Saint Anthony of Padua: Biography and miracles

Fernando of Bulhões was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195, to his father Martin Alfonso, a knight, and his mother Mary. The family belonged to the nobility and directly descended from Godfrey of Bouillon.

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

1. Formation with the Canons Regular

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

Fernando devoted himself to study with excellent teachers of science and theology, preparing for priestly ordination. In 1219, at the age of 24, he was ordained a priest. Aspiring to a more rigorous religious life, he managed to be transferred to another Augustinian community, Holy Cross of Coimbra.

2. The Franciscan Vocation

In 1220, the bodies of five Franciscan friars beheaded in Morocco for preaching the Gospel arrived in Coimbra. When the friars from Mount Olivares came to collect the remains, Ferdinand confided 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 made his religious profession and changed his name to Anthony.

3. The Desire for Martyrdom and the Journey to Africa

Following the model of the five friars killed in Morocco, Anthony desired to bring the word of God to the infidels, even if it meant martyrdom. He asked and obtained from Friar John Parenti, then Provincial of Spain, permission to leave. He embarked with a confrere, Friar Philippino of Castile, for Morocco.

Malarial fever confined him to bed during the journey to Africa undertaken in 1220. The illness persisted, and his companions managed 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 to the eastern coast of Sicily. Cared for by the Franciscans of the city, Anthony recovered in two months. From his confreres, he learned that Francis had 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 was invited to the General Chapter. He arrived, along with other Franciscans, at Santa Maria degli Angeli, where he listened to Francis, without knowing him personally.

5. The Revelation of the Preaching Vocation

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

One day, he went with his confreres to the Church of San Mercuriale to attend the ordination of new priests, where he had the opportunity to pray in the presence of a large audience that included nobles. The impression made 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 began in Romagna and continued in Northern Italy, to combat the Cathar heresy in Italy and the Albigensian heresy in France, where he would arrive in 1225.

Anthony was firmly convinced that, to counter the heretics who had skilled preachers, theological preparation was necessary for the Friars Minor. After much insistence, Francis allowed 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 convinced Pope Honorius III to send him to France to counter the Cathar heretics. Anthony remained in that land for over two years, between 1225 and 1227, preaching in Provence, Languedoc, and Gascony.

The Provincial Father of Provence first appointed 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 compelled Anthony to return to Italy. He reached his destination at the end of May 1227.

The new General Minister of the Order, Friar John Parenti, appointed Anthony Provincial Minister of Northern Italy. In the following period, Anthony opened new houses and visited convents to meet the friars and oversee the Clares and the Third Order.

He established his residence in Padua, writing the Sunday Sermons in two months and subsequently the Sermons for the Feast Days of the Saints, focusing on the themes of faith, morality, and virtue. The love of God and piety toward the poor, prayer, humility, and mortification, while railing against pride, avarice, lust, and usury.

In 1228, at the request of Pope Gregory IX, he preached during the week of Lent and was defined as the "Ark of the Testament." On this occasion, it is said that the cosmopolitan crowd heard him preaching in each of their native tongues. From 1228 to 1231, he traveled incessantly, despite his precarious health conditions.

9. The Last Days in Campo Sampiero

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

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

10. Death and Burial

Anthony's health conditions worsened, and on June 13, 1231, feeling his strength failing, he asked to be taken back to Padua. During the journey, he was admitted to the Convent of Arcella, where he died in the late afternoon of that same day.

The Convent of Arcella and that of Santa Maria Mater Domini began a dispute to decide in which of the two places the body would be kept, since Anthony had wished to die in Santa Croce. The decision fell to the Provincial Father, who determined that the body should be placed in the convent of Santa Maria Mater Domini.

11. Canonization and Glorification

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

Acclaimed a saint by popular acclamation 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 Chapel of the Treasury in the Basilica of Padua, of which Anthony is the patron.

Pius XII, in 1946, proclaimed 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.