ST. ANTHONY MEETS THE FRANCISCAN FRIARS GOING TO THE MISSIONS
Born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195, St.
Anthony was given the baptismal name of Fernando. At the age of 15, he
entered the religious Order of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine. At
the Monastery of the Holy Cross in Coimbra, in 1219, he met a group of
young Franciscan Friars who were going on a missionary expedition to
Morocco. Their zeal for the Gospel impressed him. His holiness touched
them.
ST. ANTHONY REFLECTS ON THE DEATH OF THE FIRST FRANCISCAN MARTYRS
When news reached Coimbra in 1220 that the
five Franciscan missionaries had been brutally tortured and killed by
the Muslims in Morocco, St. Anthony was profoundly saddened. Their
remains were returned to his monastery for burial. The martyrdom of his
friends stirred St. Anthony to search the Scriptures and to reflect even
more deeply on the Gospel values of life and love.
ST. ANTHONY EXPERIENCES THE CALL OF THE FRANCISCAN WAY OF LIFE
Already ordained a priest in the Canons
Regular, St. Anthony began to discern that God was calling him to a
Franciscan vocation. He began to visit the nearby olive grove where the
friars lived in an impoverished hermitage. There St. Anthony came to
know the spirit of St. Francis, the “Little Poor Man of Assisi.” With
the permission of the Church, St. Anthony was soon invested as a friar
in the habit of the Franciscan Order.
ST. ANTHONY PREPARED TO DEPART FOR THE MISSIONS
Inflamed by the heroic example of the
martyrs, St. Anthony requested permission of his Franciscan superiors to
go as a missionary to Morocco.
His greatest hope was to serve the Lord by preaching the Gospel and
offering his life as a martyr.
God would have a different plan. After
arriving in Morocco, St. Anthony fell desperately ill, and remained in a
semi-conscious state for weeks. He would have to return to Portugal.
ST. ANTHONY’S SHIP IS THROWN OFF COURSE IN A STORM
Having bade farewell to his beloved Africa
and his missionary dreams, St. Anthony’s journey of life soon
encountered a new challenge. His ship was blown off course by a terrible
storm on the Mediterranean. The ailing St. Anthony, lost at sea, found
his “anchor” in the Lord. He surrendered himself to the holy will of
God.
ST. ANTHONY’S SHIPARRIVES IN SICILY
Divine Providence sent St. Anthony’s ship
eastward towards Italy. Setting foot on Sicily, St. Anthony felt weak
and abandoned. Identifying himself with the hungry and homeless, he
reached out to the poor, and determined to persevere in his Franciscan
vocation. He made his way northward to Assisi where St. Francis and the
friars were convening at their general assembly, known as the 1221
“Chapter of Mats.” A new day was dawning for St. Anthony and the Order.
ST. ANTHONY AND THE EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE WITH THE DONKEY
Though foreign and sickly, St. Anthony soon
came to be recognized by the friars as a brilliant theologian and
powerful preacher. He was assigned to preach throughout Italy and
southern France. At Rimini he was heckled by a heretic who denied the
Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. St. Anthony challenged the
heretic to let his donkey choose between a file of sumptuous animal
fodder or the Eucharist. As St. Anthony held the Blessed Sacrament, the
donkey approached and knelt in adoration.
ST. ANTHONY PREACHESTO THE FISH
Known as the “Evangelical Doctor,” St.
Anthony defended the teachings of the church through a new
evangelization faithful to the Pope and the Magisterium. His opponents
sometimes prevented people from coming to hear him preach. On one such
occasion in Rimini, St. Anthony looked out to the sea and began
preaching to the fish. Thousands of fish came to the surface, and
arranging themselves in rows, eagerly listened. Word of this amazing
wonder spread and the people soon came to hear and believe.
ST. ANTHONY THE PEACE MAKER MOVESTOWARD A CITY IN STRIFE
The Italy of St. Anthony’s day was a land of
conflict. Political disputes between the Emperor and the Pope divided
the people and caused great civil strife. St. Anthony’s reputation as a
healer sometimes thrust him intothe role of peacemaker. To tyrants and
warring factions he proposed one simple formula for the healing of
strife: reconciliation in Christ.
ST. ANTHONY IS GREETED BY TOWN’S PEOPLE AFTER RESTORING PEACE
Love was the central message of St.
Anthony’s life. People instinctively were attracted to him. At each town
and village he used the powerful message of Gospel love to implant a
new unity, and to work the miracle of peace. Witnessing the Franciscan
motto Pax et Bonum (“Peace and Good”), he spread the Kingdom of God.
ST. ANTHONY BLESSES THE CITY OF PADUA
What Assisi was for St. Francis, Padua
became for St. Anthony. As a realist, he saw the great problems of
secularism and violence corrupting this beautiful city. His final
preaching and negotiating would labor for Padua’s radical reform- its
call to holiness. His evangelization efforts would succeed in winning
for Padua the mercy of God.
THE BODY OF ST. ANTHONY IS RETURNED TO PADUA AFTER HIS DEATH
St. Anthony died on the 13th of June 1231 at
the friary in Arcella, A short distance from Padua. In his dying hours
fortified by the sacraments of the Church, he prayed to the Blessed
Virgin Mary, singing the hymn O Gloriosa Domina (“O Glorious Lady”). His
body was returned for burial to the friars’ small chapel of Our Lady in
St. Anthony’s beloved Padua.
ST. ANTHONY CONTINUES TO INSPIRE IN PADUA AND BEYOND
Less than one year after his death and
burial, St. Anthony was canonized a saint on the 30th of May 1232. He
remains today a magnet of love, drawing respect from people of all
nationalities and religions. Through his prayerful intercession, new
generations of friars find courage to follow their vocation. For the
whole world, St. Anthony continues to be God’s instrument of love and
blessing.
No comments:
Post a Comment