WOYWW: St. Anthony of Padua

Two notebooks for two friends of mine turning 60! May they bloom more in God’s garden! 

"Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19

Today is the feast day of the well loved Saint Anthony of Padua. He is known to be the patron saint of lost things or people, and Catholics habitually pray for his intercession when we lose small or big things. That is because once he lost his book of psalms that contained many of his notes and comments. This book was very precious to him especially since the printing press had yet to be invented. He prayed, and the novice was moved to return it as well as other items he had stolen. That psalter is now preserved in the Franciscan friary of Bologna. 

What is not so well known is that Saint Anthony was a very effective preacher, even to the simple minded. This would not have been discovered had he not been forced to give the homily when there was no one else who was prepared to do so. The Dominicans who were well known for their preaching visited Anthony's Franciscan order, and assumed the Franciscans would give the homily but no one had prepared. The head of Anthony's hermitage then asked him to preach on whatever the Holy Spirit inspired him to speak of. To their surprise, Anthony delivered so moving and effective a sermon, that the news reached the ears of Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint Francis thereafter entrusted the teaching of his friars to Saint Anthony. 

Before this happened, Anthony had spent many hours in private prayer and study. There was a time he was very sick, and during his recuperation, he would read the Bible and learn from it. His sermons contained many passages from scripture, and in one surviving lecture, there are at least 183 Bible passages. 

One day when St. Anthony was in Rimini, there were many heretics mocking him, and refusing to listen to his preaching. St. Anthony then went to the seashore and talked to the fishes about God’s love. Many onlookers saw a shoal of fish with their head above the water listening. After that, the miracle story spread and Rimini was purged of heretics. 

Lord, like Saint Anthony, teach us from Your Word. Plant it in our hearts that it may bear fruit and we shall give You glory.