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| St. Anthony's chapel, Pune Camp |
-Brian Mendonca
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| Stained-glass panel. |
During my years in Pune in the early '90's, my sister and husband Felix used to faithfully go to the cross of St. Anthony, - a stone's throw away from the imposing Gothic church of St. Francis Xavier in Pune Camp. At that time it was a simple cross where many devotees would gather.
On a recent trip to Pune, Felix said the usual words, 'We will go to the cross of St. Anthony.' Imagine my surprise when instead of a cross I see an imposing chapel. Felix had mentioned in the earlier years that funds were being put together for an edifice for St. Anthony.
What struck me were the stained- glass paintings of the life of St. Anthony arranged around the walls of the chapel. They vividly presented the life of the saint from birth to death including his meeting St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226).
St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) was a Portuguese priest known for his preaching. Though he died at 36 he travelled widely doing the Lord's work. When he took ill he told the friars that he would like to die in Padua. So they put him on a cart and made their way. But his condition deteriorated. He was taken to a Poor Clare monastery at Arcella, near Padua, where he passed on. This is depicted in the stained glass panel on the right.
The story goes that on the site of the shrine a statue of St. Anthony was found when digging was going on. This was way back in 1930. As a result, devotion to St. Anthony started growing. Henry and Constance Williams - the owners of the land - built a shrine at the spot in 1938. The shrine was bequeathed to the diocese of Pune before Constance passed on in 1970.
The new premises were dedicated in 2016. It costed more than two crores to build.
13 June is the feast day of St. Anthony as it is his death anniversary. Tuesday is the day of devotion for St. Anthony as he died on a Tuesday.
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| Shrine with statue, Bible and relic of St. Anthony |
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