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The saints

St. Anthony of Padua

A Portuguese friar no one knew could preach, until the day he was told to.

Feast: 13 June · 1195 to 1231 · The Middle Ages · Lisbon, Portugal, and Padua, Italy

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The Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua: a brick façade crowned with domes and slender towers.

Didier Descouens, 2016. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Home / The saints / St. Anthony of Padua

Forlì, Italy, about 1222

At an ordination in Forlì, no one has been chosen to preach.1

A quiet Portuguese friar is ordered to speak; he begins slowly and timidly, then opens the Scriptures with such learning that all are struck with astonishment.1

He had joined the Franciscans hoping to die as a martyr in Morocco. God had a different idea.

Patron of lost things, the poor and travelers2

01St. Anthony of Padua

From Lisbon to Italy

Anthony was born at Lisbon in 1195.1

He became a Franciscan after the relics of the first Franciscan martyrs were brought back from Morocco, and set out for Africa himself, but illness forced him back.1

02St. Anthony of Padua

Padua

He had a loud and clear voice, a winning face and a wonderful memory, and he preached openly to rich and poor alike.1

He died on 13 June 1231, at Arcella, just outside Padua.1

The Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua: a brick façade crowned with domes and slender towers.
The Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, where he is buried. Didier Descouens, 2016. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Today people mostly ask him to find their keys. He spent his life helping people find something more important.

Live it this week

Say yes when you are asked

Anthony was a quiet friar until someone asked him to preach on the spot, and he did. The next time you’re asked to help this week (read at Mass, lead grace, speak up at a meeting), say yes before you can talk yourself out of it.

Notes

How we know · 2 sources for this page
  1. Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), “St. Anthony of Padua”. New Advent edition. newadvent.org
  2. Franciscan Media, Saint of the Day: “Saint Anthony of Padua”. franciscanmedia.org. franciscanmedia.org

The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) is in the public domain; we quote the New Advent edition. Texts of the Holy See are quoted briefly from vatican.va. Scripture: World English Bible, Catholic edition (public domain); Verse numbers are modern, with Douay-Rheims numbers in brackets where they differ. Photographs: Wikimedia Commons, credited under each image; full list on the photo credits page.

Lines in the narrator’s voice, without a note, are our reflection, not a historical claim. Stone & Incense restates Church teaching in plain words; our wording is not an official Church text. Report an errorCorrections.