Basilica of St. Anthony,Karnataka

History:

Some 200 years ago, a farmer was ploughing his field somewhere near what is now Dornahalli in Karnataka state. His plough struck a wooden object. On closer examination, the farmer realized it was a wooden statue. He took it home to be used as a toy for his children. He had a vivid dream in which the statue - actually that of Saint Antony warned him not to take it lightly and that it is an object worthy of worship. At dawn the farmer forgot all about it. Soon he faced serious issues - his oxen was lost, his children developed ailments and one of his relations died. He was overtaken with misery and then it dawned on him - the significance of the warning from the sage in the statue in his dream. He was frightened and built a small temple in the place where he found the statue and placed the statue inside the temple.

Later things returned to normalcy for him. Several years later he met a Catholic Priest who wore similar vestments that of the 13 inch statue and narrated the whole incident. The Priest went to the farmer's temple and examined the statue. He immediately realized that the statue is that of St.Antony of Padua - one of the most celebrated Saints in the Roman Catholic Church. The Priest told the farmer what he found about the identity of the statue.

A small chapel was built for St.Anthony there. A careful study of the history of Karnataka would tell you that the statue was chiselled out of wood sometime between 14th century to 16th century by Franciscan missionaries.

This Church was rebuilt many times in its 200 year old history. The Church went into decay during the Tippu Sultan period. After the fall of Tippu Sultan in the year 1799, religious persecution came to an end under the Mysore Kings. The Church was finally renovated in the year 1969. A devotee of St.Antony from Mangalore, Chandappa Shetty built a stage inside the church with bas relief of events from the life of St.Anthony of Padua. Even figures of the farmer along with his bull took their place in the stage.

The church was elevated to the rank of a minor Basilica by Pope Francis in the year 2019.

St.Antony of Padua

Saint Anthony of Padua is possibly the most celebrated Saint for the Roman Catholics. Born from a noble family of Lisbon, Portugal in the year 1195, christened as Fernando Martins de Bulhoes, St.Anthony became Anthony on joining the Order of Friars Minor.Saint Anthony was adorned with several titles - Professor of Miracles and the Patron Saint of Lost and Stolen Articles. He was called as Hammer of Heretics and Evangelical Doctor. His miracles deserve a book of its own. We show only one miracle here as a sample:

Heretic and his Mule:
There lived a heretic in the city of Toulouse who opposed the preaching of Saint Anthony. One day the heretic challenged St.Anthony that if his donkey bowed before Saint Anthony for holding the Sacrament, he would become a believer himself. Before the appointed day, the heretic starved the donkey without food and water. On the day St.Anthony celebrated the Mass and took the Sacrament to the town square where a large number of people had gathered along with the heretic. When the donkey was brought before the Saint, St.Anthony ordered the donkey to come here and show reverence, the donkey bowed its head and knees before the Saint ignoring the food and water kept in the other direction.

Miracle Prayer to St.Anthony:

O wonderful St. Anthony, glorious on account of the fame of your miracles, and through the condescension of Jesus in coming in the form of a little child to rest in your arms, obtain for me of His bounty the grace which I ardently desire from the depths of my heart . (State your intention)
You who were so compassionate toward miserable sinners, regard not the unworthiness of those who pray to you, but the glory of God that it may once again be magnified by the granting of the particular request (State your intention) which I now ask for with persevering earnestness. Amen

Pray one Our Father,
one Hail Mary, and
Glory Be to the Father, in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!

Address: Dornahalli, Basavapatna, Karnataka 571602
Phone: +91 82222 10999
Location: 7J4RCC6C+6G