Anthon’s wealthy family wanted
him to be a great nobleman, but for
the sake of Christ he became a
poor Franciscan Priest. When the
remains of St. Berard and his
companions, the first Franciscan
martyrs, were brought to be buried
in his church, Anthony was moved
to leave his order, enter the Friars
Minor, and go to Morocco to
evangelize. Shipwrecked at Sicily,
he joined some other brothers who
were going to Portiuncula. He lived in a cave at San Paolo
leaving only to attend Mass and sweep the nearby
monastery. One day when a scheduled speaker failed to
appear, the brothers pressed him into speaking. He
impressed them so that he was thereafter constantly
traveling, evangelizing, preaching and teaching theology
throughout Italy and France. A gifted speaker, he attracted
crowds everywhere he went, speaking in multiple tongues;
legend says that even the fish loved to listen. One of the
most beloved of saints, he was proclaimed a Doctor of the
Church on 16 January 1946.
Patranage: against shipwrecks, against starvation,
American Indians, amputees, animals, barrenness,
boatmen, elderly people, expectant mothers, faith in the
Blessed Sacrament, fishermen, harvest, lost articles.