St. Anthony’s video series is a weeklong celebration of his life, his miracles, and his prayer. Tune back here to receive a different video each day, from June 6-13, 2023 or sign up below to receive email notifications.
Here we are – already in our sixth episode of our St. Anthony Video Series and just two days
away from June 13th and the Great Feast of St. Anthony. Our journey together into the
remarkable life of St. Anthony of Padua continues today as we explore the symbols of St.
Anthony. What do they stand for, and why are they important in understanding his life and
miraculous power? But before you watch the video, can you name the four symbols that
appear in almost every statue of St. Anthony?
Tune into this series to discover St. Anthony’s life, miracles and prayers.
Happy Feast of St. Anthony! For the past several days, we have celebrated St. Anthony of
Padua’s remarkable life in our special St. Anthony Video Series. We hope that you learned something new about St. Anthony, and that you grew closer to our Beloved Friend and Wonder-Worker.
Today, we invite you to join the Franciscan Friars and the St. Anthony’s Guild Family in honoring St. Anthony and celebrating his Feast Day with Mass, music, and song.
Today brings us to the seventh episode of our St. Anthony Video Series. In our journey together into the remarkable life of St. Anthony of Padua, today we reflect on his death. Our Beloved Wonder-Worker is as remarkable in death as he was in life. How do our prayers to St. Anthony bring each of us closer to the God he loved so much?
Tune into this series to discover St. Anthony’s life, miracles and prayers.
Here we are – already in our sixth episode of our St. Anthony Video Series and just two days
away from June 13th and the Great Feast of St. Anthony. Our journey together into the
remarkable life of St. Anthony of Padua continues today as we explore the symbols of St. Anthony. What do they stand for, and why are they important in understanding his life and miraculous power? But before you watch the video, can you name the four symbols that
appear in almost every statue of St. Anthony?
Tune into this series to discover St. Anthony’s life, miracles and prayers.
Today brings us to the fifth episode of our St. Anthony Video Series and our ongoing journey
together into the remarkable life of St. Anthony of Padua. This episode immerses us in the
many miracles of St. Anthony. How do they affect our relationship with God, and our devotion to our Beloved Friend and Wonder-Worker?
Tune into this series to discover St. Anthony’s life, miracles and prayers.
In this fourth episode of our St. Anthony Video Series. We hope this special series is helping you grow closer to St. Anthony and preparing you for his Great Feast Day on June 13th. Today, we get a better understanding of St. Anthony’s Unfailing Prayer. How many times we have prayed this to our Beloved Wonder-Worker! Do you know its meaning and impact on your own prayer life?
Tune into this series to discover St. Anthony’s life, miracles and prayers.
In today’s third episode of our St. Anthony Video Series, we embark on a journey within the journey – a virtual tour of the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padova, Italy – the final resting place of our Beloved Wonder-Worker. Are you familiar with the many intriguing facts discovered about St. Anthony when his tomb was opened?
Tune into this series to discover St. Anthony’s life, miracles and prayers.
In our second episode of our St. Anthony Video Series, we explore some of the iconic images of St. Anthony. How do these images help us in our devotion to our Beloved Friend and Wonder-Worker?
Tune into this series to discover St. Anthony’s life, miracles and prayers.
Watch our very 1st episode of our St. Anthony video series to get to know St. Anthony of Padua. Start this journey with a quick quiz in this video. Discover his life and all the lives he touched by his preaching.
Let’s think of Saint Anthony, not just as someone who lives the gospel way of life and finds lost objects, but as someone, just like us, he lost a lot in his life: plans, dreams, ideas, relationships, loved ones, and, of course, our keys. St. Anthony trusted in God, and knew that when he lost a life plan or a dream, God would replace his dream with another one.
Tune into this series to discover St. Anthony’s life, miracles and prayers.
Reflect on the image of the Lily.
The image of the Lily is often used in various portrayals
of saints and many feel it epitomizes only chastity.
In reality, the lily also symbolizes mercy, compassion,
healing, celebration and faithfulness. The leaves of the lily are said to represent humility. As we reflect on this list of meanings attributed to the lily, we can envision the great St. Anthony taking shape before us. His presence certainly signifies chastity, but as we consider the other meaning of this beautiful flower, we can see his life’s work of preaching Christ’s compassion and healing for each of us, as well as the celebration of our salvation and our faithfulness to
Gospel values.
Today, reflect on what the words represented by the lily mean for you.
Please pray the novena prayer on the enclosed prayer card.
Reflect on the image of the loaves of bread
St. Anthony and bread go together like spaghetti and
meatballs! They are meant to be together. Whenever the loaves of bread are brought to an image of the saint, we know we are reflecting on St. Anthony’s Bread for the Poor. He, like St. Francis, loved the poor in a very special way. As members of St. Anthony’s Guild, we are called to that same love for the poor as he had. For St. Anthony, bread symbolizes the great generosity of Christ in the Eucharist and the profound generosity we should have for the poor and desperate who need our help and care.
Today, reflect on these words of Pope Francis regarding the poor and our obligation to help them:
“Those on the margins cry. Those who have fallen by the wayside cry. Those who are discarded cry,” he said. “But those who are living a life that is more or less without need, we don’t know how to cry.” And he added: “There are some realities that you can only see through eyes that have been cleansed by tears.”
Please pray the novena prayer on the enclosed prayer card.
Reflect on the shadow of the Franciscan Cross behind St. Anthony.
The Franciscan Cross, also known as the San Damiano Cross, is a magnificent icon of the Crucified Christ. The San Damiano Cross is the one before which St. Francis was praying when he received the commission from the Lord to rebuild the Church. The original cross presently hangs in the Basilica of St. Clare Church in Assisi, Italy. All Franciscans cherish this cross as the symbol of their mission from God. The cross is called an icon cross. The tradition of such crosses was transported by Serbian monks to the Umbria district of Italy where St. Francis lived. The name of the painter is unknown. The purpose of an icon cross was to teach the meaning of the event depicted and thereby strengthen the faith of the people. The present Crucifix contains the story of the death,
resurrection and ascension into glory.
It is not surprising that Saint Francis was attracted to this Icon and that the inspiration for his life came from this Christ who spoke the words to him
“Go repair my Church …”
The central figure of the icon is Christ, not only because of the relative size, but because Christ is a figure of light dominating the scene and giving light to the other figures: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me
will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Christ stands upright, not nailed. The eyes of Jesus are open: He looks out to the world, which He has saved. He is alive; the one who is eternal. From within the semi-circle at the very top of the Icon is the right hand of God with His finger extended symbolizing the Holy Spirit. The Father gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to all because of the merits of the Christ’s Passion.
Today, reflect and pray these words St. Francis and St. Anthony spoke in front of this Cross:
“We adore You O Christ and we bless You, here and in all your churches throughout the world, and we bless you, because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.”
Please pray the novena prayer on the enclosed prayer card.
Reflect on the face of St. Anthony.
Reflect on the serene face of this great Friend of Christ as he looks at the face of his beloved Jesus. There is a calmness and peace about Anthony that comes from his love of Christ and Mary, his life of prayer, his reading the Scriptures, and devotion to the Eucharist.Today, pray the Hail Mary slowly and lovingly, reflecting on the words as you pray them.
Today, pray this prayer to St. Anthony
Blessed St. Anthony, to whom God has granted such favors that, through your intercession, lost items are recovered, pray for me, that I may acquire and preserve peace of mind, with light and knowledge to those things that I need not worry about, and have patience about those things that cause me distress. Deliver me, great Wonder Worker, from all anxiety and uneasiness of mind and heart, so I may faithfully serve my God and Savior as you did, with peace of mind, calmness and patience, and trust without worry. I ask all this through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Please pray the novena prayer on the enclosed prayer card.
Reflect on the mouth of St. Anthony and the words he preached.
Sometimes people ignored the preaching of St. Anthony, and in one instance God intervened to show that he was worthy of respect by giving signs through animals. In the area near Padua, there was once a group of people who criticized and ridiculed his preaching; so, the Saint went to the edge of a river, looked in the distance, and said to the crowd so that everyone would hear:
“When you proved yourselves to be unworthy of the Word of the Lord, I turn to the fish, to demonstrate your disbelief.”
And, the Saint, filled with the Lord’s spirit, he began to preach to the fish! elaborating on the gifts given to these “animals of the water” by God. St. Anthony spoke about how God had created them, how He was responsible for the purity of the water and how much freedom He had given them, and how they were able to eat without working.
The fish began to gather together to listen to this preaching, lifting their heads above the water and looking at him attentively, with their mouths open. As long as it pleased the Saint to talk to them, they stayed there listening attentively, and did not leave their place until they had received his blessing. He who had made the birds listen to the preaching of the most
Holy Father Francis, gathered the fish together to listen to the preaching of his son, Anthony. St. Anthony preached the Gospel of Christ not only by his words but also by his daily actions in prayer, in his life with the Friars, and in his work with the poor.
Today, consider how you use your words each day.
Do you speak in the same way as St. Anthony, with kindness, care and love? Are your words filled with anger, meanness, and bitterness, or does your speaking with others, calm them, affirm them and show them God’s love? So often our tongue is more damaging and destructive than any weapon. How is your preaching today?
Pray this prayer whenever you feel anger rather than love, or bitterness rather than affirmation about to come from your mouth:
St. Anthony, hold my tongue, calm my anger and purify my words that I may only preach the love and forgiveness of God by every word that comes from my mouth. Amen.
Please pray the novena prayer on the enclosed prayer card.
Reflect on St. Anthony, and the great gift God has given to us in this great wonder-worker.
St. Anthony is said to be the second most popular saint after Mary, Our Blessed Mother. For the followers of St. Anthony, he is not only a powerful saint, but a truly good friend who is always with us in joy and in sorrow, in good times and in bad.
Our devotion to our wonder-worker friend is what leads us to Jesus Christ, and helps us to live our daily lives according to the Gospel values of love of God and generosity to others.
St. Anthony is our “go to saint,” the one who we can call on for anything we need, not only lost
items, but also lost love, loss of peace of mind, and even a loss of faith. During this novena we
have prayed and reflected on all that is precious to St. Anthony, and the values that he asks us to
follow as followers of Jesus Christ.
Today, as the Great Novena draws to a close, know that all the Friars are rejoicing with you and preparing to celebrate the Great Feast of St. Anthony tomorrow.
You will be among those the Friars will be praying for in a special way. Pray for us as we pray for you each day, and may our wonder-worker and friend, the great St. Anthony, help make all our prayers come true.
Please pray the novena prayer on the enclosed prayer card.
