Text from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
unless stated otherwise.
Saint Anthony Of Padua.
Confessor.
Doctor Of The Church.
Feast Day 13 June.
Double.
White Vestments.
English: Apparition of The Child Jesus to Saint Anthony of Padua.
Português: Aparição do Menino Jesus a Santo Antônio de Pádua.
Artist: Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1664).
Date: 1627-1630.
Current location: São Paulo Museum of Art, Brazil.
This File: 4 January 2010.
User: Dornicke
(Wikimedia Commons)
Saint Anthony of Padua.
Available on YouTube at
“Always present and living in The Church, The Holy Ghost raised up, in the 13th-Century, The Sons of Dominic and The Sons of Francis”, writes Dom Guéranger in his “The Liturgical Year”. “These new hosts, organised for new needs, threw themselves into the arena, pursuing heretics, thundering against vice, mixing with the people whom they enrolled in crowds into their Third Orders, the assured refuge of Christian Life.
“Of all The Sons of The Patriarch of Assisi, the best-known, the most powerful before God and men, is Anthony, whose Feast Day we are Celebrating."
Born at Lisbon, Portugal, of noble parents, he despised all riches (Gospel). Full of The Holy Ghost, Who transformed The Apostles, he entered The Religious Host so as to be able to fight for The Faith and to be ready when The Master came (Gospel).
Living a retired life in Tuscany, he gave himself up to Divine Contemplation (Introit); he then received the mission to Preach the Gospel. The wisdom of his Doctrine and his eloquence caused him to be called The Ark of The Testament and The Hammer of Heretics.
A year before his death, he came to Padua, where, loaded with merits, he died at the age of thirty-five in 1231, and was established by Jesus over all His Riches (Communion).
Remembering how Saint Anthony recovered, by Divine Intervention, a Sacred Book that had been stolen from him, let us ask this Saint not only to make us recover Earthly and perishable things, but, also, to obtain for us the Spiritual help by which we may deserve to enjoy Eternal Riches (Collect).
Mass: Os justi.
Truly, one of the great and extraordinary “wonderworker saints” of Catholic devotion. We know all the saints‘ devotions have efficacy, although we may not know how or in what way: But devotion to S. Anthony of Padua, which always involves the higher devotion to Hod our Lord and the Trinity (It is said of him that the Gloria prayer was one of his most special devotions, and in his life, he repeated it always) and to service of the poor is fundamental. (A wise priest once commented to me that if an intention was delayed in being granted, through intercession to Saint Anthony, it was time to consider almsgiving for the poor and needy.). Thank you,Zephyrinus; thank you Saint Anthony of Padua. - Notes by Dante P
ReplyDeleteIn 2014, Brazilian 3-D designer, Cicero Moraes undertook the physical reconstruction of Saint Anthony of Padua’s face based on precise measurements of his skull. A scientific reconstruction had earlier been attempted in 1981, based on careful examination of the saint’s physical remains, and provided the source for the measurements to the extent of the then-available technology (www.santantonio.org).
ReplyDeleteThe saint was thought to have an aquiline, even hooked, nose and a narrow face, and was 1.71 meters in height, or approx 5’7” in feet and inches.
Following that, sculptor Roberto Cremesini in 1995 created a statuary representation of S. Anthony that is worth examining also.
Moraes’ 2014 reconstruction takes it a step further and appears quite stunningly to have brought S. Anthony to life in our age (see “The Most Accurate Reconstruction of St Anthony of Padua’s Face,” 6/13/18, JP Mauro, Aleteia.org.) Moraes’ reconstruction gives Saint Anthony a less hooked nose and a somewhat broader face, and also is strikingly similar to an early fresco painting almost roughly contemporary to S. Anthony’s life seen in the presbytery of the great Basilica at Padova. All this is a compelling look at the physical appearance of this much beloved Saint, of which everyone seems to want to know more.
And amazingly, after nearly 6 centuries, we have a better image of him than at any time since he lived. —Notes by Dante P