About St. Anthony
St. Anthony of Padua was a 13th-century Franciscan priest known for his powerful preaching and finding lost items. Born in Lisbon to a wealthy family, he initially joined the Augustinians but was inspired to become a Franciscan after witnessing the return of martyred Franciscan missionaries from Morocco. Though he intended to be a missionary himself, illness forced him to return from Africa, and a storm drove his ship to Italy, where his gift for preaching was discovered by chance when he was asked to give an impromptu sermon. His eloquence, deep knowledge of scripture, and miracle-working powers earned him the nickname “Hammer of Heretics,” and he became the first Franciscan to teach theology to his fellow friars, with St. Francis’s personal blessing. Known for his devotion to the poor and miracles during his lifetime, including bilocation and preaching to fish when humans wouldn’t listen, he died at just 36 in 1231. His tongue, a symbol of his preaching gifts, was found incorrupt when his body was exhumed 336 years after his death. He’s commonly invoked to find lost items, stemming from an incident where a novice who had stolen his psalter returned it after Anthony prayed for its return. Often depicted holding the infant Jesus (based on a reported vision) and a lily (symbolizing purity), he was canonized less than a year after his death and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1946.
Prayers & Devotions
