A Beautiful Gift from San Antonio de Padua

On June 13, 2023 during the 60th Parochial Fiesta of San Antonio de Padua Parish in Agdao, a relic of St. Anthony was enshrined. Adding to the already joyous celebration of 6 decades as a parish, the arrival of the relic indeed was a blessing not only to the parishioners of San Antonio Agdao but to all who pray for the intercession of the said saint.

The relic of St. Anthony of Padua, given on the 1st of April 2022 for the veneration of the faithful of Agdao and all the pilgrims, consists of fragments “ex massa corporis” (from the body mass; a piece of the saint’s flesh) of St. Anthony, collected during the latest exhumation of his mortal remains. Bro. Marcello Ghirlando, OFM, Visitator General to the Custody of St. Anthony of Padua in the Philippines, who entrusted the relic also confirmed its authenticity.

This relic was enshrined in the humble parish church by Rev. Msgr. Julius Rodulfa during the Pontifical Mass he presided over, on behalf of Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles, D.D. in the presence of the faithful of Agdao.

Rev. Fr. Amado B. Arroyo, parish priest envisions that in a few more years, St. Anthony will have more devotees which will make way for the parish to become a shrine. Through the kindness of Fr. Junar dela Victoria, parish priest of Sta. Ana Shrine the relic found it’s home at San Antonio de Padua Parish in Agdao. (Justin Tomale Felicia | San Antonio de Padua Parish SoCCom)