Saint
Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)
Anthony
was another would-be Franciscan missionary whom God called to other work.
His
parents, Martin and Maria Bulhom, baptized him Fernando. In 1210 he joined the
Canons of St. Augustine in Lisbon. This monastery, however, was too close to
Fernando’s worldly friends and to the kings quarrels with the Church. Two years
later Fernando was allowed to transfer to the monastery at Coimbra, a city 100
miles north of Lisbon. There he studied Scripture and prepared for ordination.
After
the bones of the first Franciscan martyrs in Morocco (January 16) were brought
to Coimbra in 1220, Fernando told the friars begging at the monastery door,
“Dearest brothers, gladly will I take the habit of your order if you will
promise that as soon as I do so you will send me to the land of the Saracens,
there to reap the same reward as your holy martyrs and gain a share in their
glory.”
The
friars’ place in Coimbra was dedicated to St. Anthony the Egyptian hermit, and
so Fernando took that name. A year later he went to Morocco, but poor health
forced him back.
His
boat was sidetracked to Sicily where he joined the friars going to the 1221
Pentecost Chapter in Assisi. There Anthony saw St. Francis and was assigned to
the northern province where he served at the hermitage in Monto Paolo near
Bologna.
In
the summer of 1222 Anthony attended the ordination of several friars. At the
dinner afterwards the superior asked one of the friars to preach. All the
Dominicans and Franciscans present declined except for Anthony. He amazed the
friars with a marvelous sermon on Christ’s obedience, even to death on a cross.
A hidden talent was revealed!
Anthony
soon received permission to preach throughout northern Italy, where heretics
had recently won many followers. The Church’s wealth was causing a bitter
controversy, and the poor and simple lives of wandering dissident preachers
contrasted sharply with the lives of many priests and bishops. Anthony won
converts by his sermons and by his simple way of living.
Soon
Anthony received another job: teaching theology to the friars in Bologna. His
previous studies in Coimbra served him well at this time. Anthony the teacher
always heeded the command St. Francis addressed to him that this study of
theology must not destroy the spirit of holy prayer and devotion. Indeed,
Anthony’s students learned Scripture from a man as holy as he was learned.
In
1224 Anthony was sent to southern France, where the Albigensians had made many
converts, to preach the gospel. There he earned the nickname “Hammer of
Heretics.” In fact, Anthony won over the dissidents as much by his holiness and
great charity as by his learning.
In
1227 Anthony returned to northern Italy where he was made provincial of the
friars in that area. He continued his popular preaching. Only in 1228 did
Anthony come to Padua where he immediately won over the people. Thousands
listened to his Lenten series in 1231. Under the influence of his preaching the
city of Padua afterwards passed a law against the then commonly accepted
practice of imprisoning debtors until they paid off the complete debt.
In
the spring of 1231, at age 36, Anthony withdrew with his companions Brother
Luke and Brother Roger to the friary at Camposampiero where he had a sort of
treehouse built as a hermitage. There he prayed and prepared himself for death.
On
June 13, 1231, he became very ill and asked to be taken back to Padua. At the
friary in Arcella, on the way, Anthony received the last sacraments. Shortly
before he died, he called out, “I see my Lord.”
Anthony
was canonized less than a year after his death and was named a Doctor of the
Church in 1946.
QUOTE: “When a crystal is touched
or struck by the rays of the sun, it gives forth brilliant sparks of light.
When a person of faith is touched by the light of God’s grace, they too must
give forth sparks of light in good words and deeds and so bring God’s light to
others” (St. Anthony, Sermon #274).
COMMENT: Anthony placed his
preaching and writing talents at the service of the Church, and he brought
great results. A great deal of his success is attributable to the holiness of
his life. In our world of constant imitation, it is often difficult to find
“the real thing.” People who met Anthony of Padua knew they had seen and heard
“the real thing.”
by McCloskey,
Patrick. Franciscan Saint of the Day. St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1981.
But why is
the most common depiction of St. Anthony with the child Jesus in his arms or
even with the child standing on a book the saint holds?
When
Anthony was a guest in the house of the Lord of Chateauneuf in France, he
prayed far into the night when suddenly the room was filled with light more
brilliant than the sun. Jesus appeared to St. Anthony under the form of a
little child. The master of the house, attracted by the bright light that emanated
from the room, was drawn to witness the vision but promised to tell no one about
it right away. He waited until after Anthony’s death to talk of the vision.
Some see a
similarity and connection between Anthony’s experience and that of St. Francis
when he reenacted Jesus’ nativity in the creche at Greccio. It is said that the
Christ Child became alive in Francis’ arms. There are other accounts of an
appearance of the child Jesus to Francis and some of the other friars, as well.
These speak of a fascination with the humility and vulnerability of Christ who
emptied himself in the Incarnation to become one like us in all things except
sin.
