Today, June 13, is the feast of St Anthony of Padua. A Franciscan friar, doctor of the church, and patron of the poor, St Anthony is held in great reverence in Goa and in almost all the parishes across the state. But with yet another feast day come and gone, it is regrettable that the cross dedicated to this beloved saint at Miramar beach, continues to be under renovation
Stephen Dias
Irrespective of religion, devotees from across Goa throng to this little cross on Miramar beach dedicated to St Anthony seeking favours such as employment, children, cures from serious illnesses and finding of lost objects.
One of the Catholic Church's most popular saints, Saint Anthony of Padua (born 1195, Lisbon, Portugal—died June 13, 1231, Arcella, Verona [Italy]; canonized 1232; feast day June 13), is venerated all over the world as the Patron Saint for lost articles, and is credited with many miracles involving lost people, lost things and even lost spiritual goods.
Today, June 13 is the feast of St Anthony of Padua. Sadly, yet another feast has gone by, but renovation of the cross at Miramar is yet to be completed.
First discovered lying at the beach by Anton Rodrigues in his childhood days, Rodrigues who is now 75 years old, initially took the cross and kept it at a booth opposite the samadhi of late Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar (where now exists the Gasper Dias Club).
All those years ago, however, the entire area was vacant and there was no road in the vicinity – only sand dunes and vegetation dotted with several ponds were seen all along the coast up to Dona Paula.
The cross began to get lots of visitors with the faithful offering flowers and prayers.
During this time, Rodrigues realised the most suitable place for the cross would be at the side of the Miramar circle, where it remains till today, albeit in between two motorable roads now leading to Dona Paula and back.
As faithful thronged to the cross, they began reporting miracles which made this cross famous as a miraculous cross. They also demanded that this cross be renovated and made bigger.
With pressure from the public - Catholic as well as Hindus, a decision was taken and permission from various authorities was obtained by Rodrigues. Under licence No 4/81/TS/81-PMC-83-84/165 dt 14.10.1983 issued for reconstruction and beautification of the existing cross situated at Miramar, the plan was approved on 15-7-1982 by the Panjim Municipal Council. Other permissions were also obtained by Rodrigues from the Collector of Goa, Chief Secretary, Superintendent of Police, Executive Engineer (PWD, Div 2), etc.
Work started in full swing until unfortunately one Girish Mahale filed a petition through his advocate against this renovation. This file is now pending with the Chief Minister of Goa. The MLA of Panaji, Babush Monserrate, tried his level best to get the renovation works completed, but it appears his efforts failed and the metal sheets which we all see around the cross remain intact without any further construction.
A few hundred metres away, however, there is another chapel of St Anthony (near Kamat Kinara Cooperative Society, Caranzalem) that has been renovated beautifully. Incidentally, the statue of St Anthony here is over 100 years old.
Today, June 13 is the feast of St Anthony, but the cross at Miramar remains under renovation. This is a regrettable situation as this is a miraculous cross and people come from all over Goa offering prayers, candles, flowers, etc. As of now, they hang the bouquets on the doors of the enclosure and light the candles behind the structure.
As we celebrate the feast of this great, revered saint today, let us pray together and that through the intercession of St. Anthony, that we may find our way back to the light and be blessed with the grace to prevail over the powers of darkness.
Who was St Anthony
Anthony was a simple and humble friar who preached the good news lovingly and with fearless courage. The youth whom his fellow friars thought was uneducated became one of the great preachers and theologians of his day. He was a man of great penance and apostolic zeal. But he was primarily a saint of the people. His effectiveness in calling people back to the faith through his preaching was just as important as his peace-making and calls for justice.
To this day, St. Anthony of Padua is one of the Catholic Church’s most revered and popular saints. One of the reasons for this is likely that his life was what every Christian’s life is meant to be — a steady courage to face the ups and downs of life, the call to love and forgive, to be concerned for the needs of others, to deal with crisis, both great and small, and to have our feet solidly on the ground of total trusting love and dependence upon God.
