On New Year's Eve, the relics of Saint Francis and Saint Anthony arrive on the Amalfi Coast

On January 1, 2020, World Peace Day, the relics of Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Anthony of Padua will be in Scala, in the heart of the Amalfi Coast, for the first time. During these difficult days, which have seen the coast severely affected by severe weather, Mayor Luigi Mansi and Parish Priest Vincenzo Loiodice invite the residents and the entire Amalfi Coast to gather around the sacred relics of the two saints. The day's program, according to a statement, includes a Eucharistic celebration at 10:30 a.m. in the Cathedral of Scala. At 6:00 p.m., a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Father Enzo Fortunato, Director of the Press Office of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, will invoke peace. This will be followed by a procession with the relics of the saints and their delivery to the community of Ravello. "The entire Amalfi Coast," said Father Enzo Fortunato, "entrusts itself to the men who made peace and the protection of Creation one of the reasons for living. Anthony and Francis, humble men close to the least, remind us of our priorities: brotherhood and the centrality of spiritual life. Their correspondence is famous, in particular a letter in which Francis of Assisi wrote to the Saint of Padua, 'You can study, you can commit yourself, as long as this does not extinguish the spirit of Holy Prayer.'" "Precisely in Scala," continued Father Enzo, "one of the apparitions of Saint Francis occurred, encouraging Saint Alphonsus to continue his mission for the poor and the founding of the Congregation of the Redemptorists." "The relics in the Church," Pope Francis urged, "have always received particular veneration and attention because the bodies of the Blessed and Saints, destined for resurrection, were on earth the living temple of the Holy Spirit and the instrument of their sanctity, recognized by the Church." from the Apostolic See through beatification and canonization." At the end of the evening, the two saints and the new year will be greeted with a fireworks display. Father Egidio Canil and Father Daniel Fecheta will accompany the relics.