Karkala: Bishop Lays Foundation Stone for New, Bigger St Antony Chapel
Wilson Dsouza, Shirva
Daijiworld Media Network—Karkala (CN)
Karkala, Jun 13: The St Antony Feast was celebrated at Manjaraplake or Pakala, near here, with over 3,000 devotees from all over the coastal districts in attendance on Monday June 13.
Shirva Vicarvar Fr Stany Tauro celebrated the mass on Monday with Belman parish priest Fr Lawrence D’Souza, assistant parish priest Fr Ronald Pinto, and 10 other priests.
On Sunday June 12, Bishop of Mangalore Dr Aloysius D’Souza celebrated a special mass at the shrine with thousands of devotees attending, and also laid the foundation stone for a bigger chapel which will accommodate more devotees.
Speaking to Daijiworld.com, Gregory Menezes, vice-president, Belman parish council, who is popularly known as ‘Addi’, said that the shrine is attracting thousands of devotees from all around and it is high time to build a spacious holy place for all devotees. “Though it is a big task, with the blessing of St Antony, the mission will not be difficult”, he said.
He requested, St Antony devotees worldwide to contribute to the holy cause.
The St Antony Shrine has been famous since 1976 when the idol of St Antony was found by one of the locals and several miracles happened since then increasing the number of devotees each year.
In 1978, late Fr Aloysius Rodrigues built the small shrine, which was enlarged later due to increasing number of devotees by Fr John Fernandes (parish priest of Belman during the late 80s). “Today, this shrine too seems small and there is a need for a bigger one,” says Menezes.
Those who want to contribute or know more about this may contact Gregory Menezes at 91 - 9845309784