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Born in Lisbon in A.D. 1195, St. Anthony, né Ferdinand, was the son
of noble, God-fearing parents. He received a good education, and, at
the age of fifteen, joined the Canons Regular of St. Augustine which
whom he studied Sacred Scripture and the writings of the Fathers. At
around the age of 25, he became inspired by the Franciscans martyred
in Morocco and decided to join their Order, taking the name
"Anthony."
Illness prevented his going to Morocco, so he spent some time in
Sicily, in Assisi, and then in Montepaolo his public life began:
during the ordination of a group of Franciscan and Dominican friars,
it was discovered that no one had been appointed to preach. The
superior turned to the Dominicans first because they are the "Order
of Preachers," but all declined, saying they were not prepared. So
St. Anthony stepped up -- and began to teach so beautifully that
word of his talents reached the ears of St. Francis, who blessed his
work.
St. Anthony taught at Bologna, Montpellier, and Toulouse, but it was
as a fearless orator (he became known as the "Hammer of the
Heretics") and a miracle worker that he is most renowned.
Among these miracles:
- In Rimini, an
ass which hadn't eaten in three days refused the oats placed
before him, till he had knelt down and adored the Blessed
Sacrament held in St. Anthony's hands.
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- Some Italian heretics offered
him poisoned food which he rendered harmless by the sign of the
cross.
- On Holy Thursday, while
preaching in the Church of St. Pierre du Queriox at Limoges, he
remembered he had to sing the Divine Office in the choir. He
bilocated, appearing among the friars to sing, and continued on
with his preaching.
- Again while preaching in Limoges (in
the square des creux des Arenes), he miraculously kept his
audience dry from the rain.
- During the sermon at St.
Junien, he rightfully predicted that the devil would cause the
pulpit to break, but that everyone would be safe.
- Either in the province of
Limousin at the Castle of Chateauneuf-la-Forêt, between Limoges
and Eymoutiers or at Camposanpiero, near Padua, the Infant Jesus
was seen by fellow friars visiting with St. Anthony in his room.
- On his way back to Italy after the
death of St. Francis (3 October, 1226), he travelled through
Provence where, tired from travel, he and his companions entered
the house of a poor woman, who placed bread and wine before
them. She had forgotten, though, to shut off the tap of the
wine-barrel -- and as the wine was running out, one of Anthony's
companions broke his glass. Anthony prayed, and the wine barrel
was filled up again and the glass was made whole.
- Among his last sermons were
those preached during Lent of 1231. Huge crowds of people --
30,000 and more -- gathered to hear him. His powerful oratory --
and the fact that Anthony would appear to many of the people in
visions urging repentance -- caused so great a number of people
to want to repent, that there weren't enough priests to deal
with them. These visions -- often taking place in dreams --
occurred after his death, too.
- In Padua, a young man named Leonardo kicked
his own mother in a fit of anger. He confessed his fault to St.
Anthony who said to him: "The foot of him who kicks his mother
deserves to be cut off." Leonardo ran home and cut off his foot.
Learning of this, St. Anthony took the amputated foot and
miraculously rejoined it.
Near Padua took place the famous
"sermon to the fishes" when, to impress heretics, he preached the
word of God and the fishes poked their heads out of the water to
listen.
The 49th chapter of the 14th century
"Little Flowers of St. Francis" describes this event like this:
Christ, the blessed one, was
pleased to show forth the great sanctity of his most faithful
servant St Anthony, and how men ought devoutly to listen to his
preaching, be means of creatures without reason. On one
occasion, amongst others, he made use of fish to reprove the
folly of faithless heretics: even as we read in the Old
Testament that in ancient times he reproved the ignorance of
Balaam by the mouth of an ass. St Anthony being at one time at
Rimini, where there were a great number of heretics, and wishing
to lead them by the light of faith into the way of truth,
preached to them for several days, and reasoned with them on the
faith of Christ and on the Holy Scriptures. They not only
resisted his words, but were hardened and obstinate, refusing to
listen to him.
At last St Anthony, inspired by God, went down to the sea-shore,
where the river runs into the sea, and having placed himself on
a bank between the river and the sea, he began to speak to the
fishes as if the Lord had sent him to preach to them, and said:
"Listen to the word of God, O ye fishes of the sea and of the
river, seeing that the faithless heretics refuse to do so."
No sooner had he spoken these words than suddenly so great a
multitude of fishes, both small and great, approached the bank
on which he stood, that never before had so many been seen in
the sea or the river. All kept their heads out of the water, and
seemed to be looking attentively on St Anthony's face; all were
ranged in perfect order and most peacefully, the smaller ones in
front near the bank, after them came those a little bigger, and
last of all, were the water was deeper, the largest.
When they had placed themselves in this order, St Anthony began
to preach to them most solemnly, saying: "My brothers the
fishes, you are bound, as much as is in your power, to return
thanks to your Creator, who has given you so noble an element
for your dwelling; for you have at your choice both sweet water
and salt; you have many places of refuge from the tempest; you
have likewise a pure and transparent element for your
nourishment. God, your bountiful and kind Creator, when he made
you, ordered you to increase and multiply, and gave you his
blessing. In the universal deluge, all other creatures perished;
you alone did God preserve from all harm. He has given you fins
to enable you to go where you will. To you was it granted,
according to the commandment of God, to keep the prophet Jonas,
and after three days to throw him safe and sound on dry land.
You it was who gave the tribute-money to our Saviour Jesus
Christ, when, through his poverty, he had not wherewith to pay.
By a singular mystery you were the nourishment of the eternal
King, Jesus Christ, before and after his resurrection. Because
of all these things you are bound to praise and bless the Lord,
who has given you blessings so many and so much greater than to
other creatures."
At these words the fish began to open their mouths, and bow
their heads, endeavouring as much as was in their power to
express their reverence and show forth their praise. St Anthony,
seeing the reverence of the fish towards their Creator, rejoiced
greatly in spirit, and said with a loud voice: "Blessed be the
eternal God; for the fishes of the sea honour him more than men
without faith, and animals without reason listen to his word
with greater attention than sinful heretics."
And whilst St Anthony was preaching, the number of fishes
increased, and none of them left the place that he had chosen.
And the people of the city hearing of the miracle, made haste to
go and witness it. With them also came the heretics of whom we
have spoken above, who, seeing so wonderful and manifest a
miracle, were touched in their hearts; and threw themselves at
the feet of St Anthony to hear his words. The saint then began
to expound to them the Catholic faith. He preached so
eloquently, that all those heretics were converted, and returned
to the true faith of Christ; the faithful also were filled with
joy, and greatly comforted, being strengthened in the faith.
After this St Anthony sent away the fishes, with the blessing of
God; and they all departed, rejoicing as they went, and the
people returned to the city. But St Anthony remained at Rimini
for several days, preaching and reaping much spiritual fruit in
the souls of his hearers.
St. Anthony, as a Franciscan, was
also famous for helping the poor. At his encouragement, Padua passed
a law in 1231 to help debtors who couldn't pay their debts.
St. Anthony died in Arcella, strengthened by an apparition of Our
Lord and in the "odour of sanctity," at age thirty-six on 13 June,
1231. After he died, he announced his own death to Abbot Thomas
Gallo by appearing to him. His death was also announced to the
citizens of Padua by a troop of children, crying: "The holy Father
is dead; St. Anthony is dead!" Gregory IX canonized him within the
year, the fastest canonization ever.
The people of Padua built a temple for his relics, which were
transferred to it in 1263 in the presence of St. Bonaventure. His
body was found to be dust -- but for his tongue, which was fresh and
red. St. Bonaventure kissed it and cried, "O Blessed Tongue that
always praised the Lord, and made others bless Him, now it is
evident what great merit thou hast before God."
St. Anthony is the patron of sailors, pregnant women, amputees,
fishermen, and the poor. He is invoked against shipwrecks and
in order
to find lost objects, by women to find a husband, to conceive a
child, and to ensure safe childbirth. He is also
invoked to
see that mail and packages are safely delivered. St. Anthony is
most often depicted in art wearing his Franciscan habit and holding
a lily and the Christ Child, or sometimes with loaves of bread or a
book.
Customs of the Day
On the Feast of this most
wonderful of Saints, your priest might bless lilies for you to keep
(this isn't a universal practice). The blessing of lilies, which
remind us of St. Anthony's purity and have always been a symbol for
him, stems from a miracle which took place in Revolutionary France:
many priests
 and
religious were murdered, so many churches and convents destroyed,
but the faithful still showed up at a surviving church on the Feast
of St. Anthony. Months later, it was discovered that lilies that had
adorned the church at that feast were still fresh. Let the lilies
beautify your house, or carry them with you, or press them in a
book, etc. If your priest doesn't bless lilies, you can still use
them non-sacramentally to remind you of one of the greatest Saints
ever. The English of the Blessing of the Lilies is as follows:
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The
Blessing of Lilies on the Feast of St. Anthony
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The priest vests in
surplice and white stole, and says:
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| P: |
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
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| All: |
Who made heaven and earth. |
| P: |
The Lord be with you. |
| All: |
And with thy spirit. |
| P: |
Let us pray. God, the
Creator and Preserver of the human race, the Lover of holy
purity, the Giver of supernatural grace, and the Dispenser
of everlasting salvation; bless + these lilies which we, Thy
humble servants, present to Thee today as an act of
thanksgiving and in honour of St. Anthony, Thy confessor,
and with a request for Thy blessing. Pour out on them, by
the saving sign + of the holy cross, Thy dew from on high.
Thou in Thy great kindness hast given them to man, and
endowed them with a sweet fragrance to lighten the burden of
the sick. Therefore, let them be filled with such power
that, whether they are used by the sick, or kept in homes or
other places, or devoutly carried on one's person, they may
serve to drive out evil spirits, safeguard holy chastity,
and turn away illness--all this through the prayers of St.
Anthony--and finally impart to Thy servants grace and peace;
through Christ our Lord. |
| All: |
Amen. |
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Then he sprinkles the
lilies with holy water, saying:
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| P: |
Sprinkle me with hyssop, Lord, and I
shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than
snow. Pray for us, St. Anthony. |
| All: |
That we may be worthy of Christ's
promise. |
| P: |
Let us pray. We beg Thee, O Lord, that
Thy people may be helped by the constant and devout
intercession of Blessed Anthony, Thy illustrious confessor.
May he assist us to be worthy of Thy grace in this life, and
to attain everlasting joys in the life to come; through
Christ our Lord. |
| All: |
Amen. |
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After this the lilies are
distributed to the people.
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In some parishes, chapels, or countries, animals might be blessed
today as they are also sometimes blessed on the Feasts of St.
Anthony Abbot and of St. Francis of Assisi.
Another custom on this day is known as "St. Anthony's Bread" and
goes back to A.D. 1263 when a child drowned near the Basilica of St.
Anthony in Padua as it was still being built. The mother besought
St. Anthony and promised that if her child were restored to life,
she would give to the poor an amount of wheat equal to the weight of
her child. Of course her son was saved, and her promise was kept.
"St. Anthony's Bread," then, is the promise of giving alms in return
for a favour asked of God through St. Anthony's intercession (the
custom also takes place throughout the year when parents give alms
after placing their baby under the patronage of St. Anthony). In
some places, the custom has a literal parallel in that loaves of
bread might be blessed and given away at church or, generally, to
the poor.
Because of St. Anthony's history of being invoked by single women in
search of a husband, today is a good day for single people who have
a vocation to marriage to make a visit to a church or shrine
dedicated to St. Anthony!
In Lisbon, his birthplace, it is a traditional day for getting
married (women who get married on this day are called "brides of St.
Anthony"). So popular are weddings on this day in Lisbon, that the
city hall hosts them for free if the couple are poor. St. Anthony
altars are built and decorated, parades are held, bonfires lit,
grilled sardines and sangria are enjoyed.
Sangria
1 (750-ml) bottle red wine (Rioja, if possible)
1/4 cup brandy
1/4 cup orange flavoured liqueur (triple sec or Grand Marnier)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 orange, thinly sliced
1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
1 unwaxed apple, cored, and cut into thin wedges
1 (750-ml) bottle sparkling water, chilled
Combine everything but the sparkling water in a large plastic
container or glass pitchers. Cover and chill completely, 1 to 2
hours. When ready to serve, add the sparkling water, pour over
ice cubes, and enjoy.
 It
is also customary to decorate with pots of sweet basil (Ocimum
basilicum) and to give some away to friends with prayers
invoking our Saint (tea made from basil is good for headaches,
fevers, stomach aches, and indigestion -- but it should not be drunk
by pregnant women).
Finally, because he is also especially cherished by the Italian
people, parishes with large Italian populations might host great
festivals on this day, rather like the Italian festivals held in
honour of St.
Joseph on 19 March, so keep an eye out for one in your area.
Note: Because St. Anthony was buried on a Tuesday and many miracles
accompanied his funeral, Tuesdays are special days of honouring him
throughout the year. It is customary to pray a
Novena
to him on thirteen consecutive Tuesdays.
Footnotes:
1
Various 14th. century narratives place this
miracle in Toulouse, Wadding, or Bruges, but the actual location was
Rimini
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