St. Anthony of Padua: Feast Day, Patronage & Prayers
Updated: Oct 3
Feast day: June 13 (Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church)
Patron of: Lost things, the poor, and travelers.
About St. Anthony of Padua
St. Anthony was born in Lisbon, Portugal, around 1195 and baptized Fernando. He joined the Augustinian canons and became a serious student of Scripture. When the relics of the first Franciscan martyrs, killed in Morocco, were brought back to Portugal, he was so moved that he joined the young Franciscan order, taking the name Anthony, and set out for Africa hoping to die for Christ. Illness forced him to return, and a storm drove his ship to Sicily.
In Italy his talents came to light by accident when he was asked to preach without preparation at an ordination and astonished everyone. St. Francis himself entrusted him with teaching theology to the friars. Anthony preached across Italy and southern France with such power and clarity that huge crowds gathered, and he called many to conversion. Worn out, he died near Padua in 1231, at about thirty-six, and he was canonized less than a year later. Pius XII named him a Doctor of the Church in 1946. Countless people ask his help in finding lost things, and many parishes keep "St. Anthony's bread" for the poor.
Prayers to St. Anthony of Padua on Daily Catholic Prayers
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