Saint Anthony of Padua

Priest and Doctor of the Church
(1195–1231)

Saint Anthony of Padua was born Ferdinand de Bulhões on August 15, 1195, in Lisbon, Portugal, into a noble family. He entered the Augustinian Canons at fifteen and was ordained a priest. In 1220, when the remains of the first Franciscan martyrs of Morocco passed through Coimbra on their way to burial, Anthony was so moved by their testimony that he obtained permission to transfer to the Franciscan Order with the intention of going to Africa to seek martyrdom himself.

Illness forced him back from Africa, and a storm drove his ship to Sicily, where he made his way to the great Franciscan chapter at Assisi in 1221. There he met Saint Francis himself. Assigned at first to a hermitage at Montepaolo, his extraordinary gifts were discovered accidentally: at an ordination ceremony where no one was prepared to preach, Anthony was called upon, and his eloquence and learning astonished all who heard him. From that moment he was sent to preach.

He preached throughout northern Italy and southern France with miraculous effect, converting heretics, reconciling enemies, and working wonders of every kind. His sermons drew tens of thousands of listeners. The most celebrated preacher of his age, he was called the Hammer of Heretics, yet his manner was characterized by love rather than harshness. He was also a theologian of the first order, appointed by Saint Francis himself to teach theology to the friars.

He died at Arcella near Padua on June 13, 1231, at the age of thirty-five. Pope Gregory IX canonized him less than a year after his death. In 1946 Pope Pius XII proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church. He is venerated as the patron saint of lost articles, the poor, and many other causes.