[PHOTO] Masses at St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church

[rfmcdonald]

Masses at St. Anthony's Roman Catholic Church
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

The schedule of masses at St. Anthony's Catholic Church (1041 Bloor Street West) reflects the immigrant heritage that one might expect of a church named after Saint Anthony, a 13th century saint who was born in Portugal and died in Italy, with masses in Portuguese, English, Italian, occasionally Tagalog or Spanish ... In a June 2009 article written by Sheila Dabu for the Catholic Register, she notes how the church embraces multiculturalism.

[Pastor Fr. Tiziano] Paolazzi, 50, said the celebration was a fitting tribute to the 2,400-family parish because of the community’s rich multicultural history. Its founding community included Irish Catholic immigrants. Now, the parish has families from Portugal, Brazil, Italy, Sri Lanka, Mexico and the Philippines. This means eight Masses over the weekend in four languages (four in Portuguese, two in English, one in Italian and one in Spanish).

Paolazzi noted that working with migrants is part of the ministry of the Missionaries of St. Charles, also known as Scalabrinians, who have been in charge of the parish since 1977.

“We take our faith in the streets,” he said of the annual multicultural event.

Paolazzi, the pastor since 2007, said residents near the parish have a special devotion to St. Anthony, including some from Sri Lanka who are members of other faiths but respect the Catholic saint because of a believed miracle in Sri Lanka attributed to St. Anthony.

“It’s like a small United Nations,” said longtime parishioner Seth Papasin about the church on Bloor Street West.

Papasin, 53, said her fondest memories of the parish, which she first attended in 1978, is this 20-year-old multicultural day.

The parish actually dates back to 1906, when Fr. James Walsh purchased land in the northern part of St. Helen’s parish for a school and a chapel. St. Anthony Mission was established as a parish in 1908 and ground was broken for a new church in the summer of 1909 at Gladstone Avenue and Shanly Street. The church has been at its current location on Bloor since 1921.

On its 100th anniversary, parishioners once again put on their Sunday best, complete with children wearing angel costumes and some parishioners donning the brown Franciscan robe reminiscent of St. Anthony. Parishioners carried statues representing the different communities which make up the parish for a procession: St. Lorenzo Ruiz (Philippines), Our Lady of Fatima (Portugal), Our Lady of Aparecida (Brazil), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico), St. Anthony of Padua (Italy) and India’s Our Lady of Velankanni, who is also revered in Sri Lanka.