One of the most popular saints is Saint Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost and stolen articles. He was a powerful speaker and competent teacher. He is typically depicted holding the child Jesus or a lily or a book in his arms, or even all three together. Saint Anthony was born in 1195 in Lisbon, Portugal and given the name of Fernando at his baptism. His family was one of the wealthy ones in the capital city. At the age of 15 he entered the Augustinian order. After two years he was sent to Coimbra in Portugal to begin nine years of study learning theology. He was ordained a priest after his studies.
After his ordination, Fernando was named guest master and was responsible for hospitality at the Augustinian abbey. Nearby Franciscan friars settled in a small hermitage outside Coimbra dedicated to Saint Anthony of Egypt. Fernando felt a longing to join the Franciscans. Eventually, Fernando received permission to leave the Abbey of the Augustinians and join the Franciscans. When he was admitted to the new order, he took the name “Anthony.”
After being accepted by the Franciscans, Father Anthony traveled to Morocco as a missionary to spread the Word of God. He returned quickly to Coimbra due to an illness. Then, he tried again to return to Morocco but his ship was blown off course and damaged and so he and the crew arrived in Sicily. From there, Father Anthony traveled to Tuscany. In Tuscany Dominican friars, who are known for their preaching, came to visit the Franciscans and there was confusion over who would present the homily to celebrate an important Mass. Father Anthony was chosen and delivered an eloquent and moving homily. Soon, news of his preaching reached St. Francis of Assisi.
Then, St. Francis sent Father Anthony to study theology. After his studies, Anthony traveled tirelessly in northern Italy and southern France making about 400 trips trying to convert people. During some of these trips this wonderful preacher taught at universities in Montpellier and Toulouse in southern France. So, simple but complete was his teaching of the Catholic faith that even the most innocent and uneducated could understand his messages. For this reason he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII in 1946. Pope Pius XII in his homily described St. Anthony of Padua as “the Ark of the Testament.” Upon exhumation some 340 years after his death, his body was found to be corrupted, yet his tongue was totally incorrupt so perfect were the teaching that had been formed by it.
St. Anthony is venerated all over the world as the patron saint for lost articles, lost spiritual goods and even lost people who have left the church and we pray that they return. The reason for asking St. Anthony for help in finding lost things is traced back to an incident in his own life. Anthony had a book of psalms that was very important to him. He had notes and comments in it. One day a seminarian left the community taking the book with him. Anthony prayed that the book would be found and returned. The ex-seminarian returned to the seminary and returned the book and then asked to be accepted again as a seminarian trying to become a priest. He was accepted. The stolen book is found today in the Franciscan friary in Bolognia. St. Anthony of Padua’s feast day is June 13th.
St. Anthony of Padua, pray for us!
The Rev. Gus Puleo serves as director of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program and the Spanish Department at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, where he also teaches English and Spanish. He is a graduate of Norristown High School and attended Georgetown University, where he received B.A. and B.S. in Spanish and linguistics. He has master’s degrees in Spanish, linguistics and divinity from Middlebury College, Georgetown University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Pennsylvania. He is the former pastor of St. Patrick Church in Norristown.
