Share
by Tiziana Di Giovannandrea
13 June 2021 For the first time since 1652, the precious relic of the left forearm of Friar Antonio of Lisbon, kept inside the Madonna della Salute in Venice, returned temporarily to Padua.
On the day of the 790th anniversary of the death of the Franciscan friar, which took place on 13 June 1231, Venice today renewed its centuries-old devotion to St. Anthony.
In fact, the relic is only exhibited every 13 June on the occasion of the celebrations in honor of the saint.
For the first time, the forearm of Saint Anthony, the largest existing relic of the Venerable, left the lagoon city after having made a journey that touched some significant places on the Venetian mainland. Escorted by a vehicle of the Carabinieri, the relic was brought by the Patriarch of Venice Francesco Moraglia and welcomed by numerous faithful who followed the Holy Mass, the final moment of the "peregrinatio".
Once in Padua it was exhibited on the altar of the Euganean Basilica where it was reunited with the body of Antonio da Lisbon. He will remain here until June 20. The urn with the relic was donated by the friars to the Serenissima 369 years ago.
Venice
"It is an important day for the two cities that renew a pilgrimage that today takes on a particular meaning: it is a message of hope after the difficult period of the pandemic that we hope to leave soon behind" said the
Venetian
councilor
for Heritage Paola Mar
. The
patriarch of Venice
Francesco Moraglia
he recalled the Venetian stages of the pilgrimage "crossing - he said - not only territories but places that, in this year of pandemic, have become human spaces of suffering, care, mourning and healing and which are now places of memory for us and the ransom ". In his homily, Moraglia recalled Marco Zennaro, the Venetian businessman imprisoned in a prison in Sudan: "His physical and psychological health raises serious concerns, we are confident that the initiatives implemented in his favor will allow us to resolve the complicated affair. may as soon as possible be returned to his family, so severely tested by this dramatic event ".
Padua
In Padua the faithful waited for the arrival of the relic from the first light of dawn. The
bishop Mons. Claudio Cipolla
gave a homily dedicated to the country tried by the pandemic. "In the name of the power and victory of Jesus - said the bishop - we Christians will present ourselves voluntarily and free of charge to rebuild the social and spiritual destruction of Covid 19. We will be in the front row, like Jesus, to continue his work of charity , to give hope, to activate courage "by adding" There is no healing if the power of the Lord's love does not reach us and if his charity does not become the soul of our work ". Together with Cipolla,
Cardinal Ernest Simoni
also concelebrated
.
For the
mayor of Padua
,
Sergio Giordani
"Antonio's was a teaching, very important and current even today, in which economic imbalances, financial crises and health emergencies impoverish people and families, sometimes making them unable to honor the commitments made. This attention to the person, to his dignity, also its spiritual dimension and not only material, as well as the need to ensure a balance in society, avoiding its excesses - he underlined - is a warning from Saint Anthony that we must make our own ".
The relic will remain on display in Padua for a week before returning to the lagoon via the Riviera del Brenta and being welcomed with a water procession along the Grand Canal on 20 June.