Saint Anthony In Wahakotte, Sri Lanka

The Sanctuary of Saint Anthony in Wahakotte

In Wahakotte, a village in the interior of the ancient mountain kingdom of Candia, lies one of Sri Lanka's main sanctuaries dedicated to Saint Anthony.

According to old records, it was in Wahakotte that King Yamsinghe Bandara – D. Filipe – (1557-1591) was crowned, under the protection of the Portuguese, and where his son, D. João of Cândia (c. 1578-1642), took refuge before fleeing to Goa and then to Portugal, under the protection of the Franciscan friars. In gratitude, D. João of Cândia would found a convent in Lisbon under the invocation of Our Lady of the Gate of Heaven.

During the Dutch rule (1638-1782) and the persecutions that followed, King Rajasingue II (1635-1687) settled the Portuguese captives and their families in Wahakotte. This was the origin of the rural village that served as a refuge for a large number of Catholics fleeing the areas controlled by the Dutch. The village developed as a small community that kept its Christian faith and practice secret. According to tradition, they prayed in a wooden hut that served as a stable during the day and at night became a place of prayer.

The community of Wahakotte preserved an image of Saint Anthony that was looted from a church in Kandy, the kingdom's capital. According to tradition, the small statue was hidden inside a rice pot by the villagers during the persecution by the Dutch and the rulers of Kandy.

In 1687, Saint Joseph Vaz (1651-1711), the great Apostle of Ceylon, secretly arrived on the island and restructured the Christian life of the island. He visited Wahakotte, settling in the small sanctuary disguised as a corral.

During the British rule, beginning in 1782, with greater religious freedom, the small community intensified its devotion to Saint Anthony, the village's patron saint, who was invoked on all occasions.

From 1821 onwards, Catholic priests began to visit the village regularly. In 1888, the parish of Wahakotte was established, entrusted to the Benedictine monks.

Wahakotte was described by J. P. Lewis in 1908 as being a place with six hundred and fifty-three inhabitants, descendants of the Portuguese captives established there during the reign of Rajasinha II, the village having been “always Christian”, and the church “small and simple, as the inhabitants are poor” and possessing an “ancient image of Saint Anthony” (1), much venerated by the inhabitants.

The devotion spread beyond the small village. During a severe drought that affected the entire region, local Buddhist communities implored Catholics to intercede with Saint Anthony, asking for an end to the calamity, which indeed happened. In gratitude, they celebrated the Hewisi, a traditional Buddhist song, which is at the origin of a unique form of devotion in Wahakotte, participated in by Catholics and Buddhists during the Saint Anthony festivities in June.

In 1938, the new church in Wahakotte was completed. The Sanctuary has attracted a vast number of faithful throughout the 20^th and 21^st centuries. In 1970, it was declared a historical site and proclaimed a national pilgrimage center.

Currently, the major festivities for Saint Anthony take place on June 13^th the liturgical celebration of the saint. A grand procession with the small image of the saint travels through the village, including in its route the place where, according to tradition, Saint Joseph Vaz was. Other festivities occur in mid-August, celebrating his birth.

The festivities include the traditional Hewisi chants, one of the few cases of symbiosis between different communities, which originated from a miracle obtained through the intercession of Saint Anthony.

The celebrations somehow portray the history of the heroic resistance of Sri Lankan Catholics, who for about 200 years maintained their faith in a non-Catholic environment, against all odds and without any help from the organized clergy.

The image of Saint Anthony in Wahakotte is probably from Portugal. It is made of wood and is quite small, about 15 cm tall.

The National Shrine of Wahakotte is one of the most important pilgrimage sites for Catholics in Sri Lanka, who have kept their faith alive and active on the island for over 400 years, since the beginning of the evangelization in the 16^th century.

 

The cult of Saint Anthony in Sri Lanka

Saint Anthony of Lisbon (or of Padua), the first Doctor of the Franciscan Order, was born in Lisbon in 1195 and died in Padua in 1231. He was canonized the following year, and devotion to the "Portuguese saint" quickly took root in Portugal and overseas territories. He was a singular protector of Portuguese soldiers.

In Ceylon, the devotion was brought by soldiers from the fleets that arrived on the island from 1506 onwards. Records of this devotion are found, both implicitly and explicitly, in many documents from the 16^th and 17^th centuries. Several bastions of fortresses built in the meantime bore the invocation of Saint Anthony.

The cult was especially promoted by the Franciscans, the first religious order to dominate religious practice on the island.

During the Dutch occupation, the devotion remained, despite the persecution carried out by Flemish Calvinists against everything related to Catholicism. Saint Anthony was invoked in the secrecy of homes, his devotion intensified and was preserved over the centuries.

In Candia, Saint Joseph Vaz managed to organize the feast of Saint Anthony publicly during the Flemish rule, without fear of the oppressors. In 1707 (c.) King Sri Weera Narendrasinghe (1706-1739), a great devotee of Saint Anthony, promoted the patronage in Candia, the kingdom of the mountains, and a church was built especially dedicated to the great saint in the center of the capital.

In Colombo, the famous Sanctuary of Saint Anthony also originated during the Dutch occupation period, and, like Wahakotte, it is a national pilgrimage site.

The cult of Saint Anthony is currently a popular phenomenon of great relevance in Sri Lanka, encompassing not only Catholics but also believers of other religions. There are many churches dedicated to the Portuguese saint, and the festivities celebrated around June 13^th are intensely popular, extending over several days…

Saint Anthony is the patron saint of the Diocese of Candia.

 

The Diocese of Candia

The earliest reference to the presence of Christians in Ceylon dates back to 535. However, it was only after the arrival of the Portuguese in 1506 that the evangelization of the island began in a systematic way.

The first Mass celebrated in Ceylon took place in a small chapel erected in Colombo and dedicated to Saint Lawrence by Friar Vincent, a Franciscan friar. The island then became part of the Diocese of Funchal.

In 1518, a small group of Franciscans arrived, and one of them was appointed as the permanent chaplain of the newly built fortress. A letter from King Manuel I in 1521 reminded the captain of his responsibility to spread the faith. In 1530, there is a record of a vicar – Friar Luís Monteiro de Setúbal – who would be buried there in 1536.

Meanwhile, in 1534, Ceylon became part of the Diocese of Goa.

The evangelization of the island became more intense and regular from the 1540s onwards, with the Franciscan religious order. Christian missions grew, with the conversion of mainly coastal communities. Other religious orders followed: the Jesuits, the Augustinians, and the Dominicans. In 1557, Ceylon was placed under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Cochin.

When the Dutch conquered the areas that were under Portuguese rule, starting in 1638, they confiscated all Catholic institutions – churches, schools, etc. – expelled the Catholic priests, and prohibited all religious activities.

The alliance between the kings of Candia and the Dutch also took the form of persecution of Catholics. In the treaty signed in 1638 between Rasasingue II, king of Candia, and the Flemish, one of the clauses prohibited the admission of Roman Catholic clergy. An interdict of 1658 similarly prohibited, under penalty of death, the harboring or concealment of Catholic priests.

The effort to Protestantize the island did not, however, prevent religious practices, which continued to be carried out in secret. Faced with growing religious intolerance, Catholic resistance gained strength, particularly in the interior of the island, in the kingdom of Candia. The arrival, in 1687, of Saint Joseph Vaz, a Goan priest who dedicated himself to restoring communities throughout the island, was a notable example of this resilience.

Under British rule, greater religious freedom was ensured.

In 1887, the Diocese of Candia was established, with its first bishop being D. Clemente Pagnani OSB (1834-1911).

 

(1) LEWIS, J. P. “Kandyan Notes”. In Ceylon antiquary and literary register, Vol.6 (1920-1921), p. 181.

 

REFERENCES

• AZEVEDO, Carlos, (dir.) Dicionário da História Religiosa de Portugal, Lisboa, Ed. Círculo de Leitores, 2000.
• FLORES, Jorge Manuel, A Ilha de Ceilão e o Império Asiático Português in Oceanos, nº 46 Abril / Junho 2001.
• JAYASINGHE, Sagara, An account of the Devotion to St. Anthony during the Portuguese and Dutch occupation in Sri Lanka, Oriente. Lisboa, Fundação Oriente, 2015, vol. 24, pp. 78 -89.
• JAYASINGHE, Sagara; SANTOS, Joaquim Rodrigues dos; CARITA, Hélder. Remains of Dark Days: The Architectural Heritage of Oratorian Missionary Churches in Sri Lanka. Casal de Cambra, Caleidoscópio, 2019.
• PERERA, Dilshan, https://www.sagraphicslk.com/catholicism/st-anthonys-shrine-wahakotte/, Maio, 2024.

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