WILLIAMSBURG — Two holy relics of St. Anthony of Padua, who is widely revered as a great “miracle worker” due to the number of miracles attributed to his intercession, were displayed at the parish of Most Holy Trinity-St. Mary’s Church on June 6.

Father Mario Conte and Father Fabio Turrisendo, both Franciscans from the Pontifical Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy, accompanied the two first-class relics — the body or fragments of the body of a saint.

In this case, the relics are fragments of St. Anthony’s facial skin and his floating rib. 

Father Conte and Father Turrisendo celebrated Mass after arriving with the relics. During his homily, Father Conte shared the remarkable story of St. Anthony, who was Portuguese by birth, and how he was made a saint just 11 months and seven days after his death on June 13, 1231, at the age of 35 — one of the quickest canonizations in the history of the Church. 

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After he died, his body was buried in the little Franciscan Church of St. Mary of Padua. 

By 1263, his remains could be moved beneath the high altar of the church. When his remains were set to be moved and the coffin was opened, it was discovered that his body had been reduced to ashes except for a few bones. 

Incredibly, however, his tongue and vocal cords remained intact. 

St. Anthony’s tongue was placed in a special reliquary (a container used to hold and display sacred relics) where it can still be seen today. 

“His tongue was still soft and red, and his jaw did not decay,” said Father Conte.

When the tomb was opened and exhumed again  750 years later, in 1981, the fragment of St. Anthony’s floating rib relic was retrieved. 

The floating rib relic holds special significance for the Franciscan friars of Padua, as it was venerated by Sister Lucia of Fatima when it was taken to the nuns at a Carmelite monastery in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1995. 

Five years later, it was venerated by then-Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the late Pope Francis, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, which he carried in a procession through the streets of Argentina’s capital city. 

“So many people from around the world ask us to bring the St. Anthony’s relics, so this is a great opportunity for us to share them with people who want to experience these miracles,” Father Conte said. 

For centuries, great care was taken in authenticating and preserving the relics of St. Anthony, a Franciscan teacher known as the “Hammer of Heretics” and the “Evangelical Doctor.” He is considered the first theologian of the Franciscan Order and is regarded as a highly eloquent preacher. 

Father Conte said that the physical relics of St. Anthony serve as a human connection to what he called “a bridge of love” that connects the faithful to St. Anthony and ultimately to God when Catholics approach and touch the Relic.

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Father Turrisendo said it’s an honor to represent the relics. 

“I feel that we can understand [St.] Anthony and our faith much better by coming abroad with the relics because staying there in that shrine where millions of people come every year, you take it for granted,” Father Turrisendo said. 

“I can go there every morning to St. Anthony’s tomb … and sometimes I forget the importance of having the body of our saint there,” he added. “When we come abroad, we see in the eyes of the people the gratitude and their faith, their hope.”