Under large mosaics depicting the miracles of their patron saint, St. Anthony of Padua parishioners gathered to celebrate their patron’s feast on June 8, Pentecost, with a bilingual Mass and fiesta in the parking lot.

The celebration, held the Sunday before St. Anthony’s June 13 feast day, followed a novena during which a large, white statue of St. Anthony was brought to parishioners’ homes each night beginning after Mass on May 30.

The statue visited homes as far as Crete, Steger and Calumet City, as well as homes across the street from the church, said Father Mark Krylowicz, who has been pastor of the parish for 20 years.

“It’s just an incredible event for the last 17 years, taking the statue to different homes of parishioners,” he said.

Upon receiving the statue, those gathered sing a welcoming song and pray the novena prayer to St. Anthony. The parish provides a tent to protect the statue and parishioners hold vigil with it overnight and throughout the next day.

At 6 p.m. each day, parishioners gathered at the home for Mass and then processed with the statue to the next host home.

“We’re like the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts. As soon as Mass is over, we pick up camp — pick up our tents, pick up our chairs, pick up everything — and we put it in the truck and we process to the next house,” Krylowicz said.

After Mass on the feast day, worshippers venerated a relic of St. Anthony and received a roll of St. Anthony bread donated by a parishioner who owns a bakery.

The tradition of distributing bread on St. Anthony’s feast day started with the Franciscan community, of which St. Anthony was a member, as a reminder of his dedication to helping the poor. 

St. Anthony Parish also has embraced the Jubilee of Hope and has a large medallion on display in the sanctuary made out of pieces of paper with written prayers and petitions from parishioners. The jubilee was the focus of Lenten meditations, and Krylowicz took religious education students preparing for confirmation on pilgrimages to jubilee churches in each vicariate.

The theme of the jubilee is always timely, Krylowicz said.

“We need to be a hopeful people. We need to be a people that sees that we have a role, that God has a plan, that we’re part of that plan,” Krylowicz said. “We are called by God to be pilgrims of hope in the world doing our thing and making it a better place as a result of that.”

Longtime parishioner Mary Ann Kopchak grew up at Holy Rosary Parish just a few blocks away in the Pullman neighborhood and stayed with the parish when it merged into St. Anthony in 2008. She tries to attend the novena every night.

“Just to be there and to see all of this, it’s very heartwarming. It’s very touching,” Kopchak said. “I have a very strong belief in the power of prayer.”

Parishioner Maria Olvas lived in the neighborhood around the parish for 25 years and recently moved to Steger. Her home was one of the host sites for the St. Anthony statue.

“To be honest, I wanted to bless my house,” she said. “I feel, 100 percent, me and my family are blessed because San Antonio was in my house, and I feel peace.”

Olvas dedicated her cleaning business and her husband’s construction business to the intercession of Mary and St. Anthony.

Both Kopchak and Olvas credit Krylowicz with keeping the parish united and thriving in the face of changes to the neighborhood and in the wake of the pandemic.

“I love how Father Mark keeps the people together,” Olvas said. 

“Father Mark, I cannot say enough of him,” Kopchak said. “He believes in us. He will not ask us to do anything that he wouldn’t do himself. He’s got to be one of the strongest, faith-filled priests I’ve ever met.”