ST ANTHONY NATIONAL SHRINE
HAWTHORN - MELBOURNE
Images from St. Anthony's Shrine, Melbourne
The feast of St Anthony at Hawthorn is also, in some sense, the feast of Padre
Luciano Rochhi OFM Cap, who is responsible for the Italian Apostolate in Melbourne.
Manny Candappa penned the following story on Padre Luciano sometime ago.
When Padre Luciano Rocchi arrived in Melbourne for the first time on 12 September
1951, he declared with passion that he had fallen in love with Melbourne. After
50 years of his sojourn here he still retains his northern Italian accent and
flamboyant manner.
When he arrived, the chrism of ordination had hardly dried on his hands. Fifty
years later he retains the freshness of his first Mass in every Eucharistic
celebration. He is a lover of liturgy, the commissioned work of Christ, and
of his native pageantry. Indeed few who have visited the shrine of St Anthony
on Power Street, Hawthorn and attended a festive celebration of the Eucharist
have returned without being elevated in soul, rejuvenated in spirit, and enlivened
by the beauty of this house where God dwells, by the eloquent exposition of
his Word, and the majesty of the music rendered almost to perfection by a devoted
and disciplined choir.
In the worship of his divine master, in his service to the people of God in
multifarious ways, in the production of the shrine's bulletin, "IL CAMPANILE" this
Franciscan Capuchin friar has immolated himself in a fragrant sacrifice to
achieve only the best as far as that is possible in a frail but tough frame.
He was commissioned to serve the Italian community in Melbourne at the very
young age of twenty-five. He did that and continues to do so with unmatchable
affability and acceptance. But nothing could confine him to any mould. The
shrine has been a haven for diverse races and communities, particularly Asian,
fervent clients of St Anthony. Padre Luciano is present to all, in good times
and bad, in fair weather and foul. Wherever he goes and for whatever reason,
he becomes a part of that family that wants him to be there, transcending parish
and ethnic boundaries. He will be there for baptisms, house blessings, weddings
and funerals.
Notwithstanding the work-load in his professional face-to-face encounters,
Padre Luciano reaches out to thousands of listeners nationwide through his
nightly program - poetic words of faith, love and consolation broadcast at
8.00 pm by "Rete Italia" on band 1593 AM.
He blesses people, animals, Ferraris and Alfa Romeos with equal fervour because
he represents the One from whom all blessings come and to whom all creation
must give thanks and praise. He is an epitome of graciousness; he is punctiliously
proper and has time for people. It is an expression of his childlike nature
to have a Christ-like love of children. Yet in his love for children, his heart
is riven by love of his numerous nephews and nieces in Italy who still long
for his return and for the love of all little children whom he joyously permits
to come to him.
All this constitutes his cross - the cross he longed to bear from the beginning,
the cross his Saviour bade him to carry daily, to follow him into the missionary
world. He went, not where he wanted to go, to Africa, to do it his way, but
where his superiors bade him to go, to do their bidding in which he saw the
will of God.
St Anthony’s Prayer
for the help of the Holy Spirit
O God, Send forth your Holy Spirit;
into my heart - that I
may perceive,
into my mind - that I may remember,
and into my soul - that I may meditate.
Inspire me to speak
with piety, holiness, tenderness, and mercy.
Teach, guide, and direct my thoughts
and senses from the beginning to the end.
May your grace ever help and correct
me,
and may I be strengthened now
with wisdom from on high,
for the sake of your infinite mercy.
St. Anthony of Padua
(1195-1231)
Priest and Doctor
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