Wednesday, June 13, 2007

St. Anthony of Padua

The following are excerpts from an online article written about today's saint, St. Anthony of Padua. To view the full text, please click on the title of this post.

"The list of human concerns for which Anthony is the patron is amazingly varied. The array of wonders attributed to Anthony in story and legend is equally astounding in its variety. He was in two places at the same time; at his prayer, a donkey knelt before the Blessed Sacrament, after a dare by an unbeliever; fishes lifted their heads above the water to listen as he preached to them, after bored believers turned away; a foot severed by an ax was rejoined to its leg. Are these legends true? Let us first see if we can trace the line of facts regarding this immensely popular saint...

Anthony was born in 1195 (13 years after St. Francis) in Lisbon (now Portugal, then a part of Spain), and given the name of Fernando at Baptism. His parents, Martin and Mary Bulhom, apparently belonged to one of the prominent families of the city. At the age of 15 he entered the religious order of St. Augustine. Monastery life was hardly peaceful for young Fernando, nor conducive to prayer and study, as his old friends came to visit frequently and engaged in vehement political discussions…Fernando was… ordained a priest …After some challenges from the prior of the Augustinians, he was allowed to leave that priory and receive the Franciscan habit, taking the name Anthony…

Anthony saw that words were obviously not enough. He had to show gospel poverty. People wanted more than self-disciplined, even penitent priests. They wanted genuineness of gospel living. And in Anthony they found it. They were moved by who he was, more than what he said. Despite his efforts, not everyone listened. Legend has it that one day, faced with deaf ears, Anthony went to the river and preached to the fishes. That, reads the traditional tale, got everyone’s attention.

Anthony traveled tirelessly in both northern Italy and southern France—perhaps 400 trips—choosing to enter the cities where the heretics were strongest. Yet the sermons he has left behind rarely show him taking direct issue with the heretics. As the historian Clasen interprets it, Anthony preferred to present the grandeur of Christianity in positive ways. It was no good to prove people wrong: Anthony wanted to win them to the right, the healthiness of real sorrow and conversion, the wonder of reconciliation with a loving Father…

Back in Padua, he preached his last and most famous Lenten sermons. The crowds were so great—sometimes 30,000—that the churches could not hold them, so he went into the piazzas or the open fields. People waited all night to hear him. He needed a bodyguard to protect him from the people armed with scissors who wanted to snip off a piece of his habit as a relic. After his morning Mass and sermon, he would hear confessions. This sometimes lasted all day—as did his fasting.

The great energy he had expended during the Lent of 1231 left him exhausted. He went to a little town near Padua, but seeing death coming close, he wanted to return to the city that he loved. The journey in a wagon weakened him so much, however, that he had to stop at Arcella. He had to bless Padua from a distance, as Francis had blessed Assisi.

At Arcella, he received the last sacraments, sang and prayed with the friars there. When one of them asked Anthony what he was staring at so intently, he answered, "I see my Lord!" He died in peace a short time after that. He was only 36 and had been a Franciscan but 10 years. The following year, his friend, Pope Gregory IX, moved by the many miracles that occurred at Anthony’s tomb, declared him a saint.

Anthony was a simple and humble friar who preached the Good News lovingly and with fearless courage. The youth whom his fellow friars thought was uneducated became one of the great preachers and theologians of his day. He was a man of great penance and apostolic zeal. But he was primarily a saint of the people.

4 Comments:

At 5:13 PM, Blogger fran said...

Speaking of saints....
There is a great children's (ages 10 and up) book series, based on historical fact, on the lives of some of our popular saints.

It is the Vision Book Series, and can be purchased online through Amazon.com. Many of the books were originally printed in the 1950's, and the writing style reflects this. I find that this adds to the charm of the books, but some of the wording may need a slight explanation. (Had to look up a few words myself!)

Titles include:
"St. Catherine Laboure' and the Miraculous Medal"
"Saint Therese and the Roses"
"Saint Elizabeth's Three Crowns"
"Bernadette: Our Lady's Little Servant"
"Francis and Clare: Saints of Assisi"

There are many other titles as well.

 
At 10:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What perfect timing- for tonight, in the adult education class (Weds- 7 p.m.- really great, btw!!), we had a disussion about how little we all knew about the saints. Tonight's main topic was prayer-different ways we can all pray. Some of this discussion included the intercesion of saints. Jim, the seminarian, gave me a few ideas on how I might make prayer time more beneficial. For those of you who don't know- Weds. p.m. "classes" are really great discussions about and for people. Hopefully more will partake.

Every opportunity I give my children to learn to pray is one more tremendous opprtunity for them. Thanks for the info, Fran.

 
At 8:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I kind of lost it with one of my kids over an issue I won't go into, but suffice to say, it was an important topic that I could have handled much better. I was going to go to bed upset (and maybe a little angry) but, instead, I sent my child an email. It's from, and I can't remember her name, a woman who is/was the head of the Children's Defense Fund (it was written to her children):

"I seek your forgiveness for all the times I talked when I should have listened; got angry when I should have been patient; acted when I should have waited; feared when I should have been delighted; scolded when I should have encouraged; criticized when I should have complimented; said no when I should have said yes and said yes when I should have said no... I often tried too hard and wanted and demanded so much, and mistakenly sometimes tried to mold you into my image of what I wanted you to be rather than discovering and nourishing you as you emerged and grew.”

My child called me after receiving this, and I had a second opportunity to handle the situation better. The post from yesterday about Fr. Saunders reminded me of this quotation. Thanks to whomever posted it.

 
At 12:13 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Last Anon,

That is sooo beautiful!!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home