LAKE JAMES

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Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest, Confessor, and Doctor


Born in 1195 of a noble family, he was educated at the school connected to the cathedral at Lisbon. At the age of 15, he entered the Augustinians, furthering his formal education at Coimbra. In 1220, his life was changed by seeing the remains of Franciscans who had been martyred in Morocco. He requested and was granted permission to transfer from the Augustinians to the Franciscans, making his vows in the Chapel of St. Anthony named for the 4th century hermit, and at the same time, changing his name from Ferdinand to Anthony. His first assignment was to live in a hermitage where he went about his duties as a friar. That quiet life was suddenly changed when he was called upon to preach at an ordination. His sermon revealed both eloquence and learning of unusual quality, leading to his immediate reassignment to the newly created post of Lector in Theology to the Franciscan Order.

In the years which followed, he taught at several universities and held a number of high offices with the Franciscans, but in 1230, he was permitted to resign from those duties in order to devote himself more fully to preaching. He spent the next year near Padua, dying at the age of 36. He was canonized in 1232 and his relics are enshrined at Padua. His Feast Day is June 13th.

 

A Collect for the Feast of Saint Anthony of Padua


Grant, O God, that the solemn festival of your holy Confessor Saint Anthony of Padua may bring gladness to your Church, that being defended by your aid in all things spiritual, we may be found worthy to attain to everlasting felicity. Through Christ our Lord.

 

[Based on material in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church and The Anglican Breviary]

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To learn more about Saint Anthony of Padua from American Catholic.org, click here.

 

This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:40 PM