"St. Anthony of Padua" by Francisco de Zurbaran (1640)

St. Anthony of Padua
Order: Order of Friars Minor (OFM)
Honors: Doctor of the Church
Born: 1195 (Lisbon, Portugal)
Died: 13 June 1231
Canonized on: 1232
Feast: 13 Jun
Parton of: against shipwrecks, against starvation, against starving, American Indians, amputees, animals, asses, barrenness, boatmen, Brazil, domestic animals, elderly people, expectant mothers, faith in the Blessed Sacrament, fishermen, harvests, horses, lost articles, lower animals, mail, mariners, oppressed people, paupers, poor people, Portugal, pregnant women, sailors, seekers of lost articles, shipwrecks, starvation, starving people, sterility, swineherds, Tigua Indians, travel hostesses, travellers, watermen

Early Life

Anthony was born in 1195 at Lisbon, Portugal and given the baptismal name of Ferdinand. According to a 15th century tradition, his father was a captain in the royal army named Martin Bouillon. Martin was a descendant of Godfrey de Bouillon, a commander during the First Crusade. His mother, Theresa Tavejra, may have been a descendant of Froila I, the fourth king of Asturia. Regardless of their ancestry, his parents were faithful Christians and raised their son according to their faith.

Ferdinand received his early education at the cathedral school of Lisbon. At the age of 15, he joined the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Lisbon. He was continually distracted by visiting friends and relatives so, after two years, he transferred to the monastery in Coimbra. He studied diligently and, as he had been gifted with an excellent memory, he became well-versed in theology, sacred Scripture and the Church Fathers. (There is an ancient tradition that he committed the entire Bible to memory.)

In 1220, the five bodies of St. Berard and his companions, the first Franciscan martyrs, who were martyred in Morocco at the hands of the Moslems, were brought back to Portugal for burial in the Church of Santa Croce in Coimbra, where Ferdinand was stationed. He was moved by their witness of faith in suffering martyrdom. Ferdinand desired to preach the Gospel to the Moslems even if it meant giving his own life for our Lord. In order to accomplish this, he left the Augustinians and joined the Order of Friars Minor, the Franciscans, taking the name Anthony.

Anthony, the Franciscan

Anthony set sail for Morocco in the spring of 1221. Shortly after arriving he was stricken with a severe illness which forced him to return to Portugal. A violent storm drove the ship off course where it eventually it docked in Messina, Sicily where he remained until he regained his health. Learning that a general chapter of the Franciscans was to take place on May 30 at the Portiuncula in Assisi, he traveled there to take part and to meet St. Francis.

While attending the chapter Anthony asked to be assigned to live in a place in solitude and penance. He was sent to the hermitage of Monte Paolo near Forli and Bologna by his superior, Father Graziano. While attending the ordination of Franciscan and Dominican priests at Forli, possibly including his own ordination, it was discovered that no one had been appointed to preach. While the Dominicans declined because no one was prepared, the Franciscans recommended Anthony, who they thought could read only the Missal and the Breviary. He was told to preach whatever the Holy Spirit put into his mouth and that is exactly what he did, astonishing everyone with his zeal, eloquence and theological knowledge. Thus began Anthony’s career as a preacher and teacher. The provincial assigned St. Anthony to preach through the Lombardy region, and he had great success in converting many heretics and renewing the faith of many people.

When Francis heard of Anthony’s preaching skill, he wrote, “To Brother Anthony, Brother Francis sends his greetings. It is my pleasure that you teach theology to the brethren, provided, however, that as the Rule prescribes, the spirit of prayer and devotion may not be extinguished. Farewell.” Anthony obeyed, going to Bologna, Montpellier and Toulouse.

In 1230 Anthony moved to Padua where he had helped to establish a monastery and where he would spend his remaining life. In addition to his preaching, he organized relief for the poor, worked to abolition debtors' prisons and obtained the release of prisoners captured in the wars between city-states.

Anthony's Message

It was Anthony's preaching that he was best known for. He exhorted the faithful, both priests and laity, to conversion. He preached against the vices of luxury, greed and tyranny. His sermons inspired reconciliation between the Italian city-states who were often at war with each other. He converted many heretics to the faith with solid, persuasive and compassionate arguments and was especially noted for his defense of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Mary and the infallibility of the pope. Near the end of his life, 30,000 people gathered in Padua to hear him. So many were moved to repentance that more priests had to be found to hear confessions. He was nicknamed the “Hammer of Heretics”.

Anthony's Death

Anthony contracted a case of ergotism, a disease now known as St. Anthony's Fire. In 1231 he moved to a woodland retreat and, while moving to the convent of the Poor Clares in Arcella, he passed away. He was 35 years old.

In 1263 a basilica had been constructed to house Anthony's remains. When they opened the crypt they discovered that they had turned to dust except for his tongue, which remained intact, appropriate for such a gifted preacher. St. Bonaventure, then minister general of the Friars Minor, took the tongue in his hands and exclaimed, "O blessed tongue, which has always blessed God and caused others to bless Him, now it appears evident how great were your merits before God!"

The tongue was placed in a special reliquary and can still be seen today in a separate chapel in the basilica. In 1310, as the basilica was almost finished, the remains of St. Anthony were transferred to a tomb in the middle of the nave. In 1350 they were transferred to their present chapel in the basilica. This transfer is commemorated on February 15 in the Franciscan calendar.

Anthony's Legacy

Pope Gregory IX, who heard St. Anthony preach, in his canonization decree referred to him as the “Ark of the Covenant” since the original Ark held the sacred Scriptures, Anthony in his person.

Pope Pius XII commented, “If anyone attentively considers the sermons of the Paduan, Anthony will stand forth as a most skilled master of the Scriptures, an outstanding theologian in examining doctrine, an excellent doctor and master in treating of ascetical and mystical things.”

© 2018 Gary J. Sibio. All rights reserved.