SAINT SHARBEL MAKHLUF

Persevere in prayer without ceasing.. to

understand and live according to his will, not
to change it.
 Saint Anthony of Padua’s Story
The gospel call to leave everything and follow Christ was the rule of Saint Anthony of
Padua’s life. Over and over again, God called him to something new in his plan. Every time
Anthony responded with renewed zeal and self-sacrificing to serve his Lord Jesus more
completely.
His journey as the servant of God began as a very young man when he decided to join the
Augustinians in Lisbon, giving up a future of wealth and power to be a servant of God. Later
when the bodies of the first Franciscan martyrs went through the Portuguese city where he was
stationed, he was again filled with an intense longing to be one of those closest to Jesus himself:
those who die for the Good News.
So Anthony entered the Franciscan Order and set out to preach to the Moors. But an
illness prevented him from achieving that goal. He went to Italy and was stationed in a small
hermitage where he spent most of his time praying, reading the Scriptures and doing menial
tasks. The call of God came again at an ordination where no one was prepared to speak. The
humble and obedient Anthony hesitantly accepted the task. The years of searching for Jesus in
prayer, of reading sacred Scripture and of serving him in poverty, chastity, and obedience had
prepared Anthony to allow the Spirit to use his talents. Anthony’s sermon was astounding to
those who expected an unprepared speech and knew not the Spirit’s power to give people words.
Recognized as a great man of prayer and a great Scripture and theology scholar, Anthony
became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars. Soon he was called from that post to
preach to the Albigensians in France, using his profound knowledge of Scripture and theology to
convert and reassure those who had been misled by their denial of Christ’s divinity and of the
sacraments..
After he led the friars in northern Italy for three years, he made his headquarters in the city of
Padua. He resumed his preaching and began writing sermon notes to help other preachers. In
the spring of 1231 Anthony withdrew to a friary at Camposampiero where he had a sort of
treehouse built as a hermitage. There he prayed and prepared for death.
On June 13, he became very ill and asked to be taken back to Padua, where he died after
receiving the last sacraments. Anthony was canonized less than a year later and named a Doctor
of the Church in 1946.
When the child was miraculously restored to life, the woman was true to her word and the
tradition of giving alms to the poor in St. Anthony’s name was begun. It is a beautiful tradition of
generosity and charity to the poor. And it is fitting that it is done in St. Anthony’s name, since he
is the patron saint of the poor.

Many people think of St. Anthony as the “finder of lost items”. The reason for invoking
St. Anthony’s help in finding lost or stolen items is traced back to an incident in his own life. As
the story goes, he had a favorite book of psalms that was very valuable to him. As this was
before the invention of printing, the book was a hand-printed book – but of even more value
were his personal notes and the comments he had made in the Psalter to assist with teaching
students in the Franciscan order. It was suspected that a novice leaving the community had
stolen the Psalter. Anthony prayed for the return of his beloved possession. Shortly after, the
novice returned the book and sought Anthony’s forgiveness, which was given.
St. Anthony is also known as the guardian of the mail as a result of another incident in his
life. Although he always sought solitude and time for reflection, Anthony was so popular a
preacher that he rarely got time to rest. He dutifully wrote to his superior for permission for a
respite and time to travel some distance away for reflection. However, as the story goes, when
the messenger arrived for the letter, it was no where to be found. Anthony took this as a sign
that he was not to go and forgot about the trip. Shortly after, he received permission from his
superior to take the trip. Another legend of 1792, tells of a heart-broken wife seeking news of
her husband who had traveled from Spain to Peru. Despite writing many times there was no
answer. In desperation she went to the chapel and placed a letter in the hands of the statue of
St. Anthony and prayed he would intercede on her behalf and assist with delivery of the letter.
The next day when she returned to the chapel, she was disappointed that the letter was still
there. Upon removing the letter, she realized her letter had been replaced by a letter from her
husband. He wrote that her last letter had been delivered by a Franciscan priest, and that he
was overjoyed to receive her letter as he had thought her dead since not hearing from her for so
long.
Saint Anthony of Padua is the Patron Saint of: LOST, POOR and TRAVELERS

Original Image at Sulangan Guiuan