November 7, 2009

BOB REDDY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC VENICE BUREAU EDITOR

Posted: 06.29.09

PORT CHARLOTTE | For the first time since its founding, San Antonio Parish has a relic of its patron saint.

Bishop Frank J. Dewane presented the relic of St. Anthony of Padua to Father Jacek Mazur, parish administrator, during Mass on June 13, the saint’s feast day. The relic and the unique reliquary that holds it were gifts from the friars of the Province of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy, and were presented to the parish as part of the ongoing “Year of Celebration” commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the Diocese of Venice. The gifts came as a surprise to Father Mazur and the gathered parishioners.

Father Mazur said he was overwhelmed by the presentation of the relic by Bishop Dewane.

“This is a great feast we can celebrate with this wonderful place and wonderful community living under the guidance of St. Anthony,” he said.

St. Anthony of Padua is a patron saint for the poor, American Indians, animals, boatmen, elderly people, fishermen, harvests, mail, Portugal, travelers, travel hostesses and watermen, and also against shipwrecks and starvation. Perhaps mostly famously, he is patron of lost articles.

Reciting the prayer, “Good St. Anthony, please come around. Something has been lost and must be found” or the children’s version “Tony, Tony, rally ’round. Something’s lost and must be found,” or any prayer to St. Anthony asks his intercession to Our Lord for help. Common symbols associated with St. Anthony are a book, bread, Infant Jesus or a lily.

He was proclaimed as doctor of the Church in 1946 by Pope Pius XII and is regarded as the most well-known Franciscan saint after St. Francis of Assisi.

Born to a noble family in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195, St. Anthony rejected his family’s wealth and became an Augustinian. Moved by the Francisican martyrs of that time, killed for preaching the Gospel, he left his order, joined the Friars Minor and left Portugal to evangelize.

He was such a gifted speaker that he attracted large crowds. Wherever he went, throughout Italy and France, he preached the Gospel. He spoke in multiple tongues and is said to have performed miracles.

He died at age 36 and was canonized in record time. The fame of many miracles brought about through his intercession convinced Pope Gregory IX to shorten the period for his canonization, and Anthony was proclaimed a saint May 30, 1232, just 11 months after his death.

Bishop Dewane told the parishioners they need to draw on the courage of St. Anthony and “take that inspiration as an example to go out and evangelize.”

In Christianity, relics are the material remains of a deceased saint or martyr and objects closely associated with those remains. Relics can be entire skeletons, but more usually they consist of a part such as a bone, hair or tooth. Pieces of clothing worn by the deceased saint or even an object that has come in contact with a relic is also considered a relic.

For centuries, great care has been taken to authenticate relics, particularly through the issuing of an accompanying statement of authenticity.

In the case of the relic of St. Anthony of Padua at the Shrine of St. Anthony in Italy there is no question of authenticity. New relics of the saint were obtained when the saint’s tomb was opened in anticipation of his 800th birthday, which was celebrated in 1995; the relic at San Antonio Parish is one of those. The Latin inscription indicates that it is ex cute, dried skin or tissue. The relic came with a certificate of authenticity as a first-class relic.

The relic at San Antonio Parish will be preserved and put on display on special days throughout the year, including the feast day of St. Anthony. When a new church is built, the relic will be placed under the altar stone.

 

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