By Jacqueline Kelly –
Saint Anthony [1195-1231], a native of Lisbon, Portugal, was baptized Ferdinand Bouillon. His father was Martin de Bouillon of the renowned Bouillon family of Crusader fame. His mother was Teresa de Tavera, of an ancient and noble Portuguese family.
He joined the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, but after the ordination, he joined Friar Minors. The sight of the bodies of the First Franciscan Martyrs brought back from Morocco ten years later inflamed in him a desire for Martyrdom. He dreamt of preaching the Gospel in Africa but fell ill and was posted in Italy.
He was exceptionally gifted as a preacher and was sent throughout Italy and France to preach against the Catharist heresy. People used to call him “hammer of the heretics”.
His great protection against their lies and deceits in the matter of Christian doctrine was to utter, simply and innocently, the Holy Name of Mary. He was instrumental in bringing many sinners back to God, mostly by his good example and because of his knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures. He was greeted by Pope Gregory IX as the “Living Ark of the Testament”. God also bestowed on him the gifts of miracles, of tongues and of prophecy. So simple and resounding was his teaching of the Catholic faith that the most illiterate and innocent might understand it, that he was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII in 1946.
Once, before the ordination ceremony of the Augustinian and Dominican Priests in Forli was to begin, it was announced that the Priest who was to give the sermon had fallen sick. The local superior, to avert the embarrassment of the moment, quickly asked the Friars in attendance to volunteer. Each excused himself, saying not prepared, until finally, Saint Anthony was asked to give it. When he too, excused himself in a most humble manner, his Superior ordered him by virtue of the vow of obedience to give the sermon. Saint Anthony began to speak in a very reserved manner; but soon holy animation seized him, and he spoke with fluency and learning that everybody was fairly amazed.
Saint Anthony stayed in Italy and began a course of Lenten sermons which took him to Milan, Florence and finally Padua. Like every other city in Italy, Padua was spoilt by war and bloodshed. He fought against the curse of the Middle -Ages, which was money-lending. Unscrupulous men lent out money at exorbitant rates, and once they had their clients in their power, they robbed them of everything, their property and their freedom. It was through the preaching and ministry of Saint Anthony that the civil government enacted the first bankruptcy law in Padua. In the Municipal Library of the town a document is preserved stating that no one in Padua could be imprisoned for debt so long as he was willing to surrender what property he had to pay his creditors. Immediately, after it comes the note: “Passed at the request of Brother Anthony of the Friars Minor”.
He is typically depicted with a book and the Infant Child Jesus, to whom he miraculously appeared. It is said that when Anthony was praying in his room, the Infant Jesus appeared to him, put his little arms around his neck and kissed him. It is believed that this singular privilege was bestowed on Anthony because he kept his soul free even from the smallest stain of sin.
Saint Anthony was granted the extraordinary favour of being present in two places at one time. In the Church of Saint Pierre-du-Queyraix in Limoges, an incident took place at Easter. He was preaching the sermon and suddenly he remembered that he had been appointed to chant the Alleluia at the Convent Mass in the local friary. And he had neglected to arrange for a substitute.
Saint Anthony stopped short in his sermon and remained silent for some time. The congregation assumed that he was merely gathering his thoughts. What they did not know was that Anthony, during that period of silence, had appeared in the Convent choir to fulfil his task. A few moments later he took up the thread of his interrupted sermon as if nothing had occurred.
The second incident took place in Lisbon. Saint Anthony was at Padua and a man was killed in Lisbon and the corpse buried in the garden of Saint Anthony’s father. The evidence found in the family garden was enough to convict the poor man of the murder. Just when things were at their worst, God revealed to Anthony the plight of his father.
Immediately, Saint Anthony obtained permission to go to Lisbon. Padua was days away from Lisbon but Anthony was there in a matter of hours. In the courtroom he asked that the body of the murdered man be produced. Saint Anthony approached the corpse and in a firm voice, bade the man to speak and tell who had killed him. To the amazement of all, the corpse sat up and clearly testified to the innocence of the accused. Anthony’s father was freed and the next day the Saint was back in Padua.
He is venerated as an Apostle of Charity [Saint Anthony’s Bread].
Sometimes, the Saint is represented with a flame in his hand, which highlights his love for God and mankind.
Saint Anthony is always depicted as a young friar holding a lily. The lily represents his purity and his life long struggle against the devil. Throughout the centuries, numerous Saints have testified to personal battles with demonic assailants. Some involved only the ordinary activity of temptations, while others displayed more extraordinary manifestations of demonic activity. Saint Anthony is the helper against diabolical obsessions.
In the 13th century, a Portuguese woman who had been demonically oppressed resolved to do the unthinkable by taking her own life by drowning herself in the Tagus River. On her way to the river, she passed a Shrine erected in honour of the great orator and miracle-worker, Saint Anthony of Padua. She stopped to pray, one last time. As she prayed, she saw Saint Anthony standing before, saying, “Arise woman, and take this paper, which will free you from the molestations of the evil one.” Then he gave her a parchment inscribed with what is now known as the “Brief [i.e. “Letter”] of Saint Anthony”, and she was free of the demonic oppression and the desire to take her own life.
News of this miracle spread, even to the King who asked the woman for the Brief. He placed it with the Crown Jewels of Portugal, which was fine for the King, but bad for the woman. As the Brief was no longer with her, she began to weaken, so the King made a copy for her that restored her to good health. Other copies of the Brief were spread to help the faithful fight the evil one and remind them that Christ is the Conqueror.
The Brief consists of a depiction of a Cross, and words from Apocalypse 5:5, “And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not: behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to lose the seven seals thereof”.
The words of Saint Anthony’s Brief are:
English version:
Behold the Cross of the Lord!
Flee ye adversaries!
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah,
The Root of David has conquered, Alleluia!Latin version:
“Ecce crucem domini, fugite,
partes adversae,
vicit leo de tribu juda,
radix david. Alleluia!
The exorcizing proclamation is carried on the person or placed in homes. It is also used in more specific situations, such as that encountered by the French seamen who found their ship tossed by an angry sea during a storm off Brittany’s Coast in 1708. One of the men wrote the words of Saint Anthony’s Brief, and threw it into the sea with a prayer to the saint. Immediately, the sea calmed and the sailors were saved. The words of this Brief are to be said when feeling tempted by evil, oppressed by demons and in general spiritual warfare.
Saint Anthony breathed his last on June 13, 1231 in the little hospital adjoining the Convent of the Poor Clares of Arcella, outside the city gates of Padua. Fearing a dispute between popular factions for possession of the treasured body of the Saint, the Friars tried to keep the news of his death from the people, but the children ran through the streets of the city, crying aloud: “The Saint is dead! Our Father, Saint Anthony, is dead!”
In the year 1263 the tomb of the Saint was opened in order that his blessed remains might be transferred to the new sanctuary built in his honour. It was discovered that though his flesh had fallen to dust, his tongue remained fresh. Saint Bonaventure, then Minister General of the Franciscan Order said, “Ask the wonder worker with confidence and he will obtain what you seek.”
The relic of this saint, whose name in Greek means “priceless” happens to be his tongue which was his most priceless asset. His tongue was the organ with which he gave Padua and Lisbon the Breath of God’s Love.