Spectrum | Sundayobserver.lk

“Faith moves mountains”, goes the popular maxim. This was evident in no small measure as tens of thousands of Catholic devotees from every strata of society, from far and wide thronged St. Anthony’s shrine at Kochchikade, Colombo to set eyes on the 779-year-old holy relic of St. Anthony of Padua which was kept for public veneration from Sunday, March 7.

The relic of the heart which is encased in a gold plated bust of St. Anthony was flown down by SriLankan Airlines to mark the 175th Jubilee of St. Anthony’s shrine which will be celebrated from June 12-13 this year.

Catholic devotees and their non Christian brethren braved the scorching heat of the noon day sun to venerate the saint whom they hold so near and dear.

Miraculously preserved

The Assistant Parish Priest of St. Anthony’s church, Kochchikade, Rev. Fr. Nuwan Rodrigo said that St. Anthony was born on August 15, 1195 in Lisbon, Portugal.

He said when the coffin of St. Anthony was opened in 1263 by Saint Bonaventune with the permission of the Holy Fathers and Superiors of the Franciscan congregation the full skeleton of the saint including the vocal chords, jaw and heart remained. Moreover, the tongue which was found to be miraculously preserved was placed in a special Reliquary.

The skeleton and the other parts are retained in a glass box at the Basilica Del Santo in Padua.

Relic taken to all dioceses

Fr. Rodrigo said that on March 9 and 10 the church was kept open for 22 hours on each day and an estimated crowd of around one-hundred thousand people including Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims visited the church to venerate the relic.

The relic is being taken to all dioceses and will remain in the country till March 21. Archbishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Malcolm Ranjith officiated at the mass on Sunday.

First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Sudarshini, the wife of the late Minister of Highways Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena were among those present.

St. Anthony died at the age of 36 on June 13, 1231. He was canonised by Pope Gregory IX within a year after his death.

St. Anthony’s shrine in retrospect:

St. Anthony’s church was built on the initiative of Rev. Fr. Anthony, a priest from Cochin. He built a little hut that was gradually transformed into a church which was blessed in 1834.

Passers-by referred to it as Kochchiya-ge-kade as he hailed from Cochin. And hence it took on the name Kochchikade.

This took place when the Dutch East India Company conquered the land that the Portuguese occupied in Sri Lanka, then Ceylon. They enacted laws to prevent the practice of Catholism and banish the priests from the island. However, Catholics practised their religion and before long Joseph Vaz from Goa and a few of his Oratian priests came to minister the Catholics.

Sea erosion

St. Anthony’s Church, Kochchikade

Rev. Fr. Anthony who was dedicated to St. Anthony was assigned the task of taking care of those in Colombo. He moved freely among the people disguised as a fisherman. One day, however, when he learnt that the soldiers were to arrest him he fled along Reclamation Road in Pettah.

At the time, fishermen who found it exceedingly difficult to dry their nets due to the severe sea erosion intercepted him and assured that they would protect him, if he could, by any means, perform a miracle and check the sea erosion.

Meanwhile, the Dutch soldiers had also caught up with him, heard the request and were quite certain that the priest would be unable to satisfy the request. Thereupon, Rev. Fr. Anthony pulled out the cross concealed in his undergarments and placed the cross at the point where the erosion was at its worst and prayed.

Fishermen awe-struck

As he prayed, the waves receded to the astonishment of all those around him. The fishermen who were awe-struck by this miracle did not allow the soldiers to take the priest. The soldiers too were equally dumbfounded.

The soldiers reported the incident to the Governor who realising that the arrest would have far-reaching consequences gave him a small plot of land in the same area.

It is said that the news of the miracle witnessed by the people of the area spread far and wide. People from different communities and religious groups visited the shrine to seek the intervention of St. Anthony, the miracle worker.