Molfetta celebrates Sant’Antonio. The roots of a popular faith – MolfettaLive.it

Like every year, once the ‘tredicina’, the profound devotion to Saint Anthony of Padua, held from last May 31st to yesterday June 12th in the church of Sant’Andrea, has come to an end, our city celebrates the Saint on June 13th.

The sick, the poor and children enjoy the protection of the saint of Portuguese origins, who still occupies a pre-eminent position in the minds of the people of Molfetta today. In fact, the cult and devotion towards Saint Anthony were well rooted among the people of Molfetta since the 13th century, when the Minor Conventual Friars of Saint Francis settled in Molfetta; therefore the establishment of the Confraternity in 1637, by some faithful, was the natural consequence of an ancient, consolidated and lasting devotion.
The first traces of the cult date back to 1498 and 1506, when Antonella Cavalletti and Pascazia Anella respectively, arranged in their will to be buried in the church of S. Francis dressed in the Franciscan habit, the first, and the second that two pounds of wax were donated to the church of S. Antonio in Padua. A document dating back to thirty years after Anella’s will, reports the existence in the Molfetta Cathedral of the image of an old or poliero St. Anthony. It is precisely in 1498 that the notary Matteo de Cucuzzellis dictated in his last will to be buried in his chapel, perhaps built or restored by him, dedicating it to St. Anthony of Padua.

A tradition closely connected with art, religious practices and charitable initiatives.
Not everyone knows that in 1768 the Confraternity of Saint Anthony assumed the obligation to provide aid to the sick poor of the city, administering treatment and food. Every year, two nurses were elected from among the confreres to visit those who were ill and brought the accounting of expenses and the list of patients cared for. All this lasted only until 1808, a time in which the Brotherhood had a considerable income and with the loss of it it was no longer possible to provide such assistance. In an act dated 25 October of the same year, other witnesses, who had benefited from the charity of the Brotherhood during their illness, specified and asserted that “the money needed for relief were pure and simple oblations from the brothers who wanted to continue the work of charity towards the sick and poor” (TRANI STATE ARCHIVE, notary Onofrio Bartoli, vol. 1622, ff. 243-250-252-258-293).
And it is precisely within the Confraternity that the rumor has always circulated that the current statue depicting St. Anthony is not the original one. In fact, it seems that on 17 May 1826, Prior Pietro Pastore sent a letter to the Intendant of the Province of Bari, in which he expressed his desire to replace the then statue of the Congregation with the one found in the Church of the suppressed Minor Observants ( today S. Bernardino), since the latter was “more well designed and more gentle than the former”, so that the population could admire it during the Processions. On the following 9 June, the Intendant of the Province of Bari authorized the desired replacement.

In the same century, the “Work of the Bread of St. Antonio” in the form of a cash donation. In 1927 Pasquale Gioia, bishop at the time, during his visit to the church of Sant’Andrea, recommended that the Spiritual Father begin and continue month by month a list of the money that was obtained from the “Pane di S. Antonio” box and that he had care to notice and help the most needy families”. For these reasons, the following prayer in the local vernacular was widespread in Molfetta, also thanks to the efforts of the friars seeking the Madonna dei Martiri:
Sênd’Êndóniə my beatə, did the crónê ngàpə have you?
Sand’ Antonie, you came from Pade, You sought Tridece thanks to Jesus, You had all three decembers, And you were looking for the food for the umemene; On behalf of the most holy Trinity, thank you for your kindness.
(follows the one already given)
Sand’ Antonie, my Divine, Mbrazze has beautiful little girls, Mmane has beautiful flowers. Give me heartfelt thanks.
Sant’Antonie, my beneficent, I am not worthy of praying to you, Give me what I need, Give me thanks, Sant’Antonie.Sant’Antonie, you are so rich and so powerful, Raise your eyes, and keep my mind; listen to me, Open your mouth, and speak to me. Lift up your feet, and walk to me, Open your eyes, and embrace me.
You freed the dead, freed us from the dead, freed us from every danger, and avoided all the enemies. Antonie.
Tinghe dye the cambanèdde, Tla company l’angele ca is bèdde, It’s bèdde to the fegure, But Sant’Antonie is in the dark. Sant’Antonie told me to leave me alone, if there are roses and whoever goes, rests.

Bibliography
Grieco Onofrio (ed.), _Cult, devotion and images of Saint Anthony of Padua in the Diocese of Molfetta-Ruvo-Giovinazzo-Terlizzi_, La Nuova Mezzina, Molfetta, 2012.
Pappagallo Corrado, _The brotherhood of S. Antonio and assistance to the sick_, in __, n. 23, 2008.
Parrot Corrado, _Events on the statue of Sant’Antonio_, in __, n. 24, 2017.
Minervini Pasquale, _The Church of S. Andrea in Molfetta: the origins, the patronage of Iudicibus, the Confraternity of S. Antonio_, Mezzina, Molfetta, 1996.