Today, June 13, the Franciscan Monastery’s community celebrated the feast of St. Anthony of Padua. It is a special day for these friars because St. Anthony is the patron saint of the Custody of the Holy Land, to which they belong.
The solemn Mass was presided over by Father Ramzi Sidawi, OFM, Guardian of the Franciscan Monastery, and was attended by many people who came for the occasion despite the workday.
At the end of the Mass, Father Ramzi blessed bread that was distributed to the faithful as a spiritual reminder of the blessings received from St. Anthony.
In Jerusalem, the celebrations began 3 days ago with the special triduum that the Franciscans in the Holy City traditionally dedicate to St. Anthony.
The Franciscans of the Custody had an added reason to venerate St. Anthony after World War I. During the war, the Ottoman Empire, allied with Germany, decided to imprison or expel friars from enemy nations, which would have left the Holy Land convents nearly empty.
Fearing the expulsion of numerous friars, the Custodial President, Fr. Eutimio Castellani, initiated a triduum in honor of St. Anthony in 1917. On the last day of the triduum, the governor yielded permission to the friars to stay. In November of that year, the Turkish governor again attempted to expel the foreign friars; the friars once more prayed to St. Anthony and received a telegram from Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, allowing them to stay. This double intercession confirmed St. Anthony’s protection of the friars.
