Many a time already has Father Anthony Zaro appeared in this story, and it is right I should give here what is known of his early life till his death. He was born on 2 September 1885 at Moggio Alto in Frioli, a very picturesque mountain village on a promontory over the River Fella running through a deep valley near the Udine Tarvisio Railway line. His mother Maria died when he was six, leaving him and his 4 year old sister, Theresa, who lived to tell me this story of his early life. She has an astonishingly good memory of events. Giuseppe, their father, had to migrate to Austria for work to maintain their families as the land could scarcely support them. In a letter written from India in 1929 to uncle Simon at La Plata (Argentina), Father Zearo exclaims; "Our poor family! There wants only one for Australia to say that we have been in all parts of the world!".
The two children were brought up in the house of their parents who were good to them. Anthony's First Communion was on 25 March 1895. In those days and for a half century in Moggio Basso, the village portion at the foot of the promontory, there was a good simple priest as curate, Don Domenico Tessitori, who had the rare gift of perceiving and fostering many good priestly vocations. He was Anthony's confessor and soon discovered in him signs of a true vocation. Wordly lure could not detain him, so poor he was. His father did not oppose him, but said, "If you really want to go, remember that you are of poor condition, so you should always be ready to serve others." So at 12 he joined the Udine Seminary, in November 1897, and the following year he was confirmed. He was very intelligent, as we can see it even from his letters. He finished his theology at 22. But as he was too young for Ordination, he was sent to Cividale where there was a College, to teach little seminarists.
He was ordained priest on 14 March 1908 at Udine and was appointed for Ovedasso near Moggio. His sister came to serve him.
He was an ascetic from the very early days, and he would not listen to his sister who tried to moderate his austerities. place was so poor that he had to teach The in the local Primary School to earn his living. Yet his monthly pay of 50 lire was all given as alms to people poorer than himself.
Meanwhile a great friend of his, Fulvio Cordignano of Moggio Alto, had joined the Society of Jesus by 1911 he was at Scutari in the Albanian Mission, preparing for the priesthood. This was like spur to Don Antonio, who felt himself called to the a Missions; and in spite of the opposition of his Archbishop, who said that even Friuli needed good priests, on 24 August 1909 he joined the Jesuit Noviciate at Soresina. The following year the Noviciate was transferred to Cividale, and there he took his first vows on 25 August 1911. Again his sister had to find shelter in her parents' house. Her father managed to secure a small house for them to live in.
On 6 October 1912, Anthony's father was dying of a malignant tumour in the stomach and suffered intensely. His sister wired to Father Anthony, but he was in retreat and so his Superiors did not mean to disturb him. So he arrived home when his father was dead and buried, only to communicate the sad news to his uncle Giovanni, in Austria. In his letter we see his characteristic way of consoling people in affliction.
"I wish you every good thing from the Lord; and if we are always faithful to Him, everything will turn out well, whatever happens; we cannot be perfectly happy in this life, but we shall be so in the next, where we shall be united once more with our grandfathers and parents, in bliss forever."
In August 1913 he was sent to the Pontifical College at Scutari. The following April he wrote: "I have already learnt a bit of this difficult language, and begun to hear confessions. Here it would be good to know almost all the languages of Europe, because imagine, German, Serbian, English soldiers, all come here for their Easter confessions and on every Sunday to hear Mass and sermon in their own language from some Jesuit Father."
Soon, however, the dark clouds of World War I reached them and in August 1916 Father Cordignano and Father Anthony were taken to Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria. What was their surprise to meet there Fulvio's brother Attilio, a seminarist, who had been made prisoner on the Italian front. Through the influence of the Church authorities they could soon return to Italy, only to fall from the frying pan into the fire as the Italian Military authorities who could not enroil them as soldiers treated them as spies and they were forced to choose exile. So Fulvio went to England till the end of the war and Father Zearo went to India. He had begun in November 1916 his Third Year of Probation at Sartirana, but even this had to be curtailed and on 23 February 1917 he set off for India. He landed at Mangalore on 12 April 1917 after a voyage fraught with danger from mines and submarines; the ship had to reverse her course to succour people of a torpedoed ship. After one year Father Anthony was sent to Narol as Missionary and Assistant to Father Corti. We have seen already part of his work at Naravi, Alankar and other Stations. He took his last vows in St. Joseph's Chapel, Jeppu on 2 February 1920.
With Father Corti's death Father Anthony though not so strong had to take full charge of Narol but it was too much for him, alone. Bishop Valerian in 1928 wanted to settle the parish-boundaries of Mudbidri, Shirtadi, Naravi; so Father Zearo with Rev. A. D'Sa went on foot from Naravi to Shirtadi preparing a map for his approval. Afterwards people would ask to be allowed to go to this or that parish but the Bishop remained firm once he had made up his mind.
In May of that same year as Father Anthony was making his way, on foot as usual, from Mudbidri to Naravi under the blazing sun, he was accompanied by a man who had nothing to protect his head with; so good Father Zearo thought of lending him his umbrella since he was wearing the tropical hat. On reaching home he felt the effects of sunstroke, such violent headaches and fever as not to be able to say Mass for a month. So his Superior, Fr. Aloysius Coelho, sent him to a cooler climate at Manantoddy in Wynaad, as Assistant and Missionary. He remained there six years till 24 April 1934 when he was made Missionary at Kannoth (Kolayad). On 19 June 1938 he was transferred to Badagara. In January February 1939 he was in Marikunnu-Shoranur-Naderi as substitute. From then he was successively at Manjeri, Palayangadi, Marikunnu (as chaplain to the Bridgettines at the of internment during II World War), Talapoya Manantoddy and finally at Calicut where he was the Superior of St. Vincent's Residence (1962-1965). As we see he never refused to go to any place to serve his Lord Jesus. When in Talapoya, in obedience to Bishop Proserpio's order that all should send strict account of their expenditure, Father Zearo sent his own, from which I take the following:
For construction of a bridge across a brook: 8 annas (For a tree felled across).
For converting pig into pork: 4 annas (no comment).
For converting 12 eggs into as many chickens: 24 annas (for a basket to keep them).
The Bishop of Calicut was so amused by his wonderful economy that he used to relate it often.
He was always punctual in his correspondence and never left any letter unanswered. From Talapoya on 2-7-1949 he wrote: "Everybody has or will get his crosses and willynilly he must bear them: blessed is he who bears them patiently for the love of God."
People were coming from far to ask for his blessing, putting their faith in his prayers in all their needs, and got what they wanted. His characteristic trait by which people described him when they could not remember or pronounce his name, was that little quiver of his head which he had from birth, marking his times of perplexity, as his sister explained.
The octogenarian Father could be seen any time in Calicut on his spiritual assignments, always busy and soaked through with perspiration, always jolly, ever with a good word on his lips and a lot of fresh information about the work of conversion or the facts of the day. Wistfully he spoke at times of the fine cool days of Wynaad. He never spoke ill of anyone. By common consent he was a holy man; his holiness consisted in the practice of fraternal charity. He was strict in the observance of the rules. As Superior of the Calicut Community he had to drop his itinerant apostolate around the town. "Conversions continue to be few: we must really pray that Our Lord may spread his graces and mercies in greater abundance." Showing his apprehension of the coming victory of the Communists in Kerala he wrote on 4 December 1963: "There remains but to offer ourselves generously to our Lord as victims for his glory and the salvation of souls."
On the 80th year of his age he received the congratulations of Superiors, Brothers and Lay people at the Girls' Training School founded by Brother Spinelli at Puthyara. Answering with serenity all the joyful wishes, he said: "Now there remains only to prepare for death." He recalled the words of the Hail Mary: "Now and at the hour of our death."
On 3 October 1965 he had a stroke of paralysis and he died three days later at Marikunnu Hospital. He was buried the next day at Christ Hall.
- From the book "Among the Outcasts: A history of the pioneering Jesuit missionaries in the diocese of Mangalore" by Emmanuel Banfi, SJ
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