St.Anthony
St. Anthony of Padua is one of the Catholic Church’s most popular saints. Saint Anthony of Padua, patron saint of lost and stolen articles, was a powerful Franciscan preacher. St. Anthony of Padua’s life is what every Christian’s life is meant to be; a steady courage to face the ups and downs of life, the call to love and forgive, to be concerned for the needs of others, to deal with crisis great and small, and to have our feet solidly on the ground of total trusting love and dependence on God.St Anthony is beloved throughout the world and is responsive to all people and all needs. His intercessory powers before our God are awesome.
Anthony traveled tirelessly in both northern Italy and southern France—perhaps 400 trips—choosing to enter the cities where the heretics were strongest. Yet the sermons he has left behind rarely show him taking direct issue with the heretics. As the historian Clasen interprets it, Anthony preferred to present the grandeur of Christianity in positive ways. It was no good to prove people wrong: Anthony wanted to win them to the right, the healthiness of real sorrow and conversion, the wonder of reconciliation with a loving Father.
Anthony continued to preach as he taught the friars and assumed more responsibility within the Order. In 1226 he was appointed provincial superior of northern Italy, but still found time for contemplative prayer in a small hermitage. Around Easter in 1228 (he was only 33 years old), while in Rome, he met Pope Gregory IX, who had been a faithful friend and adviser of St. Francis. Naturally, the famous preacher was invited to speak. He did it humbly, as always. The response was so great that people later said that it seemed the miracle of Pentecost was repeated.
In Padua, he preached his last and most famous Lenten sermons. The crowds were so great—sometimes 30,000—that the churches could not hold them, so he went into the piazzas or the open fields. People waited all night to hear him. He needed a bodyguard to protect him from the people armed with scissors who wanted to snip off a piece of his habit as a relic. After his morning Mass and sermon, he would hear confessions. This sometimes lasted all day—as did his fasting.
The great energy he had expended during the Lent of 1231 left him exhausted. He went to a little town near Padua, but seeing death coming close, he wanted to return to the city that he loved. The journey in a wagon weakened him so much, however, that he had to stop at Arcella. He had to bless Padua from a distance, as Francis had blessed Assisi.
At Arcella, he received the last sacraments, sang and prayed with the friars there. When one of them asked Anthony what he was staring at so intently, he answered, “I see my Lord!” He died in peace a short time after that. He was only 36 and had been a Franciscan but 10 years.
The following year, his friend, Pope Gregory IX, moved by the many miracles that occurred at Anthony’s tomb, declared him a saint. Anthony was a simple and humble friar who preached the Good News lovingly and with fearless courage. The youth whom his fellow friars thought was uneducated became one of the great preachers and theologians of his day. He was a man of great penance and apostolic zeal. But he was primarily a saint of the people.In canonizing Anthony in 1232, Pope Gregory IX spoke of him as the “Ark of the Testament” and the “Repository of Holy Scripture.”
Novena:
Start with:
O wonderful St. Anthony, glorious on account of the fame of your miracles, and through the condescension of Jesus in coming in the form of a little child to rest in your arms, obtain for me of His bounty the grace which I ardently desire from the depths of my heart . . . . You who were so compassionate toward miserable sinners, regard not the unworthiness of those who pray to you, but the glory of God that it may once again be magnified by the granting of the particular request . . . . which I now ask for with persevering earnestness. Amen
DAY ONE
O holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, thy love for God and charity for His creatures made thee worthy while on earth to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited thy word, which thou wert ever ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore thee to obtain for me the favor I seek in this novena . . .The answer to my prayer may require a miracle; even so, thou are the Saint of miracles. O gentle and loving Saint Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the Infant Jesus, Who loved to be folded in thy arms, and the gratitude of my heart will always be thine.
One Our Father, One Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father,
in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!
DAY TWO
O miracle-working St. Anthony, remember that it never has been heard that thou didst not leave without help or relief anyone who in his need had recourse to thee. Animated now with the most lively confidence, even with full conviction of not being refused, I fly for refuge to thee, O most favored friend of the Infant Jesus. O eloquent preacher of the Divine mercy, despise not my supplications but, bringing them before the throne of God, strengthen them by thine intercession and obtain for me the favor I seek in this novena . . . .
One Our Father, One Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father,
in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!
DAY THREE
O purest St. Anthony, who through thine Angelic virtue was made worthy to be caressed by the Divine Child Jesus, to hold Him in thy arms and press Him to thy heart. I entreat thee to cast a benevolent glance upon me. O glorious St. Anthony, born under the protection of Mary Immaculate, on the Feast of her Assumption into Heaven, and consecrated to her and now so powerful an intercessor in Heaven, I beseech thee to obtain for me the favor I ask in this novena . . . . O great wonder-worker, intercede for me that God may grant my request.
One Our Father, One Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father,
in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!
DAY FOUR
I salute and honor thee, O powerful helper, St. Anthony. The Christian world confidently turns to thee and experiences thy tender compassion and powerful assistance in so many necessities and sufferings that I am encouraged in my need to seek thy help in obtaining a favorable answer to my request for the favor I seek in this novena . . . . O holy St. Anthony, I beseech thee, obtain for me the grace that I desire.
One Our Father, One Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father,
in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!
DAY FIVE
I salute thee, St. Anthony, lily of purity, ornament and glory of Christianity. I salute thee, great Saint, cherub of wisdom and seraph of Divine love. I rejoice at the favors our Lord has so liberally bestowed upon thee. In humility and confidence I entreat thee to help me, for I know that God has given thee charity and pity, as well as power. I ask thee by the love thou didst feel toward the Infant Jesus as thou heldest Him in thine arms to tell Him now of the favor I seek through thine intercession in this novena . . . .
One Our Father, One Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father,
in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!
DAY SIX
O glorious St. Anthony, chosen by God to preach His Word, thou didst receive from Him the gift of tongues and the power of working the most extraordinary miracles. O good St. Anthony, pray that I may fulfill the will of God in all things so that I may love Him, with thee, for all eternity. O kind St. Anthony, I beseech thee, obtain for me the grace that I desire, the favor I seek in this novena . . . .
One Our Father, One Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father,
in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!
DAY SEVEN
O renowned champion of the faith of Christ, most holy St. Anthony, glorious for thy many miracles, obtain for me from the bounty of my Lord and God the grace which I ardently seek in this novena . . . . O holy St. Anthony, ever attentive to those who invoke thee, grant me that aid of thy powerful intercession.
One Our Father, One Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father,
in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!
DAY EIGHT
O holy St. Anthony, thou hast shown thyself so powerful in thine intercession, so tender and so compassionate towards those who honor thee and invoke thee in suffering and distress. I beseech thee most humbly and earnestly to take me under thy protection in my present necessities and to obtain for me the favor I desire . . . . Recommend my request to the merciful Queen of Heaven, that she may plead my cause with thee before the throne of her Divine Son.
One Our Father, One Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father,
in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!
DAY NINE
Saint Anthony, servant of Mary, glory of the Church, pray for our Holy Father, our bishops, our priests, our Religious Orders, that, through their pious zeal and apostolic labors, all may be united in faith and give greater glory to God. St. Anthony, helper of all who invoke thee, pray for me and intercede for me before the throne of Almighty God that I be granted the favor I so earnestly seek in this novena . . . .
One Our Father, One Hail Mary, and Glory Be to the Father,
in honor of Saint Anthony.
Saint Anthony, pray for us!
May the Divine assistance remain always with us. Amen.
May the souls of the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
O God, may the votive commemoration of blessed Anthony, Thy confessor, be a source of joy to Thy Church, that she may always be fortified with spiritual assistance, and deserve to enjoy eternal rewards. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
ANNETTE J DUNLEA 
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