St. Anthony of Padua: only the prayerful soul can progress in spiritual life


Saint Anthony of Padua from vatican.va

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Two weeks ago I presented St Francis of Assisi. This morning I would like to speak of another saint who belonged to the first generation of the Friars Minor: Anthony of Padua, or of Lisbon, as he is also called with reference to his native town. He is one of the most popular Saints in the whole Catholic Church, venerated not only in Padua, where a splendid Basilica has been built that contains his mortal remains, but also throughout the world. Dear to the faithful are the images and statues that portray him with the lily a symbol of his purity or with the Child Jesus in his arms, in memory of a miraculous apparition mentioned in several literary sources.

With his outstanding gifts of intelligence, balance, apostolic zeal and, primarily, mystic fervour, Anthony contributed significantly to the development of Franciscan spirituality.

He was born into a noble family in Lisbon in about 1195 and was baptized with the name of Fernando. He entered the Canons who followed the monastic Rule of St Augustine, first at St Vincent’s Monastery in Lisbon and later at that of the Holy Cross in Coimbra, a renowned cultural centre in Portugal. He dedicated himself with interest and solicitude to the study of the Bible and of the Church Fathers, acquiring the theological knowledge that was to bear fruit in his teaching and preaching activities. The event that represented a decisive turning point on his life happened in Coimbra. It was there, in 1220, that the relics were exposed of the first five Franciscan missionaries who had gone to Morocco, where they had met with martyrdom. Their story inspired in young Fernando the desire to imitate them and to advance on the path of Christian perfection. Thus he asked to leave the Augustinian Canons to become a Friar Minor. His request was granted and, having taken the name of Anthony, he too set out for Morocco, but divine Providence disposed otherwise. After an illness he was obliged to return to Italy and, in 1221, participated in the famous “Chapter of the Mats” in Assisi, where he also met St Francis. He then lived for a period in complete concealment in a convent at Forlì in northern Italy, where the Lord called him to another mission. Invited, in somewhat casual circumstances, to preach on the occasion of a priestly ordination, he showed himself to be endowed with such knowledge and eloquence that the Superiors assigned him to preaching. Thus he embarked on apostolic work in Italy and France that was so intense and effective that it induced many people who had left the Church to retrace their footsteps. Anthony was also one of the first if not the first theology teachers of the Friars Minor. He began his teaching in Bologna with the blessing of St Francis who, recognizing Anthony’s virtues, sent him a short letter that began with these words: “I would like you to teach the brethren theology”. Anthony laid the foundations of Franciscan theology which, cultivated by other outstanding thinkers, was to reach its apex with St Bonaventure of Bagnoregio and Bl. Duns Scotus.

Having become Provincial Superior of the Friars Minor in northern Italy, he continued his ministry of preaching, alternating it with his office of governance. When his term as Provincial came to an end, he withdrew to a place near Padua where he had stayed on various other occasions. Barely a year later, he died at the city gates on 13 June 1231. Padua, which had welcomed him with affection and veneration in his lifetime, has always accorded him honour and devotion. Pope Gregory IX himself, having heard him preach, described him as the “Ark of the Testament” and subsequent to miracles brought about through his intercession canonized him in 1232, only a year after his death.

In the last period of his life, Anthony put in writing two cycles of “Sermons”, entitled respectively “Sunday Sermons” and “Sermons on the Saints” destined for the Franciscan Order’s preachers and teachers of theological studies. In these Sermons he commented on the texts of Scripture presented by the Liturgy, using the patristic and medieval interpretation of the four senses: the literal or historical, the allegorical or Christological, the tropological or moral, and the anagogical, which orients a person to eternal life. Today it has been rediscovered that these senses are dimensions of the one meaning of Sacred Scripture and that it is right to interpret Sacred Scripture by seeking the four dimensions of its words. St Anthony’s sermons are theological and homiletical texts that echo the live preaching in which Anthony proposes a true and proper itinerary of Christian life. The richness of spiritual teaching contained in the “Sermons” was so great that in 1946 Venerable Pope Pius XII proclaimed Anthony a Doctor of the Church, attributing to him the title “Doctor Evangelicus”, since the freshness and beauty of the Gospel emerge from these writings. We can still read them today with great spiritual profit.

In these Sermons St Anthony speaks of prayer as of a loving relationship that impels man to speak gently with the Lord, creating an ineffable joy that sweetly enfolds the soul in prayer. Anthony reminds us that prayer requires an atmosphere of silence, which does not mean distance from external noise but rather is an interior experience that aims to remove the distractions caused by a soul’s anxieties, thereby creating silence in the soul itself. According to this prominent Franciscan Doctor’s teaching, prayer is structured in four indispensable attitudes which in Anthony’s Latin are defined as obsecratio, oratio, postulatio, gratiarum actio. We might translate them in the following manner. The first step in prayer is confidently opening one’s heart to God; this is not merely accepting a word but opening one’s heart to God’s presence. Next, is speaking with him affectionately, seeing him present with oneself; then a very natural thing presenting our needs to him; and lastly, praising and thanking him.

In St Anthony’s teaching on prayer we perceive one of the specific traits of the Franciscan theology that he founded: namely the role assigned to divine love which enters into the sphere of the affections, of the will and of the heart, and which is also the source from which flows a spiritual knowledge that surpasses all other knowledge. In fact, it is in loving that we come to know.

Anthony writes further: “Charity is the soul of faith, it gives it life; without love, faith dies” (Sermones Dominicales et Festivi II, Messagero, Padua 1979, p. 37).

Read more

St. Anthony, Warrior of God


PRAYER TO ST ANTHONY TO FIND SOMETHING LOST

Glorious St Anthony, perfect imitator of Jesus, who received from God the special power of restoring lost things, grant that I may find … which has been lost. At least restore my peace and tranquillity of mind, the loss of which has afflicted me even more than my material loss. To this favour I ask another of you: that I may always remain in possession of the true good that is God. Let me rather lose all things than lose God, my supreme good. Let me never suffer the loss of my greatest treasure, eternal life with God.
Amen.

IP#158 Mary Elizabeth Sperry – Bible Top Tens on Inside the Pages

Mary Elizabeth Sperry,  in a way fascinating way, organizes Bible topics and people into multiple lists in “Bible Top Tens: 40 Fun and Intriguing Lists to Inspire and Inform” .  More than just a “trivia” book, “Bible Top Tens”,  is another way to exprience the Bible.

You can find the book here

From the description:

This book is intended to open Scripture in a brand new way. By organizing important people, places, and events into lists, we can reframe our experience and understanding of God’s Word, while serving as a memory aid or providing ideas for further reading and study.

Discover the top ten Bible misunderstandings, the top ten things to know about the Bible, the top ten animal stories, the top ten angelic appearances, or the top ten miracles.

Get introduced to the top ten women with attitude, the top sibling rivalries, the heroes, the villains, or even the top ten people you should know but probably don’t.

Explore the top ten parables, promises, or challenges from Jesus.

MIL#1 Marriage in the Lord w/ Deacon James Keating – Episode 1

Episode 1 -Marriage in the Lord with Deacon James Keating –
Deacon James Keating, PhD, explores the theological and spiritual meaning of the Sacrament of Marriage. Using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a touchstone, Deacon Keating challenges listeners to go to the depths of what it means to be married in the Lord.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2364 The married couple forms “the intimate partnership of life and love established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted in the conjugal covenant, that is, in their irrevocable personal consent.” Both give themselves definitively and totally to one another. They are no longer two; from now on they form one flesh. The covenant they freely contracted imposes on the spouses the obligation to preserve it as unique and indissoluble. “What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Marriage in the Lord”

For other episodes in this series visit here

 

IPF logo small WOM#1 Deacon James Keating – Way of Mystery episode 1 from Resting On the Heart of Christ

For more information on the “Institute of Priestly Formation” and for other material available by Deacon Keating, just click here

 

Don’t forget to pickup a copy of “Marriage in the Lord”, it is one of the best audio sets on the Sacrament of Marriage…ever!


Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Hearts” page

MIL#2 Marriage in the Lord w/ Deacon James Keating – Episode 2

Episode 2 -Marriage in the Lord with Deacon James Keating –
Deacon James Keating, PhD, explores the theological and spiritual meaning of the Sacrament of Marriage. Using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a touchstone, Deacon Keating challenges listeners to go to the depths of what it means to be married in the Lord.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2331 “God is love and in himself he lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in his own image . . .. God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion.”115

Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Marriage in the Lord”

For other episodes in this series visit here

 

IPF logo small WOM#1 Deacon James Keating – Way of Mystery episode 1 from Resting On the Heart of Christ

For more information on the “Institute of Priestly Formation” and for other material available by Deacon Keating, just click here

 

Don’t forget to pickup a copy of “Marriage in the Lord”, it is one of the best audio sets on the Sacrament of Marriage…ever!


Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Hearts” page

MIL#3 Marriage in the Lord w/ Deacon James Keating – Episode 3

Episode 3 -Marriage in the Lord with Deacon James Keating –
Deacon James Keating, PhD, explores the theological and spiritual meaning of the Sacrament of Marriage. Using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a touchstone, Deacon Keating challenges listeners to go to the depths of what it means to be married in the Lord.

In this episode, Deacon Keating reflects on the Sacrament of Marriage and the liturgy of the Church in which it is celebrated.  Where the wedding occurs says much about how the couple perceives the gravitas of the marriage commitment.  He then discusses the questions that are asked of the couple at the beginnings of the liturgy.  Can they answer the questions with integrity.

Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Marriage in the Lord”

For other episodes in this series visit here

 

IPF logo small WOM#1 Deacon James Keating – Way of Mystery episode 1 from Resting On the Heart of Christ

For more information on the “Institute of Priestly Formation” and for other material available by Deacon Keating, just click here

 

Don’t forget to pickup a copy of “Marriage in the Lord”, it is one of the best audio sets on the Sacrament of Marriage…ever!


Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Hearts” page

MIL#4 Marriage in the Lord w/ Deacon James Keating – Episode 4

Episode 4 -Marriage in the Lord with Deacon James Keating –
Deacon James Keating, PhD, explores the theological and spiritual meaning of the Sacrament of Marriage. Using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a touchstone, Deacon Keating challenges listeners to go to the depths of what it means to be married in the Lord.

In this episode, Deacon Keating continues to reflect on the Sacrament of Marriage and the liturgy of the Church in which it is celebrated.  Where the wedding occurs says much about how the couple perceives the gravitas of the marriage commitment.  He then discusses the questions that are asked of the couple at the beginnings of the liturgy.  Can they answer the questions with integrity.  He also addresses the question of cohabitation and sex outside of marriage.

Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Marriage in the Lord”

For other episodes in this series visit here

 

IPF logo small WOM#1 Deacon James Keating – Way of Mystery episode 1 from Resting On the Heart of Christ

For more information on the “Institute of Priestly Formation” and for other material available by Deacon Keating, just click here

 

Don’t forget to pickup a copy of “Marriage in the Lord”, it is one of the best audio sets on the Sacrament of Marriage…ever!


Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Hearts” page

MIL#5 Marriage in the Lord w/ Deacon James Keating – Episode 5

Episode 5 -Marriage in the Lord with Deacon James Keating –
Deacon James Keating, PhD, explores the theological and spiritual meaning of the Sacrament of Marriage. Using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a touchstone, Deacon Keating challenges listeners to go to the depths of what it means to be married in the Lord.

In this episode, Deacon Keating continues to reflect on the Sacrament of Marriage and the liturgy of the Church in which it is celebrated.  The area of the vows given one to the other is explored.  The covenant relationship as opposed to the contract nature of marriage.

Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Marriage in the Lord”

For other episodes in this series visit here

 

IPF logo small WOM#1 Deacon James Keating – Way of Mystery episode 1 from Resting On the Heart of Christ

For more information on the “Institute of Priestly Formation” and for other material available by Deacon Keating, just click here

 

Don’t forget to pickup a copy of “Marriage in the Lord”, it is one of the best audio sets on the Sacrament of Marriage…ever!


Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Hearts” page

MIL#6 Marriage in the Lord w/ Deacon James Keating – Episode 6

Episode 6 -Marriage in the Lord with Deacon James Keating –
Deacon James Keating, PhD, explores the theological and spiritual meaning of the Sacrament of Marriage. Using the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a touchstone, Deacon Keating challenges listeners to go to the depths of what it means to be married in the Lord.

In this episode, Deacon Keating continues to reflect on the Sacrament of Marriage and the liturgy of the Church in which it is celebrated.  The blessings of rings as signs of love and fidelity.  The importance of having the mass celebrated in the celebration of marriage is also discussed.

Deacon James Keating, PhD, the director of Theological Formation for the Institute for Priestly Formation, located at Creighton University, in Omaha, is making available to ”Discerning Hearts” and all who listen, his series of programs entitled “Marriage in the Lord”

For other episodes in this series visit here

 

IPF logo small WOM#1 Deacon James Keating – Way of Mystery episode 1 from Resting On the Heart of Christ

For more information on the “Institute of Priestly Formation” and for other material available by Deacon Keating, just click here

 

Don’t forget to pickup a copy of “Marriage in the Lord”, it is one of the best audio sets on the Sacrament of Marriage…ever!


Check out Deacon Keating’s “Discerning Hearts” page

IP#157 Mike Aquilina – Mothers of the Church on Inside the Pages

Leave it to the wonderfully thoughtful Mike Aquilina to bring us the lives of just some of those glorious maternal nurturers we call “the Mothers of the Church”.  From the well known Sts. Perpetua and Felicity and St. Monica to lesser known “mothers” like Proba the Poet and St. Olympias, Mike, along with his co-author Christopher Bailey, share their inspiring stories.  Mike Aquilina’s sincere love for these women and the witness they have provided us in our present age helps us to appreciate, once again, what God can do with ordinary people who are open to His extraordinary grace.

You can find Mike’s book here

The Mothers of the Church include:

Holy Women of the New Testament
–St. Blandina
–St. Perpetua and St. Felicity
–St. Helena
–St. Thecla
–St. Agnes of Rome
–St. Macrina
–Proba the Widow
–St. Marcella
–St. Paula
–St. Eustochium
–St. Monica
–Egeria the Tourist