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Liyanage Roshani lights candles to honor St. Anthony of Padua at a shrine dedicated to the Portuguese saint at Kochchikade, Sri Lanka. "I lost my job in Italy, my husband wasted my dowry, my son was seriously sick, I lost my car, but everything turned around for me. I started a new shop and now have a good income," the 59-year-old Catholic mother of one told UCA News.
While St. Anthony’s feast falls on June 13, the shrines host annual pilgrimages throughout the month, drawing tens of thousands of devotees — Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims. It was the worst attack against Christians in a country that endured a decades-long civil war that ended in 2009. The predominantly Protestant Dutch occupied Ceylon by defeating the Portuguese forces, banned Catholicism and persecuted Catholics.
"By hiding the statue, the villagers protected it from harm and preserved its sacred presence for future generations to revere,” Perera said.St. Anthony's shrine in Kochchikade came into being thanks to another Indian missionary priest, Father Antonio Kochchial, who also arrived in Sri Lanka during Dutch rule along with Joseph Vaz.Due to restrictions on Catholicism, he disguised himself as a merchant.
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