June 13th is the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua. Anthony was born in 1195 with the name Fernando Martins in Lisbon, Portugal. While historians aren't certain about his genealogy, we know that his parents were powerful nobles in Lisbon. We also know that they were a very devout, God-fearing family.

Fernando attended a strong Catholic institution in the Cathedral school. At only 15 years old, he asked to go to the Abbey of Santa Cruz to discern monastery life. Although he now actively involved himself with the monastery, he still felt bothered by and too attached to his friends and family in Lisbon. Wishing to devote a more complete part of his life to the monastic way, he moved further away to a Franciscan abbey in Coimbra. During his 8 years at Coimbra, he was ordained to the priesthood and began to intensely study the theology of the Church. Gifted with an impressive memory and intellectual mind, he was soon a master of all theological topics.

When the bodies of five Franciscan friar martyrs returned to the abbey, his life took a turn. They had been preaching in Morocco when they were tortured and beheaded - after receiving many warnings. Fernando, filled with a new desire to be on mission and experience martyrdom, asked to leave the Abbey to join the Franciscan order and become a friar. He shared with the Franciscans that "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."

Fernando was allowed to transfer to the convent of St. Anthony, soon took the vows of the Franciscan order, and chose the name 'Anthony.' Anthony was sent to Morocco as he had requested but immediately fell ill and had to return to Portugal to recover. On his way home, his ship was blown off course from a storm and had to land on the East coast of Sicily. Luckily, Anthony was accepted by the friary in Sicily, where they nursed him back to health.

After regaining his health, Anthony was met with much freedom as he had no assignment there. He asked to go to a small hermitage in northern Italy, a town called Montepaolo, to study the Franciscan life under a Father Graziano. Anthony was now finally living the contemplative, private life that he had hoped for.

Anthony learned under the Father Superior and followed him around his daily activities. One day, they both went to attend a nearby ordination. They discovered that no one had an assignment to preach at the ordination, so the Superior turned to Anthony and asked him to give a short reflection, expecting nothing too impressive from the young friar.

To everyone's surprise, Anthony was much more intellectually and theologically gifted than expected! He made his knowledge and passion in theology unmistakably clear in just the short homily that he gave at that ordination. After he exposed his talents, his life drastically changed again. Anthony was assigned to preach in northern Italy. He soon took on even more responsibility as the first teacher of the Franciscan order, appointed by St. Francis of Assisi himself. Anthony gave sermons for friars often and even preached for Pope Gregory IX at one point.

In Padua in 1231, Anthony gave a series of Lenten sermons that were immensely powerful. People said that the sermon was so strong that it seemed the miracle of the Pentecost from a thousand years earlier repeated itself. Crowds of 30,000 people came out to hear each sermon. After Mass and his sermon, Anthony heard confessions. Unfortunately, this Lenten season of 1231 literally worked him to death. Exhaustion overcame him and he could not recover. He received the last sacraments and prayed as he died. His last recorded words were, "I see my Lord!" Anthony died at age 36 in 1231.

Pope Gregory IX, who had known Anthony well, declared Anthony a saint just one year after his death. In 1946, Pope Pius XII declared St. Anthony a doctor of the church - a great honor only bestowed to a few others besides St. Anthony.

While we don't know which of the stories and miracles attributed to St. Anthony are real and which are just legend, it is safe to say that St. Anthony had a very powerful presence while he was on Earth.

The Miracle of the Fish: The story goes that Anthony was attempting to preach the Gospel to a group of heretics. When they would not listen to him, he turned to the water and began to preach to the fish. Fish soon began to gather near Anthony, appearing to actually listen. When the heretics saw this, they realized the power of this man and came to listen.

The Miracle of the Lost Book: Anthony had a book of psalms that he kept. This book contained many of his notes that he used when teaching younger students. This was very special and valuable to Anthony. In 1224, a novice left the hermitage and stole this book of psalms. Anthony prayed that the lost book would be found or returned safely. The thief miraculously not only returned the book but returned to the Order too.

This miracle is what claimed the patronage of lost things for St. Anthony. To this day, when faithful Catholics need assistance in finding a lost thing, they will pray to St. Anthony for guidance and assistance in finding it.

There are many more miracles associated with St. Anthony, but these two give an idea of how strong St. Anthony's spiritual connection was.

St. Anthony is nearly always pictured with the Christ child and often holding a bunch of lilies. Why is this?

The lilies remind us of St. Anthony's purity. Anthony was known for the power of his prayer for purity in times of immense temptation.

The Christ child is pictured with him because of another story of St. Anthony. One night, while St. Anthony prayed quietly at a local hermitage, the child Jesus appeared to him. St. Anthony held Jesus and the room was filled with an intense light and laughter. The owner of the hermitage noticed the light emanating from the chapel and went to investigate. The owner walked in to find St. Anthony holding the Christ child. Can you imagine walking in to see this?

Saint Anthony, God used you in miraculous ways to bring others to Him. Pray that I may have the same love and dedication. Please join your prayers with mine, for those who are most in need of God's love, salvation, and intervention. Amen.