re on their own in that country, they consider this their parish, where they want to practice their faith. There were a lot of people from Kerala, and a few from Mumbai. On the Sunday night especially, the last Mass, the church was dominated by young single men.”

Fr. Mario Conte, who toured with Fantasia, preached homilies in English, even during one special Mass which was, for the most part, celebrated in the Tamil language familiar to the “Indian ex-pats.”

Appropriately, there were also many people who told Fantasia and Fr. Mario that they had come to see St. Anthony’s relics praying for employment in their own profession.

Fantasia mentioned one specific case of a man who was about to migrate with his wife and infant to Australia, in the belief that the Great South Land would hold better opportunities for their young daughter.

That man came to the Mass to pray to St. Anthony that he would find work upon arrival in Australia, and for the Saint’s protection for his family during the migration process and for their new life in Australia.

Another striking feature of the Singapore visit was the number of young people who attended the Masses not just with their parents – which would often be the case in Australia – but on their own.

Fantasia was pleasantly surprised that these youths had an impressive knowledge of St. Anthony and his story. Many young people also attended the evening session especially accompanying their elderly relatives or friends. Some youth also told Fantasia that they were praying for their studies. Many people, young and old, also venerated a statue of St. Anthony that was prominently placed just inside the entrance to the church in Singapore, which also had a shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes.

 

Inspiring homilies

 

In Australia, St. Anthony’s relics toured Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, Kellyville, New South Wales on June 6; St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Warrawong, NSW, on June 7; Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, Payneham, South Australia from June 9-15; and St Joseph’s Parish, Springvale, Victoria on June 19.

At Kellyville, the relics were welcomed by Franciscan friars Joseph Ngoc Son Nguyen and Louis Schmid; while Franciscan friars Emmanuel Gatt and Leonard Testa assisted proceedings at St Francis of Assisi, Warrawong. Fr. Allan Winter, parish priest at Our Lady Queen of Peace, Payneham, hosted the relics at that church.

Fanciscan friars Benedict La Vople and John Vayalikarottu welcomed the relics at St Joseph’s in Springvale, while Fr. Anthony Raj concelebrated Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes in Singapore.

Fantasia noted that many devotees were moved by Fr. Mario’s inspiring homilies. “There is nothing superstitious about relics. The real meaning of a relic is love – they are a link of love between the person who venerates and the saint, it is like giving your hand to a friend,” Fr. Mario said in his homilies.

Fr. Mario also clarified what may be a misperception about miracles happening through the intercession of beloved saints. “Saints do not perform miracles or answer prayers – that’s something only God can do,” he said. “But saints, like Anthony, are so close to God that they are touched by him. They are like constantly tugging on God’s sleeves, saying, ‘Please help this man! Please help that woman!’”