Who
was Saint Anthony of Padua?
This
Doctor of the Church began his religious vocation at age15 in a monastery.
Soon he would spend nine years in study during which time he was ordained a
priest.
Anthony knew where he wished to go, but God led him
instead to other places. On his way to Morocco he became ill and began the
trip back home. A storm blew his ship to Sicily where he met the friars at
Messina. There Anthony asked to be assigned the a life of a hermit and his
wish was granted. That is, until he attended an ordination where he was
asked to give a sermon at the meal.
His simple, but inspirational and knowledgeable
rhetoric in addition to his obvious holiness, changed his life from hermit
to public preacher.
In Anthony, people found not only a preacher of
the Word, but also one who lived the gospel lifestyle of poverty. In time
Anthony became a teacher of the Franciscan friars.
Finally, he was led to Padua where he preached at the
university and always tried to spend time in solitude and prayer. His
sermons were so well attended, sometimes numbering 30,000, that he had to
preach in the open fields.
His preaching, with calls for peace and justice, also
called so many people back to the faith that he was called “Hammer of
Heretics.”
We are asked to imitate Anthony's love for God's Word
and follow his efforts at applying it to our own everyday lives through love
of neighbor and humility.
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Prayer
Asking
the Intercession of St Anthony
Most holy St. Anthony, Beloved
Friend of Jesus, I place myself in your heavenly care. Be with me, especially in
life’s troubles and difficulties. Intercede before the Lord for me, so that I
may confidently know I do not face my problems alone. I join my prayers to
yours, O Great Saint, as I ask God to give me consolation in times of sorrow,
courage when I am afraid, and healing from all the ills that afflict me.
Obtain for me from God, Most High, the grace to accept whatever is God’s holy
will for me and my loved ones. Strengthen my faith so that I will never despair,
but always have hope in God’s healing presence and power in my life. Amen.
Comment: Anthony
should be the patron of those who find their lives completely uprooted and set
in a new and unexpected direction. Like all saints, he is a perfect example of
turning one's life completely over to Christ. God did with Anthony as God
pleased—and what God pleased was a life of spiritual power and brilliance that
still attracts admiration today. He whom popular devotion has nominated as
finder of lost objects found himself by losing himself totally to the providence
of God.
~From Saint of the Day, Lives,
Lessons and Feast,
By Leonard Foley, O.F.M.
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