SAN ANTONIO FIESTA IN 1915

Naval Station Band in 1918
MARC collection

The feast of Saint Anthony of Padua, patron of the barrio of San Antonio in Hagåtña, fell on a Sunday in 1915.

Then, as we do today, the people celebrated the feast over the weekend.

On Saturday, the Navy band paraded through the streets of that district in the cooler evening hours, playing for the people.

On Sunday, a priest chanted the Te Deum, a hymn of thanksgiving to God. This was done in the San Antonio chapel. It was not a full-fledged church, nor even a parish. It was a chapel under the main Dulce Nombre de María church. A large crowd of faithful attended this service.

During the day, sports competitions were held, with prizes for the winners.

In the late afternoon, the procession. Along the route, the streets of San Antonio were adorned with the åtkos, wooden arches decorated with local fruits and vegetables and even the American flag. Once again, the Navy band played during the procession, but religious hymns this time, of course.

You can see where the district of San Antonio was in Hagåtña before the war, by looking at the upper right hand corner of this map. The area would be where Nissan Auto City, Meskla restaurant and Paradise Fitness are today.