St Anthony of Padua (1193-1231) Franciscan friar and preacher
Born in Lisbon: baptised Fernando
Born into a
noble family beside the cathedral in Lisbon and baptised Fernando, he
was educated at the cathedral school and at the age of fifteen joined
the Augustinian Abbey of St Vincent.
Here he became well-versed in the
classical writers, the Scriptures and the Fathers of the Church. As
friends were constantly coming to visit him, he asked to move to the
Santa Cruz monastery at Coimbra, then the capital of Portugal.
Ordained 1219
After ordination 1219 Fernando was
put in charge of hospitality and in this role came in contact with five
Franciscans who were on their way to Morocco to preach to Muslims
there.
Next year these five Franciscans were martyred in Morocco and
their relics brought back to Portugal.
Joins the Franciscans and goes to Morocco
Fernando
was so taken with the heroism of these five Franciscans that he asked
to join the Franciscan order. He was received and given the name Anthony
after the great hermit of Egypt (251-256).
Soon after this he sailed
with another brother to Morocco to preach to the Muslims.
However,
he became sick and his ship had to head back home.
To Italy
A storm blew the ship off course and,
instead of going back to Portugal, they landed in Sicily.
Here Anthony
joined with some Franciscans who were heading to Assisi for a general
meeting of the order.
He met Francis and was appointed to a hermitage at
Montepaolo where he served as a priest to the hermits there.
No one
knew of his considerable learning and Anthony was happy to carry out the
most menial tasks for the hermits and devote himself to prayer.
Fame as a preacher and teacher
Around this time
(1222) the provincial brought Anthony with him to an ordination of some
Franciscans and Dominicans at Forlì. When the Dominican preacher did not
turn up, they asked Anthony to say a few words.
Beginning
tentatively, it soon became clear that here was a man of extraordinary
knowledge, eloquence and enthusiasm. But it was especially his holiness
that moved those present. As a result he was asked to preach more
widely.
Francis wrote to him appointing him as the order's first lector
in theology. The tone of the letter shows Francis was quite cautious
about learning and theology. It said: "It pleases me that you read
theology to the friars, provided that this pursuit will not quench the
spirit of holy prayer and devotion according to our rule. Farewell."
In northern Italy and southern France
Anthony
taught and preached first in northern Italy and then in the south of
France, where he went to assist in the crusade against the Albigensian
heresy, preaching and teaching in the churches and market-places of
Le-Puy, Toulouse, Montpellier and Arles.
The power of this preaching
earned him the nickname malleus haereticorum, "the hammer of heretics".
Anthony spoke in a loud, clear voice. He had a winning manner and a
wonderful memory.
Although he spoke out against luxury, greed and
tyranny, he did so positively by presenting
the beauty of the Christian
way.
He returned to Italy in 1226 and became provincial of the Franciscans
in northern Italy.
Around Easter in 1228, he went to Rome, where
he preached before Pope Gregory IX and discussed with him the Rule and
Testament of Francis.
Final years and death at Padua
Anthony spent his
last years at Padua where he had extraordinary influence both in the
religious and civic life of town, reducing crime, denouncing usury,
freeing debtors from prison and reconciling enemies.
He died in Padua
aged only 36 and was canonised by Pope Gregory IX less than a year after
his death.
A large Renaissance basilica built over his tomb has become
an international shrine visited by over 5 million pilgrims annually.
In art and devotion
Artists frequently depict
Anthony with the child Jesus on his arm or even with the child Jesus
standing on a book (the Bible?) which the saint holds.
He is also
pictured preaching to the fishes (like Francis to the birds). Some
suggest that this was because humans didn't always listen to him.
In
Padua a bas-relief shows a mule kneeling down in front of the saint
holding the Blessed Sacrament and rejecting a bundle of hay.
Prayer for the recovery of lost objects
Since the
17th century people have being praying to St Anthony to recover lost
objects.
This stems from the story that a novice borrowed Anthony's
psalter without permission and had to return it because of a fearful
apparition of Anthony looking for his psalter!
His writings
The texts of many of Anthony's
sermons survive: for these and his reputation as a biblical scholar, in
1946 Pope Pius XII named him a Doctor of the Church.