Media Release

Mangaluru, Feb 16: Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, the Bishop Emeritus of Mangaluru accompanied by tens of concelebrant priests celebrated the feast of Relic of St Antony at the Milagres Church grounds. The bishop in his message said that St Antony is a great gift God has given to the holy church. "If we live the values of St Antony, that is the true honour we give to him."

Fr Roquin Pinto the professor at St Joseph Inter-diocesan Seminary, Jeppu preached a homily on the virtues of St Antony. In his sermon, he pointed out that St Antony made use of his tongue to preach the Word of God and speak well of fellow human beings. God in return preserved his tongue without decay. It is eight centuries now since St Antony died, but his tongue still remains incorrupt. There is a message in this miracle. The message is if we use our tongue to praise God and to bring joy to people through our encouraging words, God will bless us in abundance." Fr Roquin called on the congregation to make use of the faculty of speech God has given in the right way.

At end of the festive mass, Fr Clifford Fernandes the parish priest of St Joseph Seminary Jeppu prayed for the Covid affected world. Because of Covid 19, thousands have died around the world, thousands have fallen sick and millions have become jobless. The economy of the world is crushed. Keeping this situation in mind, Fr Clifford asked St Antony to intercede to God for the world while the congregation prayed with lighted candles.

Fr Onil D’Souza, the director of the ashram thanked all those who toiled to organize the feast and make it successful.