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Life of St. Anthony

St. Anthony of Padua was born in Portugal in 1195 and joined the Augustinian order as a young man, devoted to study and piety. Inspired by Franciscan martyrs, he petitioned to join the Franciscans and was sent to Africa as a missionary. He later became a famous preacher in Italy, known for his austere lifestyle and miracles, until his death at age 36. Venerated immediately as a saint, his relics were entombed in a magnificent basilica in Padua, and countless miracles have been attributed to his intercession over the centuries, earning him the title of Wonder-Worker.

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362 views1 page

Life of St. Anthony

St. Anthony of Padua was born in Portugal in 1195 and joined the Augustinian order as a young man, devoted to study and piety. Inspired by Franciscan martyrs, he petitioned to join the Franciscans and was sent to Africa as a missionary. He later became a famous preacher in Italy, known for his austere lifestyle and miracles, until his death at age 36. Venerated immediately as a saint, his relics were entombed in a magnificent basilica in Padua, and countless miracles have been attributed to his intercession over the centuries, earning him the title of Wonder-Worker.

Uploaded by

thoraxe slasher
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Life of St.

Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony of Padua is one of the most famous disciples of St. Francis of Assisi. He was a
famous preacher and worker of miracles in his own day, and throughout the eight centuries
since his death he has so generously come to the assistance of the faithful who invoke him, that
he is known throughout the world.

St. Anthony was born in the year 1195 A. D. at Lisbon (Portugal) where his father was a captain
in the royal army. Already at the age of fifteen years, he had entered the Congregation of
Canons Regular of St. Augustine and devoted himself with great earnestness both to study and
to the practice of piety in the Monastery at Coimbra (Portugal).

About that time some of the first members of the Order of Friars Minor, which St. Francis has
founded in 1206 A. D. came to Coimbra. They begged from the Canons Regular a small and
very poor place, from which by their evangelical poverty and simplicity they edified everyone in
the region. Then in 1219 A. D. some of these friars, moved by divine inspiration, went as
missionaries to preach the Gospel of Christ to the inhabitants of Morocco. There they were
brutally martyred for the Faith. Some Christian merchants succeeded in recovering their
remains; and so brought their relics in triumph back to Coimbra.

The relics of St. Bernard and companions, the first martyrs of the Franciscan Order, seized St.
Anthony with an intense desire to suffer martyrdom in a like manner. So moved by their heroic
example he repeatedly begged and petitioned his superiors to be given leave to join the
Franciscan Order. In the quiet little Franciscan convent at Coimbra he received a friendly
reception, and in the same year his earnest wish to be sent to the missions in Africa was fulfilled.

Once a man, at whose home St. Anthony was spending the night, came upon the saint and
found him holding in his arms the Child Jesus, unspeakably beautiful and surrounded with
heavenly light. For this reason St. Anthony is often depicted holding the Child Jesus.

In 1227 A. D., St. Anthony was elected Minister Provincial of the friars living in northern Italy.
Thus he resumed the work of preaching. Due to his taxing labors and his austere penance, he
soon felt his strength so spent that he prepared himself for death. After receiving the last
sacraments he kept looking upward with a smile on his countenance. When he was asked what
he saw there, he answered: "I see my Lord." He breathed forth his soul on June 13, 1231 A. D.,
being only thirty six year old. Soon the children in the streets of the city of Padua were crying:
"The saint is dead, Anthony is dead."

Pope Gregory IX enrolled him among the saints in the very next year. At Padua, a magnificent
basilica was built in his honor, his holy relics were entombed there in 1263 A. D. From the time
of his death up to the present day, countless miracles have occurred through St. Anthony's
intercession, so that he is known as the Wonder-Worker. In 1946 A. D. St. Anthony was
declared a Doctor of the Church.

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