THE WORD AND THE SAINT
June 13, 2019: Celebrating St. Anthony of Padua
Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 10: 1-9
Let us begins with some interesting facts about
- Born: 15, August, 1195
- Died: 13, June, 1231. He was just 36 when he died.
- Saint: 30 May, 1232. He was not even 37 when he was canonised by Pope Gregory IX.
- His Baptismal name was Ferdinand Martins de Bulhŏes.
- He was elected Provincial of his region of Franciscan friars, but he resigned very shortly just to be able to carryout his preaching mission.
- Patron of missing things and missing persons!
- In Padua, where the Basilica stands today, he is also prayed to, by those who are looking for the right spouse to marry, or by those married couples who have problems in their marriage.
- The Basilica treasures the incorrupt tongue of the saint, as a relic venerated even today, as a testimony to his gift of breaking the Word.
- He was a contemporary to St. Francis of Assisi and one of the best ones at that. He belonged to the Order begun by St. Francis.
- A survey reports that after the Blessed Mother and St.Joseph, St. Anthony may be the most loved saint in the Catholic World today.
The Lord sent them two by two... here is 'a two' whom we come across today - St. Anthony and St. Francis - two who were giants of sanctity and with an absolute dedication to the Message! As messengers of the Word they were so dedicated that they transformed themselves into the message that they were proclaiming. Hence they did not need words and eloquence, their life did all the speaking. How far or close are we to the Message?
May St. Anthony help us to treasure the Word in our hearts and live it to the full.