St Anthony of Padua, 1195-1231. Evangelical Doctor, Feast June 13th.

No doctor resembled Jesus as much as Anthony. For example, he lived as Jesus in obscurity for many years. He was unknown to everyone and lived a quiet, hidden and non-public life. This doctor came to be known quite suddenly as Jesus after a retiring life of prayer, obedience and submission. As Jesus, his public life was very short and he died about the same age as Jesus.

All the doctors, as all creatures, can identify with Jesus supernaturally in a special manner. The Messiah is the first born among all creatures and our personal Word from the eternal Father. God’s Word, Jesus Christ, the first and only expression of God, explicitly deigns to identify with us in every manner except sin. The Church proclaimed Anthony the evangelical doctor, among many other titles, because of his intense longing and zeal for sharing the gospel and living out its message. According to tradition, his body has perished but his tongue is incorruptible. This is an incredible story. How is this possible? Scripture informs us that with God all things are possible. We would be wise to investigate the life of this doctor and explore his God-given gifts. Many of the books in the resources explain his many miracles and holy life.

Before Anthony became well known, the gospels were the main sources that he wholeheartedly pursued. Up to this time, his life was hidden and unknown. Jesus, too, was totally unknown to most people for thirty years prior to his public ministry. He was an ordinary carpenter from a unknown town, that even had a bad reputation and many people felt no good could come.

This is a profound lesson that God wants us to know and cherish. It is not necessarily what we do with our lives, or where we come from, but how we live our life that is most important. We do not have to do great things to be great. The carpenter role of Jesus and the hidden life of Anthony were vital preparatory roles that led to their future missions. They are no less important or more important than the ordinary lives that each of us live today.

God does not look at how much (quantity) we do as what (quality) we do. That is why the church places great value on all vocations and individuals. Whether we are married or single, involved in the contemplative role or active ministry, able or disable, it doesn't matter. The value of any creature, whether a genius or limited in ability is equally precious in God’s eyes.

The Franciscan doctor, Anthony, had an insatiable thirst to understand, master and live out the message and meaning of the words of Jesus Christ and imitate that life. That was his primary interest and consuming passion. His ardent desire was to know and comprehend scripture totally. Anthony wanted total identification with Jesus. Christ was, for Anthony, God’s personal and precious Word. He wanted to know, express and speak about the Word. Anthony felt that the Word of God required it to be heard daily. It was an overriding idea. This particular Jew from Nazareth may have lived a long time ago but he certainly most alive and was not dead to Anthony. He was alive spiritually because grace made him James aware to him and Anthony wanted to perpetuate that memory with the same action as Jesus did. And he did!

His faith made him aware, that this person, the Nazarene, was alive and this divine and human Being captured his heart and mind. He wanted to share the evangelical counsels (Jesus’ message) contained in the Old and New Testaments but especially in the gospels. The gospels for Anthony were Jesus’ autobiography. He knew that Jesus didn’t write it. However, the same Spirit that guided Jesus had inspired the four evangelists to write exactly what God wanted them to be known about God’s Son. Anthony had an enormous quest and pining to convey all of the "Good News" that the gospel contained. We know that all books in the world can not hold the message and meaning that they contain. We could never have that many books.

When God imprints and impresses the deity’s message, image, and power in us, extraordinary things happen. No one can fully comprehend the Supreme Being’s touch-not even the individual that God favors. When the eternal Lover wounds an individual with infinite love, profound things happen that are not always understood and may appear ridiculous.

God alone knows the secrets of the hearts and minds of all creatures instantaneously. How is this possible? Isn’t this too incredible to be believed? We are ignorant of God because of disbelief and unbelief. Our belief in God gives us the understanding of God’s gifts to us.

Believing in God is a gift that somehow is shared by our consenting and yielding to the unfathomable mystery surrounding us and especially within us. Belief defies logic and supersedes reason, albeit as rational creatures we need to use them most of the time. However, belief is a form of perfect knowledge, a gift of the Spirit and we should know when to yield to its Source. Reason distinguishes us from all other of God's animals because of our intelligence and free will.

Anthony longed to reveal God's love and message burning in his heart. It compelled him to appear to do strange things, as talking to the fish in water. Anthony probably surmised: Didn’t every creature want to hear the word of God? Anthony had been powerfully impressed with the joy and glory of sharing the Good News. It did not matter who was listening-not even the fishes in the water. Besides, they were God's creatures too.

He proclaimed the Good News whenever and to whomever or whattever existed because of his burning excitement to share God's flaming and enriching love. This fervid lover of the Most High was on a mission and God immensely imparted special graces into Anthony’s heart, mind, soul, and spirit. Providentially knowing that his time on earth was to be short-lived, he wanted to excel with the remaining time in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Love impelled him to move headlong forward with pure abandonment and trust.

We might do the same. We do not know when God will call us. I marvel each day when I read the obituaries. I do not read these out of a morbid fear or attraction of death. I am fascinated how God calls us at age two, twenty-two and one hundred and two. There is no rime or reason.

If you have faith as Anthony, you will understand that no one dies by ‘accident’. They may have been in an accident and perhaps God allowed it to happen when it could have been avoided. However, God permits death by a sudden aneurysm, an allergic, fatal reaction by a bee sting or a bolt of lightning out of the sky. The mystery of life and the duration of our life are entirely based on a divine and loving providence. Faith alone can accept this and only love will cherish it. God is profoundly mysterious and adorable. Who can know the mind of God and understand all his ways? His glory is the rising sun and all his words are flames. Only the love of God grasps Love.

As Jesus spent only a few years in the public view with his active ministry, Anthony, likewise, spent only a limited time period in the 'limelight'. Most of his life developed and flourished secretly-praying, studying and working as a consecrated Franciscan friar.

The Evangelical Doctor was the Franciscan’s first theologian appointed by their Founder, Francis of Assisi. Originally, he started as an Augustinian. Only after many years in isolation, as Jesus, did God call St Anthony to become more known. Then, everyone recognized him. God inundated and enriched him with superabundant gifts, fruits and beatitudes of the Spirit. Then, nearly all saw and heard God's overwhelming love in the words and actions of the illustrious St. Anthony. The same is still going on today, even more so, after a millennium.

He became renowned and distinguished in such a short time after his ordination to the priesthood through a preparatory life of obscurity. The miracles, wonders and signs which God poured out through Anthony are incredible and too many to imagine. The numbers would be endless and staggering. One can not possible understand a miracle. We can only experience it.

Franciscans publish a monthly magazine entitled, St Anthony Messenger. (SAM) For exploring many articles on Anthony, the Franciscans or the Church, go to:

http://www.americancatholic.org/

Discover why this doctor is frequently seen holding the Child Jesus in his arms. Each month it highlights the extraordinary, new, miracles that readers attribute to him. These favors and wonderful events continue month after month! The magazine itself has recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. The favors granted to those who pray to St Anthony are stupendous and nearly too incredible to believe- but, all things are possible to believers, lovers and those who trust God.

He is utterly amazing and almost too incredible to be believed. How can these happen? It seems that if one truly believes that God can pour out his graces on those who really need it, and wholeheartedly believe it, God will frequently do it. In fact, the Almighty does it non-stop while they are alive. Perhaps, God also allows that same disposition to be perpetuated in heaven on a non-stop basis? Daily, God wants to bestow loving favors on us.

His legacy to the world, and his popularity even today, his intercession before God is beyond comparison and comprehension. He is the patron of untold causes and the church has lavished upon him the highest honors of sainthood almost before he died. He was canonized within a year of his death because of popular acclaim. This fact alone is unprecedented in the history of the Catholic Church. He is perhaps the most popular saint ever among the faithful of the church.

Whenever you hear, see or read about Anthony, though it might sound farfetched, it is nevertheless, probably true. God's favors to him are beyond description and those who sincerely petition him will probably receive more than asked or expected. St Anthony has extraordinary intercessory powers- powers that are awesome and powerful.

Above everything, Anthony was an intense, gentle and prayerful lover. He always wanted to learn more about God. He was never satisfied with the idea that God did not want to bestow more on creatures. God is incessantly blessing us with rich holiness. Anthony was consumed with divine love. It was a divine romance. It was a stable infatuation and it moved him upward.

He wanted to be a missionary. Anthony craved to be a martyr. He wanted to love all passionately every day. He looked to convert the Moors. They were a group that did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. He felt obliged to preach to heretics and all ignorant of God. Many things that Anthony wanted belonged to his own agenda. Anthony also understood that what he wanted was not necessarily what God wanted. However, he accepted that too. He was a realist.

This humble and fervent follower of Jesus was always obedient. Genuine obedience is profound love and God delights in our obedience. Religious in the catholic curch tradition, for the most part, take a vow of obedience. This is not easy and requires deep trust and faith in God. Any person might secretly take a private vow of obedience to those who have authority over them. However, always consult a wise spiritual director before doing it. Always seek to exercise the act of obedience whenever possible. It requires solid trust. Do not yield it to anyone.

We might petition this saint for wisdom in exercising the spirit of obedience. The spirit of obedience isn’t easy. It is perhaps the test of our salvation. Pride rebukes obedience. It wants to take control. The spirit of obedience is giving up control. We all want to take charge. It’s in our nature. The spirit of obedience lends itself to capture the supernatural. We are from below. God is from above.

It’s easy to be obedient according to the law. The spirit of obedience comes to the forefront when there is no law. This is most difficult because there is no requirement to be obedient. When we willingly and loving choose, the challenge is upon us. This can not be achieved without strength that is above nature-‘super-nature’. This divine intervention we call supernatural grace. We have to beg for it at times. It’s always given generously as God decides.

St Anthony did mundane and menial tasks when asked. In surrendering his will to God, he arrived at his full stature and God fulfilled all his desires, dreams and hopes-more than he ever dreamt. Most of us do not want to do the simple and ordinary things. We get bored easily. We usually like to do the things we like rather than the things we are told to do. The challenges that we have are small compared to the challenges that Jesus had.

Christians, we have a super model! Our ‘crosses’ are minute compared to the challenges and ‘criminal’ crosses that Christ had to bear. He did it for us. He carried it to show us how to do it. His message is that there is no salvation except by carrying the cross. We do not like to hear it. But it is the fact of life. Christ is the only way to the Father. Anthony understood the gospel and lived it out fully to the letter.

Jesus did the same thing laboring as a carpenter when he was quite able to ‘do’ more exciting things explaining the kingdom of God. After all, no one was more enthusiastic about transmitting the message of the "Father of Light" to creatures. The people of Jesus' times had such a dim awareness of the great goodness of God. Even most of the apostles at first were ignorant. Jesus could easily have been a famous teacher for twenty years rather than sweat in a carpenter shop day after day.

Our Lord was most articulate and his words attracted everyone-those who loved and hated him during his public ministry. Jesus made his mark quite easily. His words made an impression that one could hardly forget. It seemed that he told us everything that he did, and not what he could have done. That is the message of the gospel. For Christ, the ordinary is extraordinary. The plain and simple is exciting and fabulous. The undesirable work is most desirable. Working with one’s hands is no less important than working (talking) with one’s mouth or intellectual work.

Our Divine Redeemer loved to talk about God. Why be silent for thirty years and then talk about God? Couldn’t more be achieved by explaining God than by keeping quiet? What was the use of the long hours of solitude in a disliked, unknown town of Nazareth? Why not teach in the glorious temple in Jerusalem that Solomon, David’s son, had constructed? Didn’t they call him the Son of David? If the Jews of Jesus’ day were so ignorant of the true things of God, couldn’t Jesus, the master teacher, carefully explain and elaborate on everything and put everything in its proper perspective so they could grasp the message? Or, was his real message only the will of God?

Our Savior could have been a superb priest, ruler or king. He was! However, he was not these in the traditional way we think. He chose to labor and to be constantly reminded that the very tools that he worked with-wood and nails-would be the very instruments of his brutal punishment, pain and death. Most importanly over all, they were the means to our salvation and sanctificaton.

Jesus was a King, but His kingdom was not of this world. He was the Victim Priest and he ruled nature and it obey him. The sea, wind, and waves yielded to him. All of nature obeyed him.

His overriding message to us is the same. Be true to yourself, your calling and your God. Stay open to the signals and God will tell you what to do. It isn’t going to be complicated. You only have to cooperate, be willing and obey your conscience, the commandments and your heart. God will lead you to the truth when you are sincere and earnest. Sincerity is the intention and earnestness is the generous execution of that intention. It challenges us today.

St Anthony is a darling among the old and young. He is most popular saint in helping others find a variety of things. We might petition him for things that we once had but now lack. An example of this might be weak or lost faith if that is possible. He can also help people find new meaning in life, a job or another person.

The Companion of St Anthony: The Conventual Franciscan Friars at 12300 Folly Quarter Road, Ellicott City, Maryland 21042 have compiled a beautiful Litany of the Lost in honor of Saint Anthony. The response for each of the following petitions is: Rx Saint Anthony, pray for us.

For those of us who have lost...
our health,
our peace of mind, Rx etc.

our housing,
our financial security,
a love one,
our dreams,
our talents,
our initial zeal,
our sobriety,
our faith,
our self-respect,
our perspective,
our innocence,
our independence,
peace within our families,
civil peace,
our trust in others,
our virtue,
our home,

Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Let us pray, All loving God, You have given us St Anthony the patron of the lost, as an intercessor of those who are in need of your mercy, Listen to his voice as he calls out to You on our behalf, and grant those things which will help us to grow in Your love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Anthony is the Wonder-Worker of Padua and the whole world. He is perhaps the most celebrated evangelizer and the most popular saint-doctor that the Catholic Church ever had. However, the Church will proclaim new doctors. She is exceedingly rich. There will be more amazing people like St. Anthony.

St Anthony never stopped begging, pleading and praying for God's immeasurable and unlimited love and we should too! However, do not ask for yourself. Ask for what you want to give away and God will give you more than you can ask. We see this happening with St Anthony and many others. This doctor and the other saints may not be visible to us but they are ready and most willing to intercede for us if we but implore them and God’s mercy for us.

The "communion of saints" is an incredible article and reality of our faith that we can be in touch with daily. This is especially true when we pray or are united with our Lord’s own body, blood, soul and divinity in Holy Communion. The Church provides us with unlimited access and availability to grace, favors and benefits from many sources. We should use what we feel most comfortable and allow Providence to guide us. God calls and leads everyone differently.

All of us have a unique envisonment of what we ought to do. We have dreams, ideas and goals that we want to achieve. For the most part, our plans are God given. We may not be able to articulate our life objectives immediately but if we work with them, they become clearer. We have talent, intelligence and strength to carry out our plans. Jesus, Anthony and us are all creatures on the same planet earth. Each has a different time span. But we are all evangelizers in our own distinct manner. We do not have to achieve great things. All the things we do will be great if we do them in order to please our Heavenly Father. All of us have the same Father.

We see how this happened to the amazing St Anthony. He left one vocation and found another. The gospel call to leave everything and follow Christ was the rule of Anthony’s life. Anthony was already in religion. Why leave one for another? God continually calls and challenges us. It is not only once but continually. We need to be open to God’s graces and obedient to his interpretation that others afford us. It is not easy. It requires deep trust.

We must let our conscience, traditions and God’s law and directions help us in our decisions. Perhaps, Anthony felt as an Augustinian that he was going to accumulate wealth and power as a famous professor and this turned him off. Perhaps he sought a secluded life as Jesus did. We do not have all the answers. After he changed to the Franciscans, obedience led him to the priesthood and to be a theologian and teacher.

Who really knew why he changed one religious order for the next? Perhaps he felt that his chances of becoming a martyr were greater with the Franciscan missionaries than with the Augustinians? Father Leonard Foley, a gifted Franciscan authors that I have quoted continuously on this website, indicates that Anthony should be the patron of those who find their lives completely uprooted and set in a new and unexpected direction. With the job market and the marketplace what it is today, St Anthony could be a prime candidate and example for many to imitate.

Finally, the great wonder-worker of Padua chose to remain unknown and God made him most known. God’s ways are not ours. What happened to ‘Tony’, as he is often called, can happen to us today when we focus entirely on God's will.

All are called to be an evangelizer in his own way and to holiness whether we are using the telephone, watching TV or taking care of a family. God’s Holy Spirit-the same eternal Spirit-that Anthony asked for and received, is ours too.

The below link reflects Anthony's extraordinary faith in Mary's maternal mediation. Think on her name, virginity, assumption and purity with Anthony. Read the section how St Anthony's life began with Mary.
      http://www.franciscan-archive.org/antonius/index.html

A powerful Patron:
      http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainta01.htm

Mary and Anthony:
      http://www.catholic-pages.com/dir/link.asp?ref=13834

Evangelization links:
      http://www.catholic.com/
      http://www.americancatholicyouth.org/
      http://www.yenra.com/catholic/prayers/saintanthony.html

A branch of Francicans Nuns are the Poor Clares:
      http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/order006.htm

The following link includes enchanting pictures of the Baby Jesus in the arms of St Anthony, his words and prayers, a novena, prayers to the saint and much more. First click on Our Faith at the top, then click on saints, then scroll down and click on Saint Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church. http://www.everythingcatholic.com/800/

Another effective evangelizaton support for the Catholic Church is the Cursillo Movement. For more information: The National Curillo Center, P.O. Box 210226, Dallas, TX 75211-0226, Business telephone (214)339-6321.

Franciscan Writings: http://www.franciscan-sfo.org/Fwritings.htm