Saint Anthony of Padua
| Saint Anthony of Padua | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Doctor of the Church | |
| Born | ca. 1195 in Lisbon |
| Died | 13 June 1231 in Padua |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Canonized | May 30, 1232, Spoleto, Italy
by Pope Gregory IX |
| Major shrine | Basilica of St. Antony in Padua, Italy |
| Feast | June 13 |
| Attributes | book; bread; Infant Jesus; lily |
| Patronage | animals; asses; barrenness; Brazil; Beaumont, Texas; elderly people; faith in the Blessed Sacrament; Ferrazzano, Italy; fishermen; Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land; harvests; horses; Lisbon; lost articles; lower animals; mail; mariners; American Indians; Masbate, Philippines; Cavite, Philippines; Sibulan, Negros Oriental, Philippines; oppressed people; Padua, Italy; poor people; Portugal; pregnant women; sailors; seekers of lost articles; shipwrecks; starvation; sterility; swineherds; Tigua Indians; travel hostesses; travellers; watermen |
Saint Anthony of Padua (ca. 1195 – June 13, 1231) also venerated as Saint Anthony of Lisbon, is a Catholic saint who was born in Lisbon, Portugal, as Fernando Martins de Bulhões to a wealthy family and who died in Padua, Italy.
A short, chubby man, Anthony was a profound theologian. His life-long desire was to bring conversions of Moslems to Christianity. At about the age of 25, Anthony set sail to begin his ministry, but fell ill during shortly after arriving in Morocco and was forced to return home to heal. However, his ship was blown off course and Anthony landed in Sicily, where he discovered that he was also and brilliant preacher. Combining his skills with the gift of miracles, Anthony was recognized as one of the greatest foes of herecies of his time. He converted many of these heretics, rich and poor, common and noble, to the faith, and was given the title "Hammer of the Heretics."
Today, Saint Anthony of Padua is venerated today as one of the greatest Franciscan saints. Canonized in 1232, his Feast Day is June 13, and he is considered by the Catholic Church to be the patron saint of barren women, lost articles, the poor, and travelers.
Life
Anthony, then known as Fernando Martins de Bulhões, was born in a rich family who wanted live the life of a nobleman. His family arranged sound education for him at the local cathedral school. Against the wishes of his family, Ferdinand entered the Augustinian Abbey of St. Vincent on the outskirts of Lisbon. The Canons Regular of St Augustine, of which he became a member, were famous for their dedication to scholarly pursuits. Ferdinand studied Scripture and the Latin classics. He was constantly visited by friends and relatives, who brought embarrassing gifts and news from their social world which disturbed him. His studies suffered and he found find no peace. He persuaded his superiors to transfer him to the Augustinian Santa Cruz Monastery in Coimbra, then the capital of Portugal; and continued his studies there.
After his ordination, Ferdinand was placed in charge of hospitality in his abbey. In this role, in 1219, he came in contact with five Franciscans who were on their way to Morocco to preach to the Muslims there. Ferdinand was strongly attracted to the simple lifestyle of the Franciscan friars. In February 1220, news arrived that the five Franciscans had been martyred in Morocco. Ferdinand meditated on the heroism of these Franciscans. Feeling God's call to leave everything and follow Him, Ferdinand obtained permission from his superiors to join the Franciscan order.
In the summer of 1220, he was invested with the Franciscan habit and began to learn the teachings of their founder, Francis of Assisi. He took the new name of Anthony in honor of Saint Anthony the Great, to whom the Franciscan hermitage where he was living was dedicated.
Shortly after, Anthony set off to Morocco with another friar. He intended to die preaching the Gospel there. However, upon his arrival in Morocco, he fell so ill he had no choice but to return home. On the return trip to Portugal, his ship was driven by storm upon the coast of Sicily and he landed at Messina. From Sicily, he made his way to Assisi and sought admission into a monastery in Italy, but met with difficulty on account of his sickly appearance. He was finally assigned, out of pure compassion, to the rural hospice of San Paolo near Forli, outside Bologna, Italy. There he appears to have lived as a hermit and was also put to work in the kitchen.
One day, on the occasion of an ordination when many visiting Dominican monks were present, there was a misunderstanding over who should preach. The Franciscans naturally expected that one of the Dominicans would occupy the pulpit, for they were renowned for their preaching; the Dominicans, on the other hand, had come unprepared, thinking that a Franciscan would be the preacher.
In this quandary, the head of the hermitage, who had no one among his own humble friars suitable for the occasion, called upon Anthony, whom he suspected was the most educated, and instructed him to speak whatever the Holy Spirit should put into his mouth. Anthony objected but was overruled, and his sermon created a deep impression. His rich voice and eloquence were moving, and the entire theme and substance of his discourse deeply moved his hearers.
At that point, Anthony was commissioned by Brother Gratian, the Franciscan provincial minister, to preach the Gospel throughout Lombardy in northern Italy. From then on his skills were used to the utmost by the Church. Occasionally he took another post, for instance as a teache at the universities of Montpellier and Toulouse—both in southern France—but it was as a preacher that Anthony revealed his supreme gift.
While Anthony lived at Montepaolo, a number of Franciscan and Dominican friars were sent together to Forli for ordination. Anthony was also present, but simply as companion of the head of the ecclesiastical provence. When the time for ordination had arrived, it was found that no one had been appointed to preach. The superior turned first to the Dominicans, and asked that one of their number should address a few words to the assembled brethren; but everyone declined, saying he was not prepared. In their emergency. they then chose Anthony, whom they thought only able to read the Missal and Breviary, and commanded him to speak whatever the spirit of God might put into his mouth. Anthony, compelled by obedience, spoke at first slowly and timidly, but soon enkindled with fervor, he began to explain the most hidden sense of Holy Scripture with such profound erudition and sublime doctrine that all were struck with astonishment. With that moment began Anthony's public career.
St. Francis, informed of his learning, directed him by the following letter to teach theology to the brethren:
- To Brother Anthony, my bishop (i.e. teacher of sacred sciences), Brother Francis sends his greetings. It is my pleasure that thou teach theology to the brethren, provided, however, that as the Rule prescribes, the spirit of prayer and devotion may not be extinguished. Farewell. (1224)
Before undertaking the instruction, Anthony went for some time to Vercelli, to confer with the famous abbot, Thomas Gallo; then he taught successively in Bologna and Montpellier in 1224, and later at Toulouse. Nothing whatever is left of his instruction; the primitive documents, as well as the legendary ones, are lost. Nevertheless, by studying his works, we can form for ourselves a sufficient idea of the character of his doctrine, which corresponds to the spirit and ideal of St. Francis.
It was as an orator, however, rather than as professor, that Anthony reaped his richest harvest. He possessed all the good qualities that characterize an eloquent preacher: a loud and clear voice, a winning countenance, wonderful memory, and profound learning, to which were added from on high the spirit of prophecy and an extraordinary gift of miracles. With the zeal of an apostle he undertook to reform the morality of his time, by combating in a special manner the vices of luxury, avarice, and tyranny.
The fruit of his sermons was, therefore, as admirable as his eloquence, itself. He was equally as fervent in the extinction of heresy, notably that of the Cathares and the Patarines, who were based in the center and north of Italy. Anthony probably dealt with the Albigenses in the south of France, though we have no authorized documents to that effect.
Among the many miracles St. Anthony wrought in the conversion of heretics; the three most noted recorded by his biographers are the following:
- The first is that of a horse, which, kept fasting for three days, refused the oats placed before him, till he had knelt down and adored the Blessed Sacrament, which Saint Anthony held in his hands. Legendary narratives of the fourteenth century say this miracle took place at Toulouse, at Wadding, at Bruges; the real place, however, was Rimini.
- The second most important miracle is that of the poisoned food offered him by some Italian heretics, which he rendered innoxious by the sign of the cross.
- The third miracle worthy of mention is that of the famous sermon to the fishes on the bank of the river Brenta in the neighborhood of Padua; not at Padua, as is generally supposed.
The zeal with which St. Anthony fought against heresy, and the great and numerous conversions he made, rendered him worthy of the glorious title of Malleus hereticorum ("Hammer of the Heretics"). Though his preaching was always seasoned with the salt of discretion, nevertheless he spoke openly to all, to the rich and the poor, to the people as well as those in authority. In a synod at Bourges in the presence of many prelates, he reproved the archbishop, Simon de Sully, so severely, that he induced him to sincere amendment.
After having been guardian at Le-Puy (1224), Anthony became provincial minster of Limousin in 1226. The most authentic miracles of that period are the following:
- Preaching one night on Holy Thursday in the Church of St. Pierre du Queriox at Limoges, he remembered he had to sing a Lesson of the Divine Office. Interrupting suddenly his discourse, he appeared at the same moment among the friars in choir to sing his lesson, after which he continued his sermon.
- Another day preaching in the Square des Creux des Arenes at Limoges, he miraculously preserved his audience from the rain.
- At St. Junien during the sermon, he predicted that by an artifice of the devil the pulpit would break down, but that all should remain safe and sound. And so it occurred; for while he was preaching, the pulpit was overthrown, but no one hurt; not even the saint himself.
- In a monastery of Benedictines, where he had fallen ill, he delivered by means of his tunic one of the monks from great temptations.
- Likewise, by breathing on the face of a novice (whom he had himself received into the order), he confirmed him in his vocation.
- At Brive, where he had founded a convent, he preserved from the rain the maid-servant of a benefactress who was bringing some vegetables to the brethren for their meager repast.
This is all that is historically certain of the sojourn of Saint Anthony in Limousin.
Regarding the celebrated apparition of the Infant Jesus to Anthony, French writers maintain it took place in the province of Limousin at the Castle of Chateauneuf-la-Forêt, between Limoges and Eymoutiers, whereas the Italian hagiographers fix the place at Camposanpiero, near Padua. The existing documents, however, do not decide the question. We have more certainty regarding the apparition of St. Francis to St. Anthony at the Provincial Chapter of Arles, while the latter was preaching about the mysteries of the Cross.
In 1226, after attending the Franciscan chapter at Arles, France, and preaching in the French region of Provence, Anthony returned to Italy and served as envoy from his community to Pope Gregory IX. At the papal court, his preaching was hailed as a "jewel case of the Bible" and he was commissioned to produce official sermons for Feast Days.
Anthony was elected provincial minister of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna on May 30; the friar, held out against the relaxation in the requirements of the austere Franciscan lifestyle. Anthony became ill with dropsy and, in 1231, went to the woodland retreat at Camposanpiero with two other friars for a respite. There Anthony lived in a cell built for him under the branches of a walnut tree. Saint Anthony died on June 13, 1231 at the Poor Clare convent at Arcella on the way back to Padua at the age of 36.
When he died, it is said that the children cried in the streets, that all the bells of the churches rang of their own accord, and that angels came to earth to ring the bells for the death of the saint. He is buried in a chapel (once a church, now enclosed by the current edifice) of the large Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua. The house where he was born in Lisbon was turned into a church, the Igreja de Santo António de Lisboa.
Sermon by Saint Anthony
- "Love" (given on the Sunday after Pentecost)
- God is love," we read today at the beginning of the Epistle. (I John iv, 8) As love is the chief of all the virtues, we shall treat of it here at some length in a special way . . . .
- If God loved us to the point that he gave us his well-beloved Son, by whom he made all things, we too should ourselves love one another. "I give you," he says, "a new commandment, that ye love one another (John 13:34)." . . . We have, says St. Augustine, four objects to love. The first is above us: it is God. The second is ourselves. The third is round about us: it is our neighbor. The fourth is beneath us: it is our body. The rich man loved his body first and above everything. Of God, of his neighbor, of his soul, he had not a thought; that was why he was damned.
- Our Body, says St. Bernard, should be to us like a sick person entrusted to our care. We must refuse it many of the worthless things it wants; on the other hand, we must forcefully compel it to take the helpful remedies repugnant to it. We should treat it not as something belonging to us but as belonging to Him who bought it at so higha price, and whom we must glorify in our body (I Corinthians 6:20). We should love our body in the fourth and last place, not as the goal of our life but as an indispensable instrument of it.
- — From Lives of Saints, John J. Crawley & Co., 1954
Legacy
One of the most beloved of saints, his images and statues are ubiquitous. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on January 16, 1946, he is sometimes called the "Evangelical Doctor." He is especially invoked for the recovery of things lost ("Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around. Something is lost that can't be found.").
On January 27, 1907 in Beaumont, Texas, a church was dedicated and named in honor of St. Anthony of Padua. The church was later designated a cathedral in 1966 with the formation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Beaumont, but was not formally consecrated. On April 28, 1974, St. Anthony Cathedral was dedicated and consecrated by Bishop Warren Boudreaux. In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI granted St. Anthony Cathedral the designation of minor basilica. St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica celebrated its hundreth anniversary on January 28, 2007.
Seventeenth-century Spanish missionaries came across a small Native American community along what was then known as the Yanaguana River on the feast day of Saint Anthony and renamed the river and eventually a mission built nearby in his honor. This mission would at first become the focal point of a small community that would eventually grow in size and scope to become the city of San Antonio.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Attwater, Donald, & John, Catherine Rachel. The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, Penguin Books, 1993. ISBN 0-140-51312-4.
- Hopkins, Nancy. Saint Anthony of Padua: The Story of His Life & Popular Devotions, Saint Anthony Press and Franciscan, 1993. ISBN 978-0867162028
- Stoddard, Charles Warren. St. Anthony: The Wonder-Worker of Padua, Tan Books & Publishing, 1971. ISBN 978-0895550392
- Wintz, Jack. Anthony of Padua: Saint of the People, Saint Anthony Messenger Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0867165838
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