St. Anthony Most Loved And Admired Saint

Saint Anthony's Miracles.

The Speaking Infant

13-Days Novena to Saint Anthony - Day #11 - June 10, 2017

The miracle

A nobleman was very jealous of his wife. He had no reason to doubt of her love and fidelity, but he was easy prey to slander, and so, when his wife had their first child, he refused to recognize the baby as his own. He was more than sure that the child was the fruit of his wife’s infidelity.

No matter how much the woman tried to assure him that she had not been with another man, he continued to reject his infant son.

In her desperation the wife and mother came to St. Anthony for help. The Saint talked to the nobleman for hours, and finally succeeded in making him see the absurdity behind his jealousy. Just then a nurse brought in the infant. Instantly, his old state of mind returned. At this point Anthony turned to the child and said, "In the name of Jesus Christ, speak and tell who your father is!" The infant pointed to the nobleman and, in a voice of a child years older, he said, "There is my father!" With that the father broke down in tears and took the child in his arms.  This is how Anthony saved a family and a marriage from the pitfalls of gossip and slander.

Meditation

In these last years, Pope Francis has dwelt on a number of occasions on the subject of gossip and slander. In one of his famous speeches the Pope said, “Gossip can also kill, because it kills the reputation of the person. It is so terrible to gossip…at the beginning, it seems to be something enjoyable and fun, like a piece of candy. But at the end it fills the heart with bitterness, and it also poisons us”.

When we detract from others in our speech, our malicious words are scattered everywhere. They continue to spread dishonour and division in people’s minds days, months and even years after we have spoken them, as they pass from one tale-bearer to the next.

We have to be careful with our words so that they do not ruin others, their careers or their personal relationships. Remember that if you are speaking badly about people behind their backs, your words say more about you than about them.

The miracle 

We are in Lisbon, Portugal. A boy called Parrisio decides to go on a boat trip with other boys, but without telling his parents. Suddenly, a violent storm breaks out and the boat capsizes. While the other boys, who were older and knew how to swim, managed to save themselves, Parrisio drowned. Upon hearing this tragedy, the boy’s mother ran to the beach and pleaded with the sailors to recuperate the body. They lowered their nets and soon were able to draw out Parrisio’s lifeless body, which they gave to the desperate mother. On the next day the family wanted to take the body to church for the funeral and subsequent burial, but the mother did not allow this. She continued to pray to St. Anthony, promising that if her child were brought back to life she would consecrate him to the Franciscan Order. On the third day, in front of his parents and relatives, the boy suddenly awoke as though from a deep sleep; the mother’s prayers to the Lord, through the intercession of St. Anthony, had been answered. When he became older Parrisio entered the Franciscan Order, and always joyfully told his fellow friars of the wonder God had performed for him through the intercession of St. Anthony.

Meditation

This miracle has special importance in St Anthony’s life because it is the first time that he brings someone back to life. However, Anthony was neither the first person nor the last to perform this type of miracle. An American Scholar, Fr. Albert Hebert, drawing from ecclesiastical sources and documents of beatification and canonization processes, was able to highlight more than 400 cases of people who were raised from the dead in the Church’s history. However, it is important to emphasise that all these miracles have nothing to do with the greatest turning point in human history, the Resurrection of Christ, the event which gives us the certainty that one day we shall also be united with Him by sharing in His Resurrection. Yes, Jesus died a human death and “on the third day he rose again,” but after his Resurrection he will not die again. He ascended into heaven – body and soul. And so, brothers and sisters, let’s not forget Jesus’ ultimate reassurance that death has fully been defeated, and that we will all be resurrected just as He was: forever.

 Click The miracle to watch video

Saint Anthony, Human Rights Defender

There is perhaps no more loved and admired saint in the Catholic Church than Saint Anthony of Padua, a Doctor of the Church. Though his work was in Italy, he was born in Portugal. He first joined the Augustinian Order and then left it and joined the Franciscan Order in 1221, when he was 26 years old. The reason he became a Franciscan was because of the death of the five Franciscan protomartyrs -- St. Bernard, St. Peter, St. Otho, St. Accursius, and St. Adjutus -- who shed their blood for the Catholic Faith in the year 1220, in Morocco, in North Africa, and whose headless and mutilated bodies had been brought to St. Anthony’s monastery on their way back for burial. St. Anthony became a Franciscan in the hope of shedding his own blood and becoming a martyr. He lived only ten years after joining the Franciscan Order.

So simple and resounding was his teaching of the Catholic Faith, so that the most unlettered and innocent might understand it, that he was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII in 1946. Saint Anthony was only 36 years old when he died. He is called the “hammer of the Heretics” His great protection against their lies and deceits in the matter of Christian doctrine was to utter, simply and innocently, the Holy Name of Mary. When St. Anthony of Padua found he was preaching the true Gospel of the Catholic Church toheretics who would not listen to him, he then went out and preached it to the fishes. This was not, as liberals and naturalists are trying to say, for the instruction of the fishes, but rather for the glory of God, the delight of the angels, and the easing of his own heart. St. Anthony wanted to profess the Catholic Faith with his mind and his heart, at every moment.

He is typically depicted with a book and the Infant Child Jesus, to whom He miraculously appeared, and is commonly referred to today as the "finder of lost articles." Upon exhumation, some 336 years after his death, his body was found to be corrupted, yet his tongue was totally incorrupt, so perfect were the teachings that had been formed upon it.

Feastday: June 13  1195 – 1231  Saint Anthony was canonized (declared a saint) less than one year after his death.

For all of his life, Saint Anthony held a special place in his heart for the sick and suffering, showing them particular compassion and mercy.

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Prayer For A Holy Christian Life

O Saint Anthony, example of outstanding holiness!

Help us to live as true Christians, faithful to the grace and promises of our Baptism.

You see how great the difficulties and dangers that surround me are: make me able

to overcome all the suggestions of sin and of the Evil One, and to have the strength always to bear

witness bravely to my faith.  Obtain for me a heart capable of loving God above all things, a heart ready to accept the will of God, even when He asks of me sacrifice and renunciation.

Open my soul to a generous and sincere love of my brothers and sisters, so that I never become self-centred, but will always be ready to serve my neighbour, comfort the afflicted and help those most in need.  Intercede for me sustain me with your example, so that I may live and die in the grace and friendship of God. Amen

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