Saint. Anthony of Padua

Early Life

Fernando Martins was born in Libson, Portugal on August 15, 1195. His wealthy and noble family arranged for him to be instructed at the local cathedral school. At the age 15, he entered the community of Canons Regular at the Augustinian Abbey of Saint Vincent on the outskirts of Libson. In 1212, distracted by frequent visits from family and friends, he asked to be transferred to the motherhouse of the congregation, the Abbey of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, and then the capital of Portugal. There, he studied theology and Latin. After his ordination to the priesthood, Fernando was named guestmaster and placed in charge of hospitality for the abbey. News arrived that five Franciscans had been beheaded in Morocco (St. Bernard, St. Peter, St. Otho, St. Accursius, and St. Adjutus), the first of their order to be killed. Inspired by their example, Fernando obtained permission from church authorities to leave the Canons Regular to join the new Franciscan Order. Upon his admission to the life of the friars, he joined the small hermitage in Olivais, adopting the name Anthony (from the name of the chapel located there, dedicated to Saint Anthony the Great), by which he was to be known.

Introduction

Saint Anthony of Padua

There is perhaps no more loved and admired saint in the catholic church than Saint Anthony of Padua.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.

Death

Saint's Life

In 1231 he became ill with dropsy and, went to the woodland retreat to Camposanpiero with two other friars to recover. He lived in a cell built for him under the branches of a walnut tree. He died on 12 June 1231 at the Poor Clare convent at Arcella on his way back to Padua at the early age of 36. When he died, it is said that children cried in the streets, all the bells of the churches rang of their own accord and angels came down to ring the bells for the death of a saint.

Soon afterwards, he set off for Morocco with another friar with the intention of preaching the Gospel there. However, he became so ill on his arrival that he had to return to Portugal.

On the way back, his ship was driven by a storm to the coast of Sicily and landed at Messina. From there Anthony made his way to Assisi in northern Italy and asked to be admitted to the friary there but, because of his sickly appearance, they were reluctant to accept him. And he told them nothing about his studies, so he was sent to the rural hospice of San Paolo, near Forli in the Romagna, where a priest was needed to say Mass for the Franciscan brothers. There he lived the life of a hermit and worked in the kitchen.

On one occasion when there was an ordination ceremony, many Dominican friars had been invited. It was expected that one of them - the Dominicans specialized in preaching - would give the homily but they had come unprepared, presuming that one of the Franciscans would preach. The superior felt that the only person in the community who was in any way qualified to preach was Anthony and, in spite of his objections, he was called on. To eveyone's amazement, his sermon and his insights into the Gospel made a deep impression on those present - both the quality of his voice, his learning and his eloquence.

It was then that Brother Gratian, the minister provincial, sent Anthony to preach the Gospel all over Lombardy, a region of northern Italy. His skills were now widely recognized and, in addition to preaching, he taught at the universities of Montpellier and Toulouse in southern France. But it was as a preacher that he was most admired.