St Anthony of Padua - Help me find what has been lost

Today we were in Padua, to visit St Anthony's tomb, the patron saint of lost things...

Morning Prayer 

Luke 10:21-24

It was then that, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children.  Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.  Everything has been entrusted to me be my Father; and no one knows who the  Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.'

Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them in private, 'Happy the eyes that see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.'

Reflection

Like a lot of the saints we have met Anthony of Padua started life in a rich family and so received an education... But once again, the Lord put a call on his heart that led him ever deeper into a life of simplicity and developed in him a humble heart as a Franciscan friar. With this simplicity and humility he was able to become a truly holy man who broke through the waves of people's resistence helping them to return to God...

One story told about Anthony was that he travelled to the city of Rimini because it was a hotbed of heresy. The city leaders had ordered everyone to ignore him, so no one turned up for his homilies. Wherever Anthony went, he was greeted by silence.

Anthony walked along praying and reflecting upon what had happened. As he walked outside of the town, he came to the mouth of the Marecchia River where it flows into the Adriatic Sea. There he began to address the crowds, not of people but of fish.

He called out, “You, fish of the river and sea, listen to the Word of God because the heretics do not wish to hear it.” Suddenly there were thousands of fish neatly arranged in rows, all pushing their heads through the surface of the water as if they were straining to listen to every one of Anthony’s words.

The people of Rimini, seeing this miracle, gathered to listen to Anthony. What began with simple interest in an extraordinary event turned into a passionate conviction that Anthony was speaking to their very hearts. They were so moved by Anthony’s words, by his call to conversion, that they abandoned their hardened positions and returned to the Church. As we stated above, we are not sure that this story is historic, but it certainly does represent a version of what often happened when Anthony preached: that many hardened sinners were converted through the unselfish love of Anthony.

May we not be caught up in our hearts, in our learnedness and cleverness, but may we have hearts that are open and lead us into the very mystery of God. 

St. Anthony of Padua (1195–1231), was born Fernando Martins de Bulhões in Lisbon, Portugal.  He came from a wealthy and noble family and was drawn to religious life from a young age. At about 15, he entered the Augustinians dedicating himself to prayer and study immersing himself in Scripture, theology, and Latin classics. In 1220 the relics of five Franciscan missionaries martyred in Morocco were brought to his abbey. He was deeply moved by their sacrifice and he felt called to a more radical form of discipleship.

He left the Augustinians and joined the Franciscan Order, taking the name Anthony in honor of St. Anthony the Great. His desire was to follow in the footsteps of the martyrs and preach the Gospel in Morocco. However, illness forced him to abandon the mission and return to Europe, eventually arriving in Italy. Though initially overlooked within the Franciscan community, Anthony’s brilliance was revealed unexpectedly when he was asked to preach at an ordination. His eloquence and theological insight astonished all present, marking the beginning of his public ministry.

He became closely associated with Padua, where he spent his final years preaching, teaching, and ministering to the poor. His sermons drew large crowds, and he was known for his ability to reconcile enemies and convert hardened hearts. Numerous miracles were attributed to him both during his life and after his death, including healings, bilocation, and the famous story of preaching to the fish when people refused to listen.

Anthony died at the age of 36 in Arcella, near Padua, and was canonized less than a year later in 1232 by Pope Gregory IX. 

The Basilica of St. Anthony, Padua

Readings at Mass

Isaiah 61:1-3

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me,
for the Lord has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,
to bind up hearts that are broken;
to proclaim liberty to captives,
freedom to those in prison;
to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord,
a day of vengeance for our God,
to comfort all those who mourn and to give them
for ashes a garland;
for mourning robe the oil of gladness,
for despondency, praise.

I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.
Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.

‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
I will establish your dynasty for ever  
and set up your throne through all ages.

‘I have found David my servant
and with my holy oil anointed him.
My hand shall always be with him
and my arm shall make him strong.

‘My truth and my love shall be with him;
by my name his might shall be exalted.
He will say to me: “You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me.”’

Luke 10:1-9

The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a person of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on them; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves their wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.”’

Reflection

Carry no haversack - That's not a good line for us on our pilgrimage because we all wearing our Harvest backpacks. But Jesus' instructions to the 72 are a reminder,  carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals... Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer... these are instructions to trust in providence. Travel light - trust you'll be looked after.

The reality is most of us carry our own baggage... we carry so many things that weight us down... broken or fractured relationships with God or someone in our families or circle of people we know... attitudes that wound our relationship with self... poor self-esteem, anger, bitterness, shame, fear... All these things stop us from being fully the people God calls us to be.

For Anthony's journey saw him lose the shackles of his family wealth and the security of good health and it was in his life of poverty and fragility the Lord poured out his anointing upon him. This anointing prophesised by the prophet Isaiah, is one Jesus identified in himself, and we participate through our baptism and confirmation in his anointing of the the Holy Spirit. But for this anointing to be effective in us there is always the journey of losing and finding.

Anthony is known as the patron saint of lost things due to a famous legend involving a lost book. As a Franciscan friar, Anthony owned a valuable psalter (a book of Psalms) that was essential for his teaching. Remember, there were no books as we know them before the printing press. They were handwritten and had his own reflections written with in. When a novice left the order and took the book with him, Anthony prayed for its return. Miraculously, the novice was moved to repent and returned both the book and himself, returning to the friars.

This story, along with many other miracles attributed to Anthony’s intercession, led to the tradition of asking his help in recovering lost items. 

May he help find in us what is lost, those areas of our lives where we have lost sight of the Lord and his presence in our lives, and may he us help us discover what baggage we carry that we need to lose.

We celebrated Mass in the St Anthony's basilica's chapel of St. Maximilian Kolbe. He was born Raymund Kolbe in what is now part of Poland in 1894. From a young age he showed early signs of spiritual depth and intellectual brilliance. At age 10, he experienced a profound vision of the Virgin Mary, who offered him two crowns—one white for purity and one red for martyrdom. He accepted both, a decision that shaped his life’s mission.

At 13, Kolbe and his brother illegally crossed into Austria-Hungary to join the Conventual Franciscan friar's seminary in Lwów. He took the name Maximilian in 1910 and was ordained a priest in 1918 after earning doctorates in philosophy and theology in Rome. In 1917, he founded the Militia Immaculatae, a movement dedicated to promoting devotion to Mary.

Returning to Poland, Kolbe established Niepokalanów, a Franciscan monastery and publishing center. During World War II, he sheltered Jewish refugees and continued anti-Nazi publications. Arrested by the Gestapo, he was sent to Auschwitz, where he volunteered to die in place of another prisoner. He was martyred on August 14, 1941.

Kolbe was canonized in 1982 by Pope John Paul II and is venerated as a martyr of charity, patron of families, prisoners, and the pro-life movement.

Inside the incredible main Basilica of St Anthony...

The tomb of St Anthony

 

Reliefs with episodes of St Anthony life and healing ministry

 The Cappella of Blessed Luca Belludi

The Reliquary

St Anthony's habit

St Anthony of Padua’s words for the way of hope

Do you want to have God always in your mind? Be just as He made you to be. Do not go seeking another ‘you.’

When you look into muddy or choppy water, you will not see your face reflected. If you want the face of Christ, who looks on you, to be reflected within you, come away from the disturbance of exterior things, and let your soul be at peace.

The breadth of charity widens the narrow heart of the sinner.

The life of the body is the soul; the life of the soul is Christ.

O gentle and powerful St. Anthony, 

your grace has made you the patron of lost things. 

Help me find what has been lost.

A visit to the The Scrovegni Chapel

The Scrovegni Chapel was commissioned to the artist Giotto by the affluent Paduan banker, Enrico Scrovegni In the early 1300s Enrico had his luxurious palace built, as well as a chapel annexed to it. The chapel's project was twofold: to serve as the family's private oratory and as a funerary monument for himself and his wife. Enrico commissioned Giotto, the famous Florentine painter, to decorate his chapel. 

In 2021, the chapel was declared part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of 14th-century fresco cycles composed of 8 historical buildings in Padua city centre.