This
woman was saved from death. Another, in Ferrara, was saved
from an dreadful suspicion. In fact, the Saint reconciled
the wife with the husband, a renowned person among the influential
people of the city. And greater still, and indeed a true miracle,
he made the baby, who had recently been born a few days
earlier, talk; and the infant answered the questions posed
by the man of God.This man was being tortured by a jealous suspicion about his wife, and didn't even want to touch the baby, born a few days earlier, convinced that he was the child of adultery. St. Anthony thus took the baby into his arms and said to him: "I implore you in the name of Jesus Christ, God and Man, born of the Virgin Mary, to clearly tell me, so that everyone can hear, who your father is."
And
the child, without mumbling as little ones do, but with
a clearly understandable voice as if he were a child of 10
years, fixed his eyes on his parent, because he couldn't move
his arms which were wrapped in swaddling clothes, and said:
"Here he is, this is my father!" Turning
to the man, the Saint added: "Take your son, and love
your wife, who has been blameless and who deserves all of
your gratitude" (SICCO POLENTONE, Life of St. Anthony,
n. 37).
THE MULE
In
the region of Tolosa blessed Anthony, having vehemently argued
with a hardened heretic about the redeeming sacrament of the
Eucharist, had nearly convinced and attracted him to the Catholic
faith, except that, after many arguments in which he tried
to back out, he added these words:
"Let's cut the chat and come to the facts. If you, Anthony, can prove with a miracle that in the Eucharist of believers there is, however hidden it may be, the true body of Christ, I will renounce every heresy and submit myself to the Catholic faith".
The
Lord's servant replied with great faith: "I trust in
my saviour Jesus Christ that, for your conversion and for
that of others, thanks to His mercy I will obtain what you
ask". The heretic stood up and, asking for silence with
a gesture of his hand, said: "I'll keep my beast of burden
locked up for three days and I will starve him. After three
days, in the presence of other people, I'll let him out and
I'll show him some prepared fodder. You, on the other hand
will show him what you believe to be the body of Christ. If
the starving animal, ignoring the fodder, rushes to adore
his God, I will sincerely believe in the faith of the Church".
The saint agreed straight away. The heretic then exclaimed:
"Listen well, everyone!".
Why
delay with many words? The day of the challenge arrived. people
arrived from far and wide and filled up the square. Christ's
servant, Anthony, was present surrounded by a crowd of faithful.
The heretic too, with a number of his accomplices. God's servant
entered a nearby chapel, to perform the rites of the Mass
with great devotion. Once finished, he exited where the people
were waiting, carrying reverently the body of the Lord. The
hungry mule was led out of the stall, and shown appetising
food.
Finally,
asking for silence the man of God said to the animal with
great faith: "In the name of virtue and the Creator,
who I, although unworthy, am carrying in my hands, I ask you,
o beast, and I order to come closer quickly and with humility
and to show just veneration, so that the malevolent heretics
will learn from this gesture that every creature is subject
to the Lord, as held in the hands with priestly dignity on
the altar". God's servant had hardly finished speaking,
when the animal, ignoring the fodder, knelt down and lowered
his head to the floor, thus genuflecting before the living
sacrament of the body of Christ.
The
faithful were filled with uncontrollable joy, the heretics
and non-believers were filled with sadness and humiliation.
God was praised and blessed, the Catholic faith was honoured
and exalted; heretical depravity was shamed and condemned
with everlasting insults. The heretic, renounced the his doctrine
in front of all present, and from then on was obedient to
the precepts of the holy Church (Benignitas 16,6-17).
PREACHING TO THE FISH
If
intellectual men sometimes ignored his preaching, God intervened
to show that was worthy of respect, giving signs through dumb
animals. In the area near Padua, there was once a group of
heretics who criticised and ridiculed his preaching; the Saint
went to the edge of a river, looked in the distance, and said
to the heretics so that everyone would hear:"From the moment in which you proved yourselves to be unworthy of the Word of the Lord, look, I turn to the fish, to further confound your disbelief".
And filled with the Lord's spirit, he began to preach to the fish, elaborating on their gifts given by God: 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 speech, 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, as
if they could reason. Nor did their 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. (Rigaldina
9,24-28).
THE RE-ATTCHED FOOT
A
great miracle was caused by a confession. A man from Padua
called Leonardo, once told the man of God that, among his
other sins, he'd kicked his mother, and with such violence
that she fell heavily to the ground.The blessed Father Anthony, who strongly detested all wrong-doing, in the fervour of the spirit said deploringly: "the foot which kicks a mother or father, should be cut off straight away".
This simpleton, having misunderstood the sense of this phrase, and out of remorse for his ill deed and the cruel words of the Saint, rushed home and cut off his foot. The news of such a cruel punishment spread through the city, and reached God's servant. He went to the man's house straight away after an apprehensive, devout prayer, joined the cut off foot to the leg, making the sign of the cross.
A
miracle! As soon as the Saint had attached the foot to the
leg, tracing out the sign of the Crucifix, passing his sacred
hands gently over the leg, the foot became attached to the
leg so quickly, that the man stood up happily, and began to
run and jump, praising God and giving infinite thanks to the
blessed Anthony, who had made him sound again in such a miraculous
way. (Benignitas 17,36-40).
THE CONVERSION OF EZZELLINO
During
his tyranny, that wicked, arrogant despot, the cruel tyrant
Ezzelino da Romano, had massacred an enormous number of men
in Verona.
The
intrepid father, as soon as he heard of this event, took the
risk of meeting him in person, at his residence in the city.
He
reproached him with these words:
"O
enemy of God, merciless tyrant, rabid dog, how much longer
will you continue to shed the blood of innocent Christians?
Look, the Lord's punishment is hanging over you and it is
terrible and severe!"
He said many other harsh, vehement expressions to his face. The guards were waiting for Ezzelino, as usual, to give the order to kill him. But something else happened instead, thanks to the Lord.
He said many other harsh, vehement expressions to his face. The guards were waiting for Ezzelino, as usual, to give the order to kill him. But something else happened instead, thanks to the Lord.
In
fact, the tyrant, struck by the words of the man of God, lost
all his ferocity and became gentle as a lamb. Then, hanging
his belt around his neck, he prostrated himself before this
man of God and humbly confessed his ill doings, giving the
assurance that, with his consent, he would repair any wrong
doing.
He
added: "Fellow soldiers, do not be surprised by this.
I am telling you in all honesty, that I have seen a type of
divine splendour emanating from the face of this priest, which
has frightened me so much, that faced with such a terrifying
vision, I had the sensation I was falling straight into hell".
From
that day on Ezzelino was always very devoted to the Saint,
and for as long as he lived, he restrained from the many atrocities
he would have wanted to perpetrate, this according to what
the tyrant himself said (Benignitas 17,42-47).
THE VISION - my favorite!
 Blessed
Anthony found himself in a city to preach and was put up by
a local resident. He gave him a room set apart, so that he
could study and contemplate undisturbed. While he prayed by
himself, in the room, the landlord continued his bustling
about the house.
While
he was devotedly observing the room in which St. Anthony had
immersed himself in prayer, peeping through the window, he
saw a beautiful joyful baby appear in blessed Anthony's arms.
The Saint hugged and kissed him, contemplating the face with
unceasing attention. The landlord, awed and enraptured by
the child's beauty, began to think of where such a graceful
child might have come from.
That
baby was the Lord Jesus. He revealed to the blessed Anthony
that his host was watching. After a long time spent in prayer,
the vision disappeared; the Saint called the landlord, and
he forbade him from telling anyone whilst Anthony was still
alive what he had seen. After the Saint passed away, the man
told the tale crying, swearing on the Bible that he was telling
the truth (Liber miraculorum 22,1-8).
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THE MISER'S HEART
In
Tuscany, the great region of Italy, the funereal rites of
a very rich man were being celebrated with great solemnity
as was common in these cases. At the funeral St. Anthony was
present and, moved by a sudden inspiration, began shouting
that this man should not be buried in a sacred place, but
outside the city walls, like a dog.
And this was because his soul was damned to hell, and the corpse was without a heart, according to the saying of the Lord, reported by Saint Luke the Evangelist: Where your treasure is, there also is your heart.
And this was because his soul was damned to hell, and the corpse was without a heart, according to the saying of the Lord, reported by Saint Luke the Evangelist: Where your treasure is, there also is your heart.
Everyone
was naturally shaken at this statement, and there was a long
and heated exchange of opinions. Some surgeons were called
who opened the deceased's chest. But they could not
find his heart which, as the Saint predicted, was discovered
in his safe with his money.
For
this reason, the citizens praised the Lord and the Saint.
The dead man was not buried in the prepared mausoleum, but
dragged like a mule along the embankment and then buried there.
(SICCO POLENTONE, Life of St. Anthony,n. 35).
THE RESURRECTED YOUNG MAN
In
the city of Lisbon, of which St. Anthony was a native, whilst
his relatives were still living, that is to say his father,
his mother and his brothers, two citizens were enemies and
they hated each other to death. It so happened that the son
of one of them, a young boy, encountered the enemy of the
family, who lived near blessed Anthony's parents.This merciless man grabbed the boy, took him home and killed him without further ado. Then, in the deep of the night, having entered into the garden of the Saint's parents, he dug a ditch, buried the body and fled.
As the young boy was the son of a well known family, there was an inquest into his disappearance, and it was ascertained that the young boy had travelled through the enemy's part of town. The home and garden were therefore searched, but no clues were found. While carrying out an inspection of the garden of blessed Anthony's relatives, the boy was found, buried in the garden. For this reason, the king's executioner arrested Anthony's father and everyone else in the house, for the assassination of the boy.
Blessed Anthony,
even though he was in Padua, came to know this fact through
divine inspiration. That night, having obtained permission,
he left the convent. While he walked during the night,
he was transported miraculously to the city of Lisbon.
Upon entering the city in the morning, he went to the executioner,
and began to plead with him to acquit these innocent people
of the accusation and set them free. But, as the man had no
intention of doing such a thing, blessed Anthony ordered that
the assassinated boy brought to him.
Once the body
was placed before him, he ordered the boy to rise up and say
whether his relatives had killed him. The boy awoke from death
and affirmed that blessed Anthony's relatives were not involved.
As a result, they were exonerated and released from prison.
Blessed Anthony stayed with them all day. Then, in the evening,
he left Lisbon and the following morning he found himself
in Padua (Bartolomeo da Pisa 4,19-32).
+++++++++++++++++++++
These
are the miracles befitting a travelling preacher, they
reveal the burning desire to save souls. He exists exclusively
as a living mediator between Christ and the children
of God dispersed throughout history, he is a trait d'union
between the Redeemer and the redeemed.
The
Christians of his day, both in Italy and in France, were
believers who were only very crudely introduced into the faith
in terms of understanding its doctrine and ethics. Theirs
was a traditional religion, which needs to be renewed and
deepened in its terms of revelation, defending it against
the snares of heresy and prevailing vices. This is the reason
for the miracles which support the Christ's true presence
in the Eucharist (miracle of the mule), or which underline
the authority of his teaching, (for example: the poisoned
food, preaching to the fish), or which renew his battle against
usury (the macabre tale of the heartless usurer).
On
other occasions we see St. Anthony concerned with providing
relief to the material suffering of the people, and blocking
the way to hateful abuse at the hands of governments
(for example: the stormy meeting with Ezzelino, the tale of
the twelve thieves, the pious woman of Provence). Notable
artists have been inspired by other miraculous events, the
new born who speaks, the jealous husband, the reattached foot,
which portray Anthony as the defender of family harmony. The
importance of the Sacrament of Confession is emphasised, and
many miracles are linked to this theme, forming part of the
Anthonian saga.
Although
he abandoned his family of birth and he left the Augustinian
Order, he was a loving son and brother, close to both
his family and friends (transferred from Padua to Lisbon,
his apparition to Abbot Thomas). Deeper still was his attachment
to his minor confreres. He took on the burden of their troubles,
he helped avoid possible disorder in the monastery and cloistered
life, foiled diabolical turbulence which put meditation at
risk, and took care of the nutritional needs of his monastery
etc. (for example: the young Noviciate of Limoges, the diabolical
phantasmagoria, bilocation in Montpellier, the maid who went
to gather vegetables under the rain).
Thus,
these episodes help to reconstruct the historical figure
of Saint Anthony, they disclose his moral constitution,
his feelings of evangelical solidarity, the worries of a teacher
of the faith and a guarantor of the authenticity of consecrated
life. The most touching miracle however, which analyses
in depth the Saint's soul, is the apparition of the Baby
Jesus. Saint Anthony glows here in ecstasy, absorbed in
divine intimacy, by deep and sweetly emotional faith, with
transports of joy and the features of someone who is deeply
in love.
It
is common to say that medical specialists at Lourdes, "declare"
the truth of a certain miracle. This expression is not
exact, and we need to be careful. The declaring of
miracles does not form part of a doctor's job. His task is
to declare that a recovery, according to the current state
of medical research, is inexplicable. It is possible
that in the future, medical science will be able to solve
the mystery.
In
so far as a miracle is concerned, only a believer can discern
it, in a aura of faith. This is another very different
type of knowledge, beyond experimental science. We must cultivate
an attitude of adoring silence, which enable us to be
transparent to that interior light, thanks to which we can
discern a divine presence: "You have hidden these things
from the wise and the intelligent, and have revealed them
to infants" (Lk 10,21).
St.
Anthony continues to give two types of grace. Above all,
through the clear signs of Providence, St. Anthony directs
the religious thought of many people towards Christ, he
supports wavering faith during the ups and downs of life,
guiding us towards the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist,
surprising whoever is distant or disinterested in God with
the interior fascination of conversion. For many Christians,
St Anthony represents perhaps the only concrete point of reference,
which can foster and develop a relationship with God in the
midst of the turmoil of life.
Secondly,
St. Anthony extends God's heart into the world, giving
faith and hope. Family or work problems, the straying
of children or illnesses: there are many occasions in life
when men feel powerless. The Saint, so attentive in life to
the needs of the family, continues to be God's concrete
and favoured mediator in the Church.
"We
children must ask our God for something. Everything that exists
in this is nothing, compared to our love for God. We must
therefore ask to love God, sustaining Him in His weakest and
sickest members, feeding Him in the poor and needy. If we
ask for Love, then, the same Father, who is Love, will give
us what He is: Love!" (From the Sermones, vol. I, pp.
333-334).
(above from http://www.saintanthonyofpadua.net)
