St Anthony of Padua
Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Anthony. During St. Anthony’s life God called him to do many different things during his life. Each time that St. Anthony had received a new call he would respond to the calling with renewed zeal and self-sacrificing in order to serve his Lord Jesus fully and completely.
When St. Anthony was very young his journey had begun, his journey began after he decided to join the Augustinians who were located in Lisbon. In order to join the Augustinians he had to give up a clear future of wealth and power. Later on during his life when the bodies of the first Franciscan martyrs were taken through the Portuguese city where St. Anthony was stationed during that time, he was again filled with a huge and intense longing to be as close to Jesus as possible.
Therefore due to the longing and desire St. Anthony felt the desire to enter the Franciscan Order and he decided to set out to preach to all of the Moors. But a very large illness had prevented his ability to achieve that goal. St. Anthony later decided to go to Italy and he was stationed in a very small hermitage where he was able to spend most of his time praying, reading the Scriptures and doing menial tasks.
When St. Anthony had received the call of God again at an ordination where no one was actually prepared to speak. The humble and obedient St. Anthony hesitantly accepted the big task. During the many years of searching for Jesus in prayer, reading sacred Scripture and by serving him through poverty, chastity, and obedience, it had truly prepared St. Anthony to allow the Holy Spirit use all of the amazing talents he had. St. Anthony’s sermon was astounding to those who were able to hear it since the Holy Spirit really spoke through St. Anthony.
St. Anthony was widely recognized and known as a great man who lived a life of prayer and he was a great Scripture and theology scholar. St. Anthony eventually became the first friar to teach theology to all of the other friars. Soon he was called from that post to preach to majority of the Albigensians in France, using his profound knowledge of Scripture and theology to convert and reassure that those who had been misled by their denial of Christ’s divinity and of the sacraments could see the truth.
After St. Anthony had led the friars in northern Italy for about three years, he was able to make his headquarters in the city of Padua. St. Anthony decided to stay in Padua where he was preaching and he began writing sermon notes to help other preachers. During the spring of 1231 St. Anthony decided to withdrew to a friary at Camposampiero where he was having a sort of treehouse built as a hermitage. In that location he prayed and prepared for death.
On June 13, 1231 St. Anthony started to become very ill and he asked to be taken back to Padua, where he had died after receiving the last sacraments. St. Anthony was canonized less than a year later and he was actually named a Doctor of the Church during the year 1946.
St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things or purposes, the poor and travelers. St. Anthony’s feast day is celebrated on June 13.
Prayer to St. Anthony:
St. Anthony intercede that we may be able to be more obedient to what The Lord is calling each one of us to do. Help us to strengthen our intimacy and devotion with The Lord so that we may be able to guide more people to Him and help others find His love and mercy in their own lives.
Amen
St. Anthony pray for us
St. Joseph pray for us
May we continue to strengthen our journey to sainthood and keep others in our prayers.
Works Cited
Information (read from, not taken):
Franciscan Media. "Saint Anthony of Padua. ”Saint Anthony of Padua | Franciscan Media. Accessed 13, June 2021.
Images:
Saint Anthony of Padua. June 13, 2021. Saint Anthony of Padua - Google Search.
Saint Anthony of Padua. June 13, 2021. Saint Anthony of Padua - Google Search.
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