St Anthony of Siolim

St Anthony of Siolim

On the facade of the church, between the two steeples is a niche enclosing a statue of St Anthony holding a serpent tied to a cord in his right hand. Legend states that while the construction was going on, a huge snake of frightful dimensions and in a strange form would harass the masons, so the devout priests decided to leave the statue of St. Anthony at the construction site to oversee and protect their work and so it happened that the next day to the great astonishment of the workers they found the statue with the dead serpent wrapped around it. Another legend states that the dead serpent was found hanging from the cord of the hand of the saint. The work from then on prgoressed without any other disturbance. The church is built in the Corinth style and is the only church of its kind in bardez. To commemorate the miracle, a icture was painted of St Anthony holding a serpent tied to a cord in his rigt hand and a cross in his left hand. Later on a statue was carved depicting the same. This statue is now placed in the niche of the frontispiece. The huge bell of the church too has this picture engraved on it.

( Source – Team for Evangelisation St Anthony’s Church Siolim)
In 1600 the franciscan Missionaries were planning to build a new church in a more centrally location, as the previous church, which was constructed in Gaunsvaddo had crumbled down. it was at this time two Portuguese merchants were caught in a severe storm at sea and they had with them a statue of St Anthony, they vowed that if they should arrive safely to the shore they would construct a church where they landed dedicated to St Anthony of Padua. It so happened that their ship entered the River Chapora and docked on the left bank near the village of Marna. It was here that the merchants were met by the Franciscan missionaries who were looking for funds for the new church. The rich merchants wanting to fulfill their vow gladly helped the franciscans financially. Hence the new church was dedicated to St Anthony instead of Mae de Deus and was completed in 1630. This church lasted for around 300 years. The present church is built on the same site. It is more spacious and modern. The ajestic edifice took six years to be built and was blessed on 28th December 1907.

( Source – Team for Evangelisation St Anthony’s Church Siolim)