Confessor & Doctor of the Church – Patron of the Poor
St. Anthony, called “St. Anthony of Padua” on account of his
long residence in that city, was a native of Lisbon in Portugal,
where he was born in 1195, receiving the name of Ferdinand at
his baptism. At an early age his parents placed him in the
community of the Canons of the Cathedral of Lisbon, by whom
he was educated. At fifteen he entered the Order of Regular
Canons of St. Augustine near Lisbon. After two years he was
sent to the convent of the Holy Cross of the same Order at
Coimbra. He had lived in this house eight years, intent on his
studies, when the relics of five Franciscan martyrs were brought
from Morocco to Portugal. This event inspired him to follow in
the footsteps of these heroes of the Faith. When this became
known his brethren offered extreme opposition, but he finally
obtained the consent of the prior and passed over to the
Franciscan Order.
After some time he obtained leave to go to Africa to preach to
the Moors, but a severe illness obliged him to return to Spain.
However, the vessel was driven to Sicily by contrary winds, and
the desire to see St. Francis took him to Assisi, where a general
chapter of the Order was in progress. At first he was entirely
ignored in the Order, and he purposely kept himself in obscurity;
but Providence soon revealed to the Franciscans what a treasure
they had acquired, and St. Anthony was made professor of
theology, which subject he later taught successively at Bologna,
Toulouse, Montpellier and Padua. Finally he gave up teaching to
devote himself entirely to the work of preaching, for he was an
accomplished orator, being at the same time filled with zeal for
souls. In his work he traveled through France, Spain and Italy. He
was invested with several important dignities in his Order and
always labored hard to preserve monastic discipline. He boldly
opposed the famous General Elias, who sought to introduce
relaxations. He died June 13, 1231. Lives of the Saints, pgs. 225