Anthony of Padua
Saint Anthony of Padua, also venerated as Anthony of Lisbon, particularly in Portugal (August 15, 1195 – June 13, 1231) is a Catholic saint who was born in Lisbon as Fernando de Bulhões (pron. IPA [fɨɾ.'nɐ̃.du dɨ bu.'ʎõj̃ʃ]), to a wealthy family.
Life
He received in baptism the name of Fernando. St. Anthony's feast is on June 13. His family arranged a sound education for him at the local cathedral school. Against the wishes of his family, Fernando 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. Fernando studied Sacred Scripture, St Jerome, St Augustine, St Gregory the Great and St Bernard. He also studied Latin masters Ovid, Seneca and Cato. Fernando was constantly visited by friends and relatives, bringing embarrassing gifts and news from their social world which disturbed him. His studies were suffering and he found no peace there. He persuaded his superiors to transfer him to the Augustinian Abbey of the Holy Cross in Coimbra, then the capital of Portugal, and continued his studies.
After his ordination, Fernando 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 Mohammedans there. Fernando 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. They were considered to have acquired the crown of martyrdoom. Fernando meditated on the heroism of these Franciscans. He longed to embrace the simple lifestyle of the Franciscans. He wanted the freedom of a charismatic and joy-filled response to God's call to leave everything and follow Him. Fernando obtained permission from his superiors to join the Franciscans. 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 (251-356), to whom the Franciscan hermitage where he was living was dedicated.
Shortly afterwards, Anthony set off to Morocco with another friar. He intended to die preaching the Gospel there. He contracted a severe fever, possibly malaria. He set sail for Portugal but was blown off course in a terrible storm and the ship was forced ashore in Sicily. He joined up with some of his fellow friars in Sicily who were in the process of travelling to Assisi for a gathering of all Franciscan friars. On the feast of Pentecost in 1221 thousands of Friars gathered in Assisi for what has come to be known as the Chapter of Mats, as the great number of friars meant many had to sleep on mats. After the chapter, the provincial of Bologna, Friar Graziano sent him to a small hermitage in the mountains in the town of Montepaolo to serve a priest for the hermits there. This was one of the happiest periods in his life as he finally got to live in total simplicity. However, Anthony was obliged to preach at an ordination when the preacher failed to arrive, and all were astounded at his marvellous preaching. From then on, he travelled throughout Northern Italy and Southern France preaching especially in areas where heresy was seen as strong.
He is said to have been an eloquent preacher with a loud and clear voice, a winning smile, a wonderful memory, and profound learning. With the zeal of an apostle he undertook to reform the morality of his time by specifically combating the vices of luxury, avarice, and tyranny. He taught theology at Bologna, Toulouse, Montpellier and Padua, and won a great reputation as a preacher throughout Italy. He was the leader of the rigorous party in the Franciscan order against the mitigations introduced by the general Elias. His death took place at the convent of Ara Coeli, near Padua, on the 13th of June 1231.
Recognition
He holds the record for the fastest canonization in history: he was declared a saint 352 days after his death (Pentecost, May 30, 1232) by Gregory IX. His feast day is on June 13th, the day of his death, a day of popular and sumptuous celebrations in Lisbon. Saint Anthony is the patron saint of Lisbon and the patron of Padua, where his relics remained after his death.
The numerous miracles attributed to him made the name of Anthony celebrated throughout the world. The inhabitants of Padua erected to his memory a magnificent basilica, where his relics were transferred in 1263. When the vault in which, for thirty years, his sacred body had reposed was opened, the flesh was found reduced to dust but the preacher's tongue was seen to be uninjured, fresh, and of a lively red colour, it was reported at the time. St Bonaventure, beholding this wonder, took the tongue affectionately in his hands and kissed it, exclaiming: "O Blessed Tongue that always praised the Lord, and made others bless Him, now it is evident what great merit thou hast before God."
The fame of St Anthony's miracles has never diminished, and even at the present day he is acknowledged as the greatest miracle worker of the times. A gifted speaker, he attracted crowds everywhere he went, speaking in multiple tongues; the legend being that even the fishes in the Brenta loved to listen.
One of the most beloved of saints, his images and statues are ubiquitous. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on January 16, 1946, and is sometimes called the "Evangelical Doctor." He is especially invoked for the recovery of things lost. Also, against starvation, barrenness; patron of amputees, animals, boatmen, Brazil, diocese of Beaumont, domestic animals, the elderly, expectant mothers, faith in the Blessed Sacrament, Ferrazzano, fishermen, harvests, horses, Lisbon, lower animals, mail, mariners, oppressed people, Padua, paupers, Portugal, sailors, sterility, swineherds, Tigua Indians, travel hostesses, travellers, and watermen.
In Portugal, Brazil, and some parts of Latin America he is recognized as the marriage saint, and on his day (June 13) single women may buy a small statue of Saint Anthony and place (or bury) it upside down for a week, blackmailing him to only put him in his normal position after they found a good husband.
The meagre accounts of his life which we possess have been supplemented by numerous popular legends, which represent him as a continuous worker of miracles, and describe his marvellous eloquence by pictures of fishes leaping out of the water to hear him. There are many confraternities established in his honour throughout Christendom, and the number of "pious" biographies devoted to him would fill many volumes.
References
The most trustworthy modern works are by A. Lepître, St Antoine de Padoue (Paris, 1902, in Les Saints series: good bibliography; Eng. trans. by Edith Guest, London, 1902), and by Léopold de Chérancé, St Antoine de Padoue (Paris, 1895; Eng. trans., London, 1896). His works, consisting of sermons and a mystical commentary on the Bible, were published in an appendix to those of St Francis, in the Annales Minorum of Luke Wadding (Antwerp, 1623), and are also reproduced by Horoy, Medii aevi bibliotheca patristica (1880, vi. pp. 555 et sqq.); see art. "Antonius von Padua" in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopadie.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Saint Anthony of Padua
- St. Anthony of Padua - Catholic Patron Saint of Lost Things, the Poor and Travelers
- St. Anthony
- Church of St. Anthony of Padua in India
