The bomb blasts that ripped through few churches, luxury hotels and a guest house in Sri Lanka, on Easter Sunday 21st April 2019 killed over 290 people and seriously injured many more.
One church, in particular, St Anthony’s Church in Kochikade, Colombo provided solace and guidance to millions of ordinary people over the years. Many people of different religious faith would have visited this church at least once in their lifetime.
Just a few yards away from this church is Sri Ponnambalavaneswarar temple (Lord Siva), Kochikade. Whenever I visited the Siva temple, I stopped over at St Anthony’s Church, lit a candle in the altar and knelt down and prayed for guidance in difficult times. I had no knowledge of any hymns or verses from the bible. My prayer would take as little as 10 or 15 minutes, but at the end of the prayer, calmness would rein over me.
This church attracts more visitors on Tuesdays. Many miracles happened in this church as is the origin of the St Anthony’s church. My father used to say one of the leading business-man at the time became rich and famous as a result of his strong beliefs in St Anthony’s Church -it was the rags to riches story. Even students visit the church before a difficult exam to get the blessing.
The explosion has caused lots of damages to the building -collapsed ceilings and blown out windows besides killing worshippers. Our prayers and wishes are for the lost ones and their relatives. Hoping that the Church will be restored to its former glory in due course.
Travel and Food with Yoga 