SAINT ANTHONY

Feast Day: January 17

At the age of 26, Anthony had to admit that nothing in his life had worked out the way he had planned. Only two years before he had given up a peaceful life of prayer and study to become a missionary. Everything had gone so wrong that now his fellow Franciscans wouldn't even give him a job of washing dishes or sweeping up. Anthony had been so sure of what God wanted him to do. What had happened?

Born in 1195 in Portugal as heir to a noble title and lands, Anthony's future seemed to secure and planned out. But he started his restless quest for God's call early, giving up his inheritance to enter a monastery at age 15, seeking a life of solitude and devotion.

His friends, however, missed him and knowing he was close by, would stop into visit. After two years, he decided he would have to move on to find the kind of life he wanted. Anthony took advantage of the reputation of the Abbey of Santa Cruz, his new home, for learning and study and devoted the next eight years to studying theology and Scripture. His phenomenal memory and facility for knowledge made it obvious to everyone that this was the life he was meant to lead...until five guests showed up at the monastery.

Barefoot, clothed only in rags, with bright eyes and burning words, were these men holy or heretics? What was this new order called the Franciscans they said they belonged to? But as Anthony listened to their story of fellow Franciscans being martyred in Morocco, he began to believe that he was wasting his life on books.

His superior was not as convinced. When he finally gave Anthony permission to leave, he said with some sarcasm, "Go on your way. You'll surely become a saint."

And that's what Anthony intended to do. He would go directly to Morocco as a Franciscan and die for the faith. The Franciscans accepted Anthony into their order knowing he intended to become a martyr as soon as possible. When he landed in Morocco it seemed like everything was finally going as he planned it.

But God had other plans. He no sooner got out into the desert than he became so il that he wasn't even able to get out of bed, let alone walk the street preaching. His attempt at missionary work was such a complete failure that the Franciscans ordered him back to Portugal after only four months.

Yet Anthony couldn't even get that to work out. The ship taking him back to Portugal was forced to land in Sicily after a storm. As Anthony recovered his health in Italy, he conceived a new plan. He would go to the fourth general chapter meeting of the Franciscans and see St. Francis of Assisi. Surely St. Francis would know what he was supposed to do with the rest of his life.

But Francis, close to death, didn't notice Anthony among all the three thousand friars who had come to the chapter. As a matter of fact, everyone ignored Anthony -- which apparently wasn't difficult to do because Anthony liked to stick to the background.

Dejected and discouraged, Anthony didn't want to return to Portugal which was just a reminder of how wrong all his hopes had gone. Surely there was a place for him in Italy. But no one in Italy knew of Anthony's background in theology and Scripture. That, like Portugal, belonged to Anthony's past. All they saw was a sickly invalid with barely enough strength to get out of bed. So when he volunteered as a kitchen assistant he was turned down; no one thought he could do the work!

What could Anthony do? He was a failure as a missionary, as a martyr, and now even as a dishwasher.

He had found one friend however in Father Gratian, the provincial of Bologna. When Anthony begged him for work, Gratian sent him to a small retreat house in the mountains. Anthony loved the quiet contemplative life there that gave him time to spend with God and his beloved Scripture.

Anthony made one trip down the mountain...to Forli to be ordained in 1222. A large group of priests were being ordained. Once again Anthony was hidden in the crowd...but it was to be the last time.

As was customary, there was to be a talk at the ordination meal on being a priest. The time came for the talk...and no one stood up. No one had prepared a talk and no one wanted to talk spontaneously in front of the toughest audience of all -- their fellow-priests. Suddenly Gratian turned to Anthony and asked him to speak. Why Anthony? Maybe he guessed there was more to Anthony than the others knew. Maybe Anthony was just handy. Of course Anthony said no; he had no experience or ability. Gratian ordered him to speak out of obedience.

Unable to refuse the direct order Anthony stood up. But as he opened his mouth to stammer out a few words, the frightened priest was suddenly overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit. The voice that trembled in fear, now trembled with passion. The words that had stumbled now flowed beautifully.

All who heard his speech knew they had not only witnessed a miracle but heard a miracle-worker.

In that moment his life changed forever. Everyone who had ignored him knew him now as Anthony the Preacher. Saint Francis who hadn't noticed his existence appointed him to preach anywhere and everywhere. His quiet solitude was replaced by expectant crowds hanging on his words.

Suddenly what looked like failures or misdirections in his life made sense. His study in the monastery was not a waste of time, but a foundation to preach on the Scripture. His travel to Morocco and Italy was not a disaster but experiences in real life to teach from. His assignment to the retreat house was not a rejection but a grounding of his spirit in prayer and meditation to sustain him in the Holy Spirit.

What did Anthony preach? He preached the Scripture; it was said of him that he knew the Bible so well, that if some disaster destroyed all copies of it, the Scriptures could still be recovered from what he knew. He probed deep into each passage to find the key message for Christians.

Anthony preached peace in a time of feuds, vendettas, and wars, saying, "No more war; no more hatred and bloodshed, but peace. God wills it."

Anthony preached a positive message. In a time when heretics were teaching things such as that the flesh was evil and only the soul was created by God, Anthony didn't indulge in attacks of heretics. He spoke of the true beliefs of Christians in such a positive way that he won people back to the Faith, including a powerful man who had turned away from the Church for thirty years.

But Anthony believed that preaching was useless -- if one didn't preach by example. "The only ones who preach correctly are those who conform by their actions to what they announce with their mouths."

When an archbishop asked Anthony to preach at a national council, Anthony did as requested and then turned to the archbishop to say, "And now I have something to say to you..." and proceeded to tell the archbishop in front of the council how he should change his life.

Despite the chaos of the times, Anthony had to start preaching out in the fields, because the churches would no longer hold the crowds coming to hear him. Shops and business closed their doors when he came to preach and people often slept overnight in churches in order to be sure to hear him the next day.

Anthony knew hearing the Word was just the first step, so he arranged for his helpers and himself to hear confessions after the sermons. As evidence of the changes he brought about wherever he went, there is a law in Italy that states that because of Anthony debtors could no longer be imprisoned if they couldn't pay their debts.

Padua was the place that Anthony had chosen as his home base after he started preaching. And that's where he went after he fell ill in 1231. In order to find a little solitude in the midst of the clamors for his attention, he built a sort of treehouse where he lived until he became too weak. He asked to be taken back to his monastery to die but he didn't make it. At a stop at a convent of Poor Clares, he said, "I behold my God," and died. It was June 13, 1231 and he was only 35 years old.

Anthony is often shown with the Christ Child because of a legend that took place in a monastery where he stayed overnight. When his host peeked into Anthony's room to see the saint at prayer, he saw that Anthony was not alone. The Christ Child stood on a table before Anthony, holding him.

Many people will remember praying to Anthony for the retrieval of lost things. No one is sure how this association started but one story involves the Commentary on the Psalms that Anthony had written. One day Anthony found both the Commentary and a novice missing from the monastery. The novice had evidently run away and taken this souvenir with him. Anthony prayed for the return of both. Soon guilt overtook the running novice, and he came back, not only to return the manuscript but return to religious life.

Anthony is also the patron saint of the poor and of women who can't conceive.

In His Footsteps:
Have you ever felt like a failure? How have your failures or how could your failures now be a foundation for future success in serving God? Do you know someone you think of as a failure? Imagine that person as the next Saint Anthony.

Prayer:
Saint Anthony of Padua, you endured much discouragement in your life before finding your calling. Help us to find patience in our own lives and trust God to lead us where we need to go. You preached by example; help us show others through example the truth of our Faith.

Amen