Feast of Saint Anthony celebrated with Solemnity
Mangaluru: Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza the Bishop of Mangaluru offered Holy Mass along with 33 priests to honour Saint Anthony on his feast day at 6:00 pm at Milagres Church. At the end of the Holy Mass, he unveiled the poster containing the list of programmes planned by the St Anthony Institutes as the Institutes enter into the 120th year of its existence. The main programmes in the list includes medical help to 120 people suffering from major illness, 12 health check-up camps, free stay for the poor students from rural areas who pursue their studies in the city, a three month training free of cost on taking care of sick and elderly, co-ordination of caretaking agencies in Dakshina Kannada district, presenting a stage play on the life of Saint Anthony etc. In his message the Bishop highlighted and appreciated the charity work done by the Institutes during the last 119 years. St Anthony’s Charity Institutes are unique in the Catholic Church of India as they are run by a diocese, he said.
Fr Mathew Vas the Parish Priest of Guardian Angels Church Angelore preached a homily on ‘Saint Anthony: Hope for the needy’. In his homily, he said that people from different walks of life irrespective of their caste and creed seek the intercession of Saint Anthony and Saint Anthony never lets down anyone who comes to him in their need. The number of people flocking to the Shrine at Milagres and specially on Tuesdays is a proof for his unfailing help and his powerful intercession.
Earlier during the day a Holy Mass was offered at the Shrine for the sick and elderly, a Holy Mass in Malayalam was offered by Fr Jestin James from Thrissur. At 11:00 am Msgr Denis Moras Prabhu, the Vicar General offered the Holy Mass for the inmates of the Ashram and special invitees. Devotees from Patna, Hyderabad and Maharashtra along with a large number of local people participated in the festive mass.
Fr Onil D’Souza the director of the Institutes, Fr Francis D’Souza the Administrator and Fr Peter Gonsalves the Assistant Director were present for all the Holy Masses, they laid hands over the devotees and blessed them.