SAN ANTONIO • San Fernando Cathedral welcomed for the first time a relic of St. Anthony of Padua the weekend of March 3-4, marking the closing of the jubilee year as decreed by Pope Benedict XVI. San Antonio, the eighth largest city in the United States with a population of 1.2 million, is the biggest city in the world to bear the saint’s name.
    Following each Mass Saturday and Sunday the faithful were able to venerate the relic and touch the reliquary and receive a holy card. The reliquary, which came
directly from the Basilica in Padua, Italy, contains parts of St. Anthony’s skin which were removed during the most recent examination of the saint’s body in 1981. The relic was received on March 3 at the 5:30 p.m. Mass by Auxiliary Bishop Patrick J. Zurek and the rector of the cathedral, Father David Garcia.
    The relic was accompanied by a small group of friars from the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, who concelebrated at seven liturgies that weekend. They included Father Danilo Salezze, general director; Father Mario Conte, editor of the International English Language Edition of The Messenger of St. Anthony magazine; and Father Luciano Segafreddo, editor of the Italian language edition of the publication for Italians living abroad.
    Members of the five Conventual Franciscan Provinces were also present, including Father Peter Damian Massengill, provincial minister of Our Lady of Consolation Province and president of the Anthonian Association at Mount St. Francis, Ind.

    Prior to the Saturday evening liturgy, the Messaggero di Sant’Antonio Publishing House introduced the newly published first volume of the complete works of the Sermons of St. Anthony, translated for the first time into English. The translation was the work of magazine contributing writer Paul Spilsbury.

    The work comprises 53 Sunday sermons, written in Padua between 1227 and 1230 during the three years in which Anthony served the Franciscan Order as provincial of Northern Italy. From 1230 to June 1231 he labored on the sermons, but managed to put only 20 in paper before his illness and death. Anthony was proclaimed a saint by Pope Gregory IX just 11 months after his death, the shortest time ever in the history of the church.

    St. Anthony’s sermons were written during the Middle Ages, and were meant as a guide and as a source of inspiration to those friars whose task was to go out into the world and preach.
    “This fact has led some to erroneously conclude that the sermons are outdated and without relevance to modern life,” said Father Salezze.

    “However, anyone who allows these writings to act on his soul will be amazed at Anthony’s profound knowledge of Scripture and his deep insight into human nature and the social context of his times. It is this which confers timeless value and relevance to his sermons.

    Father Salezze explained that Anthony’s work reveals an impassioned interest in humanity, composed then, like now, by both religious and lay people, rich and poor. “A humanity which was then, like now, in great need of conversion, of freeing itself from greed, pride and lust for power, so that fallen men may be reborn anew in Christ, the new Adam,” he said.

    The Conventual Franciscan concluded that he felt sure that Anthony’s writings will speak to even greater numbers of people here in North America, and they will contribute to making this great nation even greater.

    Father Conte, the editor of The Messenger of St. Anthony — International Edition, said Anthony’s sermons contain 6,100 direct or indirect quotations from the Bible. All of the books of the Bible are quoted, and the Psalms alone are quoted 570 times. “Anthony’s deepest desire was to bring everybody toward God’s never-ending love, the same love he had discovered and experienced during his religious life and in a special way, during his last days on earth,” Father Conte emphasized. “A few days before dying he had a vision of the baby Jesus and he could actually hold him in his hands; and his last words on his death bed were, ‘I see my Lord.’”

    Copies of the book were given to all priests who attended the Sunday evening Mass with Archbishop José H. Gomez which officially closed the Jubilee Year. In addition, the friars presented the archbishop, Bishop Zurek and Father Garcia with small statues of St. Anthony they brought with them from Italy.