In the last three days, the basilica remained opened from 5 am to 3 am to allow people to pray before his remains and receive Saint Anthony’s special blessing.

Many called on the Franciscan saint to “give us peace and unity,” “bless us that we may recover our lost unity,” “pray for us” and “bless our young people to lead a better life.”

Last Sunday, Holy Mass was held to welcome the relics, presided by Mgr Ranjith and Mgr Joseph Spiteri, apostolic nuncio to Sri Lanka, along with diocesan priests, lay people, women religious and two delegates who brought the remains of the saint to Sri Lanka from Padua.

During the service, the archbishop of Colombo urged the faithful to “follow Saint Anthony’s example” and learn to “rebuild your lives”.

An estimated 5,000 people attended the ceremony. They included Ms Shiranthi Rajapaksa, the wife of Sri Lanka’s president, Catholic political leaders, Buddhist monks and believers from other religions.

Saint Anthony’s relics left Kochchikade Basilica on their way to Galle diocese, in the south.

Over the next 16 days, they will travel in a pilgrimage across Sri Lanka, as a “sign of peace and hope”.

Many Catholic shrines will be able to display the relics, including those in the north, a region ravaged by three decades of war between the Sri Lankan military and Tamil Tiger separatists.

Their departure from the capital were marked by a 6 am Mass in Saint Anthony’s Basilica. Thousands of worshippers gathered for a final prayer and bid farewell to the remains of the saint from Padua.

“It is a great blessing for our country,” said Anthony Parakrama, father of three, two of whom in the military.

“Saint Anthony is known as the saint of the poor and of travellers,” he said. “I believe he will be of great help to our people to find what they have lost.”

Albert de Mel, 50, said, “He came to bless the nation after years of war and give people peace and unity.”