Biography of St. Anthony of Padua: life and miracles

Fernando of Bulhões is born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195, to father Martino Alfonso, a knight, and mother Maria. The family belongs to the nobility and descends directly from Godfrey of Bouillon.

There is a profound analogy between Anthony and Francis of Assisi: both as young men were directed toward a military career, tempted by a comfortable life and sin, but both ultimately chose to embark on the path of witnessing the faith and following Jesus Christ.

1. Formation among the Canons Regular

At the age of 15, Fernando enters the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, who held, by the will of King Afonso I of Portugal and Queen Mafalda of Savoy, the Abbey of St. Vincent, near Lisbon.

Fernando applies himself to study with excellent teachers of science and theology, preparing for priestly ordination. In 1219, at the age of 24, he is ordained a priest. Aspiring to a more severe religious life, he manages to be transferred to another Augustinian community, Santa Croce in Coimbra.

2. The Franciscan vocation

In 1220, the bodies of five Franciscan friars beheaded in Morocco for preaching the Gospel arrive in Coimbra. When the friars from Monte Olivares come to collect the remains, Ferdinand confides in them his inspiration to live according to the Gospel.

Having obtained permission from the Franciscan Provincial of Spain and the Augustinian Prior to enter the Hermitage of the Minors, Ferdinand immediately makes his religious profession and changes his name to Anthony.

3. The desire for martyrdom and the journey to Africa

Following the example of the five friars killed in Morocco, Anthony desires to bring the word of God to the infidels, even if it means martyrdom. He asks and obtains from Friar Giovanni Parenti, then provincial of Spain, permission to leave. He embarks with a confrere, Friar Filippino of Castile, for Morocco.

Malarial fever confines him to bed during the journey to Africa undertaken in 1220. The illness drags on, and his companions manage to convince Anthony to return home to recover.

4. Arrival in Italy and the Chapter of Assisi

During the return journey, a storm drove the ship onto the shores of eastern Sicily. Cared for by the Franciscans of the city, Anthony recovers in two months. From his confreres, he learns that Francis has summoned the friars to the Porziuncola in Assisi for the General Chapter of Pentecost in 1221, during which the text of the Rule would be presented.

Anthony is invited to the General Chapter. He arrives, with other Franciscans, at Santa Maria degli Angeli, where he listens to Francis, without knowing him personally.

5. The revelation of the preaching vocation

The Provincial Minister of the Order for Northern Italy proposes that he transfer to Montepaolo, near Forlì, to celebrate Mass in a small Hermitage. For more than a year, Anthony dedicates himself to contemplation and penance, attending to the humblest chores and helping his brothers.

One day, he goes with his confreres to the Church of San Mercuriale to attend the ordination of new priests, where he has the opportunity to pray in the presence of a large audience, including dignitaries. The impression caused by his spontaneous eloquence was such that he was appointed preacher, sometimes even teaching Francis, who recommended that he not lose the spirit of prayer and devotion.

6. The founding of the theological school

His preaching begins in Romagna and continues in Northern Italy, to combat the Cathar heresy in Italy and the Albigensian heresy in France, where he will arrive in 1225.

Anthony is firmly convinced that, to counter the heretics who had skilled preachers, theological preparation was necessary for the minor friars. After much insistence, Francis allows him to found the first Franciscan theological school in Bologna in 1223, at the convent of Santa Maria della Pugliola.

7. The mission in France against heresies

The fame of Anthony's eloquence and the miracles that accompanied his preaching convince Pope Honorius III to send him to France to counter the Cathar heretics. Anthony remains in that land for over two years, between 1225 and 1227, preaching in Provence, Languedoc, and Gascony.

The provincial father of Provence first appoints him guardian of the convent of Le Puy and then superior of the convents of Limousin.

8. Return to Italy and the Paduan ministry

The news of Francis's passing and the General Chapter convened by Friar Elias force Anthony to return to Italy. He reaches his destination at the end of May 1227.

The new general master of the Order, Friar Giovanni Parenti, appoints Anthony provincial minister of Northern Italy. In the following period, Anthony opens new houses and visits the convents to meet the friars and oversee the Clares and the Third Order.

He settles his residence in Padua, writing the Sunday Sermons in two months and subsequently the Sermons for the Feasts of the Saints, focusing on the themes of faith, morality, and virtue. The love of God and piety towards the poor, prayer, humility, and mortification, launching attacks against pride, greed, lust, and usury.

In 1228, at the request of Pope Gregory IX, he delivers the sermons for the week of Lent and is declared the "Ark of the Testament". On this occasion, it is said that the cosmopolitan crowd heard him preach in the native tongue of each of them. From 1228 to 1231, he travels incessantly, despite his precarious health conditions.

9. The final days in Campo Sampiero

He retreats to Campo Sampiero, near Padua, to rest, in a small room in the Hermitage given to the friars by Count Tiso. Anthony dedicates himself to preaching and confession.

Count Tiso frequently visits Anthony's room to check on his health. One evening, during one of these visits, he witnesses the visit that the Child Jesus makes to the Saint.

10. Death and burial

Anthony's health conditions worsen, and on June 13, 1231, feeling his strength failing, he asks to be taken back to Padua. During the journey, he is admitted to the Convent of Arcella, where he dies in the late afternoon of the same day.

The Convent of Arcella and that of Santa Maria Mater Domini begin a dispute to decide in which of the two places the body would be kept, since Anthony would have wanted to die in Santa Croce. The decision falls to the Provincial Father, who establishes that the body be placed in the convent of Santa Maria Mater Domini.

11. Canonization and glorification

The marble ark in which he was placed immediately became the destination of continuous pilgrimages that have never stopped to this day, and on the occasion of which many miracles have occurred.

Acclaimed a saint by popular acclaim just a month after his passing, Anthony was canonized in the cathedral of Spoleto on the day of Pentecost in 1232, in the presence of Pope Gregory IX.

St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, during the translation of the body that took place 32 years after Anthony's death, found the tongue of the Saint incorrupt. The Relic is now located in the Treasury Chapel in the Basilica of Padua, of which Anthony is the patron.

Pius XII, in 1946, proclaims St. Anthony Doctor of the Church, conferring upon him the title of Doctor Evangelicus for his firm and constant adherence to the Gospel. St. Anthony is honored by the Catholic Church on June 13th of each year.