Santo Antoni Basilica, Padova, Italy

Posted on 29 September 2022
By Colleen Rooney
Posted in Blogs by Colleen Rooney
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We arrived in Italy on September 21 and after a little bit of adjusting to the time difference - 6 hours - we began taking in the soccer games, gymnastic classes, walks to and from school, and family time. The setting is beautiful as all of you know who have been to Italy. The hillsides, mountains, lakes, beaches, and small towns with their churches dotted throughout speak a cultural language all their own. There is a very rich Catholic cultural heritage here in Italy for those who can see and chose to embrace it.

On Wednesday, September 28, Catherine drove us to Padua. Our first visit was to the Scrovegni Chapel. I will save the description of that visit for another post, but I will say this. If you have a chance to visit Padua, do not miss visiting the Scrovegni Chapel. It is the work of Giotto, a fourteenth century painter whose frescoes of the life of Christ, His mother, grandparents remain alive on the walls to this day in a way never before seen.

Front of the tomb of St. Anthony

The Scrovegni Chapel is at one end of Padua and the Basilica of San Antonio is at the other. When we finished our tour, we walked to the other end about 15 - 20 minutes away. There was a tram to take for those who prefer not to walk. When we arrived at the Basilica of San Antonio, we found out that the relics of St. Anthony were in a room that closed at 12 noon and not at 12:45 as my guidebook had mentioned. Before we went to venerate the relics, I first went to St. Anthony's tomb, placed the intentions both general and specific in the box for intentions, and then prayed before the tomb for my intentions and for all of you who asked me to pray to him for you. The picture below is the front of the tomb of St. Anthony. The back of the tomb is where many pilgrims, including myself, prayed by placing our hands on the back of the tomb and asking for St. Anthony's intercession.

Statue of St. Anthony beside
the reliquary chapel

The reliquary chapel contains a number of relics of St. Anthony and other saints, notably St. John Paul II, and Sister Faustina to name two others. Below are pictures of the reliquaries.