Every Tuesday with Saint Anthony of Padua ( from the richness of catholic devotions )

1. O glorious St. Anthony, you who have received from God the power to raise the dead, awaken my soul from its apathy and obtain for me a fervent and holy life. Glory be to the Father
2. O wise St. Anthony, you who were light for the Holy Church as well as for the entire world through your teaching, enlighten my soul and open it for divine truth. Glory be to the Father
3. O pious Saint, always ready to help those devoted to you, help me and my family in our present needs. Glory be to the Father
4. O generous Saint, you who by accepting divine inspiration have consecrated your life to the service of God, grant that I may hear the voice of the Lord with submissiveness. Glory be to the Father
5. O St. Anthony, true lily of purity, do not permit that my soul be stained by sin but obtain for me purity of heart from our Lord. Glory be to the Father
6. O dear Saint, through whose intercession so many sick people have found health, help my soul to heal from sin and evil inclinations. Glory be to the Father
7. O St. Anthony, you who have given yourself to save your brothers, lead me through the sea of life and give me your help in order that I may reach the safe harbour of eternal salvation. Glory be to the Father
8. O compassionate St. Anthony, you who have freed so many condemned prisoners during your life, obtain for me the grace that I be freed from the bonds of sin and live in the grace of God for all eternity. Glory be to the Father
9. O holy Thaumaturge, you who have had the gift of reuniting to the body limbs that have been cut off, grant that I may never be separated from the love of God, and the unity of the Church. Glory be to the Father
10. O Saint Anthony, you who have always helped to find lost objects, grant that I may never lose God's friendship, but that I may conserve it faithfully throughout my life. Glory be to the Father
11. O patron of the poor, you who listen to those who turn to you, receive my prayer and present it to God that He might grant me His assistance. Glory be to the Father
12. O St. Anthony, you who were the untiring apostle of the word of God, grant that I may bear witness to my faith with words and deeds. Glory be to the Father
13. O most beloved St. Anthony, you who have your blessed tomb in Padua, look upon my needs, may your miraculous tongue speak to God for me, that my prayers may be heard. Glory be to the Father
Pray for us St. Anthony. Make us worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Almighty and Eternal God, You who in St. Anthony of Padua have given to Your people an illustrious preacher of the Gospel and a patron of the poor and the suffering, grant to us, through Your intercession, to follow Your teachings on Christian life and to experience, in trials, the help of Your mercy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn to Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony Shrine, Sampaloc

The Story of St Anthony of Padua

Blessed and happy Feast of Saint Anthony of Padua

Today is the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, called “Ark of the Covenant” for his profound knowledge of Scriptures and “Hammer of Heretics” for his skill in applying that knowledge in polemics . He knew everything in Scriptures and used to quote it by heart , he was not only able to quote such texts, but used to comment on them and draw concrete consequences from them to smash the heretics and to encourage the faithful.

St. Anthony was born into this old world with a fervor to obtain heaven. His ancestors were knights and crusaders. Promises and messengers from heaven have favored his country, Portugal. He lived during the time of St. Frances of Assisi and St. Dominic of the rosary .
Anthony was a simple and humble friar who preached the Good News lovingly and with fearless courage. The youth whom his fellow friars thought was uneducated became one of the great preachers and theologians of his day. He was a man of great penance and apostolic zeal. But he is primarily a Saint of the people and the patron saint of the poor, Saint Anthony is most known as Wonder Worker. But he also can help when something important is lost. In any prayer to Saint Anthony asks his intercession to Our Lord for help.

When we pray to a saint, it is not the same thing as praying to God. God made everything and everyone that is in the world, God made the world and is real in all time and in everyplace. God makes miracles, or answers prayers. Saints are people who we know have gone to Heaven and live with God there. They were very close to God while they lived and are now in Heaven with God, as close as anyone can possibly be. They know the Will of God. So, when we ask a saint for help in something, like passing a test, or finding our best shoes, we are asking the saint to pray with us for help to God. Someone who loved God so well, and knows God so well, can surely help us learn to love God and know His will better, don't you think? That's what intercession means.

Saint Anthony spent his whole life learning how to be closer to God, and to love God.

He lived a quiet life as a monk and didn't attract much attention. All he wanted to do was pray, and work, help the poor and offer his life to Jesus.
He attracted crowds wherever he went. Some legends about his skill in speaking say that when a crowd did not seem interested in what he had to say, a school of fish came to the surface to listen to him. Another time, a hungry donkey ignored food, and knelt before the Blessed Sacrament after listening to Saint Anthony preach.

He is often shown holding the Infant Jesus. This is because once, when he was staying in a town, his host looked into his room and saw him standing there holding the Christ Child. What a great friend of Jesus!

Let us end with prayer of praise, or responsorial, in honour of Saint Anthony was composed by friar Giuliano da Spira. The responsorial is part of the Officium rhythmicum S. Antonii, which dates back to 1233, two years after Saint Anthony's death. It is sung at Saint Anthony's Basilica and many other churches every Tuesday.

If then you ask for miracles,
Death, error, all calamities,
Leprosy and demons fly,
And health succeeds infirmities.

The sea obeys and fetters break,
And lifeless limbs you do restore;
While treasures lost are found again,
When young and old your aid implore.

All dangers vanish at your prayer,
And direst need does quickly flee;
Let those who know your power proclaim,
Let Paduans say: these are yours.

To Father, Son may glory be
And Holy Spirit, eternally. Amen

Today Holy Mother Church celebrates the feast day of Blessed St. Rita of Cascia. For centuries St. Rita of Cascia (1381-1457) has been one of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church. She is known as the Saint of the Impossible because of her amazing answers to prayer, as well as the remarkable events of her own life .
On the 100th anniversary of her canonization in 2000, 0ur unforgettable Pope John Paul II said : "among us today is an illustrious pilgrim who joins us from Heaven in our prayer , it is Saint Rita of Cascia . Deeply rooted in the love of Christ, Rita found in her faith unshakeable strength to be a woman of peace in every situation. In her example of total abandonment to God, in her transparent simplicity and in her unflinching fidelity to the Gospel, we too can find sound direction for being authentic Christian witnesses at the dawn of the third millennium.
Today, 100 years after her canonization, I am pleased to offer her again as a sign of hope, especially to families. Dear Christian families, by imitating her example, may you also know how to find in your fidelity to Christ the strength to fulfil your mission of service to the civilization of love! If we ask Saint Rita for the secret to this extraordinary work of social and spiritual renewal, she replies: fidelity to the Love that was crucified. Rita, with Christ and like Christ, goes to the Cross always and only through love. Like her, then, let us turn our eyes and hearts to Jesus, who died on the Cross and rose for our salvation. It is He, our Redeemer, who makes the family’s mission of unity and fidelity possible, as he did for this beloved saint, even in moments of crisis and difficulty. And it is He who gives concrete form to the Christian commitment to building peace by helping them to overcome the conflicts and tensions which unfortunately are so frequent in daily life. Live as witnesses to a Hope that never disappoints
Dear brothers and sisters, the worldwide devotion to St Rita is symbolized by the rose. It is to be hoped that the life of everyone devoted to her will be like the rose picked in the garden of Roccaporena the winter before the saint’s death. That is, let it be a life sustained by passionate love for the Lord Jesus; a life capable of responding to suffering and to thorns with forgiveness and the total gift of self, in order to spread everywhere the good odour of Christ (cf. 2 Cor 2:15) through a consistently lived proclamation of the Gospel. Dear devoted pilgrims, SaintRita offers her rose to each of you: in receiving it spiritually strive to live as witnesses to a hope that never disappoints and as missionaries of a life that conquers death.

Blessed Feast of Saint Rita of Cascia everyone !