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|
Saint Anthony of
Padua |
 
The iconic
image of Saint Anthony, with
book of Scripture, Christ Child,
and the lily of the
Annunciation, rendered by
Guercino, 1656
|
|
Doctor of the Church,
Wonder Worker, Professor of Miracles |
| Born |
August 15,
1195,
Lisbon |
| Died |
13 June 1231,
Padua |
| Venerated in |
Roman Catholic Church |
|
Canonized |
30 May
1232,
Spoleto,
Italy by
Pope Gregory IX |
| Major
shrine |
Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua
in
Padua,
Italy |
|
Feast |
June 13 |
|
Attributes |
Book;
Bread;
Infant Jesus;
Lily |
|
Patronage |
American Indians;
animals;
barrenness;
Beaumont, Texas;
Brazil;
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; oppressed people;
Padua, Italy;
Philippines (Cavite,
Masbate &
Sibulan); poor people;
Portugal;
pregnant women; seekers of lost
articles;
shipwrecks;
starvation;
sterility;
Swineherds; Tigua Indians; travel
hostesses; travellers;
Watermen |
Saint Anthony (August
15,
1195 –
June 13,
1231) also venerated as Saint Anthony of
Lisbon and Saint Anthony of Padua, 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.
Anthony was born on the
Feast of the Assumption in Lisbon, Portugal, to
Martim Vicente de Bulhões and wife Teresa Pais
Taveira (a descendant of
Alfonso VI of Castile - and thus a half-third
cousin once removed of King
Afonso II of Portugal - and ironically of
Muhammad), and brother of Pedro Martins de
Bulhões (ancestor of the de Bulhão/de
Bulhões family), in a very rich family of the
nobility who wanted him to become a noble; however
these were not his wishes. His family arranged sound
education for him at the local cathedral school.
Against the wishes of his family, Anthony entered
the
Augustinian
Abbey of
St. Vincent on the outskirts of Lisbon. The
Canons Regular of
St Augustine, of which he was now a member, were
famous for their dedication to scholarly pursuits.
Anthony studied
Scripture and the
Latin classics. Anthony was constantly visited
by friends and relatives, bringing embarrassing
gifts and news from their social world which
disturbed him. His studies were suffering and there
he found no peace. He persuaded his superiors to
transfer him to the Augustinian
Santa Cruz Monastery (Abbey of the Holy Cross)
in
Coimbra, then the capital of Portugal, and
continued his studies.
After his ordination, Anthony
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. Anthony was strongly attracted to
the simple
Gospel lifestyle of the Franciscan
friars. In February 1220, news arrived that the
five Franciscans had been
martyred in Morocco. Anthony meditated on the
heroism of these Franciscans. He wanted to obey
God's call to leave everything and follow Him.
Anthony 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 when he joined the
Order of Friars Minor in honor of
Saint Anthony the Great, to whom the Franciscan
hermitage in the current civil parish of
Santo António dos Olivais,
Coimbra, 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
Forlì,
Romagna, Italy, a choice made after considering
his poor health. There he appears to have lived as a
hermit and was put to work in the kitchen.
One day, on the occasion of an
ordination, when a great many visiting
Dominican monks were present, there was some
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 homilist.
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 most qualified, 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.
Not only his rich voice and arresting manner, but
the entire theme and substance of his discourse and
his moving eloquence, held the attention of his
hearers.
At that point, Anthony was
commissioned by Brother Gratian, the minister
provincial, to preach the Gospel throughout
Lombardy, a region in northern Italy. From then
on his skills were used to the utmost by the Church.
Occasionally he took another post, as a teacher, for
instance, at the universities of
Montpellier and
Toulouse—both in southern France—but it was as a
preacher that Anthony revealed his supreme gift.
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 the general chapter 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 "Sermons for
Feast Days."
Anthony was elected minister
provincial of the Italian region of
Emilia-Romagna on 30 May; the friars held out
against the push of Franciscan austerities. Anthony
became ill with
dropsy and, in 1231, went to the woodland
retreat at
Camposampiero 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 13 June 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 and that all the
bells of the churches rang of their own accord, rung
by
angels come to earth to honor 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.
Recognition
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 "Evangelical
Doctor". He is especially invoked for the recovery
of things lost ("Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony,
please come around. Something is lost and cannot 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
100th 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 became the focal point of a small community
that eventually grew in size and scope to become the
city of
San Antonio.
St. Anthony is known in
Brazil and Portugal as a marriage saint, because
legend has him as one who conciliated couples. His
feast day,
June 13, is Lisbon's municipal holiday,
celebrated with parades and marriages of humble
couples, and he is one of the saints celebrated in
the Brazilian
Festa Junina (along with
John the Baptist and
Saint Peter). The previous day,
June 12, is the
Brazilian Valentine's Day.
In
Uvari, in
Tamil Nadu, India, the church of St. Anthony is
home to an ancient wooden statue that is said to
have cured the entire crew of a Portuguese ship
suffering from cholera. St Anthony is said to
perform many miracles daily, and Uvari is visited by
pilgrims of different religions from all over South
India.
St.
Anthony of Padua
