Today, we celebrate how the Lord has worked through the life of Saint Anthony of Padua, a fairly well known 13th century Franciscan friar, particularly if you have ever sought intercession to help find your keys.
He was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1195 and given the birth name Fernando. At the age of 15, he entered into the religious order of Saint Augustine, and was ordained a priest.
His life took a turn when the bodies of the first five Franciscan martyrs were carried in solemn procession to the monastery in which he was living.
He went to the little Franciscan friary in Coimbra. He said, “Brothers, I would gladly put on the habit of your Order if you would promise to send me as soon as possible to the land of the Saracens, that I may gain the crown of the holy martyrs.”
After some difficulty with the prior of the Augustinians, Fernando left the priory and received the Franciscan habit, taking the name of Anthony.
True to their word, the Franciscans allowed him to go to Morroco at once. But the Lord had other plans for Anthony and he never made it to his intended destination. After serious illness and severe weather at sea, he eventually made it to Sicily.
His quiet life of prayer and penance was exchanged for one of public preaching. Saint Fransis himself assigned Saint Anthony to northern Italy (Padua)...he was sent truly like one of the 72 disciples in our reading today. There are many great stories of his effective preaching, conversions affected, and miracles that the Lord worked through Anthony.
Perhaps my favorite story involves a mule. Saint Anthony was trying to convince a wealthy merchant of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. One day he challenged the merchant, “If the mule you ride adored the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, would you believe in the truth of the Blessed Sacrament?”
The merchant agreed, but raised the stakes. It was decided that the mule would be starved for three days and then brought out into the public square to be put in between a pile of hay on one side and the exposed Blessed Sacrament on the other side.
While the mule was starved for three days, Saint Anthony fasted and prayed.
On the third day, the mule was brought to the public square. The merchant placed a pile of hay directly under the mule’s nose while Saint Anthony stood some distance away holding the Holy Eucharist. Despite how hungry the mule must have been, he ignored the hay, turned his head, and walked directly toward Saint Anthony. When the mule was close, he bent his front legs…kneeling in adoration of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
The merchant watched this event play out and immediately knelt and professed his new found belief in the truth of the real presence.
Saint Anthony died at the age of 35. He was canonized in 1232 and declared a Doctor of the Universal Church in 1946. In addition to his effective intercession, in Saint Anthony we can find an effective model for how to love the Word of God, how to understand it, and how to apply it to our lives. He also serves as a reminder that the root of wisdom is becoming more like Jesus Christ, who humbled himself, who emptied himself for our sake, and who went about doing good works.
Allowing the Lord to do such works through us, we too will forever sing the goodness of the Lord.
Thanks be to God!
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