A chapel has recently opened in the historic town of Pila in Laguna province that houses the relics of St. Anthony of Padua and other Franciscan saints.

Bishop Buenaventura Famadico of San Pablo on Aug. 6 led the blessing of the chapel, located inside the National Shrine of San Antonio de Padua compound.

The event was part of the second anniversary celebration of the shrine’s spiritual twinning to the Pontifical Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua in the Italian city of Padova.

Bishop Famadico said during Mass that St. Anthony is greatly venerated not just in Pila but across the world “because he held and exemplified what it meant to be a ‘child of God'”.

“The blessing of the relics chapel in our shrine is a reminder for us that St. Anthony is in heaven and it should be a challenge for us to be like him that after our death, we will be able to join him to perpetually glorify God in heaven,” he said.

According to the shrine, the chapel was built in order to properly enthrone the busts of St. Anthony of Padua, formerly placed in the church’s sanctuary.

Pilgrims from all over the country visit the shrine as the center of the devotion to the saint.

Erected as the first Antonine parish in the Philippines in 1578 by the Franciscan friars, it was elevated to national shrine status in 2019.