santuario, della pietà e tradizione popolare, Santuario Sant’Antonio di Padova

In the Calabrian town of Nicastro, now part of Lamezia Terme, stands a church that bears a popular name more powerful than its official one. Dedicated to Santa Maria degli Angeli, it is universally known as Sant’Antonio, a testament to the intense local devotion for the Paduan saint. The story begins with the Capuchin friars, who built a convent here in 1545. Damaged by the earthquake of 1638, it was rebuilt larger the following year. The cult of Saint Anthony seems to have taken root after a miracle attributed to him by the guardian friar, who had an image of the saint painted for the altar. Grateful, he began a pious Tuesday novena, which later expanded to thirteen weeks. The devotion deepened through the preaching of Father Antonio da Olivadi, who commissioned the processional statue in Naples in 1685, the very one still carried through the streets today. After the 1638 earthquake, the city built a special chapel for the saint, adorned with thirteen silver lamps that burned day and night. The tradition has never waned.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.