The History of St. Antony - Saint of Padua

Fernando Martins de Bulhões, venerated as Antony of Padua or Antony of Lisbon, (1195 – 13 June 1231) is a Catholic saint who was born in Lisbon, Portugal to a wealthy family and who died in Padua, Italy.

Antony was born in Lisbon to Martim Vicente de Bulhões and wife Teresa Pais Taveira (a descendant of Alfonso VI of Castile - and thus a half-third cousin once removed of King Afonso II of Portugal, and brother of Pedro Martins de Bulhões (ancestor of the de Bulhão/de Bulhões family), in a very rich family of the nobility who wanted him to become educated; however these were not his wishes. His family arranged sound education for him at the local cathedral school. Against the wishes of his family, Antony entered the Augustinian Abbey of St. Vincent on the outskirts of Lisbon. The Canons Regular of St Augustine, of which he was a member, were famous for their dedication to scholarly pursuits. Antony studied Scripture and the Latin classics.

After his ordination, Antony was placed in charge of hospitality in his abbey. In this role, in 1219, he came in contact with five Franciscans who were on their way to Morocco to preach to the Muslims there. Antony was strongly attracted to the simple Gospel lifestyle of the Franciscan friars. In February 1220, news arrived that the five Franciscans had been martyred in Morocco. Antony meditated on the heroism of these Franciscans. He wanted to obey God's call to leave everything and follow Him. Antony obtained permission from his superiors to join the Franciscan order.

On the return trip to Portugal, his ship was driven by storm upon the coast of Sicily and he landed at Messina. From Sicily he made his way to Assisi and sought admission into a monastery in Italy, but met with difficulty on account of his sickly appearance. He was finally assigned, out of pure compassion, to the rural hospice of San Paolo near Forlì, Romagna, Italy, a choice made after considering his poor health. There he appears to have lived as a hermit and was put to work in the kitchen.

One day, on the occasion of an ordination, when a great many visiting Dominican monks were present, there was some misunderstanding over who should preach. The Franciscans naturally expected that one of the Dominicans would occupy the pulpit, for they were renowned for their preaching; the Dominicans, on the other hand, had come unprepared, thinking that a Franciscan would be the homilist.

In this quandary, the head of the hermitage, who had no one among his own humble friars suitable for the occasion, called upon Antony, who he suspected was most qualified, and engineered him to speak hatever the Holy Spirit should put into his mouth. Antony objected but was overruled, and his sermon created a deep impression. Not only his rich voice and arresting manner, but the entire theme and substance of his discourse and his moving eloquence, held the attention of his hearers.

At that point, Antony was commissioned by Brother Gratian, the minister provincial, to preach the Gospel throughout Lombardy, a region in northern Italy. From then on his skills were used to the utmost by the Church. Occasionally he took another post, as a teacher, for instance, at the universities of Montpellier and Toulouse—both in southern France—but it was as a preacher that Antony revealed his supreme gift.

In 1226, Pope Gregory IX. At the Papal court, his preaching was hailed as a "jewel case of the Bible" and he was commissioned to produce "Sermons for Feast Days."

Antony became ill with dropsy and, in 1231, went to the woodland retreat at Camposampiero with two other friars for a respite. There Antony lived in a cell built for him under the branches of a walnut tree. Saint Antony died on 13 June 1231 at the Poor Clare convent at Arcella on the way back to Padua at age of 36.

When he died, it is said that the children cried in the streets and that all the bells of the churches rang of their own accord, rung by angels come to earth to honour the death of the saint. He is buried in a chapel.

Antony of Padua is one of the most beloved of saints; his images and statues are ubiquitous. Proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on January 16, 1946, he is sometimes called "Evangelical Doctor". He is especially invoked for the recovery of lost things.

Each year on the weekend of the last Sunday in August, Boston's North End holds a feast in honor of St. Antony. Referred to as the "Feast of all Feasts", St. Antony's Feast in Boston's North End was begun in 1919 by Italian immigrants from Montefalcione, a small town near Naples, where the tradition of honoring St. Antony goes back to 1688. The feast has become the largest Italian religious festival in the United States.

On January 27, 1907 in Beaumont, Texas, a church was dedicated and named in honor of St. Antony of Padua. The church was later designated a cathedral in 1966 with the formation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Beaumont, but was not formally consecrated. On April 28, 1974, St Antony Cathedral was dedicated and consecrated by Bishop Warren Boudreaux. In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI granted St. Antony Cathedral the designation of minor basilica. St. Antony Cathedral Basilica celebrated its 100th anniversary on January 28, 2007.

Seventeenth century Spanish missionaries came across a small Native American community along what was then known as the Yanaguana River on the feast day of Saint Antony and renamed the river and eventually a mission built nearby in his honor. This mission became the focal point of a small community that eventually grew in size and scope to become the city of San Antonio, Texas.

St. Antony is known in Brazil and Portugal as a marriage saint, because legend has him as one who conciliated couples. His feast day, June 13, is Lisbon's municipal holiday, celebrated with parades and marriages of humble couples, and he is one of the saints celebrated in the Brazilian Festa Junina (along with John the Baptist and Saint Peter). The previous day, June 12, is the Brazilian Valentine's Day.

In Uvari, in Tamil Nadu, India, the church of St.Antony is home to an ancient wooden statue that is said to have cured the entire crew of a Portuguese ship suffering from cholera. St Antony is said to perform many miracles daily, and Uvari is visited by pilgrims of different religions from all over South India.