St Anthony's Shrine

Blog

First of all, new cell: 9003176832

7/1
on Tuesday, June 30th, I visited the Shrine dedicated to St Anthony,
St. Antony's Church (officially known as St. Mary's Co-cathedral). The
church was surprisingly active, with people of interspersed throughout
the pews and walking up and down the left and right side. The church
walls are lined with statues of the saints, who each are wearing
flowers that may have been put there by devotees. There were dividers
set up along the sides so as to direct the flow of people. Almost as
if making a pilgrimage, individuals would walk down the side, touching
each statue, and saying a brief prayer then continuing to the next
saint. The statue of St. Anthony holding a baby Jesus was the central
object of pilgrimage. A continually replenishing line of over 60
individuals were lined up to pass this statue, carrying with them
flowers that they would hand to the caretaker next to the statue. The
statue itself, though named St. Anthony, looked much more like a
Syrian bishop, with a long beard and a bishops hat. The caretaker
would place the flowers on the shrine, sometimes even taking a child
to press up against the statue, and then would retrieve other strings
of flowers, break them and hand them to the pilgrims. The space in
front of the statue and behind the line of pilgrims was set aside for
those wished to pray before the statue. While I have seen such
actions, prayer before statues, the touching of objects of veneration
before, somehow in this Indian context it seemed different. Instead,
it called to mind the visit to the Kapaleeshwarar Temple, where
devotees offer flowers, food, money to the priest, who returns with
flowers, which people pocket, or ashes from burned offerings
(non-animal) that are then spread on the forehead. One would ask if
this is some mixing of religions with Christians praying in a Hindu
manner, but then one realizes that there among the devotees there men
and women who are themselves Hindu. This complicates the question of
what is going on all the more, for the group of pilgrims themselves
are multi-religious, even as they share a devotion to Jesus and St.
Anthony. This type of expression of faith stands in stark contrast to
the regimented masses that I have attended. Granted the daily masses
and one Sunday mass I have assisted thus far have been in English on
the Jesuit campus, but the strict imposition set on the mass by the
Vatican to use only prayers translated from the Latin curtail any
"creative" expressions of the faith beyond accoutrements. It is
interesting to see how these popular devotions cut across lines of
religious affiliation even, and their shaping is not one that is
decided on high, but is already in a state of inter-religious
dialogue, though not explicitly. With every engagement with the
symbols and structures of Indian culture, be it the flowers now, or
the caste system historically, this work has always been one of
interreligious dialogue.

7/3
The St. Anthony Saga continued.

I have begun to think of Fr. Xavier Rajan(or as he told me, roi de
roi), my retired jesuit friend destined for Guyana, as my trusted
dinner time informant. Without much provocation, Fr. Xavier can tell
me the most illuminating details about india. I decided to raise the
topic, after some prodding from an email correspondent at home, some
questions regarding this experience at St. Anthony's shrine (St.
Mary's co-cathedral). What follows are reconstructions of what came
from that conversation, though as I have a dim memory and had no
recorder, and cannot be taken as actual quotations from fr. Xavier. It
turns out, in fact that he was there that same morning. He was very
happy to see not only that the place was full (he had been there in
time for the mass that was held at 11) but also that there were 2
priests who were recieving confessions from the catholics, and who
gave blessings to the Hindus who came to them. I too noticed the same
thing happening, though at that moment there was only one priest. The
hindus are not only present and but also welcome at the church, though
at the mass, an announcement is made that only catholics are to
receive communion. Why do people go there? THis statue of St. Anthony
seems to have a proclivity towards prayer. The ironic thing, is that
this statue is not St. Anthony at all. No one knows who he is, but as
St. Anthony of padua is well devoted to already in India, and is known
to be a miracle worker, that name was given to him.
This is popular devotion, but embedded in the center of the day is the
mass. The church does not just tolerate this devotion, but welcomes
it. It is afterall, making money for the church. This devotion only
occurs on tuesday and is in direct competition with another shrine:
St. Sebastiens, where pilgrims go on the same day.
So why do hindus go there? Apparently enough people have prayed and
recieved what they need, that it has gained renowned beyond the small
christian community. Among the common people (Christians and Hindus)
people will pray to whatever works
What does Fr. Rajan think of all this? It is wonderful. Recognizing
some dependency on a force outside yourself, particularly here where
it is ascribed to the supernatural, is the beginning of faith. Faith
anywhere is good, and where it may be mingled with superstitions, it
can be purified.

I asked after the flower offerings as well.
He explained to me that it was an indian ritual. When the hindus go to
the temple to worship, they often bring offerings, flowers, foods,
money, and as I mentioned above, some of this is returned to them. the
act of the offering itself is called punjab and if i remember
correctly, the smaller returned offering is called pettam. This is
returned offering is a sign that God has accepted your offer. This
functions in precisely the same manner at the St Anthony's, and even
the flower stands out front seem precisely the same as those in front
of the hindu temple.
Fr. Xavier noted that we do exactly the same thing in Christianity,
where jesus is offered up to God in the sacrifice of the mass, and a
smaller portion of that whole is returned to us in the eucharist. I
myself had never thought of the offering in this way, and one can see
how interfaith awareness can edify your own spirituality!

--
Michael Le Chevallier
MDiv candidate 2011
University of Chicago
mike.lechevallier@gmail.com