Triple Jubilee year of St. Anthony's shrine, Wahacotte

By Rev. Fr. Yovan Severimuttu OSB, Administrator, The National Shrine of St. Anthony, Wahacotte

2013 marks the triple Jubilee Year: the 325th anniversary (1688 – 2013) of the devotion to St. Anthony; 125th anniversary (1888 – 2013) of the parish and the 75th anniversary (1938 – 2013) of the present church.

The national shrine of St. Anthony, Wahacotte, in the Matale, district in the Central Province is 160Km away from Colombo and 60Km away from Kandy. Wahacotte is a rural Catholic village and its origins lay with the Portuguese.

It all began with the Kandyan king Rajasinghe who settled the Portuguese prisoners at Wahacotte. Then Wimala Dharmasooriya II (1687), allowed the Portuguese Catholics who were undergoing severe persecutions under the Douche, to come into his kingdom.

The persecuted Catholics, who moved inland, to escape the clutches of the Douche, chose Wahacotte, since there was the Catholic presence. The original settlers had begun their devotion and veneration in a cadjan ut; which was a cattle-shed during the day and became a place of prayer and veneration at night. For a very long period of time they preserved the Catholic faith intact without the services of an ordained minister.

Mission

The miraculous statue of St. Anthony enshrined here for veneration had been brought down from Portugal by the original settlers. This statue is of wood and just six inches tall the miraculous statue of St. Anthony is over 400 years old and by far it is the only statue with a unique characteristic found in Sri Lanka.

Blessed Joseph Vaz, the Apostle of Sri Lanka, had visited this scattered little flock of the Lord around 1696; administered the sacraments and had given an organised structure to this community; by appointing Muhupoos (The leader of the Catholic Community) and Annavis (Prayer Leaders). This solidified the fervour of the people and laid a firm foundation to the sustainability of the Catholic religious identity of Wahacotte.

These straits of his missionary strategies are very much prevalent even today. As the Catholics of Wahakotte faced much harassment from the Dutch and the Kandyan rulers, they erected a place of worship in a secret place, during the time of Fr. Joseph Vaz, and during the daytime it looked like a cattle-shed, but at night it became a prayer-room. Today there stands a newly built octagonal shaped monument as a rightful recognition and remembrance of the ministry of the apostle of Sri Lanka, at Wahacotte.

Singular honour

In times of tribulation the people of Wahacotte sought the help of St. Anthony. During persecution, they assembled in secret around the statue to pray; they made a Novena – nine days of prayer- and carried the statue in procession in times of drought and plagues. At the turn of the Century there was a severe drought in “Kandapahala Korale” - Wahacotte - with all water tanks dry. Having had recourse to their religious practices, the non-Catholic neighbours called upon the Catholics of Wahacotte to invoke blessings from god. For three days the Catholic community prayed to St. Anthony and at the conclusion of their prayer the drought ended with a torrential rain.

The parish of Wahacotte

After bringing the entire island under their control the British gave religious freedom and the Catholics began to enjoy the new found free practice of their religion. It was after 1821, that Catholics priests visited Wahacotte officially on a regular basis. In 1886 Rev. Fr. Benedict Perera OSB became the first resident priest at Wahacotte. The mission of Wahacotte was given to the Benedictines in exchange to the Cathedral Church of Kandy which was the Abby church then, of the Benedictines. With Rev. Fr. Lanfranc Assauw OSB becoming the first ever parish priest, Wahacotte was carved out as a full fledged parish in 1888.

From then on the Benedictines have been the custodians of this parish and shrine, except for the short stint of Rev. Fr. F.M. Goonetillege (Miss. Apost) 1918 – 1925). The dedicated services help the mission territory of Wahacotte developed in leaps and bounds, beyond the geographical boundaries of Wahacotte proper. There are 1,132 Catholic families, spread over the main church and eight other substation churches coming under the jurisdiction of this shrine parish.

Up to 2005 the Wahacotte parish included the newly carved out parishes of Rotawewa and Nikawehera together with their substations (then substations of Wahacotte).

Present shrine

The present monumental shrine church, which is the third church,was built by Rev. Fr. Jablien OSB, in 1938. Wahacotte stands tall as, the oldest and the largest shrine dedicated to St. Anthony in Sri Lanka and with a background of historical importance together with a serene atmosphere with natural, scenic and rustic beauty. In 1970, through the gazette notification on a special Act of Parliament: “the Act of Wahacotte” this historic place was proclaimed to be a gazetted national pilgrim centre which enjoys state patronage. Pilgrims, Catholics and people of other religions flock to this place of worship.

When Kandy was separated from Colombo as an autonomous diocese, it did not have a Cathedral. By then, the Benedictines had their abbey church well established and furnished. It became an automatic choice to be the Cathedral. The Church took over this abbey church for the diocese of Kandy. The Wahacotte mission which was found wanting in every aspect was given to the Benedictines in exchange to their abbey church.

It was in 1888, Fr. Lanfrank Assaw OSB, took over Wahacotte, as its first parish priest. From its inception as a separate parish, except for a very brief stint, during which the parish went into the hands of the diocesan clergy, Benedictines have served this parish. Everything that goes into give the identity to Wahacotte have been the fruits of the unstinted dedicated service rendered by the Benedictine monks, to the local church of Sri Lanka and particularly the local church of Kandy.

St. Sylvester Guzzolini (1177 – 1267) of Osimo, Central Italy. Abandoning his studies in Jurisprudence at the University of Bologna, Sylvester became a Canon in the Cathedral of Osimo. In search of a deeper union with God, he went to Grottafucile – seeking a life of prayer and penance. Together with his followers he chose the woods of Monte Fano, near Fabriano and established a monastery in 1231.

He adopted the Rule of St. Benedict to guide his monastic community. The new Congregation (Sylvestro-Benedictines) was approved by Pope Innocent IV in 1248. Since this national shrine is in the custody of the Sylvestro – Benedictines, this relic, a chip of a bone from the body of St. Sylvester is preserved here.

Situated in the shrine premises in a serene atmosphere is the newly built grotto is a fitting reward to our blessed mother. This is the ever first Marian grotto in Sri Lanka, which depicts on one side the 20 mysteries of the Holy Rosary and on the other 20 icons of our blessed Mother, in mural art. The Magnificate is portrayed in four languages together with the memorare, marks the difference and its prayerful atmosphere makes this a shrine within the shrine. The small lake gives added beauty to the place which is very much conductive for personal payer and meditation. This newly built Marian grotto was opened on December 18.

Calvary

The mural styled Calvary on a hillock over looking Dambulla, is the jewel in the crown of Wahacotte. The choice of this singular place had been done by Rev. Fr. Sebastian OSB, way back in 1956. From the on there had been a gradual development by the parish priests who served in the parish. Today, the Calvary at Wahacotte stands tall unmatched by any other because of its natural and scenic beauty and draws a large number of pilgrims during the season of lent.

Customarily it is the death not the birth, of saint that is celebrated as feast day. Wahacotte celebrates two feasts: as usual the remembrance of the heavenly birth of St. Anthony, in June and remembrance of his birth on earth, in August. The birthday of the saint falls on August 15.

As Tuesday is dedicated to St. Anthony, the devotees throng the different places of worship dedicated to St. Anthony and Wahacotte is no exception. Two masses are celebrated for the convenience of people. Special devotions are held at Wahacotte on the first Tuesdays of every month. Every year, the miraculous status of St. Anthony is taken in procession round the village on the day of the village feast.

The status casket is kept on a table specially prepared at the four corners and the main entry point of the village. Then traditional prayers composed by Fr. Jacome Gonsalves are recited and prayers for protection from insects, epidemics, conspiracies and natural calamities. True to their faith Wahacotte has enjoyed the divine protection throughout.

Wahacotte enjoys yet another specialty in the singing of Pasan the singing of the Passion Narrative, with a special tradition chanting melody much different to the singing of pasan in other places, unique to Wahacotte. There are types of narratives: one , the traditional Passion Narrative and the other Passion Narrative Sermons Deshanaya. During the season of Lent whole night vigil singing of this passion narrative is organised by different groups at different locations and houses.