From work to other graces: Dhaka Catholics' devotion to St. Anthony

Bangladeshi Catholics paid homage to the saint of Padua, whose feast falls today with a mass celebrated by Msgr. Bejoy N. D'Cruze. The request of an unemployed faithful seeking work. The "negative" impact of the Russian war in Ukraine on industry and textiles in the country. The joy of a woman who, thanks to the intercession of St. Anthony, had a baby girl.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) - "I was unemployed. I came to pray to St. Anthony, asking him for the grace to be able to find a job," Sujit Costa tells AsiaNews his story of being a worker in a garment factory in Savar, at least until three months ago when he suddenly found himself without a job due to the crisis in the industry.

We met him during a feast dedicated to the saint originally from Padua, in northeastern Italy, held at the church of the same name in Kamalapur, a suburb of the Bangladeshi capital. 

The 36-year-old says that at the root of the crisis is the Russian war in Ukraine, which has had an extremely negative impact on the garment industry. Many once-buying nations have scaled back their volume of purchases from Bangladesh, and many companies have cut costs and staff, leading to wholesale layoffs that Sujit Costa himself has borne the brunt of. He is now looking for work in another company, as a quality control manager. 

Momots Rosario came to the feast of St. Anthony to express her gratitude. "After marriage," she says, "for eight years I was unable to have children. Last year I came to Kamolapur for the feast and asked Jesus for a grace through St. Anthony. My prayer was answered and three months ago I was blessed with the birth of my daughter."

Two stories, two examples of devotees among the more than 6,000 faithful who attended the celebrations, some who came to ask and others to give thanks in saint of Padua. 

Pastor Fr. Joyonta Sylvester Gomes was pleased with the large number of faithful for whom a free lunch was provided by the local church. "Every year," he tells AsiaNews, "we organize a lunch for the faithful with contributions from local Catholics.

Many faithful come to the feast from other parishes in Dhaka city. Bangladeshi Catholics have an immense devotion to St. Anthony [close to the poor and the sick, as well as a profound knowledge of scripture and celebrated for miracles in his lifetime]. His feast falls today, June 13, but here we celebrate him on Friday [June 9] because it is a feast day" in a nation with a large Muslim majority.

Archbishop Bejoy N. D'Cruze, archbishop of Dhaka and president of the Bangladesh Conference of Catholic Bishops (CBCB) presided over the mass and, in his homily, recalled the saint's virtues and urged the faithful to follow his example in their daily lives.

"In general, we turn to St. Anthony if we loose something. We Bangladeshi Christians are losing  our life values like family, religious faith, unity and much more. Let us pray to St. Anthony," the prelate continued, "so that they can shine again in our lives."