By Michael Rizzo
With prayers on their lips and faith and hope in their hearts, parishioners of St. Sebastian’s parish, Woodside, came to their church by the hundreds on June 14 to venerate two relics of St. Anthony of Padua.
Throughout the day, the faithful flocked to bow, kneel and quietly touch or kiss separate reliquaries that contained a piece of the saint’s skin and a portion of his rib.
“This is first time we’ve had relics of St. Anthony,” said Father Kevin Abels, pastor. “There have been lots of calls from all the groups in our parish, Irish, Filipino, Hispanic and Korean, who were very interested in attending the veneration.”
That interest was evident even before the veneration was set to begin following the noon Mass that day.
A number of early attendees among the estimated 200 worshippers, a larger congregation for the Mass than normal according to the church’s sacristan, had already started praying at the reliquaries which were placed in front of the altar rail. When Mass ended, a line quickly formed to approach the relics and throughout the afternoon there always seemed to be someone entering the church to venture down the long center aisle of this former movie theater and leave written prayer intentions and donations.
“It is just so moving,” parishioner Valentine Michielini said after she prayed at the reliquaries. “St. Anthony brings people together.”
Franciscan Father Alessandro Ratti of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual in Padua accompanied the relics.
“We want to bring the presence of St. Anthony to people who cannot come to Padua,” Father Ratti said referring to where the saint is buried. “St. Anthony is an intercessor. He performs miracles. He was always speaking about mercy and being like Jesus in giving of yourself to others.”
The visitation was arranged by Father Joey Francisco, a parochial vicar at St. Sebastian’s, through the Anthonian Association of the Friends of St. Anthony, a Franciscan group in Indiana which coordinates visits of the relics to the United States. Besides the midday Mass, another liturgy that evening brought hundreds more to St. Sebastian’s not only for the veneration, but also to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Perpetual Help which Father Abels said the parish typically does on the second Wednesday of June every year.
St. Sebastian’s was the only church in the Diocese of Brooklyn where the relics could be visited this month and the visitation came one day after the Roman Catholic Church worldwide celebrated the feast day of the 13th-century Franciscan preacher and scholar.
“I was supposed to work today but I had to be here,” said Maria Luisa Francisco, another parishioner of St. Sebastian’s. She then related how her mother prayed to St. Anthony to heal Maria’s health problems in the 1970s. “I am now 65. He will give you answers to your prayers.”
Hoping for Miracles
Faithful seeking help was a common theme of those at the church.
“We’re hoping for a miracle,” Gwen Blunck said as she guided her husband Harold, who is blind, up the church aisle.
“I feel like you need to look for help and St. Anthony can do miracles,” Harold Blunck said of their prayers for him to recover his sight.
“We have faith in the Lord and faith in St. Anthony,” Gwen added.
The opportunity to venerate the relics was not limited to just those from the Woodside parish.
“Having St. Anthony here is a gift,” said Ines Diaz, who was visiting from Peru and staying with relatives in Queens nearby. “We are asking for his help to cure my son’s speech problems if it’s God’s will.”
Ed Pascual, a Filipino-American who came from Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Queens Village, said he feels something good happens whenever he speaks to St. Anthony in prayer.
Thomas and Janina Hannan drove to St. Sebastian’s from St. Francis de Sales parish, Belle Harbor, after seeing the visitation of the relics listed in The Tablet. Thomas Hannan was baptized at St. Sebastian’s in 1936.
“I admire every saint but St. Anthony is special for the generosity of his blessings,” Janina Hannan said.
“To help you find keys is one thing,” Thomas Hannan added in describing St. Anthony as the patron saint of lost items, “but today I ask St. Anthony to find the answer to end the drug problem in our country. It is taking lives. It doesn’t seem like the government can do it, but St. Anthony can.”
“The Lord always listens to him,” Janina added.
Story on NET TV