SAINT ANTHONY of PADUA

✳

Among all the Saints, one of the most popular is Saint Anthony, for the number of his adherents is one of the largest. However, paradoxically, the general public knows very little about this magnificent Saint.

His name is associated with many legends about the miracles he performed during his lifetime, but the true facts from his life are little known even to the followers and fans of the Saint.

The Church called him the “Evangelical Doctor”, and who today knows his “Sunday Sermons” that brought him this title?

He was called the “Father of Science”, “Light of Italy”, “Teacher of Life”, “Sun of Padua”, but only a few could explain the reasons for such high-profile titles.

It is known that the great Saint-to be was born in 1195 into the family of the noble Lisbon knight Martin de Bouillon, receiving the name Fernando at baptism.

The boy was growing up lively and restless, and it is not surprising that the father had no doubt, in whose footsteps his son would follow and whether he would choose the path of knighthood…

However, at a young age, Fernando decided to become a monk and entered the Lisbon monastery of Saint Vincent, which belonged to the order of regular canons.

The death of his father in the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, as well as the martyrdom in Morocco of five Franciscans whom Fernando had met as they passed through Lisbon, aroused in him a burning desire to preach the Gospel. In the depths of his soul, he dreamed of a martyr’s crown, believing that there could be no more beautiful death than death for the faith.

However, in 1220 Fernando left the order of regular canons and became a Franciscan, taking the monastic name Anthony.

That same year, he attempted to realize his dream and, accompanied by a Franciscan named Philip, set out for Morocco to preach Christianity to Muslims. However, he fell seriously ill in Morocco and set sail back for Portugal in hope of regaining his health. On the return voyage, the ship was pushed off course and landed in Sicily. Anthony saw God’s will in this and decided to stay in Italy. Well, it so happened that Anthony never visited his homeland again.

From Sicily, Anthony went to the General Chapter of the Franciscan Order, where he met Francis of Assisi – the founder of the order, whose peace prayer is still relevant and highly in demand:

“Lord,

make me an instrument of your peace:

• where there is hatred, let me sow love;
• where there is injury, – pardon;
• where there is doubt, – faith;
• where there is despair, – hope;
• where there is darkness, – light;
• where there is sadness, – joy.

After the Chapter, Anthony, at the request of Francis of Assisi, was sent to the remote monastery of Monte Paolo near the city of Forlì, where he led an unremarkable, quiet life. However, one day at a festival in Forli, to everyone’s surprise and to his own amazement, he defeated all the outstanding speakers, both his order and the Dominican, in a friendly competition.

Soon after this victory, he was sent to study with the famous theologian Thomas Gallo, and after completing these studies, Anthony began teaching theology at the University of Bologna himself.

At the next Chapter of the order, Francis of Assisi instructed Anthony to preach in the cities of northern Italy, engulfed in the Cathar heresy.

Anthony went straight to Rimini, the city where the Cathars had the most supporters. Anthony’s fiery sermons and the miracles he performed quickly returned the city to the fold of the Church, after which Anthony continued his preaching work among heretics in the south of France. Anthony’s preaching was successful even in Toulouse, a city owned by Raymond IV of Toulouse, the leader of the Albigensian Crusade.

In 1224, Anthony became abbot of a Franciscan monastery near the city of Le Puy. The fame of his impromptu sermon created a deep impression on his audience. His audience was moved not only by his rich voice and arresting manner, but also by the theme and substance of his discourse, his deep knowledge of scripture, and the eloquence with which he delivered his message. At the next Chapter, Anthony was elected provincial of southern France, then he visited Sicily, where he founded several new monasteries, and finally he was elected provincial of Northern Italy, where it was very turbulent – the Guelphs fought with the Ghibellines, tyrant princes fought with each other or were robbers on the roads.

It took all the strength of Anthony’s oratorical talent and the painstaking work of his brothers to lead people to peace. The most ruthless tyrant of Italy, Ezzelino III da Romano, was so shocked by the courage of Anthony, who alone came to his castle, that he released all the imprisoned in the castle.

Pope Gregory IX offered Anthony an honorary post in the Roman Curia, but he refused.

In “The Little Flowers of Francis”, a book by Francis of Assisi, two miracles performed by Anthony of Padua are mentioned, although in fact there are much more:

• the most famous episode is the story of Anthony “preaching to the fish” originated in Rimini, the purpose of which was precisely to rid some human heads of stupidity with the help of a divinely fantastic action… When heretics there treated him with contempt, Anthony was said to have gone to the shoreline, where he began to preach at the water’s edge until a great crowd of fish was seen gathered before him. The people of the town flocked to see that marvelous thing, after which Anthony charged them with the fact that the fish were more receptive to his message than the heretics of the church, at which point the people were ready to listen to his message…
• In another often-told story, which took place also in Rimini, Anthony was challenged by a heretic to prove the reality of the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Bonvillo – the man, who sought to mock Anthony, brought out a half-starved mule and showed it fresh fodder, but Anthony showed the mule the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. The mule ignored the fodder and bowed before the Blessed Sacrament, as if showing its reverence…

Other versions of this miracle place it in Toulouse or Bourges, and sometimes a donkey appears instead of a mule…

• another account tells of the occasion in Italy when Anthony was dining with heretics. He realized the food they put before him was poisoned, and he confronted them. The men admitted attempting to kill him, but then challenged him to eat if he truly believed the words spoken in Mark about the Apostles of Christ, “…and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them”… Anthony is said to have blessed the food, eaten it, and suffered no harm, much to the amazement of his hosts…
• equally famous is the miracle that is said to have occurred in Ferrara, where a noble jealous man unjustly accused his wife of adultery. He was even more angry after the birth of a child who, as he thought, was not like him, and this was to him a proof of adultery. When they took the child to baptize, the couple walked together – a man, gloomy with suspicion, and a woman, crying from an unfair accusation. They were surrounded by a crowd of relatives, some of whom were sad, while others were overcome by curiosity. Suddenly Anthony appeared. He extended his arms, asking that the child be given to him, pressed it to his chest, and then, as if speaking to an adult (the child was only a few days old), asked him to point to his father. No wonder, the child, holding out his hand, clearly said, “Here is my father!”…
• here’s another miracle… Florence was a city of bankers, where there was more money and no less covetousness than in Padua. Anthony used to say in his sermons, “The cursed brood of usurers has spread throughout the whole earth, and they are insatiable, like lions: they chew dirty food – money, tear into pieces and constantly devour the property of the poor, widows and orphans… Remember well, usurers, that you have become the prey of the devil; he has taken possession of you. He has taken possession of your hands, directing them to robbery and turning them away from charity; he has taken possession of your hearts, which are burning with thirst for profit and deaf to goodness; he has mastered your tongue, always ready for lies, fraud and deception… – so that you can no longer pray or utter honest words. Poisonous snakes thirst for blood, and you greedily strive for other people’s possessions. The demon of greed is tearing and dismembering your hearts”… The bankers and moneylenders laughed at these words, but the day came when the richest and greediest of them died. The deceased was carried to church for a Christian funeral, but Anthony stood in the way of the funeral cortege. “Is it possible to bury in a holy place a person who has already been buried in hell? If you don’t believe me, open his chest with a knife, and you will not find his heart – it is where his wealth is”. The crowd rushed to the miser’s house and found the dead man’s heart in a fireproof cabinet among coins, checks and mortgage papers. After that, they decided to examine the corpse, but they didn’t find a heart there…
• there’s also a famous miracle of the return of a severed leg;
• the miracle of a young man who had been killed and then resurrected is also very well known;
• touching is the story of a child found dead in a cradle when his mother left home to listen to Anthony’s sermon… The woman returned to the temple in despair, crying out for a miracle, and Anthony reassured her by saying the following words three times, “Look, God will show you his kindness!” Well, in fact, when she returned home, she found her child playing with pebbles…
• one of the most interesting episodes that has come down to us is the case of a sinner who could not even tell Anthony about his sins – so shocked he was by the sermon heard from Anthony. Confused, he went out to write everything down on paper, and then returned and with a trembling hand gave a piece of paper on which his sins were described to Anthony. Anthony took this piece of paper, and as he was reading it, the lines were disappearing one by one until the sheet became blank again. Then Anthony pronounced the words of absolution to the penitent and returned to him this piece of paper, which became, as it were, a material sign of newfound innocence…
• once Anthony was seen kneeling in his cell, and on an open book, lying in front of him, stood Jesus in the image of a child, who was caressing and hugging him… Anthony, touched, was hugging him in return…

Speaking about Christmas, Anthony writes in his “Instructions”, “Among the many reasons why God deigned to appear to us in the image of a child, I choose the following: if you offend a child, if you allow yourself to treat him rudely or even beat him, but then give him some flower or something beautiful – he will forget everything and run to hug you… And also, if you, having committed a mortal sin, offend Jesus, no matter how terrible this insult may be, it is enough to present Him with a flower of repentance, a rose of confession, watered with tears, so that He would immediately forget the offense, forgive you for your guilt and come to hug and kiss you”… When he was writing those words, he, of course, had in his mind that gentle light with which the presence of the Child was illuminating his dark cell…

Do even almost Saints really need forgiveness?

There are many paintings and other objects of art dedicated to Saint Anthony, which usually reflect the events of his life, and mainly the miracles he performed:

• the sermon to the fish (Paolo Veronese, Donatello);
• on the square named after the mule, a column was erected in memory of the mule who refused to eat fresh fodder, and in 1417 a small octagonal temple was built in its place, opposite which there was once the house of that same heretic Bonvillo;
• the appearance of Jesus in the image of a child (Bartolome Esteban Murillo and Anthony Van Dyck);
• in the Orbizzi Palace, where the family of the above-mentioned noble and jealous gentleman lived, there is a chapel built in memory of this miracle;
• Giotto depicted Saint Anthony during a sermon;
• there are also paintings about Saint Anthony by Francisco de Zurbaran, Titian and other great artists.

The last years of his life Anthony spent in Padua – a city that since then has been firmly associated with his name.

At that time, Padua was a new city, just rebuilt after the fire of 1174. Its markets flourished, Paduan wool and flax were famous throughout Italy, and the fame of the university, founded in 1222, grew. The city had many students, a strong army and a very significant influx of new rich people and aristocrats. However, sects also arose, and political struggles and ambitions tearing apart society, and wars between cities (especially between Treviso and Verona) continued nonstop. When they finished fighting, the elite indulged in luxury and pleasures: balls, dinner parties, tournaments, horse riding, courtship, love games and vices. As to the people, they suffered, eking out a miserable existence in the slums.

When Anthony arrived there, “strong in action and word”, as the chronicler wrote, it was 1229, and he preached there, and this preaching, according to one of the most authoritative scholars dealing with the spiritual heritage of Saint Anthony, “was the Christian revival of Padua, its spiritual rebirth” and “occupies an outstanding place in the history of the Western Church”. After the very first sermons, it turned out that not a single church could accommodate the crowd, which, according to the estimates of the first biographers, reached about thirty thousand listeners, and it was even necessary to go to the square. The influx of believers wanting to take a comfortable place began early in the morning, almost at night. Certain places were always assigned to the bishop and his clergy. When the hour of preaching came, the merchants closed their shops, and the whole city froze in anticipation of the word of Anthony – the word that was both feared and loved. He spoke about God, condemned vices, called for goodness, and mentioned the most pressing needs of the city…

A decree of the mayor of Padua of 25 March, 1231 still survives, according to which no debtor can be imprisoned if it can be proven that the failure to pay the debt is not due to fraud and that the unfortunate debtor is willing to pay with his property. Below the document, which is an important achievement in the field of public law, we literally read the following, “By the intercession of the Venerable Brother, Blessed Anthony, and Confessor of the Order of Friars Minor”.

After the sermon, the whole day was devoted to confessions, which brought Anthony literally to the point of exhaustion. It was Anthony who introduced the practice of confession on a sermon, and this made it possible to perceive ordinary confessions in a completely new way. “If you drink the poison of sins every day”, he explained, “then every day you must take the antidote of confession”.

Throughout this period, miracles of transformation and recovery constantly occurred.

The examination of the relics of Saint Anthony, carried out in 1981, confirmed the statement of ancient biographers: Anthony “died from loss of strength as a result of too hard work, poor nutrition and lack of rest”.

Shortly before his death, Anthony wished to have a hermitage built for him, and asked his noble friend from those places to build a small hanging cell with tables and mats in the branches of a giant walnut tree, where he spent his last days in prayer.

Now this tree is no longer there, but there are several other walnut trees grown from transplanted cuttings from that same tree. They say that these trees have one strange feature – they do not bloom like all other walnut trees, but only in the first thirteen days of June, when the Paduans are preparing to celebrate the Day of Remembrance of Saint Anthony, who once lived among the branches of the progenitor of these trees. This is what is written in his Hagiography.

Almost immediately after his death in 1232, Anthony was canonized, and in 1263, his relics were transferred to the Basilica of Saint Anthony, which the people of Padua built in his honor. At the same time, it turned out that the tongue and vocal cords of the great preacher remained intact.

Pope Pius XII proclaimed Saint Anthony of Padua “Teacher of the Church” and Pope Leo XIII called him “Saint of the World”.

Saint Anthony was considered the patron by numerous church brotherhoods. There is also a small monastic women’s congregation engaged in charitable activities – the Sisters of Saint Anthony.

Saint Anthony is also considered the patron Saint of the poor. Moreover, since the end of the 19th century, the custom has spread to call donations for the poor collected in the church – “Saint Anthony’s bread”.

Saint Anthony is considered the patron Saint of both Lisbon and Padua. The city of San Antonio in the USA is named in his honor.

Saint Anthony is addressed as the patron Saint of travelers and those who are simply “on the road”…

Saint Anthony is also turned to as a helper in retrieving lost valuables – and not only forks and knives, diamonds and palaces, but also lost memories, lost people, lost skills and talents…

It is not surprising that throughout all seven centuries, the gaze of many hungry people turned specifically to Saint Anthony, who on his deathbed excitedly said to the people around him, “I see my Lord!” … Well, our faith is largely based on the vision of the Saints. By the way, although glasses (since their invention in the 13th century) at different times were depicted by different artists either as a symbol of spiritual blindness, or as a symbol of a high and beautiful mind, learning, or were the personification of a high and important status, power and authority… In this very context, glasses symbolize precisely such supernatural vision, including insight and wisdom.

In a hymn composed in honor of Anthony immediately after his death, there are these lines:

“If you ask for a miracle, then death, delusion and misfortune immediately recede; the sick – recover, the sea – calms down, the chains – break; the wishes of young and old are fulfilled – they regain the movement of their limbs, find lost things; danger disappears, poverty passes… Let those who know tell about all this, and let mainly the Paduans speak…”

However, it is necessary to turn to Saint Anthony with requests for the fulfillment of desires only in special cases – when the desire is not just… the desire and satisfaction of something vital and ordinary, but when it is… akin to a miracle – something unprecedented, amazing, outstanding, surprising in its extraordinariness, supernatural, that is, associated with divine power…

There is no need to bother such a great Saint with trifles!

By the way, for some reason a mysterious room comes into mind… The room from “Stalker” – a Soviet science fantasy art film directed by Andrey Tarkovsky with a screenplay written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky that fulfills wishes of those who get to it… Do you remember how Porcupine entered the room and wished that his brother would resurrect? Do you remember that when he returned home, he became extremely rich, because the wishing room fulfilled only true desires?

It is useless to wish “there were no war in the world” without actually wishing it – Saint Anthony always sees the true desires of a person…

The feast day of Saint Anthony of Padua is 13 June; according to tradition, children, lilies and bread are blessed on this day.