Saint of the week: Anthony of Padua
- Aimee Boudreaux MacIver
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Despite being a great Doctor of the Church and a contemporary of St Francis of Assisi, St Anthony of Padua is probably best known today for finding missing things. Who hasn't chanted Tony, Tony, come around—something’s lost and must be found! when you're racing around looking for your sunglasses or an important document or that cash you swear you had in your pocket?
He got tagged with the patronage because he once prayed to recover a valuable book of psalms that had been stolen by a fellow friar who had abandoned the order. Anthony's prayer was effective: not only was the book returned, but the delinquent friar also returned to full communion with the order. The book was hardly important to Anthony; what he most wanted to help people find was the Savior.
Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Fernando Martins de Bulhões grew up in a noble family who sent him to fine schools. At only age 15, he asked to enter an Augustinian order. At 19, he was ordained a priest and placed in charge of hospitality for pilgrims and travelers. Here, Fernando met some visiting members of the newly formed Franciscans. He felt immediately drawn to Franciscan simplicity and deeply inspired by the martyrdom of five Franciscans in Morocco. Fernando obtained permission to leave the Augustinians and join the Franciscans. He took "Anthony" as his religious name.
Brother Anthony was bookish, quiet, and happily hidden in his life as a friar until1222, when somebody bungled the scheduling for a preacher at an ordination Mass. With no other preacher available, the Franciscan superior called upon Anthony, who immediately declined. But they insisted: someone must preach! Without any other preparation, Anthony obediently walked toward the ambo.
What spilled out wasn’t just eloquence or pinpoint theology. Anthony preached with the blazing fire of a man who had been lost and then found by love.
Anthony's preaching was so powerful that it became his full time ministry. He went on missions throughout Italy, making 400 journeys around the nation over ten years. He wrote sermons that were eventually published and offered profound new insights for the Church. He spoke the Word of God with clarity, authority, and tenderness. He preached to heretics and children, to crowds that wept and repented. His life radiated with divine power when he gave God permission to use him in ways he hadn’t planned.
In 1231, he fell sick and died young at 36. In 1232, less than a full year after his death, Anthony was canonized—the fastest canonization in history. In 1946, Venerable Pope Pius XII proclaimed Anthony a Doctor of the Church, attributing to him the title Doctor evangelicus.
Loss is the greatest pain of this earthly life. Even tiny losses like misplaced car keys or a left-behind toy whisper of the inevitable earthly loss of everything and everyone we love. Anthony reminds us that nothing is truly lost when it’s held in God’s hands. Not time, not direction, not even us. Heaven promises us one thing, really—that we will find forever everything that we've always been looking for.
St Anthony of Padua's feast day is June 13.
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