Saint Talk:St. Anthony and Patron Saint Days

Source: Catholic Tradition

Popular Saint
Today is the feast of St. Anthony of Padua, one of the most beloved and popular saints in Catholic history and my confirmation patron saint. Known as the "hammer of the heretics," St. Anthony is often portrayed holding the infant Jesus. This is attributed to a miracle in which baby Jesus appeared to St. Anthony who was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in a small chapel.

Hammer of Heretics
St. Anthony was a tremendous speaker and teacher of the faith. So much so, that in 1946 the Church declared him a Doctor of the Church because of his ability to simplify the teachings of faith for ordinary people. He earned the monicker of Hammer of Heretics by putting these talents to great use in refuting heresy. While he was in Rimini, Italy, Anthony found the hearts of its citizens hardened by heresy; they would not listen to his preaching. Instead, he chose to preach at the banks of the sea to the fish. Schools of fish rose to surface to hear his preaching. The people of Rimini were moved to conversion by this miracle.

By Jason Bach

Patron of Lost Things
Today, he is often invoked as the patron of lost items. This devotion most likely originated as a result of story that holds that when Anthony was a teacher, he had a book of psalms that contained many of his notes. A novice who had determined to leave the order, stole the book and left. St. Anthony prayed for its return. Later the novice returned the book and re-entered the religious community.  Anthony is also patron of a number of other causes, including faith in the Blessed Sacrament.

Confirmation Names
Back in the day, people preparing for confirmation were encouraged to take a saint name. That saint would become that person's patron saint. I wrote a post last year in which I make the case for each of us having three patron saints. From what I can tell from reading some of the Catholic forums not many parishes are encouraging this practice of taking on a saint's name for confirmation. I want to encourage you to consider joining me in revitalizing this pious practice. We can all use an additional saint praying for us.

Patron Days

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to share a family tradition with you. A few years back we began to celebrate Baptism Days as Re-Birthdays. Additionally, we now celebrate Patron Saint Days. We don't do anything too extravagant. Last night, Stacey and I went out to dinner to celebrate the occasion. If you have children, you can make a special dessert and share stories about the particular saint. You might even join together in reciting a prayer associated with that saint. It's a nice way to bring attention to the liturgy, nurture devotion to the saint and to just have an excuse to celebrate.

Not Just One Patron Saint

RCIA Assignment

I'd be remiss if I did not share one of the exercises that I did with the RCIA group I talked to the night before Halloween. That night, I gave a presentation on the Communion of Saints. If you'd like to learn more about what I talked about then I recommend reading the post I wrote about that a couple of days ago. Anyway, that night I challenged the group do some homework by researching their patron saints. I told them they didn't just have one patron saint, but potentially three.

Three Part Process

The assignment is a three part process. First, I instructed them to look up the saint whose name they shared. Now I know that in this day and age many people don't have Christian names, but I figured for most part most do. If they don't have an explicitly Christian name, the next thing is to choose a name that is closely associated with one. For example, the name Jessica is not a biblical name but is thought to be associated with the name Joanna. OK, the next part of the exercise required that they look up the patron saint whose feast day falls on their birthday. I shared that I did this very exercise myself years ago when I first taught the Communion of Saints to RCIA. As a result of this, I discovered that St. Albert the Great is the saint whose feast day is celebrated on November 15th. He is the patron saint of teachers and I happen to be a teacher. Discovering that for the first time was pretty special. Needless to say, I think looking up your birthday saint is the most fun and potentially eye opening. The final part of the assignment is for them to research potential names they would take for confirmation. While we are not required to take on a saint name during confirmation, I encourage candidates and Catechumens to do so, especially since many don't already have Christian names. I think this gives them one more personal connection to the Communion of Saints and give them a saint to lean on during tough time. If you have already been confirmed, I still encourage you to do further reading on your patron saint.

Patron Saint Resources:

Here are a few websites for looking up patron saints by date or cause:

• American Catholic
• EWTN Saints and Holy People
• Saints SQPN

Give It a Shot

The point of doing this exercise is to demonstrate that we could potentially have up to 3 saints to connect with and call upon for intercessory prayer I just think this is a fun way get people to actively be thinking about the communion of saints and how they are already part of the Church Militant. Give it a shot let me know how it goes.

St. Anthony, Hammer of Heretics

St. Anthony of Padua by El Greco

Popular Saint
St. Anthony of Padua is one of the most beloved and popular saints in Catholic history. Known as the "hammer of the heretics," St. Anthony is often portrayed holding the infant Jesus. This is attributed to a miracle in which baby Jesus appeared to St. Anthony who was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in a small chapel.

Hammer of Heretics
St. Anthony was a tremendous speaker and teacher of the faith. So much so, that in 1946 the Church declared him a Doctor of the Church because of his ability to simplify the teachings of faith for ordinary people. He earned the monicker of Hammer of Heretics by putting these talents to great use in refuting heresy. While he was in Rimini, Italy, Anthony found the hearts of its citizens hardened by heresy; they would not listen to his preaching. Instead, he chose to preach at the banks of the sea to the fish. Schools of fish rose to surface to hear his preaching. The people of Rimini were moved to conversion by this miracle.

Patron of Lost Things
Today, he is often invoked as the patron of lost items. This devotion most likely originated as a result of story that holds that when Anthony was a teacher, he had a book of psalms that contained many of his notes. A novice who had determined to leave the order, stole the book and left. St. Anthony prayed for its return. Later the novice returned the book and re-entered the religious community.  Anthony is also patron of a number of other causes, including faith in the Blessed Sacrament.

Confirmation Names
In years past, many would be encouraged to take a saint name when they were confirmed. From what I can tell from reading some of the Catholic forums not many parishes are encouraging this pious action anymore. I was fortunate that in our little parish of St. Cecelia, when I was growing up, it WAS encouraged. I chose the name Anthony, because it was my Grandfather's name. I didn't know anything else about the St Anthony.

Patron Days

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to remind you of a family tradition we started a few years back. We celebrate Baptism Days and we celebrate Patron Saint Days. We don't do anything too extravagant, but, for example, for Stacey's day (St. Martha, July 29th), I took her out to lunch after Mass and then out for some gelato at Paciugo. I recommend you do the same in your family. It's a nice way to bring attention to the liturgy, nurture devotion to the saint and to just have an excuse to celebrate.