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THE WONDER-WORKER 
 OF PADUA 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES WARREN STODDARD 
 
 THE AVE MARIA 
 
 NOTRE DAMB, INDIANA 
 U. S. A. 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1896 
 BY D. E. HUDSON, C. S. C. 
 
To the 
 
 C. W. S. R. C, Salem, Mass., 
 with Aloha. 
 
 293498 
 
THE WONDER-WORKER OF 
 PADUA 
 
 PROLOGUE. THE FIVE FRIARS. 
 
 THE afternoon shadows were length- 
 ening under the walls of the monas- 
 tery of Santa Cruz, a house of the 
 Canons Regular of St. Augustine, 
 at Coimbra. Life within that holy 
 house stole on as slowly, as regu- 
 larly, and for the most part as 
 silently, as those deepening shadows. 
 Each morning it was renewed as 
 cheerfully as broke the dawn upon 
 the waves that wash the shores of 
 Portugal; each noon it was radiant 
 with the fulness of spiritual joy; 
 each evening it hushed itself to rest 
 with prayer and praise; and these 
 three epochs in the daily life of 
 the cloister were heralded by the 
 mellow peal of the Angelus as it 
 
2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 was wafted over the embosoming 
 hills, and throbbed into silence in 
 far-off, fainting echoes. 
 
 Now and again something oc- 
 curred in the monastery something 
 slight in itself, but enough to break 
 in upon the peaceful current of 
 events and create an interest or 
 excitement that fairly startled the 
 gentle occupants. There were guests 
 from time to time quite a number 
 of them; for the worldly are ever 
 curious concerning the inner life of 
 those who though in the world are 
 not of it. Therefore there was a 
 guest-master at Santa Cruz, as there 
 is always a guest-master in every 
 monastery; and his office it is to 
 receive those who desire to see the 
 chapels, the relics, the cloisters. It 
 is the duty and the pleasure of 
 this guest-master to conduct visitors 
 through the monastery and to en- 
 tertain them; and thus relieve the 
 friars from all distractions, such as 
 sudden and unexpected calls from 
 prayer or labor. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 3. 
 
 One day at Santa Cruz five 
 stranger guests arrived three priests 
 and two lay -brothers, disciples of 
 St. Francis, whose Order was then 
 but ten years old. These friars had 
 been assigned to the mission in 
 Morocco, and were on their way 
 thither when they sought the hos- 
 pitality of the Abbey of Santa Cruz, 
 Who shall say that it was chance 
 alone that brought them thither? 
 They were Franciscans. Not far 
 distant from Coimbra, the pious 
 Queen of Portugal had established 
 the Convent of St. Anthony of 
 Olivares; it was situated in an 
 olive grove, whence it derived its 
 name. The house was small and 
 poor, but it was large enough to 
 shelter the five friars; and the 
 Brother Questor, whose duty it was 
 to ask alms for the needs of the 
 brethren, would have gladly shared 
 his frugal fare with these apostles 
 who were on their way to martyr- 
 dom in Morocco. But they passed 
 Olivares and sought the gates of 
 
4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 Santa Cruz, and were there given 
 heartfelt welcome. 
 
 Was it for this reason that, as 
 the Franciscan chronicles tell us, 
 " Queen Urraca sent for and lovingly 
 received the friars"? For indeed 
 she held their Order in great esteem, 
 and inquired many things concern- 
 ing their errand, most courteously 
 offering to supply all their wants. 
 Not content with the brief account 
 of their General's intention which 
 they gave her, this lady, thirsting 
 as the hart for the word of God, 
 engaged them in spiritual discourse, 
 drawing thence much sweetness and 
 consolation; then, taking them 
 apart, she besought them, for the 
 love of Him for whose sweet name 
 they were going to torments and 
 death, to beg of Almighty God to 
 reveal to them the day on which 
 she should die. And, albeit the 
 friars endeavored by all means to 
 escape her importunity, saying that 
 they were most unworthy to know 
 the secrets of the Lord, and other 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 5 
 
 words of like import, yet did she 
 at length prevail with them to give 
 her that promise which she craved. 
 And so, after fervent prayer, they 
 again came before the Queen and 
 bade her be of good courage; for 
 that it was the will of God that her 
 end should be very shortly, and 
 before that of the King, her husband. 
 Moreover, they gave her a sure 
 sign; for, "Know, lady," they said, 
 "that before many days we shall 
 die by the sword for the faith of 
 Christ. Praised be His Divine Maj- 
 esty, who has chosen us, poor men, 
 to be in the number of His martyrs ! 
 Our bodies shall be brought into 
 this city with great devotion by 
 the Christians of Morocco, and you 
 and your husband shall go to meet 
 them. When these things shall come 
 to pass, know that the time is come 
 for you to leave this world and go 
 to God." 
 
 The guest-master of Santa Cruz 
 was a youth of four and twenty, 
 who was already ordained. He had a 
 
6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 marvellously beautiful countenance 
 and was singularly engaging in 
 manner. Naturally, he was thrown 
 much in the society of the friars, 
 and often conversed with them of 
 the extraordinary history of Porti- 
 uncula and of the miracles wrought 
 by their seraphic Father, St. Francis 
 of Assisi. Certain it is that the 
 five friars perished in their blood 
 at the hands of the infidels. Their 
 bodies were brought home in solemn 
 state, attended by various super- 
 natural manifestations calculated to 
 inspire reverence and awe. 
 
 It was the King's wish that these 
 relics of the first Franciscan martyrs 
 should rest in the principal church 
 of the capital; but they were mys- 
 teriously guided or conveyed to the 
 monastery of Santa Cruz, where 
 they had lodged, and where his 
 Majesty had a superb chapel erected, 
 in which the relics were reposited. 
 
 Many marvels were witnessed at 
 that shrine, and these deeply touched 
 the heart and the spirit of the 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 7 
 
 young guest-master. But a few 
 months before he had held converse 
 with these very friars, who were then 
 joyously seeking the palm and the 
 crown of martyrdom; now they 
 were in paradise, and he was kneel- 
 ing beside their holy dust, a poor 
 friar groping blindly after that light 
 that should illumine him and make 
 clear his path of life. 
 
 One day, kneeling at that tomb, 
 his heart aflame with love and 
 veneration, from the depths of his 
 soul he cried out: "O that the 
 Most High would grant me to be 
 associated with them in their glorious 
 sufferings! That to me also it were 
 given to be persecuted for the 
 faith to bare my neck to the exe- 
 cutioners! Will that blessed day 
 ever dawn for thee, Fernando? Will 
 such happiness ever be thine?" 
 Thus, through chaste communion 
 with the five friars call it not 
 chance that brought their hearts 
 together, through the sufferings, by 
 the sacrifice, and at the tomb of 
 
8 The W onder-W orker of Padua 
 
 the five martyrs, did Fernando de 
 Bouillon find his vocation. 
 
The W onder-W orker of Padua 
 
 I, 
 
 FERNANDO THE NOVICE. 
 
 WHO was Fernando de Bouillon? 
 He was the son of Martino de 
 Bouillon, and Teresa Tavera, his 
 wife, who were of ancient lineage 
 and noble birth. Don Martino de- 
 scended from the illustrious Godfrey 
 de Bouillon, who led the first Cru- 
 sade and was the first Prankish 
 King of Jerusalem. He was the 
 grandson of Vincenzo de Bouillon, 
 who followed King Alfonzo I. in 
 his campaign against the Moors, 
 and who, in acknowledgment of his 
 deeds of valor, was made governor 
 of Lisbon. This office became hered- 
 itary in the family of De Bouillon; 
 and Fernando, as first son of the 
 house, was heir to it. And Dona 
 Teresa was hardly less illustrious. 
 
jo The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 Her ancestors had reigned over the 
 Asturias in the eighth century, until 
 the invasion by the Saracens. 
 
 Don Martino and Dona Teresa 
 occupied a sumptuous palace close 
 to the cathedral of Lisbon. Here 
 Fernando was born on the i5th of 
 August, 1195. Eight days after his 
 birth he was carried with great 
 pomp to the cathedral, and there 
 received in baptism the name of 
 Fernando. 
 
 Though nothing of a prophetic 
 nature preceded the birth of Fer- 
 nando, it was soon evident that he 
 was no ordinary child. Born on 
 the Feast of the Assumption, it 
 was at the shrine of Our Lady 
 del' Pilar he received the grace of 
 baptism. To the Blessed Virgin his 
 mother consecrated the babe when 
 returning from the baptismal font; 
 Maria was the first name he learned 
 to utter, and the hymn he heard 
 oftenest from his mother's lips was 
 "O Gloriosa Domina!" As a child, 
 the sight of an image or a painting 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua n 
 
 of the Madonna would change his 
 tears to smiles; as a religious, he 
 placed himself under the special 
 protection of the Blessed Virgin; 
 as an apostle, he was her champion, 
 ever sounding her praises, ever ready 
 to do battle in her cause. At the 
 age of ten, beautiful in form and 
 feature, with an inner spiritual 
 beauty that gave his face an almost 
 angelic expression, possessed of a 
 sweet and gladsome nature, a quick 
 intelligence and a lively imagination, 
 he had already shown a preference 
 for the secluded paths of a religious 
 life. 
 
 During five years of his infancy 
 Fernando attended the cathedral 
 school in Lisbon, clothed in the 
 garb of a cleric. He was a pattern 
 of all the proprieties. In this ex- 
 quisitely refined child virtue blos- 
 somed like a flower, and breathed 
 forth a delicate fragrance that all 
 who approached him became con- 
 scious of. 
 
 It was now he gave the first 
 
 1 2 
 
12 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 manifestation of that power which, 
 through him, was to work wonders 
 so long as he lived, wonders that 
 have never ceased, and are never 
 to cease in this ever-wondering 
 world. Kneeling one day at the 
 shrine of Our Lady in the cathedral, 
 his eyes on the tabernacle wherein 
 the Blessed Sacrament was veiled, 
 a demon, one of those baleful spirits 
 that still tempt and delude the un- 
 wary, appeared before him. Startled 
 as he was, with the pious instinct 
 of nature he traced upon the marble 
 step where he was kneeling the 
 Sign of the Cross. The vision van- 
 ished, but to this hour is seen that 
 sacred symbol indelibly impressed 
 upon the marble. In that hour 
 Fernando 's fate was sealed. 
 
 With everything to make life allur- 
 ing youth, beauty, health, wealth, 
 high birth and gentle breeding, de- 
 voted parents and idolizing friends 
 the child turned from them all. It 
 was his destiny. Already able to 
 meditate upon the foolish rewards 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 73 
 
 of life and labors in the world and 
 for the world alone, Fernando ex- 
 claimed: "O world, how burthen- 
 some thou art become ! Thy power 
 is but that of a fragile reed; thy 
 riches are as a puff of smoke, and 
 thy pleasures like a treacherous rock 
 whereon virtue is shipwrecked." 
 
 He seems to have resolved on this 
 occasion to enter the religious life; 
 to turn from the luxurious delights 
 that had never appealed to his 
 nature, and accept poverty, humil- 
 ity, and obedience as his portion. 
 This resolution once formed, nothing 
 could cause him to reconsider it. 
 
 At the gate of the Abbey of 
 St. Vincent he implored admission; 
 "being attracted thither," as the 
 chronicle quaintly records, "by the 
 renown for learning and holiness of 
 its men." Surely nothing could 
 have offered him a more pleasing 
 prospect than the society of such 
 as these ; nothing afforded him more 
 perfect satisfaction. 
 
14 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 II. 
 FERNANDO THE SCHOLASTIC. 
 
 WHAT wonder that the child should 
 have turned from the world in his 
 fifteenth year, when most children 
 at that stage of development find 
 an indescribable joy in mere physi- 
 cal existence? From his earliest 
 infancy his life was an involuntary 
 consecration. He was meekness, 
 compassion, love personified. He 
 had a special devotion to the im- 
 poverished and all those in sorrow 
 and affliction. He was never known 
 to utter a falsehood. All the offices 
 of the Church were dear to him. 
 He never failed to hear Mass daily, 
 and joyfully and most reverently 
 to serve. Our Blessed Lady, pattern 
 of purity, was his chosen patroness. 
 For the amusements which were 
 the delight of his companions he 
 
The W onder-W orker of Padua 75 
 
 cared nothing; the pleasures of 
 life he never knew, and hoped never 
 to know. He was the natural enemy 
 of idleness; was instinctively studi- 
 ous; and of a sweet solemnity, 
 which did not oppress but rather 
 edified his associates, and endeared 
 him to them. 
 
 What wonder that he should turn 
 from the madding crowd and seek 
 the seclusion of a cloister? There 
 was nothing unwholesome, nothing 
 unnatural in his resolve to quit the 
 world while yet a child in years. 
 For a youth of his temperament 
 a temperament which was an angelic 
 heritage there is really but one 
 step to be taken; firmly, but in all 
 humility, he took it. 
 
 Without the walls of Lisbon stood 
 the Monastery of St. Vincent, a 
 house of the Canons Regular of 
 St. Augustine. Having obtained the 
 leave of his parents, he went thither; 
 and, casting himself at the feet of 
 the prior called by some Gonsalvo 
 Mendez and by others Pelagius, 
 
1 6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 he asked to be admitted to the 
 holy brotherhood. Naturally edified 
 by the gentle and reverent spirit 
 of the youth who knelt before him, 
 the prior received him with affec- 
 tionate tenderness, and in due course 
 of time he was clothed in the white 
 robe of the Order. 
 Jk< What happiness of heart was his, 
 what peace of spirit, what serenity 
 of soul! Alas! they were short- 
 lived. His friends, missing him sorely 
 sought him at all seasons. If he 
 had before this been to them an 
 engaging mystery, a surprise by 
 reason of his unlikeness to them and 
 to any other whom they knew, he 
 was now, clad in the pale robe of 
 the Augustinians, their wonder and 
 delight. He drew them irresistibly 
 to the monastery, and their well- 
 meant but .ill-timed visitations were 
 a distraction which he could not 
 long endure. 
 
 Two years were enough, and more 
 than enough, to assure him that 
 at St. Vincent's, let him strive never 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 17 
 
 so bravely against such a fate, he 
 was in danger of losing his voca- 
 tion. He must seek security in 
 solitude, in exile; and that without 
 delay, if he would attain the per- 
 fection which was his aim in life. 
 It was in no bitterness of spirit, 
 no pride, no impatience, he turned 
 from all who loved him most. It 
 was an honest and an earnest effort 
 on his part to reach that state of 
 grace for which his heart was hunger- 
 ing night and day. At St. Vincent's 
 he was neighbor to the world and 
 the worldly life he cared not for. 
 He must fly hence, at any cost to 
 comfort, temporal or spiritual. He 
 must steel his heart to the sweet 
 assaults of earthly love; for the 
 unity, peace and concord he sought 
 found no abiding place under heaven 
 save in cloistral seclusion. 
 
 The prior of St. Vincent's had, 
 during the two years of Fernando 's 
 sojourn there, beheld with joy the 
 fervor of the youth; and when that 
 youth implored him to be allowed 
 
1 8 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 to depart into some other house of 
 the Order some house far removed 
 from Lisbon and the voices that 
 were constantly crying to him to 
 return to them again, the prior 
 was for a season loath to give him 
 leave; but, as the old chronicler 
 says: "Having at length, by tears 
 and prayers, obtained the consent 
 of his superior, he quitted not the 
 army in which he was enlisted, but 
 the scene of combat; not through 
 caprice, but in a transport of fervor. " 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 III. 
 FERNANDO THE AUGUSTINIAN CANON. 
 
 NEARLY a hundred miles from Lisbon 
 stood the Abbey of Santa Cruz. It 
 was lapped in the seclusion of Coim- 
 bra; it was far from the trials, the 
 temptations, the tribulations of the 
 work-a-day world. It was the 
 motherhouse of the Augustinians, 
 the head cradle of the Order. 
 The sweet influences of the saintly 
 Theaton, its first prior, still per- 
 fumed it. It was the centre and the 
 source of all the noblest traditions 
 of the tribe, the inspiration of the 
 clergy, the consolation and the pride 
 of the loyal and widely scattered 
 brotherhood. 
 
 The Abbey was a far-famed seat 
 of learning. There Religion and 
 Letters went hand in hand. Don 
 
2O The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 John and Don Raymond, both 
 Doctors of the University of Paris, 
 were among the scholars at Santa 
 Cruz. For a student, for a religious, 
 for a recluse, there was no retreat 
 in Portugal more desirable than 
 this; and thither Fernando was sent. 
 
 His new brethren were not long 
 in convincing themselves that Fer- 
 nando 's change of residence had 
 not been made without reflection, 
 and that the love of novelty had 
 no share in his decision. He had, 
 it is true, ardently longed for soli- 
 tude and tranquillity; but, far from 
 seeking therein a dispensation from 
 the rigor of monastic life, he sought 
 but a means to perfect himself 
 in virtue. At Lisbon he had read 
 the literature of pagan antiquity; 
 at Santa Cruz he devoted himself 
 to the study of theology, the 
 Fathers, history, religious contro- 
 versy. Above all these, the Sacred 
 Scriptures won his ardent attention. 
 
 He was seventeen years of age 
 when he entered Santa Cruz. He 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 21 
 
 was completely detached from the 
 world. Nature had in every way 
 richly endowed him. His memory 
 was prodigious. All knowledge came 
 to him freely, without effort; and, 
 once acquired, it never left him 
 more, but, beautifully adjusted and 
 ready for instant use, it seemed 
 literally at his tongue's end. 
 
 Eight years he passed at Santa 
 Cruz, in obedience, in prayer, in 
 study. He grew continually in vir- 
 tue he was virtue's self. Devoted 
 to his books, he never permitted 
 the study of them to interfere with 
 the pious duties allotted him. On 
 one occasion, being employed in 
 some remote part of the Abbey, he 
 heard the note of the Elevation 
 bell; turning toward the chapel, 
 he prostrated himself, and beheld 
 the distant altar, and the Sacred 
 Host in the hands of the celebrant, 
 beheld them all as plainly as if the 
 intervening walls had vanished away. 
 
 Nor was this the only wonder 
 he worked at Santa Cruz. While 
 
22 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 nursing one of the religious, the 
 patient a victim of obsession- 
 became uncontrollable. Fernando, 
 spreading the hem of his mantle 
 over the sufferer, brought to him 
 instant and permanent relief. 
 
 His erudition grew to be the 
 subject of general comment. He 
 knew the Holy Bible by heart; he 
 seemed to have taken the sense and 
 substance of it to his soul, so that 
 it became a part of him. In one 
 of his commentaries he wrote: "O 
 divine Word, admirable Word, that 
 inebriatest and changest the heart, 
 Thou art the limpid source that 
 refreshest the parched soul; the 
 ray of hope that givest comfort to 
 the poor sinner; the faithful mes- 
 senger that bringest glad tidings to 
 us exiles of our heavenly country!" 
 
 He never forgot what he had once 
 studied; though the time was to 
 come when the calls upon him were 
 so many and so various he had no 
 moment in which to read anything 
 save only his breviary. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 23 
 
 IV. 
 
 FERNANDO BECOMES ANTONIO. 
 
 NOT far from the Monastery of 
 Santa Cruz, at Olivares, stood the 
 Franciscan Abbey of the Olives. 
 This holy house was small and poor. 
 It was named in honor of St. An- 
 thony of the Desert; his poverty, 
 his frugality, his sobriety were 
 patterns for the frati who dwelt 
 there. They lived upon the tribute 
 gathered by the humble supplicants 
 who went forth daily asking alms 
 of the faithful. Often they had 
 knocked at Fernando 's door; often 
 he had shared his bread and his 
 wine with them; and he was begin- 
 ning to feel a personal interest 
 in them when the five friars who 
 were afterward martyred in Morocco 
 sought the hospitality of Santa Cruz, 
 
24 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 where he soon grew to know them 
 intimately. 
 
 The martyrdom of the friars, the 
 transportation of their relics to Por- 
 tugal, and the shrine prepared for 
 them at Santa Cruz, the knowledge 
 he had gained of the origin and de- 
 velopment of the Franciscan Order, 
 inspired Fernando with a longing 
 to become himself a follower of St. 
 Francis. 
 
 Now the solitude he had sought 
 and found in the cloister at Santa 
 Cruz began to pale. He feared he 
 was wasting his life; he felt that 
 his energy and enthusiasm should 
 be placed at the disposal of those 
 who were in crying need ; and surely 
 there were many such. He would 
 even follow in the footsteps of the 
 five friars; he also would offer his 
 body to be martyred for Christ's 
 sake and for love of his fellowmen. 
 Therefore when the Brother Questor, 
 whose duty it was to ask alms for 
 the needs of the Convent at Olivares, 
 came to Santa Cruz, Fernando talked 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 25 
 
 long and earnestly with him con- 
 cerning the rule of his Order and 
 the wonderful founder thereof. 
 
 This Brother Questor and Fer- 
 nando were in close sympathy. One 
 day when Fernando was saying 
 Mass the Brother Questor died. At 
 that moment Fernando, dissolved in 
 ecstasy, saw his soul in its flight 
 through purgatory, ascending dove- 
 like into the realms of bliss. It may 
 have been this vision, or it may 
 have been the glorious sacrifice of 
 the martyr friars, or the poverty 
 and devotion of the brotherhood, 
 that inspired Fernando with the 
 desire to become one of them; we 
 know not what was the primal cause, 
 but we know that with difficulty he 
 obtained leave of the prior of Santa 
 Cruz to detach himself from the 
 Augustinians and join the followers 
 of St. Francis. 
 
 He had won the respect, the love, 
 the esteem, the admiration of his 
 associates at Santa Cruz ; they would 
 fain not part with him. One said 
 
26 The W onder-W orker of Padua 
 
 to him, half in jest and half in 
 earnest: "Go thy way; thou wilt 
 surely become a saint." Fernando 
 replied: "When they tell thee I 
 am a saint, then bless thou the 
 Lord/' 
 
 In applying for admission to the 
 Franciscan ranks, Fernando had 
 said: "With all the ardor of my 
 soul do I desire to take the holy 
 habit of your Order ; and I am ready 
 to do so upon one condition that, 
 after clothing me with the garb of 
 penance, you send me to the Sar- 
 acens, so that I also may deserve 
 to participate in the crown of your 
 holy martyrs/' 
 
 Then he put off the white robe of 
 the Augustinians and donned the 
 brown garb of the impoverished 
 Franciscans; took unto himself the 
 name of Antonio, the patron of the 
 hermitage of Olivares; and, without 
 one adieu, joyfully vanished from 
 the knowledge of all those who had 
 known and loved him in the flesh. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 27 
 
 V. 
 
 ANTHONY SEEKS MARTYRDOM. 
 
 NOT all who seek shall find. An- 
 tonio, or Anthony, was permitted 
 to go to Morocco, where he hoped 
 to end his days in an effort toward 
 the conversion of the Moslems. What 
 dreams were his! what hopes, what 
 aspirations! He was now in very 
 truth following in the footsteps of 
 the five friars who were his first 
 inspiration. He was in a land whose 
 history was made glorious by Ter- 
 tullian, St. Augustine, St. Fulgen- 
 tius; great pontiffs and learned 
 doctors. The day of its prosperity 
 was over and gone. Its flourishing 
 churches had fallen to decay, and 
 the arrogance of the infidel made it 
 unsafe for a Christian to pace the 
 narrow streets of those white-walled 
 cities unattended. 
 
28 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 Under an ever-cloudless sky, in 
 the glare of the fierce sunshine and 
 the heat of the desert dust, Anthony 
 was stricken down with fever. Fi- 
 lippo of Spain, a young lay -brother 
 who had attached himself to his 
 person, watched with Anthony the 
 whole winter. Not once did the 
 would-be martyr have the oppor- 
 tunity of exposing himself to the 
 fury of the African fanatics. He 
 was utterly prostrated; his life 
 seemed to be slowly ebbing away. 
 Evidently his efforts as a missioner 
 in Morocco were doomed. The fact 
 could not be kept a secret; and 
 accordingly Anthony and Filippo 
 were recalled to Portugal by their 
 superiors, after an absence of but 
 four months. 
 
 They dutifully embarked, though 
 their hearts were heavy with dis- 
 appointment. The martyr's palm 
 might wither in the desert; it was 
 evidently not reserved for them. 
 Neither were they destined to return 
 to Portugal. A white squall struck 
 
The Wonder- Worker of Padua 29 
 
 their vessel, and it was cast upon 
 the Sicilian shore. Anthony and 
 Filippo landed at Taormina, and at 
 once made their way to Messina, 
 where there was a convent of the 
 Friars Minor. Here for two months 
 the young friars reposed ; here health 
 and strength returned to Anthony, 
 and he entered upon a new lease of 
 life. Here, in the convent garden, 
 he planted a lemon tree that flour- 
 ishes to this hour; for, like the 
 orange tree planted by St. Dominic 
 at Santa Sabina on the Aventine, 
 time can not wither it; and every 
 succeeding year bud, blossom and 
 fruit give testimony of its eternal 
 youth. 
 
 About this time the official notice 
 of the convocation of the fourth 
 general chapter of the Franciscan 
 Order reached Messina. Anthony, 
 Filippo, and certain of the Sicilian 
 friars resolved to go to Assisi; and 
 it was Anthony's desire to place 
 himself at the disposal of the holy 
 founder. In doing the will of St. 
 
jo The W onder-W orker of Padua 
 
 Francis he felt that he could make 
 no error; and that it was the provi- 
 dence of God alone that had recalled 
 him from Africa, shipwrecked him 
 upon the Sicilian coast, and was 
 now about to bring him into the 
 presence of the seraphic Father 
 whose child he had become. 
 
 Having celebrated the Easter fes- 
 tivities at Messina, Anthony, accom- 
 panied by Filippo and the Sicilian 
 frati, set forth on his pilgrimage to 
 Assisi. 
 
The Wonder- Worker of Padua 31 
 
 VI. 
 
 ANTHONY AND ST. FRANCIS. 
 
 THE fourth general chapter of the 
 Franciscan Order opened at Porti- 
 uncula on May 30, 1221. This 
 chapter was a marvellous manifes- 
 tation of the influence exercised by 
 St. Francis over his followers. It 
 was an all-powerful influence, and 
 it was ever increasing; time alone 
 was necessary to enable it to expand 
 and spread unto the very ends of 
 the earth. 
 
 St. Francis, a year previous, had 
 resigned his office of Minister-Gen- 
 eral. He had, in a certain sense, 
 completed his mission. His Order 
 was well established, was in the 
 most flourishing condition; recruits 
 were constantly approaching him, 
 and at his feet offering the labor 
 of their lives. His wish was law: 
 
J2 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 no one questioned it. His will was 
 their wisdom, his word was final. 
 This stupendous organization, the 
 inspiration and the accomplishment 
 of one mind, had yet a price to be 
 paid for it, and a high price it proved 
 to be: it was no less than the life 
 of the holy founder. 
 
 Hoping to find a little much- 
 needed rest, St. Francis shifted the 
 burden of responsibility upon the 
 shoulders of Peter of Catania; but 
 the death of Peter within the year 
 compelled the enfeebled Francis once 
 more to assume the reins of govern- 
 ment. He conferred upon Brother 
 Elias the office of Vicar-General, 
 and thus Brother Elias became the 
 mouthpiece of the founder. He 
 was literally a mouthpiece; for, 
 owing to his physical debility, the 
 voice of the Saint could scarcely 
 be raised above a whisper. The 
 voice of Elias was indeed as the 
 voice of Francis, and was listened 
 to by all in unquestioning silence 
 and obedience. 
 
The W onder-W orker of Padua 33 
 
 This is what Anthony beheld as 
 he stood in the multitude assembled 
 at Portiuncula: more than two 
 thousand friars gathered together 
 from every part of Europe. They 
 were presided over by Cardinal Ra- 
 nerio Capaccio; but St. Francis 
 was the magnet that drew them 
 thither, the power that swayed them 
 as one man, whose burning and 
 sole desire was to do the will of 
 their seraphic Father. 
 
 As the fruit of his husbandry, 
 Francis could proudly point to Sil- 
 vester the contemplative; Giles the 
 ecstatic: Thomas of Celano, the 
 noble singer of the Stabat Mater; 
 John of Piana; Carpino, and many 
 another, all these bearing the 
 marks of suffering, but all brave 
 and steadfast warriors for the faith. 
 Here they were, bowing at the knee 
 of the patriarch, humbly waiting 
 his will. And he, pale and ema- 
 ciated, sinking under a prostration 
 that threatened to terminate his 
 life at any moment, the patron of 
 
34 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 humility and zeal and love, when 
 he, in a faint whisper, proposed a 
 mission to Germany, eighty friars 
 sprang to their feet and shouted 
 with enthusiasm that they were 
 ready to do his will there as any- 
 where and everywhere. 
 
 Unnoticed in this great throng, 
 ravished by the spectacle of the 
 Saint and his disciples, trembling 
 with profound emotion, and faint 
 for the fire of love that was consum- 
 ing him, stood a youth of six and 
 twenty, who was one day to become 
 the most famous of the followers of 
 St. Francis. Yet not one eye was 
 turned upon him in kindness or in 
 curiosity; not one word was spoken 
 to him: he was utterly unnoticed 
 and ignored. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 35 
 
 VII. 
 ANTHONY DESPISED AND REJECTED. 
 
 ST. FRANCIS was wont to read the 
 hearts and the consciences of his 
 children, a gift that must have 
 aided him often in their wise direc- 
 tion. Were it not evidently pre- 
 destined, it would be surprising that 
 the Saint did not recognize in the 
 youthful Anthony one who was anon 
 to be all in all to him and to his 
 holy Order. There he was, this 
 giant in embryo, in the prime of 
 life, singularly attractive to the eye, 
 of fascinating manners, radiant with 
 divine love, virtuous, valiant, face 
 to face with the one who was most to 
 influence him in life and he was 
 suffered to pass by unnoticed. 
 
 One thought was now uttermost 
 in Anthony's mind. He could not 
 again return to Portugal, that 
 would seem like a step backward 
 
j6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 and a sign of failure. He must 
 abide near St. Francis. He felt 
 that he could no longer live happily 
 and holily apart from the seraphic 
 one, who so powerfully influenced 
 all those who were attracted to 
 him. For this reason he offered him- 
 self to the Provincials and Guardians 
 of Italy. St. Francis, hearing of 
 this, highly approved of the youth's 
 renunciation of his family, his friends 
 and his country; and recommended 
 him to those who were in need of 
 an assistant. 
 
 His services were declined by all; 
 he was not welcome and not wanted. 
 In a great measure, he was himself 
 the cause of his unsuccess; yet the 
 wisdom or the unwisdom of his 
 motive can no longer be questioned 
 when we take into consideration the 
 natural consequences thereof. 
 
 With no affectation of humility, 
 the young friar kept secret all 
 knowledge of his past. He assumed 
 an air that bordered on stupidity. 
 It is hardly surprising that he was 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 37 
 
 looked upon with disapproval by 
 the masters of novices, who were 
 accustomed critically to inspect such 
 candidates as offered themselves 
 from time to time at the novitiate. 
 They did not for a moment suspect 
 that he had talents and learning of 
 of no mean order. 
 
 He proffered his services as assist- 
 ant in the kitchen; he volunteered 
 to sweep the house well; he asked 
 nothing more than to be allowed 
 to do this for the love of God. 
 Even here his hopes were for a 
 season thwarted. His slight figure 
 had not yet rounded after the 
 ravages of fever; his face, naturally 
 one of the most beautiful among 
 men, was still drawn and pale. He 
 did not look equal to the calls upon 
 the convent drudge, and was un- 
 ceremoniously dismissed. His early 
 biographer, John Peckham, observes : 
 "No Provincial thought of asking 
 for him." He was deemed unfit for 
 service of any kind. 
 
 His case was beginning to grow 
 
38 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 desperate. What could he hope to 
 do for the greater glory of God and 
 the love of his fellowmen? Would 
 no one take pity on him? Would 
 no one give him some duty to per- 
 form? In his extremity he drew 
 Father Gratian, the Provincial of 
 Bologna, aside and implored his 
 aid. It chanced that Father Gratian 
 was in need of a priest to say Mass 
 at a small hospice, where six lay- 
 brothers formed the community. 
 "Are you a priest?" asked Father 
 Gratian of the unpromising youth. 
 "I am," replied Anthony. 
 
 This seemed like a sad awakening 
 from his dreams of the future. Not 
 Africa, not martyrdom, apparently 
 not Italy, could he claim for his 
 portion; but Father Gratian, who 
 must send a priest to the lay- 
 brothers in their retreat, found him 
 sufficient in an extremity ; and there- 
 upon he was ordered away into 
 the mountains to say Mass for the 
 recluses in a very little house hidden 
 in a lonely place. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 39 
 
 VIII. 
 
 ANTHONY THE CONTEMPLATIVE. 
 
 FROM the very foundation of the 
 Order, the Franciscans have pos- 
 sessed two kinds of holy houses. 
 There were the large convents, usu- 
 ally erected in cities or their suburbs, 
 where the friars diligently attended 
 the many calls upon their time, 
 sympathy and strength; and there 
 were small convents, or hermitages, 
 often hidden away in the fastnesses 
 of the mountains or the forest. 
 
 One of these minor houses was 
 situated not far from Forli, upon 
 the slopes of the Apennines. In 
 all Tuscany there was not a more 
 secluded spot. Monte Paolo was an 
 ideal home for Anthony. Separated 
 from the outer world by a far- 
 spreading wood; walled in by rocky 
 
40 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 heights, where only the birds nested 
 and the wild goat climbed; visited 
 by heaven-sent zephyrs; nourished 
 by the uncultivated fruits which 
 nature so lavishly contributed; re- 
 freshed by a delicious spring of 
 crystal purity, that sweet solitude 
 seemed indeed to the ill-judged 
 and disappointed friar an earthly 
 paradise. 
 
 Here Anthony said Mass daily 
 for the little company of brethren; 
 here he begged leave to assist them 
 in their labors, counting it a priv- 
 ilege so to do. They allotted him 
 his task, and he cheerfully accepted 
 and performed it. They had not 
 yet discovered that he was a man 
 far their superior in all respects; 
 for he became one with them one 
 with them in spirit and in truth, 
 but he was the holiest of them all. 
 
 Within the grounds of the her- 
 mitage at Monte Paolo was secreted 
 a deep grotto ; and within the grotto 
 a cell had been hewn out of the 
 rock, and here Anthony found his 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 41 
 
 perfect joy. One of the brethren 
 had long used this cell as a storehouse 
 for his tools, but he willingly sur- 
 rendered it to Anthony when the 
 latter ventured to ask if he might 
 have the use of it; and there the 
 friar passed most of his time. 
 
 Nearly a year Anthony passed in 
 the wilderness. His bed was straw; 
 his pillow a stone; his food and 
 drink a little bread and water. He 
 mortified himself by fasting, took 
 the discipline, and gladly endured 
 other austerities and voluntary pains. 
 
 During most of that year, so far 
 as the Rule of the Order and the 
 spirit of obedience permitted, he 
 dwelt alone in his hollow rock. 
 His time he passed in study, med- 
 itation, and ever-ardent prayer. He 
 translated the Psalms of David, en- 
 riching them with notes and com- 
 mentaries suitable for the use of 
 preachers. Wittingly or unwittingly, 
 he was preparing himself for a fresh 
 field of labor; and perhaps nowhere 
 else, outside of the desert itself, 
 
4-2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 could he have found so suitable a 
 time and place for just such 
 preparation. 
 
 From a cavern came St. Francis, 
 St. Bernard, St. Norbert, and St. 
 Benedict; it was fitting that he who 
 was to become a saint as great, 
 powerful and glorious as these should 
 come also from a cavern. The 
 Hermitage of Monte Paolo has been 
 by old chroniclers compared to the 
 cells of the solitaries of the Thebaid. 
 Not a trace of the building itself 
 remains, and more's the pity! In 
 1629 Signor Paganelli erected an 
 oratory near the grotto consecrated 
 by the prayers and penances of 
 Anthony, in gratitude for a miracu- 
 lous recovery from illness obtained 
 through his intercession. 
 
 Emmanuel Azevedo, one of An- 
 thony's biographers, upon visiting 
 the spot, found, about half-way up 
 the mountain, a limpid spring that 
 was never known to become turbid, 
 even in the time of rains, when all 
 the neighboring springs were thick 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 43 
 
 with mud. He was assured, not 
 only by the peasants whose love for 
 the Saint may have made them too 
 credulous, but by resident priests- 
 it was also the testimony of distin- 
 guished travellers, that on Monte 
 Paolo (better known as St. Anthony's 
 Mountain), during the most violent 
 tempests, when the neighboring 
 heights were swept by furious winds 
 and lashing rains, a calm as of a 
 summer twilight prevailed; and that 
 persons overtaken by the storm 
 hastened to reach the favored spot, 
 knowing full well that there they 
 would be safe from harm lapped 
 in an atmosphere as serene as the 
 soul of the Saint. 
 
44 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 IX. 
 
 ANTHONY THE) PREACHER. 
 
 FOR a little time only was Anthony 
 permitted to remain in comfortable 
 and peaceful obscurity. Solitude 
 and silence he always loved; but, 
 alas! he was no longer to enjoy 
 them uninterruptedly. In Ember 
 week March 19, 1222, according 
 to the historian Azzoguidi the cer- 
 emony of ordination called to Forli 
 a number of religious, both Friars 
 Minor and Friar Preachers, who were 
 to receive Holy Orders. Father 
 Gratian and Anthony were also 
 present, but neither in the least 
 suspected the surprise that was in 
 store for all. 
 
 Father Gratian, who had not failed 
 to note the edifying fervor of the 
 young priest, as well as the gleams 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 45 
 
 of uncommon intelligence which An- 
 thony was not always able to dis- 
 guise, was glad to have this oppor- 
 tunity of calling the hermit to Monte 
 Paolo from his vigils to attend the 
 functions at Forli. Father Gratian 
 had been requested by the bishop 
 of the province to deliver to the 
 candidates for ordination the cus- 
 tomary address on the sublimity of 
 the priestly office. This honor he 
 courteously offered to the sons of 
 St. Benedict many of whom were 
 present; but they, being unpre- 
 pared, refused to speak on so solemn 
 an occasion. It began to look as 
 if the ceremonies were likely to be 
 interrupted. 
 
 Suddenly, as if by intuition, 
 Father Gratian turned to Anthony 
 and desired him to exhort the can- 
 didates. The simplicity and beauty 
 of his language and the grace of his 
 manner were greatly in his favor; 
 but he had never yet spoken in 
 public, and since he had become a 
 Friar Minor he had opened no book 
 
4<5 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 save only his breviary and the 
 Psalms. Therefore he modestly 
 pleaded his inexperience and his 
 inability; he confessed that he was 
 fitter to serve in the refectory than 
 to preach to the learned who were 
 present. He was covered with con- 
 fusion, and heartily wished himself 
 back again in his grotto at Monte 
 Paolo. The superior was inflexible; 
 and, rejecting all excuses, he directed 
 Anthony to preach out of obedience, 
 and gave him for a text: "Christ 
 became for us obedient unto death, 
 even the death of the Cross." 
 
 The young priest arose, trembling 
 with humility; in a low voice, the 
 beauty of which had been often 
 commented upon, he addressed the 
 Franciscans and Dominicans, who 
 were filled with curiosity and ex- 
 pectation. As he proceeded, his 
 voice gathered volume and his speech 
 fire; his cheek flushed with fervor; 
 his body swayed as a reed in the 
 wind; his wrapped gaze seemed 
 fixed upon a heaven invisible to 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 47 
 
 others, and he spoke as one divinely 
 inspired. His hour of triumph had 
 come at last, unsought and uninvited. 
 
 Is it any wonder that all present 
 were astonished beyond measure, 
 and that they looked upon this 
 maiden effort of the novice as little 
 short of miraculous? It is true that 
 his whole life had been a kind of 
 preparation for the pulpit, but an 
 involuntary and unconscious one. 
 His range of experience had been 
 large; every emotion of the heart 
 he had sounded to its depths; in 
 his solitary hours of abstraction he 
 had, in spirit, again and again 
 communed with the martyrs of Mo- 
 rocco and the Canons Regular of 
 Coimbra. He was storm-tossed in 
 the Mediterranean ; prostrated upon 
 a bed of pain in Africa; an obscure 
 and unobserved pilgrim at Assisi; 
 an humble servitor and solitary at 
 Monte Paolo. 
 
 Now all returned to him like a 
 flash in brilliant and luminous retro- 
 spection; and with all else came 
 
48 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 knowledge a revival of knowl- 
 edge, his knowledge of the Holy 
 Scriptures and of the consecrated 
 writings of the Fathers, together 
 with his own voluminous comments 
 thereon, and a world of wisdom 
 withal, of wisdom not of this world 
 only. 
 
 In a torrent of eloquence that 
 thrilled and amazed his listeners, 
 he developed his discourse with the 
 skill of a logician, the art of an 
 orator, the charm of one predes- 
 tined to the pulpit; and brought 
 his last period to a conclusion amidst 
 a chorus of enthusiastic approba- 
 tion. On the instant he found him- 
 self conspicuous in a life of public- 
 ity, the life he had sought in vain 
 to fly from. Now, in deed and in 
 very truth, his inner life was ended: 
 he was henceforth to be known as 
 Anthony the Preacher. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 49 
 
 X. 
 
 ANTHONY THE LECTOR. 
 
 THE Provincial of Romagna, who 
 was present when Anthony delivered 
 his first sermon, at once appointed 
 the young apostle a preacher in his 
 province; and St. Francis, hearing 
 of the extraordinary effect produced 
 by the sermon, not only confirmed 
 the Provincial's appointment, but 
 greatly enlarged Anthony's sphere 
 of usefulness by giving him leave 
 to preach anywhere and everywhere, 
 whenever an opportunity offered. 
 And yet to preach only was not his 
 mission. 
 
 St. Francis desired that Anthony 
 should apply himself to the study 
 of theology, in order that he might 
 speak with more confidence and 
 authority, and likewise be able to 
 
50 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 instruct other of his brethren. 
 Neither St. Francis nor any one 
 else was aware of the nature and 
 extent of Anthony's learning; and 
 he was therefore sent to Vercelli to 
 study theology in the Monastery 
 of St. Andrew, of the Canons Reg- 
 ular, then under the discipline of 
 Abbot Thomas, the greatest living 
 doctor in all Italy. Thomas was 
 one of the Canons Regular whom 
 Mgr. Sessa, Bishop of Vercelli, had 
 called from the Monastery of St. 
 Vincent of Paris to that of St. 
 Andrew of Vercelli, on account of 
 their many virtues and accomplish- 
 ments. 
 
 We may readily imagine the rapid 
 progress so holy a religious as An- 
 thony must have made at St. 
 Andrew's, he who had already en- 
 joyed the hidden treasures of Heaven. 
 A companion in his studies was 
 Adam de Marisco, of Somerset, dio- 
 cese of Bath, England; afterward 
 Doctor of the University of Oxford, 
 and finally Bishop of Ely, a man 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 51 
 
 famous for piety and learning. These 
 young men were received by Abbot 
 Thomas with the utmost tenderness, 
 and in them he found pupils de- 
 voted to their studies, of intense 
 application and surpassing intelli- 
 gence. Anthony was still living 
 under the rule of his Order; for 
 St. Francis had obtained from the 
 Bishop of Vercelli a convent situated 
 near the ancient Church of St. 
 Matthew; and here he dwelt, going 
 at appointed hours to class at St. 
 Andrew's. 
 
 Franciscan historians assure us 
 that, though Anthony applied him- 
 self most diligently to his studies, 
 he did not fail to preach the Lenten 
 sermons in Milan and other places 
 near at hand; and that on these 
 occasions his lucid exposition of the 
 Scriptures astonished and delighted 
 his hearers. Even in the classroom 
 he was a marvel. One of his teachers 
 says that while explaining to his 
 pupils a work on the ''Celestial 
 Hierarchy," Anthony spoke concern- 
 
$2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 ing the different orders of celestial 
 spirits with great precision and won- 
 derful intelligence; and it seemed 
 to all who heard him as if he were 
 in the very presence of that hierarchy. 
 
 So rapid was Anthony's progress 
 in his studies, so comprehensive his 
 grasp, and so felicitous his treat- 
 ment of every theme under con- 
 sideration, that his classmates with 
 one accord urgently begged that he 
 would impart to them something of 
 the knowledge that seemed his birth- 
 right. He hesitated; they persist- 
 ently implored. Anthony knew that 
 the rule of the Order was founded 
 upon poverty, humility, the scorn 
 of all things worldly; and he feared 
 that a show of learning might be 
 considered scandalous rather than 
 edifying. Holiness and humility 
 come first of all; science and the 
 polite accomplishments should follow 
 in their course. 
 
 That he might observe to the 
 letter the holy rule and give no 
 cause for scandal, Anthony wrote 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 55 
 
 to St. Francis asking his will in the 
 matter. Now, there is not the 
 shadow of a doubt that St. Francis 
 had the good the best good of the 
 Order at heart; that for this reason 
 he desired gradually to work certain 
 reforms; that he feared a tendency 
 on the part of his followers to an 
 over-interest in the affairs of this 
 life to the neglect of those of the 
 life which is to come. So he wrote 
 to Anthony. The letter has for- 
 tunately been preserved in "The 
 Chronicles of the Twenty-Four Gen- 
 erals." It runs as follows: 
 
 "To his dear Brother Anthony, 
 Brother Francis sends greeting in 
 the Lord. 
 
 "It is my wish that thou teach 
 the brethren sacred theology; yet 
 in such a manner as not to extin- 
 guish in thyself and others the 
 spirit of prayer and devotion, accord- 
 ing as it is prescribed in the rule. 
 
 : 'The Lord spare thee! 
 
 "BROTHER FRANCIS." 
 
 Thus was Anthony chosen by the 
 
54 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 patriarch of Assisi to depart into 
 Bologna and there assume the office 
 of Lector of Theology. Unhappily, 
 no notes of his lectures then and 
 there delivered have been preserved 
 to us; but from his "Commentary 
 on the Psalms" we can judge of 
 the spirit that pervaded them. Be- 
 cause of the nature of this spirit 
 there have been those of his brother- 
 hood who have assured themselves 
 that Anthony was the author of 
 "The Imitation of Christ." The 
 authorship of that inspiring work 
 has long been a vexed question; 
 but Francis Richard Cruise, M. D., 
 in his ingenious and exhaustive work 
 on "Thomas a Kempis,"* seems to 
 have finally settled it. 
 
 In his lectures Anthony avoided 
 dry speculation; he brought youth- 
 ful enthusiasm, coupled with the 
 purest and loftiest mysticism, to 
 bear upon the minds and hearts of 
 his pupils. "To know, to love!" 
 this was his teaching. To know, so 
 
 *~~London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1887. 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 55 
 
 that one may love highly and holily ; 
 to love, so that one may acquire 
 the knowledge that is born of ardor, 
 devotion, self-sacrifice, singleness of 
 purpose the flower and the fruit 
 of love. 
 
56 The W onder-W orker of Padua 
 
 XL 
 
 ANTHONY THE FATHER OF MYSTIC 
 THEOLOGY. 
 
 ST. FRANCIS was the inspirer and 
 St. Bonaventure the most illustrious 
 representative of the mystic school 
 of theology; but Thomas Gallo, 
 Pope Gregory IX., and St. Bona- 
 venture himself, have styled An- 
 thony the father of the school. 
 
 Many were the titles conferred 
 upon the inspired gospeller. Cardi- 
 nal Guy de Montfort, being danger- 
 ously ill, was miraculously healed 
 through the intercession of St. An- 
 thony; and he therefore made a 
 pilgrimage to the tomb of the Saint 
 at Padua, and left at that shrine 
 a splendid reliquary, embellished 
 with verses wherein the Saint is 
 hailed as the "star of Spain, pearl 
 of poverty, father of science, model 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 57 
 
 of purity, light of Italy, doctor of 
 divine truth, and glory of Padua." 
 This father of mystic theology 
 and founder of the mystic school 
 of the Middle Ages was from the 
 very beginning a wonder-worker. 
 His preaching was nearly always 
 confirmed by miracles; the very 
 sermon itself was in some senses 
 miraculous. He must have pos- 
 sessed the gift of tongues. While 
 in Italy he preached in Italian; yet 
 all the knowledge he possessed of 
 that mellifluous tongue he got during 
 his brief intercourse with the six 
 illiterate lay-brothers at the hos- 
 pice in the solitude of Monte Paolo. 
 While in France he preached in 
 French, though he had never studied 
 the language. Perhaps more remark- 
 able still is the fact that the simple- 
 minded and the most ignorant lis- 
 teners were capable of fully compre- 
 hending all he said; and his voice , 
 though gentle and sweet, was dis- 
 tinctly heard at a very extraordinary 
 distance from the speaker. 
 
5# The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 In that charming volume, "The 
 Little Flowers of St. Francis," it is 
 quaintly recorded: "That marvel- 
 lous vessel of the Holy Ghost, St. 
 Anthony of Padua, one of the 
 chosen disciples and companions of 
 St. Francis, who was called of St. 
 Francis his Vicar, once preached in 
 the Consistory before the Pope and 
 his Cardinals; in which Consistory 
 there were men of divers nations 
 namely, Greeks, Latins, French, 
 Germans, Slavs, and English, and 
 men speaking other divers tongues. 
 Fired by the Holy Ghost, so effica- 
 ciously, so devoutly, so subtly, so 
 sweetly, so clearly, and so plainly, 
 did Anthony set forth the word of 
 God, that all they which were 
 present at the Consistory, of what- 
 soever divers tongues they were, 
 clearly understood all his words 
 distinctly, even as he had spoken 
 in the language of each man among 
 them. And they all were struck 
 dumb with amaze; and it seemed 
 as if that ancient miracle of the 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 59 
 
 Apostles had been renewed, when at 
 the time of the Pentecost they spoke 
 by virtue of the Holy Ghost in every 
 tongue. And they said one to 
 another, with admiration and awe: 
 'Is not he who preaches come out 
 of Spain? And how do we hear in 
 his discourse every man of us the 
 speech of his own land?' Likewise 
 the Pope, considering and marvel- 
 ling at the profundity of his words, 
 said: 'Verily, this man is the Ark 
 of the Covenant and the vehicle 
 of the Holy Ghost/' 
 
 Anthony appeared in a most 
 opportune moment. The Church 
 was sorely in need of him. St. 
 Dominic had gone to his reward; 
 the labors of St. Francis were at 
 an end: he could only guide and 
 encourage by his advice and his 
 approval; and, at intervals, instil 
 new life into his children and confer 
 a benediction upon them by appear- 
 ing, if but for a moment, in their 
 midst. The honor and the glory 
 that had been shared by St. Francis 
 
60 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 and St. Dominic were his now; for 
 to Anthony fell the lot of continuing 
 the work of these two illustrious 
 patriarchs. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 61 
 
 XII. 
 
 ANTHONY THE HAMMER OF HERETICS. 
 
 WHEN Anthony girded on his 
 armor and went forth to fight the 
 good fight, the affairs of Europe, 
 especially the religious affairs, were 
 in a sad state. Heresy was rife. 
 These heretics, known as Partorini, 
 Cathari, Waldenses, Albigenses, and 
 others almost too numerous to 
 mention, were more or less united 
 in an attempted revival of Maniche- 
 ism; for the most part they taught 
 the eternal existence of the principal 
 of evil, denied the responsibility of 
 the rational creature, recognized 
 fatalism, and advocated the right 
 of rebellion. 
 
 The secret societies, wherein the 
 Jew was a rank element, had for 
 their maxim: Jura, per jura, secre- 
 tum pander e noli. " Swear and for- 
 
62 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 swear thyself, provided thou keep 
 the secret." Their cry was: "Down 
 with the Pope! Death to the Cath- 
 olic Church!" 
 
 That was a sorry time. In his 
 "History of France," Michelet says: 
 "This Judea of France, as Lan- 
 guedoc has been called, was not 
 only remarkable, like ancient Judea, 
 for its bituminous pits and olive 
 groves: it also had its Sodoms and 
 Gomorrahs." 
 
 "Italy," says the old Franciscan 
 chronicle, "was all overturned and 
 filled with confusion by all the other 
 nations, who came in to blooden 
 their barbarous swords in her body; 
 invited so to do by the Italians 
 themselves, who called them in to 
 take part in their intestine feuds, 
 and who were all to be in the event 
 their prey as it turned out. And 
 thus very soon there not only failed 
 among them those sweet manners 
 which used to make the Italians 
 like to angels on earth, and placed 
 them above all nations in courtesy 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 63 
 
 and charity; but there died away 
 also in them that blessed faith, for 
 the love of which they had re- 
 nounced the empire of the world, 
 placing their necks under the most 
 sweet yoke of Christ and of His 
 Holy Roman Catholic Church. And 
 as it happens so often that people 
 take their customs from the com- 
 pany they keep, even the Italians 
 drank of that horrible chalice of 
 heresy and abomination; and, owing 
 to license of life, which was then 
 at its highest point, heretics began 
 to multiply in that land." 
 
 Anthony seemed to have been 
 singled out by Divine Providence 
 to combat the prevailing evils of 
 his time; to have had all his own 
 sweet dreams, high hopes, and noble 
 aspirations thwarted; to have been 
 kept in the background, a silent, 
 unknown man, until the moment 
 when he was called to the front, to 
 battle and to victory; for he 
 achieved what perhaps he alone of 
 all men could have achieved a 
 
6 4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 glorious and triumphant victory. 
 How well he knew the nature and 
 the requirements of his sacred office ! 
 He said: 
 
 "It behooves a preacher to lead 
 on earth a heavenly life, in keeping 
 with the truths he is charged to 
 announce to the people. His con- 
 versation should only be concerning 
 holy things ; and his endeavors must 
 tend to but one end the salvation 
 of souls. It is his duty to raise up 
 the fallen, to console them that 
 weep, to distribute the treasures 
 of divine grace as the clouds send 
 down their refreshing showers. And 
 all this must he do with perfect 
 humility and absolute disinterested- 
 ness. Prayer must be his chief 
 delight; and the remembrance of 
 the bitter Passion of Christ must 
 ever accompany him, whether in 
 joy or adversity. If he acts in this 
 wise, the word of God, the word of 
 peace and life, of grace and truth, 
 will descend upon and flood him 
 with its dazzling light." 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 65 
 
 He not only preached, he prac- 
 tised what he preached. The serenity 
 and beauty of his countenance, the 
 gentleness and meekness of his de- 
 meanor, were an example a living 
 and a lasting sermon unto all. 
 Having once asked one of the 
 brethren to go with him while he 
 preached, the two went forth, and 
 by and by returned, Anthony not 
 having uttered a word during all 
 the time. The Brother, turning to 
 him, said:. "Why have you not 
 preached ? ' ' And Anthony answered : 
 u We have preached: our modest 
 looks and the gravity of our behavior 
 are as a sermon unto those who 
 have followed us with their eyes." 
 
 He was absolutely without fear, 
 and proved it on many occasions. 
 Ezzelino of Treviso, having placed 
 himself at the head of a party of 
 Ghibellines, made himself master of 
 Verona, Padua, and indeed most 
 of the cities in Lombardy. For 
 forty years this tyrant ruled there, 
 and his bloody and horrible reign 
 
66 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 terrorized the people. He defied 
 the anathemas of Popes Gregory 
 IX., Innocent IV., and Alexander 
 IV. Hearing that the long-suffering 
 Paduans had revolted, he put to 
 death in one day twelve thousand of 
 the citizens. 
 
 Ezzelino lived at Verona. The 
 horror of his presence had caused 
 the Veronese to fly, and the city 
 was nearly depopulated. Armed 
 guards, as savage as their master, 
 patrolled the almost deserted streets. 
 Anthony, going alone to Verona, 
 sought audience of this monster. 
 He entered the palace of Ezzelino 
 and was conducted to the audience- 
 chamber, where sat the bloodthirsty 
 one upon a throne surrounded by 
 his murderous troops. At a word 
 from Ezzelino these human tigers 
 would have fallen upon the defence- 
 less Anthony and rent him limb 
 from limb. 
 
 Anthony, undismayed, at once 
 addressed the tyrant; assuring him 
 that his plunderings, his sacrileges, 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 67 
 
 were as a myriad tongues crying to 
 Heaven for vengeance; and that 
 his innumerable victims were living 
 witnesses before God against him. 
 The ferocious guards stood ready 
 to spring upon the accuser; they 
 awaited only the word. What was 
 their astonishment when they saw 
 merciless Ezzelino, pale and trem- 
 bling, descending from his throne, 
 and, putting a girdle about his neck 
 for a halter, prostrating himself at 
 the feet of Anthony, tearfully im- 
 ploring him to intercede with God 
 for the pardon of his sins! 
 
 When Anthony had departed, 
 turning to his soldiers, Ezzelino 
 said: "Be not astonished at my 
 sudden change. I will tell you the 
 truth. While Anthony was reproach- 
 ing me I saw in his countenance a 
 divine splendor; and I was so ter- 
 rified that, if I had dared to take 
 vengeance, I believe that I would 
 have been suddenly carried off by 
 demons and cast into hell." 
 
 Some time afterward Ezzelino,. 
 
68 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 wishing to test Anthony and see if 
 he were really more than human, 
 sent him a costly gift. The gift- 
 bearers were cautioned to press the 
 treasure upon Anthony; but if he 
 accepted it, they were to slay him 
 at once; if he declined it, they were 
 to come away and use no violence. 
 These orders were obeyed. Bowing 
 before the friar, they said: "Your 
 faithful son Ezzelino has sent us to 
 you. He earnestly recommends him- 
 self to your prayers, and beseeches 
 you to accept this gift we offer 
 you." 
 
 Anthony of course declined it, 
 and begged that they would return 
 to their master and say to him that 
 it was God's wish that he should 
 restore unto the impoverished whom 
 he had laid waste, all that he had 
 cruelly wrested from them; and 
 that he should make this reparation 
 before it was too late. With shame, 
 they withdrew from the presence of 
 the friar; and when they had re- 
 ported to Ezzelino all that had 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 69 
 
 passed between them, he replied, 
 thoughtfully: "It is well. This is 
 truly a man of God. Leave him in 
 peace. I care not what he says of 
 me." 
 
 For a considerable period after 
 this Ezzelino showed a disposition 
 to mend his ways: he was less 
 cruel, less bloodthirsty, a little more 
 considerate of the rights and the 
 feelings of his subjects. But after 
 the death of Anthony he relapsed 
 into his former mood, was in 1259 
 taken prisoner by the Confederate 
 princes of Lombardy, and perished 
 miserably in close confinement. 
 
 Anthony's success as a preacher 
 was phenomenal and unparalleled. 
 That fine old chronicler, John Peck- 
 ham, says of it: 
 
 "From all parts of the city and its 
 neighboring villages people flocked 
 in crowds to hear the sermons of the 
 great Franciscan. The law courts 
 were closed, business was suspended, 
 labor interrupted. All life and move- 
 ment were concentrated at one 
 
70 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 point the sermons and instructions 
 of the mighty wonder-worker. Soon 
 the churches could not contain the 
 audiences: he had to preach in 
 the open air. The plant, dried up by 
 the heat of the sun, thirsts for the 
 dew of the early morn; more lively 
 and impatient was the desire of the 
 Paduans for the coming dawn and 
 the hour for which the conferences 
 were announced. From midnight 
 the city was in motion. Knights 
 and great ladies, preceded by lighted 
 torches, pressed round the tempo- 
 rary pulpit. A motley multitude 
 covered the plain; while the bishop, 
 accompanied by his clergy, presided 
 at the services. The numbers often 
 reached thirty thousand. 
 
 "At the hour fixed Anthony would 
 appear, in outward demeanor modest 
 and recollect ive, his heart burning 
 with love. All eyes were fixed upon 
 him; and when he began to speak, 
 the crowds, hushed into silence, 
 listened to his words with an im- 
 movable attention. At the conclu- 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 77 
 
 sion of the discourse the enthusiasm 
 of his hearers could not be contained : 
 it burst forth in sobs, shouts of 
 joy or applause, according to its 
 effect upon each listener. The crowd 
 would rush upon the Saint. Each 
 one wished to see him closer, to 
 kiss the hem of his habit, or his 
 crucifix; some even went so far 
 as to cut bits of cloth from his 
 habit, to keep as relics. A body- 
 guard of young men kept near him, 
 to prevent his being crushed by 
 his admirers. 
 
 "But the most admirable effects 
 he achieved were the following: 
 Enmities were appeased, and con- 
 tending families publicly reconciled; 
 usurers and thieves made restitu- 
 tion of their ill-gotten goods; great 
 sinners struck their breasts in humble 
 repentance; abandoned women fled 
 from the haunts of vice and gave 
 themselves up to penance. The con- 
 fessionals were besieged; vice dis- 
 appeared, virtue revived ; and within 
 the space of a month the aspect 
 
f2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 of the ancient city [of Padua] was 
 transformed." 
 
 Having entered the campaign, 
 which proved a veritable holy war, 
 within three months he became 
 known to all as Anthony the Ham- 
 mer of Heretics. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 73 
 
 XIII. 
 
 ANTHONY'S SERMON ON THE MONAS- 
 TIC 
 
 THE secret of Anthony's marvellous 
 success we do not know; one may 
 have thought it his voice, another 
 his manner, and yet another his 
 beautiful countenance. His piety, 
 his fervor, his persuasive eloquence 
 were all important aids; yet, per- 
 haps, these alone might not have 
 swayed the masses as he swayed 
 them. He was master of the situ- 
 ation: alone, unrivalled in a word, 
 he was altogether irresistible. 
 
 It is a marvel that we know so 
 little of one so great. One of the 
 most conspicuous figures of his time, 
 he is yet but as a shadow in the 
 history of that time or, rather, as 
 a bright and shining light; illusive, 
 
74 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 like a Will-o'-the-wisp; startling 
 and evasive, like the meteor. The 
 truth is, he was not of this world. 
 
 The details of his life are scanty. 
 Some one in the fourteenth century 
 cried out, almost in despair: "We 
 know not half of the beautiful actions 
 of our hero! Most of them have 
 been allowed to fall into oblivion, 
 either by reason of the deplorable 
 carelessness of his first biographers 
 or through lack of authentic docu- 
 ments. " This is the more surprising 
 when w^e find the little testimony 
 that is preserved to us aglow with 
 almost boundless enthusiasm. In 
 the Lucerne manuscript, "St. An- 
 toine," Pere Hilaire observes: 
 
 "His soul was like a fair garden 
 fertilized by the showers of divine 
 grace, where bloomed the sweetest 
 flowers of Heaven, spreading around 
 their fragrant odor. These flowers 
 were meekness and humility, poverty 
 and penance, fervor and zeal, wis- 
 dom and prudence. Beyond all 
 praise were his eloquence, the grace- 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 75 
 
 fulness of his manners, his nobility 
 of character, his gentleness and kind- 
 ness. Whether in the pulpit or the 
 confessional, with the clergy or laity, 
 he everywhere and at all times 
 evinced that spirit of prudence which 
 gives the golden mean to all the 
 virtues, and exhibited that utter 
 forgetfulness of self which won him 
 the love of all. In a word, he was 
 indeed the beloved of God and men." 
 When Anthony went to Limoges, 
 in 1226, he preached in the cemetery 
 of St. Paul's Church, probably on 
 All Souls' Day. A Benedictine 
 writer has preserved the beautiful 
 text, which was taken from the 
 sixth verse of Psalm xxix: "In the 
 evening weeping shall have place, 
 and in the morning gladness." A 
 brief exposition of the text has been 
 found among his notes most likely 
 a synopsis of this sermon. "There 
 is a threefold evening and a three- 
 fold morning," he says; "a three- 
 fold weeping and a threefold glad- 
 ness. The threefold evening is, first, 
 
7 6 The Wonder- Worker of Padua 
 
 the sad evening of the fall of our 
 first parents in Paradise; second, 
 the sad evening of the passion and 
 death of our Redeemer; and third, 
 the sad evening of our own fast- 
 approaching death. The threefold 
 morning is, first, the glad morning 
 of the birth of the Messias; second, 
 the glad morning of the Lord's 
 Resurrection; and third, the glad 
 morning of our own future resurrec- 
 tion." Conceive what an effect this 
 sermon must have produced as it 
 fell from those inspired lips upon 
 the ears of the mourners among the 
 graves ! 
 
 On the day following his address 
 in the cemetery, Anthony preached 
 in a Franciscan abbey, not far from 
 the Church of St. Paul; and his 
 notes of this sermon on the monastic 
 life, happily preserved to us, are 
 so full we gain from them a pretty 
 clear idea of his treatment of a 
 theme. On the text, "Who will 
 give me wings like a dove, and I 
 will fly and be at rest?" he says: 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 77 
 
 "Such is the cry of a soul that is 
 weary of this world and longs for 
 the solitude and peace of the cloister 
 life. It was of the religious life 
 that Jeremias spoke when he said: 
 'Leave the cities, and dwell in the 
 rock, you that dwell in Moab; and 
 be ye like the dove that maketh her 
 nest in the mouth of the hole in the 
 highest place.' 'Leave the cities' 
 the sins and vices which dishonor, 
 the tumult which prevents the soul 
 from rising to God, and often even 
 from thinking of Him. 'Leave the 
 cities' ; for it is written : ' I have seen 
 iniquity and contradiction in the 
 city. Day and night shall iniquity 
 surround it upon its walls; and in 
 the midst thereof are labor and 
 injustice. And usury and deceits 
 have not departed from its streets/ 
 There is to be found iniquity against 
 God and man ; contradiction against 
 the preacher of truth; labor in the 
 ambitious cares of the world, in- 
 justice in its dealings, knavery and 
 usury in its business transactions. 
 
7 '8 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 'Ye that dwell in Moab/ that is, 
 in the world, which is seated in 
 pride as the city of Moab. All is 
 pride in the world, pride of the 
 intellect, which refuses to humble 
 itself before God; pride of the will, 
 which refuses to submit to the will 
 of God; pride of the senses, which 
 rebel against reason and dominate 
 it. ... 
 
 "But to leave the world, to live 
 remote from the tumult of cities, 
 to keep one's self unspotted from 
 their vices, is not sufficient for the 
 religious soul. Hence the prophet 
 adds: 'Dwell in the rock.' Now, 
 this rock is Jesus Christ. Establish 
 yourself in Him; let Him be the 
 constant theme of your thoughts, 
 the object of your affections. Jacob 
 reposed upon a stone in the wilder- 
 ness; and while he slept he saw 
 the heavens opened, and conversed 
 with angels, receiving a blessing 
 from the Lord. Thus will it be 
 with those who place their entire 
 trust in Jesus Christ. They will be 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 79 
 
 favored with heavenly visions; they 
 will live in the company of angels; 
 they will be blessed as Jacob was, 
 4 to the north and south, to the 
 east and west/ To the north, which 
 is the divine breath mortifying the 
 flesh and its concupiscences; to the 
 east, which is the light of faith and 
 the merit of good works; to the 
 south, which is the full meridian 
 splendor of wisdom and charity; to 
 the west, which is the burial of 
 the old man with his vices. But as 
 to the soul which does not repose 
 upon this rock, it can not expect 
 to be blessed by the Lord. 
 
 "'And be ye like the dove that 
 maketh her nest in the mouth of 
 the hole in the highest place/ If 
 Jesus Christ is the rock, the hole of 
 the rock, in which the religious soul 
 is to seek shelter and take up her 
 abode, is the wound in the side of 
 Jesus Christ. This is the safe harbor 
 of refuge to which the Divine Spouse 
 calls the religious soul when He 
 speaks to her in the words of the 
 
8o The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 Canticle : 'Arise, my love, my beauti- 
 ful one, and come! . . . My dove in 
 the clifts of the rock, in the hollow 
 places of the wall/ The Divine 
 Spouse speaks of the numberless 
 clifts of the rock, but He also speaks 
 of the deep hollow. There were 
 indeed in His Body numberless 
 wounds and one deep wound in 
 His side; this leads to His Heart, 
 and it is hither He calls the soul 
 He has espoused. To her He extends 
 His arms; to her He opens wide 
 His sacred side and Divine Heart, 
 that she may come and hide therein. 
 "By retiring into the clifts of 
 the rock, the dove is safe from the 
 pursuit of the birds of prey; and 
 at the same time she prepares for 
 herself a quiet refuge, where she 
 may calmly repose and coo in peace. 
 So the religious soul finds in the 
 Heart of Jesus a secure refuge 
 against the wiles and attacks of 
 Satan, and a delightful retreat. But 
 we must not rest merely at the 
 entrance to the hole in the rock: 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 81 
 
 we must penetrate its depths. At 
 the mouth of the deep hollow at 
 the mouth of the wound in His 
 side we shall indeed find the 
 Precious Blood which has redeemed 
 us. This Blood pleads for us and 
 demands mercy for us. But the 
 religious soul must not stay at the 
 entrance. When she has heard and 
 understood the voice of the Divine 
 Blood, she must hasten to the very 
 source from which it springs into 
 the very innermost sanctuary of 
 the Heart of Jesus. There she will 
 find light, peace, and ineffable 
 consolations. 
 
 "'And be ye like the dove that 
 maketh her nest in the deep hollow 
 of the rock.' The dove builds her 
 nest with little pieces of straw she 
 gathers up here and there. How are 
 we to build up an abode in the 
 Heart of Jesus? This Divine Saviour, 
 who so mercifully gives us the place 
 wherein we are to make our abode, 
 furnishes us at the same time with 
 the materials wherewith to construct 
 
82 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 it. O religious soul, dove beloved 
 of Christ, behold those little pieces 
 of straw which the world tramples 
 under its feet ! They are the virtues 
 practised by thy Saviour and thy 
 Spouse, of which He Himself has 
 set thee an example humility, 
 meekness, poverty, penance, patience, 
 and mortification. The world de- 
 spises them as useless pieces of 
 straw; nevertheless, they will be for 
 thee the material wherewith to con- 
 struct thy dwelling-place forever in 
 the profound hollow of the rock- 
 in the Heart of Jesus." 
 
 Thus Anthony preached to thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands. And 
 they followed him when he had 
 finished speaking ; for it seemed that 
 they could never have enough of 
 him. It was his custom to preface 
 his sermons with this prayer, which 
 he himself composed: 
 
 "O Light of the world, Infinite 
 God, Father of eternity, Giver of 
 wisdom and knowledge, and ineffable 
 Dispenser of every spiritual grace; 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 83 
 
 who knowest all things before they 
 are made, who makest the darkness 
 and the light: put forth Thy hand 
 and touch my mouth, and make it as 
 a sharp sword to utter eloquently 
 Thy words. Make my tongue, O 
 Lord! as a chosen arrow, to declare 
 faithfully Thy wonders. Put Thy 
 spirit, O Lord! in my heart, that I 
 may perceive; in my soul, that I 
 may retain; and in my conscience, 
 that I may meditate. Do Thou 
 lovingly, holily, mercifully, clem- 
 ently and gently inspire me with 
 Thy grace. Do Thou teach, guide 
 and strengthen the comings in and 
 goings out of my senses and my 
 thoughts. And let Thy discipline 
 instruct me even to the end, and 
 the counsel of the Most High help 
 me, through Thine infinite wisdom 
 and mercy. Amen." 
 
 So shone this light, with a glow 
 as of fire from heaven, in the so- 
 called Dark Ages. 
 
8 '4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 XIV. 
 
 ANTHONY THE WONDER-WORKER. 
 
 THAT miracles have occurred, and 
 are occurring even in our own day, 
 there is no shadow of doubt. What 
 is a miracle? According to Worcester 
 a miracle is "an effect of which the 
 antecedent can not be referred to 
 any secondary cause; an event or 
 occurrence which can not be ex- 
 plained by any known law of nature ; 
 a deviation from the established law 
 of nature ; something not only super- 
 human, but preternatural; a prod- 
 igy, a wonder, a marvel." 
 
 Thousands of eye-witnesses bore 
 testimony in their day to the wonders 
 worked by Anthony in France and 
 Italy. It would seem that his fame 
 must have preceded him, and that 
 wherever he went his approach must 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 6*5 
 
 have been heralded and his appear- 
 ance hailed with enthusiasm by 
 expectant and animated throngs. 
 This was not the case. Obedient 
 to the voice of his superiors, he went 
 wheresoever he was bidden; went 
 alone and unannounced; a stranger 
 in a strange land, unrecognized of 
 any until he had lifted that voice 
 whose persuasive eloquence no one 
 was long able to withstand. Then 
 came his triumph, complete and 
 overwhelming. Triumph followed 
 upon triumph, until at last the land 
 rang with his praises. On every 
 hand he gave abundant proof of 
 the divine power which he was 
 called upon to exercise. Following 
 in the footsteps of his Blessed Mas- 
 ter, he healed the sick, raised the 
 dead, and wakened the living to 
 life everlasting. 
 
 Preaching once upon a time in 
 the pulpit of the Church of St. 
 Eusebius in Vicelli a small Italian 
 city, then an independent republic, 
 like many another city of that 
 
86 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 day, vast crowds pressed about 
 him. Suddenly a great commotion 
 arose. With difficulty a grief -stricken 
 family bore toward him the body 
 of one of their number, cut down 
 in the prime of life. A great wail 
 went up from the people. Anthony 
 paused in his discourse, profoundly 
 moved. Recollecting himself, he ex- 
 tended his hand toward the body 
 and cried: "In the name of Christ 
 I say unto you, young man, arise!" 
 And immediately the youth arose 
 from the dead, full of joy, restored 
 to health and to the arms of those 
 who had bewailed him. 
 
 Great is the number and the 
 variety of the wonders worked by 
 Anthony. Here are a few of them 
 taken at random from the pages 
 of his several chroniclers. 
 
 He was preaching in the cathedral 
 at Montpellier, in the presence of 
 the clergy and a vast multitude. It 
 was Easter Sunday. In the midst 
 of his discourse he suddenly remem- 
 bered that he had been appointed 
 
The W onder-W orker of Padua 87 
 
 to sing at Solemn High Mass in 
 the choir of a neighboring convent 
 chapel. He had forgotten this; he 
 had even forgotten to find a sub- 
 stitute, and the hour of the Mass 
 was at hand. This seemed to him 
 an act of disobedience; and, in his 
 distress, he drew his cowl over his 
 face, sank back in the pulpit and 
 remained silent for a long time. The 
 people, in amazement, watched and 
 waited. At the moment when he 
 ceased speaking in the cathedral, 
 though all the while visible to the 
 congregation, he appeared in the 
 convent choir among his brethren 
 and sang his office. At the close 
 of the service he recovered himself 
 in the pulpit of the cathedral, and, 
 as his chronicler says, finished his 
 sermon "with incomparable elo- 
 quence." 
 
 Anthony had completed his ' ' Com- 
 mentary on the Psalms," the fruit 
 of long vigilance and profound med- 
 itation. A novice, weary of the 
 religious life and its ceaseless auster- 
 
88 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 ities, resolved to return to the world, 
 and, coveting Anthony's precious 
 manuscript, he captured it and fled. 
 The young rascal could have had 
 no sense of humor, or he would 
 hardly have turned his back upon 
 the cloister and sought the mixed 
 society of the world, the flesh and 
 the devil with a stolen copy of a 
 "Commentary on the Psalms" as 
 his companion. Probably he hoped 
 to profit by it in a worldly way; 
 but in this he was strangely thwarted. 
 Upon discovering his loss, Anthony 
 had, as ever, recourse to prayer. 
 At that very moment the fleeing 
 youth was confronted by a monstrous 
 creature, that ordered him to return 
 at once to the abbey and restore 
 the " Commentary " to its author. 
 This he was now only too glad to 
 do. And the Saint, rejoiced at the 
 recovery of his manuscript, as well 
 as of the soul that was in peril, 
 received the novice with every mark 
 of affection. Nor was his loving- 
 kindness ill bestowed; for the lad 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 89 
 
 became one of the most favored of 
 the faithful. 
 
 As St. Francis hushed the carolling 
 birds in the Venetian lagoon, say- 
 ing, " Cease your singing a little 
 while until we have rendered to 
 God our homage of praise," so 
 Anthony rebuked the clamoring frogs 
 in a noisy pool at the Convent of 
 Montpellier, and they thereafter ob- 
 served a respectable silence at the 
 hours of prayer. 
 
 At Puy-en-Velay he converted a 
 notary of dissolute habits and violent 
 temper. When they met in the 
 streets Anthony would bow to the 
 notary, and the latter would fly 
 into a rage, believing that he was 
 in mockery. Still Anthony saluted 
 him reverently and more rever- 
 ently; whereupon the notary cried, 
 in a fury: "What does this mean? 
 But for fear of the anger of 
 God I would run you through 
 with my sword." Then Anthony 
 replied, with perfect composure : U O 
 my brother! you do not know the 
 
po The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 honor in store for you. I envy your 
 happiness. I longed for the martyr's 
 palm: the Lord denied it to me, 
 but He has revealed to me that 
 this grace is reserved for you. When 
 that blessed hour arrives, be mind- 
 ful, I beseech you, of him who 
 foretold it to you." And it came to 
 pass even as it had been predicted. 
 
 To a lady of rank who recom- 
 mended herself to his prayers, An- 
 thony said: "Be of good heart, my 
 daughter, and rejoice; for the Lord 
 will give you a son who, as a Friar 
 Minor and a martyr, will shed lustre 
 upon the Church." This prediction 
 was likewise fulfilled. 
 
 Many he delivered from sore temp- 
 tations, and they were never again 
 persecuted. To a poor sinner, over- 
 whelmed with sorrow, who could 
 find no voice with which to confess 
 himself, Anthony said: "Go write 
 down your sins, and bring me the 
 parchment." The penitent did as 
 he was bidden, returning with a 
 tear-stained scroll. As he read out 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 91 
 
 his sins one after the other, each 
 disappeared from the parchment; 
 and, having reached the last of 
 these, lo! the scroll was spotless. 
 
 At St. Junien, Anthony, who was 
 about to address the public, pre- 
 dicted that the platform which had 
 been erected for his use would 
 collapse, but that no one would be 
 injured. The fact was speedily 
 verified. 
 
 One day, preaching to a great 
 multitude in a large square in the 
 city of Limoges, France, a violent 
 storm gathered and filled the people 
 with terror. They began to disperse 
 in haste, when Anthony said : " Fear 
 not: the storm will pass you by." 
 So they remained; and, though the 
 city was deluged, not a drop of 
 rain fell in the square where Anthony 
 was preaching. 
 
 At Brive the Saint established a 
 little hermitage similar to the one 
 at Monte Paolo. Postulants joined 
 him, seeking solitude and poverty. 
 On one occasion, when they were 
 
p2 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 in distress, a much-needed alms 
 was sent them by a lady to whom 
 they had reluctantly applied for 
 aid. The lady's servant carried the 
 gift to them through a severe storm ; 
 yet going and coming the servant 
 walked dry-shod, and not one drop 
 of water from the pouring clouds 
 fell upon her. 
 
 One evening his companions at 
 the hospice saw a band of marauders 
 despoiling the field of one of the 
 benefactors of the little community, 
 and they hastened to complain to 
 Anthony. "Fear not," said he. " 'Tis 
 but an artifice of the Evil One to 
 distract you." On the morrow they 
 found that the field had been 
 untouched. 
 
 The Cathari of Rimini invited the 
 Saint to a feast of poisons. His 
 astounding success in bringing wan- 
 derers back to the fold filled them 
 with hatred of him. He knew at 
 once that a snare had been laid for 
 him by the Cathari, and denounced 
 them openly; thereupon they said 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 93 
 
 to him: "Either you believe the 
 words of the Gospel or you do not. 
 If you believe them, why hesitate 
 to eat? Is it not written, 'In My 
 name they shall cast out devils; 
 they shall handle serpents; and if 
 they shall drink any deadly thing, 
 it shall not hurt them'? If you do 
 not believe the Gospel to be true, 
 why do you preach it? Take, there- 
 fore, and eat. If you go unhurt, 
 we swear to embrace the Catholic 
 faith." Blessing the viands, the 
 servant of God ate and was un- 
 harmed; and all those who beheld 
 the miracle returned into the fold. 
 
 Paralysis and epilepsy he cured 
 with the Sign of the Cross. 
 
 At Gemona, near Udine, where he 
 was erecting a small convent on the 
 model of the Portiuncula, he one 
 day hailed a peasant who was passing 
 with an ox team, and begged that 
 a load of bricks might be brought 
 him. The peasant, not knowing 
 who addressed him, and not caring 
 to be pressed into Anthony's service, 
 
P4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 said: "I can not help you, for I 
 am carrying a corpse." The truth 
 is, the peasant's son lay sleeping 
 in the bottom of the cart. When 
 the peasant, a little later, attempted 
 to waken the boy so as to tell him 
 how he had fooled the friar, he 
 found that his son was dead. Then 
 he ran to Anthony and implored 
 him to restore the life of the boy; 
 and Anthony making the Sign of 
 the Cross over the body, the youth 
 arose and blessed him. 
 
 Often, under the influence of his 
 exhortations, penitents were moved 
 to tears and convulsive sobs. To 
 such he would say to quote from 
 his notes : ' ' Poor sinner, why despair 
 of thy salvation, since all here speaks 
 of mercy and of love? Behold the 
 two advocates who plead thy cause 
 before the tribunal of Divine Justice : 
 a Mother and a Redeemer, Mary, 
 who presents to her Son her heart 
 transfixed with the sword of sorrow; 
 Jesus, who presents to His Father 
 the wounds in His feet and hands, 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 95 
 
 and His Heart pierced by the 
 soldier's lance. Take courage; with 
 such a mediator, with such an inter- 
 cessor, Divine Mercy can not reject 
 thee." 
 
 Who could resist this appeal, or 
 fail to find strength and consola- 
 tion in it? 
 
9 6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 XV. 
 
 ANTHONY PREACHES TO THE FISHES. 
 
 AGAIN I return to that garden 
 of delights, "The Little Flowers of 
 St. Francis." So delicate, so dainty, 
 so fragrant are these flowers one 
 can not pass them by unnoticed. 
 The lips of the devout fashioned 
 them, and for two centuries they 
 blossomed wherever the lovers of 
 the Saint were gathered together; 
 then they were carefully culled and 
 brought from near and far; and a 
 bouquet was made of them, and it 
 was called "The Little Flowers of 
 St. Francis. " 
 
 Therein we find that " our Blessed 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, de- 
 siring to set forth the great sanctity 
 of His most faithful servant, St. 
 Anthony, how devout a thing it 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 97 
 
 was to hear his preaching and his 
 holy doctrines, He reproved the 
 folly of heretics and infidels through 
 unreasoning beasts notably the 
 fishes, as of old in the Bible He 
 chid the ignorance of Balaam through 
 the mouth of the ass. Hence St. 
 Anthony being at Rimini, where 
 there was a great multitude of 
 heretics, desiring to bring them back 
 to the light of the true faith and 
 to the ways of virtue, for many days 
 did preach and set forth to them 
 the faith of Christ and of the Holy 
 Scriptures. But they, not only con- 
 senting not to his holy words, but 
 even, like hardened and obstinate 
 sinners, refusing to hearken unto 
 him, the Saint one day, by divine 
 inspiration, went forth to the banks 
 of the river close beside the sea; 
 and, standing thus upon the shore 
 betwixt sea and stream, he began 
 to speak in the guise of a sermon 
 in the name of God unto the fishes. 
 'Hear the word of God, ye fishes 
 of the sea and of the stream, since 
 
9<9 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 heretics and infidels are loath to 
 listen to it. 1 
 
 "And, having uttered these words, 
 suddenly there came toward him 
 so great a multitude of fishes great, 
 small, and middle-sized as had 
 never been seen in that sea or in 
 that stream, or of the people round 
 about; and all held their heads up 
 out of the water, and all turned 
 attentively toward the face of An- 
 thony. And the greatest peace and 
 meekness and order prevailed; in- 
 somuch that next the shore stood 
 the lesser fish, and after them the 
 middle fish, and still after them, 
 where the water was deepest, stood 
 the larger fish. 
 
 "The fish being thus ranged in 
 order, St. Anthony began solemnly 
 to preach, speaking thus: 'My 
 brothers the fish, you are greatly 
 bounden, so far as in you lies, to 
 thank your Creator that He hath 
 given you so noble an element for 
 your habitation; so that at your 
 pleasure you have fresh waters and 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 99 
 
 salt; and He hath given you many 
 shelters against storm. He hath 
 also given you a clear and lucid 
 element, and food by which you 
 may live. God, your courteous and 
 benign Creator, when He created 
 you, commanded you to grow and 
 multiply; and He gave you His 
 blessing. Then when the great flood 
 swallowed up the world, and all 
 the other animals were destroyed, 
 God preserved you only without 
 injury or harm. Almost hath He 
 given you wings, that you may 
 roam whithersoever it pleases you. 
 To you was it granted, by God's 
 command, to preserve the prophet 
 Jonah, and after the third day to 
 cast him up upon the land safe and 
 sound. You offered tribute to our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, which He, poor 
 and lowly, had not wherewithal to 
 pay. You were the food of the 
 everlasting King Christ Jesus before 
 the Resurrection, and again after 
 it, by a strange mystery; for the 
 which things greatly are you bounden 
 
ioo The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 to praise and bless God, which hath 
 given you such great and so many 
 benefits, more than to any other 
 creatures/ 
 
 "Upon these and other familiar 
 words and the teachings of St. 
 Anthony, the fishes began to open 
 their mouths and to bow their 
 heads; and by these and other signs 
 of reverence, according as it was 
 possible to them, they praised God. 
 Then St. Anthony, seeing such rev- 
 erence in the fishes toward God their 
 Creator, rejoiced in spirit, cried 
 aloud and said: 'Blessed be the 
 eternal God, since fishes of the water 
 honor Him far more than heretic 
 men, and the unreasoning beasts 
 more readily hearken to His word 
 than faithless men/ And as St. 
 Anthony continued his preaching, 
 the multitude of fishes was increased 
 yet more, and none departed from 
 the place which he had filled. 
 
 "Upon this miracle the people of 
 the town began to hasten forth, and 
 among them were also the aforesaid 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 101 
 
 heretics; the which, seeing so man- 
 ifest and marvellous a miracle, felt 
 their hearts sorely pricked, and they 
 fell with one accord at St. Anthony's 
 feet to hear his word. Then St. 
 Anthony began to preach of the 
 Catholic faith; and so nobly did 
 he discourse that he converted all 
 those heretics and turned them to 
 the true faith of Christ; and all 
 the faithful were comforted with 
 great joy, and were confirmed in 
 their faith. And this done, St. 
 Anthony dismissed the fishes with 
 the blessing of God; and they all 
 departed with marvellous signs of 
 rejoicing, and likewise the people. 
 And then St. Anthony stayed in 
 Rimini for many days, preaching 
 and reaping a spiritual harvest of 
 souls. " 
 
102 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 XVI. 
 ANTHONY AND THE ISRAELITE. 
 
 THERE dwelt at Bourges, the capital 
 of Berry, in France, an Israelite 
 who was of all Israelites the most 
 bitter foe of the Catholic Church. 
 He was the leader of the anti- 
 Christian movement, an earnest 
 worker in opposition to every doc- 
 trine that Anthony taught. Guillard 
 the Jew was not an ignorant and 
 blind bigot: he was a man of in- 
 telligence, an honest doubter. Often 
 he had listened to the preaching of 
 Anthony, yet he was not convinced. 
 Shall we not say that it was his mis- 
 fortune rather than his fault that 
 he remained without the fold and 
 persistently assumed an attitude of 
 antagonism? 
 
 The dogma of the real presence of 
 
The Wonder- W or her of Padua 103 
 
 Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament 
 was naturally his chief stumbling- 
 block. Much he could accept and 
 much consider in a calm spirit 
 of philosophical inquiry; but the 
 Eucharist, transubstantiation the 
 perpetual miracle was in his esti- 
 mation past belief. For this miracle 
 he demanded miraculous proof. 
 
 "The Turk does not question the 
 word of Mohammed," observed An- 
 thony to this fellow of Didimus the 
 Doubter; "the philosopher accepts 
 the philosophy of Aristotle; but 
 you, who pride yourself upon being 
 a worthy Israelite, will not accept 
 the testimony of the Son of God." 
 "I must see for myself, with these 
 very eyes, before I can believe," 
 replied the doubting Thomas. There 
 are many who, like him, must put 
 their finger in the wounds before 
 they are convinced of the living 
 truth. 
 
 One day Guillard said to Anthony : 
 "Brother Anthony, if by some tan- 
 gible, outward sign you can confirm 
 
IO4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 the truth you have demonstrated 
 by reasoning, I will abjure my 
 ancient creed and embrace yours. 
 Do you consent?" In order to save 
 a soul one may make great con- 
 cessions; nor was it beneath the 
 dignity of Anthony to offer visible 
 proof to an anxious and inquiring 
 eye. " I consent," said he. " I have 
 a mule," added the Jew: "I will 
 keep him for three days under lock 
 and key, and in all that time feed 
 him nothing. At the end of the 
 third day I will bring him to the 
 largest public square in the city; 
 and there, in the presence of all 
 the assembled people, I will offer 
 him a feed of oats. You, on the 
 other hand, will come carrying the 
 Host, which, as you believe, is the 
 true body of the Son of God. If 
 the mule refuses the proffered food 
 in order to prostrate himself before 
 the monstrance, I will become a 
 Catholic, and no longer question 
 the truth of the doctrine taught 
 by the Catholic Church." 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 105 
 
 Here was a direct challenge, and 
 it was not declined. Anthony felt 
 that his victory was assured. The 
 reward of that victory was an im- 
 mortal soul. For three days the 
 young apostle devoted himself to 
 fasting and prayer. Not for one 
 moment did he lose faith in the 
 success of the miracle he was about 
 to work, but he dared not attempt 
 it without solemn preparation. Mean- 
 while Guillard and his companions 
 were so sure of Anthony's total 
 defeat and discomfiture that there 
 was much merriment at the wonder- 
 worker's expense; and the interest 
 in the approaching test increased 
 from hour to hour. 
 
 The eventful day arrived. Guil- 
 lard and his friends trooped into 
 the public square with smiles and 
 laughter, so confident were they 
 that the famishing mule would in- 
 stantly abandon himself to his oats. 
 The immense throngs who had 
 gathered to witness the impending 
 spectacle were consumed with curi- 
 
io6 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 osity. As Anthony slowly ap- 
 proached, bearing reverently the 
 Sacred Host, his eyes cast down, his 
 air devotional, a great hush fell 
 upon the multitude. He was fol- 
 lowed by a large crowd of the faith- 
 ful, singing canticles and whispering 
 prayers. 
 
 The mule was then led forward, 
 and the oats laid temptingly before 
 him. At that moment Anthony 
 drew near, bearing the monstrance. 
 Turning toward the dumb brute, 
 he exclaimed : "In the name of thy 
 Creator, whose body I, though un- 
 worthy, hold in my hands, I enjoin 
 and command thee, O being de- 
 prived of reason! to come hither 
 instantly and prostrate thyself before 
 thy God; so that by this sign 
 unbelievers may know that all crea- 
 tion is subject to the Lamb who is 
 daily immolated upon our altars." 
 In the same moment Guillard and 
 his friends presented the oats to 
 the famished beast. Without taking 
 the smallest notice of the food, the 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 mule, turning away, walked to the 
 feet of Anthony, and, bending his 
 knees, knelt before the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment and remained there in an 
 attitude of adoration. 
 
 Great was the enthusiasm among 
 the faithful. The heretics fled away 
 in fright and hid themselves for 
 shame; they dared not face the 
 one who had proved that prayer is 
 more powerful than the laws of 
 nature. Many were so moved by 
 the wondrous spectacle that, though 
 they had long wandered from the 
 path of duty, they returned into 
 the fold. Guillard likewise sought 
 admission, for he could no longer 
 doubt; and with him came his 
 household. He publicly attested his 
 faith, and in gratitude erected a 
 church upon the spot where the 
 miracle had taken place; and that 
 monument endures to this hour. 
 As late as 1850 a block of marble, 
 carved to represent a mule in the 
 attitude of devotion, was discovered 
 in the wall of the facade of the 
 
io8 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 church built by Guillard, and con- 
 secrated in 1231 by Archbishop 
 Simon de Sully. 
 
 Pierre Rosset, a Doctor of the 
 University of Paris and a poet of 
 the fifteenth century; Wadding, in 
 his "Annals of the Friars Minor"; 
 and Benedict Mazzara, in his "Fran- 
 ciscan Legends," bear witness to 
 the authenticity of this memorial 
 of a miracle. Toulouse and Rimini 
 claim a like honor with Bourges, 
 and there are those who have be- 
 lieved that the miracle was repeated. 
 The evidence is cloudy and con- 
 flicting in these cases, but there is no 
 shadow of doubt that Anthony the 
 wonder-worker worked that wonder 
 in the ancient city of Bourges; and 
 that Guillard the Israelite then and 
 there built the Church of St. Peter 
 in honor of his glorious conversion. 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 109 
 
 XVII. 
 
 ANTHONY AND THE CHRIST-CHILD. 
 
 LET us not be disconcerted if we 
 find several cities contending for the 
 honor to which one only is entitled. 
 Since Homer's death it has been 
 the fate of the distinguished poet 
 to be claimed by many and various 
 peoples as father, brother, son; 
 though while living in obscurity 
 the devoted soul was suffered to 
 endure neglect. It is not surprising 
 that the miracles of Anthony have 
 not always been definitely located. 
 Some of them may have been re- 
 peated in two or more localities. 
 Tradition is more or less elastic; 
 it sometimes grows with what it 
 feeds on. What is of utmost im- 
 portance is the proof of a miracle; 
 it matters less where it actually 
 took place. 
 
j jo The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 In Anthony we see embodied the 
 beauty of holiness. There is one 
 who has borne witness to the truth 
 of this, for he was an eye-witness. 
 The blessed privilege he enjoyed 
 should have immortalized him, and 
 yet the authorities are not united 
 as to his identity. 
 
 Anthony founded the monastery 
 of Arcella Vecchia, without the walls, 
 about a mile distant from Padua. 
 There he loved to dwell; but as 
 his duties called him into the city 
 daily, and when preaching or hear- 
 ing confessions in the evening he 
 was often detained until the city 
 gates were closed, he found it neces- 
 sary to seek a lodging which he 
 could occupy at his leisure. This 
 he found, as Azevedo informs us, 
 at the house of Tiso, or Tisone, one 
 of the ancient family of counts of 
 Camposampiero, famous in the 
 records of their time. 
 
 That a miracle was performed 
 somewhere no chronicler doubts; 
 but Azevedo seems to have had 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua in 
 
 insufficient proof of the grounds for 
 his statement that it took place in 
 Padua. Wadding, on the other hand, 
 does not attempt to locate it; but 
 Father Bonaventure de St. Amable, 
 a Carmelite of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, on the authority of ancient 
 documents existing in his time, names 
 without hesitation Chateauneuf the 
 modern Chateauneuf - la - Foret as 
 the hallowed spot. The legend is 
 perhaps the best known in the life 
 of the Saint, as it is certainly the 
 most beautiful; and it has been a 
 favorite subject for the art of the 
 best masters during the last eight 
 hundred years. 
 
 Accepting the hospitality of the 
 Lord of Chateauneuf, who, accord- 
 ing to the "Annals de Limousin," 
 dearly loved St. Anthony and his 
 holy Order, he retired to his chamber 
 and began the prayerful vigil that 
 usually extended far into the night. 
 His host, who was in an adjoining 
 apartment, was startled by a light 
 as of a conflagration that poured 
 
j 12 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 from under the door of Anthony's 
 room. Hastening to the door, but 
 fearing to enter lest he should dis- 
 turb his guest, he listened for a 
 few moments. Hearing voices, he 
 became agitated; and, riveting his 
 eye at a crevice, he beheld a vision 
 that filled him with awe and wonder. 
 Anthony knelt at a table where 
 a large volume lay open; upon the 
 volume, or above it, stood a child 
 of such surpassing loveliness that 
 the gazer's heart leaped within him, 
 and his lips would have cried out 
 for joy but that some mysterious 
 influence enjoined silence upon him. 
 The body of the infant was efful- 
 gent: a soft glow was diffused on 
 every side. The lustre of that counte- 
 nance was ineffable. The radiant 
 being seemingly reposed upon the 
 air; and, from a soft veil of vapor 
 that emitted a celestial fragrance, 
 he leaned fondly upon the bosom of 
 the friar, and with hands of exquisite 
 loveliness delicately caressed him. 
 Soft music, mingled with voices of 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 113 
 
 heavenly tenderness and the flutter 
 of invisible wings, betokened the 
 presence of angelic visitors. 
 
 The child, who was the Christ- 
 Child, whispered in the ear of An- 
 thony; and, as the Saint turned to 
 the door, the master of Chateauneuf 
 knew that his presence was detected. 
 So when Anthony met him on the 
 morrow these words passed beween 
 them; the Limousin chronicler re- 
 cords them in their brevity and 
 simplicity: "Father, what did Our 
 Lord say to you?" "He revealed 
 to me that your house will flourish 
 and enjoy great prosperity so long 
 as it remains faithful to Mother 
 Church; but that it will be over- 
 whelmed with misfortune and be- 
 come extinct when it goes over to 
 heresy." 
 
 In the seventeenth century the 
 then Lord of Chateauneuf espoused 
 the cause of the Calvinists, and in 
 the fall of that house the prophecy 
 was fulfilled. As for Anthony, one 
 ever associates him with the Christ- 
 
i 14 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 Child who nestles in his arms. From 
 the holy visitations of the Divine 
 Infant he gathered inspiration, and 
 it was he who said: "The Sacred 
 Heart is a fountain of supernatural 
 life; a golden altar whereon is 
 burning, night and day forever, 
 incense that ascends in clouds of 
 fragrance toward the skies and 
 envelops and embalms the earth." 
 
The W onder-W orker of Padua 115 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 S. A. G. 
 
 SOME folk think the letters are 
 mystical. Though their significance 
 is known to many, there are very 
 many more to whom they convey 
 no meaning. You will usually find 
 them, if they are visible, on the 
 addressed side of an envelope, down 
 in the lower left-hand corner. I 
 say when they are visible; for some 
 who use them seem afraid to use 
 them openly, and so the letters are 
 written in the ^ upper right-hand 
 corner of the envelope, where the 
 postage-stamp covers them ; or they 
 are inscribed on the underside of 
 the lapel of the envelope, and hidden 
 away. 
 
 It is a pretty cult, a sweet devo- 
 tion, a symbol of faith and trust; 
 and its votaries, who were shy 
 
ii 6 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 enough at first and perhaps with 
 reason, for bigotry was rampant 
 but a few years ago, now grow 
 bolder; and their numbers multiply 
 daily, hourly, and are scattered 
 even unto the four quarters of the 
 globe. 
 
 S. A. G.! What do these letters 
 stand for? The question has been 
 asked me a thousand times. Per- 
 haps the letters, down in their cozy 
 corner, were passed unnoticed for 
 a time; then it was discovered that 
 they were not the initials of the 
 writer; interest was now excited, 
 and at last curiosity refused to be 
 satisfied until the mystery was 
 solved. 
 
 S. A. G.! St. Anthony guide; or, 
 St. Anthony guard. But why St. 
 Anthony guide? It is the peculiar 
 privilege of the Saint to guard and 
 guide all travellers, and especially 
 all toilers of the sea and all who 
 are exposed to the peril of wind and 
 wave. He is the rescuer and restorer 
 of the "lost, strayed, or stolen." 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 117 
 
 Not a day passes, not an hour, but 
 voices of the distressed are crying 
 to him for help in a search after 
 something that is mislaid. And they 
 do not cry in vain. There is testi- 
 mony enough in proof of this to 
 fill a library. 
 
 Is it a foolish office to heed these 
 sometimes trivial requests? Every 
 answer is an answer to prayer, and 
 the answer to prayer is the bulwark 
 of our faith. Thus the wonder- 
 worker works a perpetual wonder; 
 it is an incessant miracle, that brings 
 joy to myriads of grateful hearts. 
 
 Every year the number of letters 
 placed under the guidance of dear 
 St. Anthony increases. The writers 
 of letters who use the initials S. A. G. 
 seem to have formed an involuntary 
 brotherhood; they are unconscious 
 members of another order of St. 
 Francis, who thus proclaim, even 
 unto the ends of the earth, their 
 absolute faith in St. Anthony and 
 his readiness to aid them. That he 
 has a special interest in the trans- 
 
n8 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 portation of written messages is 
 twice proved in his own case. The 
 facts read like fairy tales but, then, 
 let us remember his life was one 
 long fairy tale filled full of wonders. 
 Anthony, on one occasion being 
 greatly in need of rest, wished to 
 retire for a little season to a solitude 
 about ten miles from Padua, known 
 as Campo San Pietro. With this 
 end in view, he wrote to his minister 
 provincial begging that he might 
 be permitted to repair thither. The 
 letter written he went to the superior 
 of the monastery and asked that 
 some trusty messenger be charged 
 with the delivery of his letter, and 
 his request was at once granted. 
 Returning to his cell to procure the 
 letter and deliver it to the messen- 
 ger, he found it had disappeared. 
 He searched for it in vain. Unable 
 to find it, he took it as a sign that 
 his duty lay where he was, and he 
 dismissed all thoughts of visiting 
 Campo San Pietro. Shortly after- 
 ward, turning again to his desk 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 119 
 
 where he had left the letter, he 
 found the answer lying there, the 
 answer written by his minister pro- 
 vincial, and freely granting his re- 
 quest. Was it a celestial messenger 
 that favored him? It is now An- 
 thony's turn to favor one of his 
 devoted clients. 
 
 In 1729 Antonio Dante, a Spanish 
 merchant, left Spain for South Amer- 
 ica and established his business in 
 Lima, Peru. His wife, who remained 
 in Spain, wrote to him repeatedly 
 without receiving a reply. In great 
 anxiety she went one day to the 
 Church of St. Francis, at Oviedo; 
 here was a large statue of St. An- 
 thony. She had with her a letter 
 addressed to her absent husband. 
 In all simplicity and with perfect 
 confidence, she placed that letter 
 in the hands of the statue and said: 
 "St. Anthony, I pray thee let this 
 letter reach him, and obtain for 
 me a speedy reply. " 
 
 The next day she returned to 
 renew her prayer. Seeing a letter 
 
I2O The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 still in his hands, and believing it 
 to be the one she had placed there, 
 the poor soul began to weep; and, 
 crying aloud, she said: "St. An- 
 thony, why have you kept the letter 
 which I wrote to my husband, 
 instead of sending it to him, as I 
 asked you?" Her boisterous grief 
 attracted the attention of the Brother 
 sacristan, who came to ask the cause 
 of it. When he had heard her 
 story he said: "I have in vain 
 tried to take that letter from the 
 hand of St. Anthony. See if he will 
 give it to you. She took the letter 
 from the hand of the image without 
 difficulty, and at the same moment 
 there fell from the sleeve of the 
 statue three hundred golden coins. 
 The amazed sacristan hastened into 
 the adjoining monastery, called the 
 friars into the church, where the 
 bewildered woman was still waiting; 
 and in their presence, before the 
 high altar, the letter was opened 
 and read. It ran as follows: 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 121 
 
 LIMA, July 23, 1729. 
 
 MY DEAR WIFE: For some time 
 I have been expecting a letter from 
 you, and been in great trouble at 
 not hearing from you. At last 
 your letter has come, and given me 
 joy. It was a Father of the Order 
 of St. Francis who brought it to 
 me. You complain that I have left 
 your letters unanswered. I assure 
 you that when I received none I 
 believed you to be dead. So you 
 may imagine my happiness at the 
 arrival of your last one. I answer 
 by the same religious, and send you 
 three hundred golden crowns, which 
 will suffice for your support until 
 my approaching return. In the hope 
 of soon being with you, I pray God 
 for you, commend myself to my 
 dear patron St. Anthony, and ar- 
 dently desire that you may continue 
 to send me tidings of yourself. 
 Your most affectionate, 
 
 ANTONIO DANTE. 
 
 The original letter, written in 
 Spanish, is preserved at Oviedo. 
 
122 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 XIX. 
 
 ANTHONY AT PADUA. 
 
 ANTHONY had long been a wanderer. 
 From Portugal he travelled into 
 Spain, Morocco, Sicily. He jour- 
 neyed from Messina to Assisi; from 
 Assisi to Monte Paolo, Toulouse, 
 Puy-en-Valey, Limoges, Rome, Ri- 
 mini, Venice, Ferrara, Mantua, and 
 elsewhere. But of all the cities he 
 visited and of all the peoples he 
 ministered unto, his name was des- 
 tined to become associated with 
 Padua and the Paduans. 
 
 The Padua of to-day is not the 
 Padua of old: it is naturally more 
 or less modernized; yet, happily, 
 a delightful flavor of antiquity still 
 abides there, and is perceptible in 
 all its nooks and corners. When 
 I first visited Padua I was a pilgrim 
 and a stranger. One may be ever 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 123 
 
 a pilgrim in that hallowed land, 
 but never twice a stranger. Alight- 
 ing at the station, I wandered 
 through the streets, suffering myself 
 to be piloted by my Good Angel 
 it may have been till I came to 
 the inn with the sign of the Three 
 White Crosses, and I abode there. 
 The fifty thousand people of Padua 
 left me to myself, and I went my 
 way as if I were invisible to any. 
 This shrine seems to be the least 
 commercial of them all, and yet 
 it is one of the most famous and the 
 most popular. 
 
 How soon one does Padua as a 
 tourist: devouring it, as it were; 
 bolting it as the hungry sight-seer 
 bolts everything visible! Of course 
 there is a memory and an indiges- 
 tion after all is over, and the fagged 
 tourist packs himself home and sits 
 down to think. One does it in a 
 day so much of Padua as is in the 
 guidebook. There is a memory of 
 lovely churches and the tombs of 
 saints, and old walls covered with 
 
124 The W onder-W orker of Padua 
 
 very ancient frescoes and other works 
 of art, here Giotto was in his glory. 
 And there is a memory of a host of 
 college boys wandering to and fro 
 with their arms upon one another's 
 shoulders. A world-famous Uni- 
 versity, that has been flourishing 
 half a thousand years, is located 
 here. 
 
 Somehow, one can not help think- 
 ing of Enrico and his Italian ' ' School- 
 Boy 's Journal" that most charm- 
 ing of the works of De Amicis 
 when one falls in with these Paduan 
 students, with their troubadour faces 
 and airs and graces albeit they are 
 not half so interesting as little En- 
 rico. Oh, the power, the beauty, 
 the fervor and the pathos of that 
 book "Cuore," by Edmondo de 
 Amicis! Read it if you have not 
 read it; there you will see the heart 
 of Young Italy laid bare. 
 
 The great circular piazza of the 
 city is wreathed with a double row 
 of statues, commemorating in marble 
 the famous or perhaps in some 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 125 
 
 cases the infamous graduates of 
 the memorable University. 
 
 In Anthony's day Padua was a 
 very different town. Now it lan- 
 guishes in its comfortable age; then 
 it was the abode of luxury, the haunt 
 of vice. Debauchery and usury 
 flourished; family feuds were rife, 
 and God was forgotten. At Rimini, 
 Bourges, Toulouse, Anthony had 
 warred against heresy; at Padua 
 it was the sensuous and sensual 
 and dissolute life of the people he 
 was called upon to reform. Fear- 
 lessly he struck at the root of the 
 evil; face to face he attacked the 
 depravity of those high in office; 
 hand to hand he wrestled with every 
 obstacle that was raised before him, 
 and overthrew them each and all. 
 He was gentle, but firm; and his 
 manner was so majestic, his argu- 
 ment so convincing, and his denun- 
 ciation so terrible, that no one 
 could long withstand him. 
 
 He put an end to the most pain- 
 ful family contentions, and to the 
 
126 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 scandalous quarrels of political fac- 
 tions. Guelph and Ghibelline were 
 reconciled; those who had been 
 long estranged fell upon one another's 
 necks and exchanged the kiss of 
 peace. Those who seemed unap- 
 proachable were approached by him; 
 those who were deaf to all others 
 gave him an attentive ear. 
 
 Sixty-four years after his con- 
 version by St. Anthony, a once 
 notorious brigand gave to the Friars 
 Minor the following remarkable nar- 
 rative of his personal experience: 
 
 "I was a brigand by profession 
 and one of a band of robbers. There 
 were twelve of us living in the forest, 
 whence we issued to waylay travel- 
 lers and commit every kind of de- 
 predation. The reputation of An- 
 thony, his preaching and his miracu- 
 lous deeds, penetrated even to our 
 ears in the depths of the forest. 
 Rumor compared him to the Prophet 
 Elias. It was said his words were 
 so ardent and efficacious as to re- 
 semble the spark that falling into 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 the sheaves of corn sets them aflame 
 and consumes them. 
 
 "We resolved to disperse ourselves 
 one day amongst the crowd in order 
 to test the truth of these assertions. 
 While he spoke another voice seemed 
 to resound in our ears the voice of 
 remorse. After the sermon all the 
 twelve of us, contrite and repentant, 
 threw ourselves at his feet. He 
 called down upon us the divine 
 pardon, but not without warning 
 us that if we unfortunately relapsed 
 into our old ways we should perish 
 miserably. This prediction was veri- 
 fied. A few did relapse, and ended 
 their days on the gallows. Those 
 who persevered fell asleep in the 
 peace of the Lord. 
 
 "As for myself, St. Anthony im- 
 posed upon me the penance of mak- 
 ing a pilgrimage twelve times to the 
 tomb of the Apostles. To-day I 
 have completed my twelfth visit; 
 and I feel confident that, according 
 to his promise and through his 
 merits, I shall meet him above/' 
 
128 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 The chronicle adds: "Tears and 
 sobs interrupted the old man's last 
 words." 
 
 Anthony is the glory of Padua, 
 and gloriously has Padua enshrined 
 him. In all her strange, eventful 
 history there is no name that shines 
 like his. He was one of the two who 
 did more for the enlightenment, 
 the humanizing and the harmonizing 
 of the hordes of the Middle Ages 
 than all the rest besides. 
 
 Frederic Morin, in his "St. Fran- 
 cois et les Franciscains," says: 
 "Modern Europe has no idea of all 
 it owes to St. Francis of Assisi." 
 Montalembert has proved by indis- 
 putable facts that "the victory of 
 Christianity over neo-paganism in 
 the Middle Ages was chiefly due to 
 the gallant efforts of the two new 
 religious bodies that sprang up in 
 the thirteenth century." 
 
 In the introduction of his life of 
 "St. Elizabeth of Hungary" Monta- 
 lembert says: "The children of St. 
 Dominic and St. Francis spread 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 129 
 
 themselves over Italy (then torn 
 by so many disorders), striving to 
 reconcile rival factions, to vindicate 
 truth and confute error; acting as 
 supreme arbitrators, yet judging all 
 things in a spirit of charity. In 
 1233 they could be seen traversing 
 the peninsula, armed with crosses, 
 incense, and olive branches; up- 
 braiding the cities and princes with 
 their crimes and enmities; and the 
 people, for a time at least, bowed 
 before this sublime mediation." Ce- 
 sare Cantu, in his "Histoire Univer- 
 selle," adds: "At the head of the 
 peacemakers we must place St. 
 Francis of Assisi and his disciple, 
 St. Anthony of Padua. " 
 
 Anthony preached peace and he 
 restored it. His constant cry was: 
 "No more war; no more hatred 
 and bloodshed, but peace ! God wills 
 it!" And there was peace. He was 
 not quite alone in his noble efforts 
 toward the reconciliation of all man- 
 kind: the parish clergy, the sons 
 of St. Benedict and St. Dominic, 
 
130 The^ Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 as well as the sons of St. Francis, 
 rallied at his call and mustered under 
 his generalship. It was a holy war 
 and a triumphant one. Among these 
 soldiers of the Cross was one Luke 
 Belludi, a preacher of eloquence 
 and power, who received the habit 
 from St. Francis himself, and who 
 was one of Anthony's most devoted 
 followers. His ashes lie buried by 
 the side of those of the Saint he 
 loved, in that wonderful shrine in 
 Padua. 
 
 He had his willing workers there 
 in Padua and elsewhere, but the 
 burden fell upon the shoulders of 
 Anthony. And what a burden of 
 responsibility of patient endurance, 
 of calm judgment and wise and 
 deliberate action it was! Yet all 
 the while he was devoted to his 
 mission: day and night he was in 
 the pulpit or the confessional, or 
 by the bedside of the sick and dying ; 
 and none of the thousand cares of 
 the sacred ministry was neglected 
 by him. Ever forgetful of self, it 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 131 
 
 is said that often and often he would 
 toil until evening with no other 
 nourishment, and no thought of other 
 nourishment, than the Blessed Bread 
 he had received from the altar at 
 dawn. And all this was for the love 
 of his people, for the honor of Padua 
 and the greater glory of God. 
 
1 32 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 XX. 
 
 THE PASSING OF ANTHONY. 
 
 ANTHONY having chosen Padua as 
 his place of residence, because, as 
 his biographer, John Peckham, says, 
 "of the faith of its inhabitants, their 
 attachment to him, and their devo- 
 tion to the Friars Minor," he there 
 ended his life-work in his thirty- 
 sixth year of grace. 
 
 How he loved Padua ! A fortnight 
 before his death, having ascended 
 a hill overshadowing the city, he 
 gazed down upon it in all its beauty ; 
 and, stretching forth his hands above 
 its marble palaces, its domes, and 
 lofty bell-towers, embosomed in 
 bower of foliage; while the incense 
 of its blossoming gardens was wafted 
 to him, and the ripening corn-fields 
 and the vineyards framed it all in 
 a frame of gold and green and 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 purple, he exclaimed in rapture: 
 "Blessed be thou, O Padua, for the 
 beauty of thy site! Blessed be thou 
 for the harvest of thy fields ! Blessed 
 also shalt .thou be for the honor 
 with which Heaven is about to 
 crown thee ! ' ' What honor? At that 
 moment, in a vision, he beheld the 
 celestial city, and through the gates 
 of Padua the beloved his soul was to 
 pass hence forever. 
 
 It was while on his way to the 
 heights of Campo San Pietro, a 
 few miles from Padua, passing 
 through a wood, the property of 
 his friend Don Tiso, Anthony dis- 
 covered a walnut-tree of gigantic 
 proportions; here was deep shadow, 
 layer upon layer, among branches 
 as large as the rafters of a hall. 
 Nothing could be more inviting; for 
 only the birds nested there, while 
 the butterflies fluttered in the sun- 
 shine that environed it. It was a 
 green island in a golden sea; a 
 place of refuge and refreshment for 
 the world-weary. 
 
134 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 Having foreknowledge of his death, 
 Anthony bethought him of this re- 
 treat. With pliant boughs he wove 
 a wall of verdure, and fashioned 
 a little cell between earth and 
 heaven, the daintiest oratory that 
 ever was, and a couch for one who 
 was in the world but not of it. The 
 old masters have pictured him as 
 in a nest among the spreading 
 branch, and have painted him with 
 childlike simplicity as brooding there. 
 Probably his leafy cell was a little 
 heaven of detachment, where nothing 
 ever broke in upon his meditations. 
 His faithful allies, Brother Luke 
 Belludi and Brother Roger, kept 
 watch with him, two silent sen- 
 tinels standing between him and 
 the outer world. 
 
 Once a day he descended from 
 his airy solitude and broke bread 
 with the two Brothers who attended 
 him; it seemed to be more a matter 
 of form than of necessity. He no 
 longer was of the earth as we are, 
 but was a spirit bearing about a 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 135 
 
 fragile shell of clay that was soon 
 to be laid aside, a useless and aban- 
 doned thing. His waking hours 
 were passed in prayer and in the 
 completion of his commentaries. He 
 spoke not, nor was he ever known 
 to smile : he was absorbed in prepa- 
 ration for his final flight. 
 
 One day, when he had descended 
 to break his fast with his companions, 
 he fainted at their rustic board. At 
 first the Brothers thought him in 
 ecstasy for his ecstasies were fre- 
 quent now; but, seeing the shadow 
 of death upon him, they hastened 
 to assist him to a couch of green 
 shoots close at hand. Having re- 
 covered consciousness, and seeing 
 the Brothers bending over him in 
 tears, he begged that he might at 
 once be taken to the monastery at 
 Padua, there to die among his 
 brethren, supported by their pres- 
 ence and their prayers. He was 
 tenderly placed in a passing peasant's 
 cart, and the sad procession started. 
 But so great was his exhaustion 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 when they reached Arcella the Con- 
 vent of Poor Clares, near the gates 
 of the city, that the Brothers be- 
 sought him to alight there to seek 
 the rest he stood so much in need 
 of. With difficulty he was assisted 
 into a small hospice adjoining the 
 convent, where dwelt three or four 
 Friars Minor who acted as chaplains 
 to the daughters of St. Clare. 
 
 By this time Anthony was begin- 
 ning to lose consciousness; but, 
 recovering himself for a little while, 
 he made his last confession. When 
 the friars proposed to anoint him 
 he said: "I already possess that 
 unction within myself; but it is 
 good to receive it outwardly/' 
 
 While Extreme Unction was being 
 administered he recited with the 
 brethren prayers for the dying and 
 the Penitential Psalms, and received 
 the absolution. Then, filled with a 
 heavenly joy that was like an ecstasy, 
 to the wonder of those about him, 
 he sang alone, and in a clear, full 
 voice, his favorite hymn: 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 O gloriosa Domina 
 Excelsa super sidera, 
 Qui te creavit provide 
 Lactasti sacro ubere. 
 
 Quod Eva tristis abstulit, 
 Tu reddis almo germine: 
 Intrent ut astra flebiles, 
 Cceli fenestra facta es. 
 
 Tu Regis alti janua, 
 Et porta lucis fulgida: 
 Vitam datam per Virginem, 
 Gentes redemptae, plaudite. 
 
 Gloria tibi, Domine, 
 Qui natus es de Virgine, 
 Cum Patre et Sancto Spiritu 
 In sempiterna saecula. 
 
 Having ceased singing, he raised 
 his eyes to heaven with a gaze that 
 startled his companions; it was as 
 if those eyes were filled with some 
 wondrous vision. Brother Roger, 
 in whose arms he was supported, 
 said: "What do you see?" And 
 Anthony answered, still gazing in 
 rapture : "I behold my God ! ' ' For 
 about half an hour he was lost in 
 contemplation of the beatific vision; 
 
138 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 and then, like a weary child, he 
 fell into a deep sleep and woke no 
 more. 
 
 At the moment when his soul was 
 set free from its earthly tabernacle 
 Anthony appeared to Don Thomas, 
 the Abbot of St. Andrew's at Ver- 
 celli, who was at the time sitting 
 alone in the room. His former pupil 
 entered and said to him: "See, 
 Father Abbot, I have left my 
 burden near the gates of Padua, 
 and am hastening to mine own 
 country." He then passed his hand 
 caressingly across the throat of the 
 Abbot, who was suffering from a 
 severe chronic affliction; and the 
 throat was permanently cured. 
 Thereupon Anthony disappeared. 
 
 The Abbot, surprised at the sudden 
 entrance and the exit of Anthony, 
 hastened after him to beg him to 
 remain a little while a guest; but, 
 throwing open the door of his 
 chamber, no Anthony was visible. 
 Those who were waiting in the ante- 
 chamber had seen nothing of him; 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 739 
 
 nor had any one at St. Andrew's, 
 save the Abbot, any knowledge of 
 Anthony. Then the Abbot knew 
 that the burden Anthony had left 
 at Padua was his body; and that 
 the home to which he was hasten- 
 ing was not Portugal, but Paradise. 
 
 Efforts were made to keep An- 
 thony's death a secret. He was the 
 popular idol of all Italy, and not 
 alone of Italy: he had wielded 
 greater personal influence than al- 
 most any man of his time. He was 
 not only respected by the masses, 
 but he was listened to with rapt 
 attention by the representatives of 
 all classes, from the peer to the 
 peasant. He was loved by all, 
 reverenced by all; he was fairly 
 worshipped by the vast multitude of 
 his faithful followers. And, there- 
 fore, it was deemed wise to keep 
 his death a secret for a time at 
 least, lest the populace should be 
 distracted and demoralized by so 
 terrible a blow. 
 
 Man proposes! Hardly had his 
 
 10 
 
140 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 bright spirit taken its flight when 
 the children of Padua the children 
 he so dearly loved, as if inspired, 
 rushed about the streets in a kind 
 of frenzy, crying out: "Our Saint 
 is dead! St. Anthony is dead!" 
 Consternation followed; the whole 
 city was plunged in desperate grief; 
 and still worse was to follow. 
 
 The body of Anthony was a 
 precious treasure coveted by all. 
 As the dying gaze of St. Francis 
 rested upon Assisi, the city of his 
 soul, whose portals he was not again 
 permitted to enter in the flesh, so 
 Anthony, homesick and heart-sick 
 for his Padua, gave up the ghost 
 without her gates. Had Anthony 
 entered the city and breathed his 
 last in the monastery of his Order, 
 there could have arisen no question 
 as to the ultimate disposition of his 
 remains. But he fell by the way- 
 side, as it were; therefore the Poor 
 Clares, in whose humble hospice he 
 died, claimed the honor of enshrining 
 his remains; so did his brethren, the 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 141 
 
 Friars Minor of Padua; so also 
 did the suburbs and the magistracy 
 of Padua promptly forward their 
 claims. Thus it happened that the 
 body of the Saint who strove to 
 bring peace into the world once 
 more, became the source of violent 
 contention. 
 
 John Peckham describes the grief 
 of the Poor Clares at the death of 
 Anthony. "Alas!" they cried, "un- 
 happy we! O tender Father of our 
 souls, taken forever from your 
 daughters, why has death spared 
 us for this cruel blow? Our poverty 
 contented us and we counted our- 
 selves rich when we could hear you 
 preach to us the Gospel of the Lord." 
 
 Then one of the nuns sought to 
 console the others in these words: 
 "Why shed useless tears? It is not 
 the dead we are bewailing, but an 
 immortal, the companion of angels, 
 an inhabitant of heaven. A great 
 consolation will flow for us out of 
 this painful separation if we can 
 keep him here amongst us a joy 
 
142 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 we could not have whilst he lived." 
 The Poor Clares sent a deputation 
 to the magistrates and nobles of 
 Padua, beseeching them to lend 
 their influence to the end that the 
 body of Anthony might be retained 
 in their convent. The friars, imme- 
 diately upon learning of his death, 
 hastened to Arcella with the in- 
 tention of removing the remains at 
 once to their monastery of Santa 
 Maria. " It was his wish," they said, 
 in proof of their right to possess 
 the body. And so it was his wish; 
 yet the people of Capodiponte, where 
 Arcella was situated, openly sided 
 with the Poor Clares, and resolved 
 that the Friars Minor should not 
 carry away with them the blessed 
 remains. The friars appealed to the 
 bishop, who decided in their favor; 
 but when the enthusiastic Paduans 
 went forth to bring away the body, 
 they were met by the armed 
 partisans of the Poor Clares, and 
 bloodshed seemed imminent and 
 inevitable. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 143 
 
 At length the bishop persuaded 
 the combatants to declare a truce 
 until the provincial who was absent 
 at the time, and had been sent for 
 should return. Still this did not 
 suffice. That very night, while the 
 friars at the hospice of the Poor 
 Clares were watching beside the 
 dead behind barricaded doors, the 
 excited populace, eager to get a 
 view of the body, if not to carry 
 it away with them, threw down the 
 barricades and rushed in to drive 
 away the watchers. On the instant 
 they were struck blind, and trans- 
 fixed as if turned to stone. 
 
 At daybreak the multitude as- 
 sembled to look upon the body of 
 Anthony and to touch it. Miracles 
 were wrought then and there; while 
 from time to time arose a wail from 
 the people, who cried with one voice: 
 "Whither have you gone, loving 
 Father of Padua? Have you really 
 gone away, and left behind the 
 children who repented and were 
 born again to Christ through you? 
 
144 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 Where shall we find another to 
 preach to us orphans with such 
 patience and charity?" 
 
 Owing to the non-arrival of the 
 provincial, Brother Leo Valvasari, 
 a very wise and prudent man later 
 Archbishop of Milan, went out to 
 calm the passions of the ever- 
 increasing throngs. Addressing the 
 men of Arcella, he said: 
 
 - "My brothers, there can be no 
 question of justice as regards your 
 claim; but if you wish to retain 
 the body of Father Anthony, asking 
 it as a favor, I and my brethren 
 will consult as to what seems to 
 be the will of God. Meanwhile I 
 gladly give you permission to watch 
 the place where our holy Father 
 Anthony lies, in order that you may 
 not distrust us." 
 
 A body of armed men was sent 
 from Padua to protect the convent 
 of the Poor Clares, and an order 
 issued that any one molesting the 
 friars, or found carrying weapons 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 145 
 
 at Arcella, should be fined a hundred 
 pounds of silver. 
 
 When the bishop held court a 
 few days later, he summoned the 
 Friars Minor, as well as the repre- 
 sentatives of Capodiponte, in order 
 that he might hear and judge both 
 sides of the question. It was now 
 the belated provincial who arose 
 and said: 
 
 " Justice is a holy thing, and 
 must never be made the sport of 
 passion. Love and attachment are 
 praiseworthy, but they must give 
 way to justice. This present affair 
 has been conducted with blind pas- 
 sion rather than according to the 
 rules of justice. Who can doubt 
 that Brother Anthony belonged to 
 us? You all witnessed his arrival 
 at Santa Maria; how he went in 
 and out amongst us; how if he 
 went on a journey it was to us he 
 returned. A month ago he left us; 
 but only, as he himself said, to come 
 back in a short time, and then 
 to remain with us altogether. I, 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 therefore, who, although unworthy, 
 govern this province, declare frankly 
 Brother Anthony belongs to us, as 
 he himself wished. We do not 
 demand this ; but we, in all humility, 
 ask the venerated chief pastor, the 
 honorable council, and the faithful 
 people of Padua, to grant our 
 petition." 
 
 The petition was granted: the 
 Sisters of Arcella graciously resigned 
 their claim; peace was restored; 
 and on the i8th of June, 1231 
 five days after his death the body 
 of Anthony was solemnly conveyed 
 from the convent of the Poor Clares 
 to the Church of Santa Maria, in 
 Padua. It was a triumphal proces- 
 sion, participated in by the bishop, 
 the clergy, the members of the 
 University, the civil authorities, and 
 vast throngs of the inhabitants. 
 The noblest of the Padovani in 
 turn carried the bier; a myriad 
 flaming candles borne after it were 
 as a wake of fire. Pontifical Mass 
 was celebrated by the bishop; and, 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua '147 
 
 after the customary rites, the body 
 was laid in a marble sarcophagus 
 supported by four columns. From 
 this shrine a flood of miraculous 
 power issued. The blind saw, the 
 deaf heard, the maimed walked, and 
 the sick were healed. Even those 
 who could not enter the church for 
 the throngs that filled it to suffoca- 
 tion were cured in the presence of 
 the multitudes without. 
 
 Toward the end of his life, by 
 reason of his prolonged vigils, his 
 continuous fasting, his arduous and 
 unceasing labors, Anthony's form 
 was wasted, his face haggard, his skin 
 like drawn parchment; he was en- 
 feebled to the verge of decrepitude. 
 Those who looked upon his body 
 after death found it restored to the 
 incomparable beauty of youth. The 
 smile of infancy played upon those 
 fair features; a delicate flush suf- 
 fused them; the limbs were once 
 more softly rounded, and were pliable 
 to the very last, as if he were but 
 dreaming a sweet dream of rest. 
 
14-8 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 There he lay, wrapped in the inno- 
 cent slumber of a child, fragrant as 
 a dew-drenched rose a very lily of 
 purity plucked in its perfect prime. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 149 
 
 XXI. 
 
 THE SORROWS OF ANTHONY. 
 
 How can a saint be sorrowful? 
 Should not his sanctity alone be 
 sufficient to fill him with inexpressi- 
 ble joy? He can sorrow for the sins 
 of others, though he himself is sin- 
 less. Anthony no doubt did this 
 again and again, and yet again. He 
 can despise himself and his works, 
 they both fall so far short of his 
 ideal; and surely this is sorrow 
 enough for one soul to suffer. An- 
 thony sorrowed in like manner; but 
 I believe this was not his chief 
 sorrow. The source of his sorrow 
 lay elsewhere. 
 
 In looking back through the brief 
 history of his career, we find that, 
 in a certain sense, Anthony's life 
 was a series of disappointments, 
 
150 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 was, in fact, one long disappoint- 
 ment from beginning to end. He 
 did not pride himself upon his 
 noble blood. He despised the riches 
 that were in store for him and 
 turned from them with contempt. 
 He took no pleasure in the pastimes 
 of his playmates. He sought only 
 solitude; for his soul was ever 
 solitary, and would fain fly away 
 into the wilderness and there make 
 its home. 
 
 Having found a solitude which 
 seemed suitable in all respects, his 
 spiritual tranquillity was disturbed 
 by the advent of the friars who 
 were even then far on the royal 
 road to martyrdom. Then solitude 
 lost its charms; he also yearned 
 for the baptism of blood the blessed 
 pangs, the purifying flames, and the 
 martyr's glorious palm. Yet these 
 were not for him. At the very 
 threshold of the arena, where torture 
 and cruel death awaited their inno- 
 cent victims, he was denied ad- 
 mittance and laid low with a fever 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 151 
 
 that compelled his reluctant retreat. 
 Here was sorrow upon sorrow; for 
 he had been thus rudely awakened 
 from the loftiest dream of his life. 
 
 Again his heart sought retirement, 
 and, like the stricken deer, fled from 
 the herd in anguish and dismay. 
 The world he loathed with a 
 righteous loathing; and to escape 
 from it he feigned a simplicity of 
 mind that, had it been genuine, 
 must have unfitted him for almost 
 every walk in life. Through this 
 innocent ruse he was once more 
 enabled to taste the sweets of soli- 
 tude. There he enriched himself 
 with those spiritual riches which 
 he was anon to scatter broadcast 
 through the world. 
 
 Not long could he hide his light 
 under a bushel, let him try never 
 so hard. The breadth and beauty 
 of his mind, the loving kindness of 
 his heart, the splendor of his talents, 
 the wisdom of his judgment, the 
 depth of his penetration, the pro- 
 fundity of his speculations, and the 
 
1 52 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 luminous exposition of every theme 
 he touched upon, finally swept him 
 into the very vortex of political and 
 religious contention. 
 
 This was the end of all his cher- 
 ished hopes and fond aspirations. 
 Real solitude he could never again 
 know, save at long intervals and 
 for a little moment; and even then 
 he must have accused himself of 
 leaving worldly duties unperformed 
 for the holier and purer joy of 
 silence and seclusion. 
 
 But sorrow's crown of sorrow 
 awaited him. Finding himself sud- 
 denly called to his reward, with 
 but a few hours between him and 
 the grave, his one desire was to 
 reach the city he had chosen for 
 his own and the monastery of his 
 brother friars, where he had hoped 
 to end his days. Within sight of 
 the gates of that city, within sound 
 of the monastery bell, he was 
 stricken down to death; and for a 
 time it seemed as if his dust would 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 153 
 
 not be permitted to lie within the 
 sanctuary of his adoption. 
 
 Therefore I say that the sorrows 
 of Anthony were, in a certain 
 sense, continuous and unceasing, 
 that his life was one long sorrow. 
 He bore this grievous burden meekly 
 and in silence, with never a murmur 
 of complaint. We have not learned 
 from his lips or his pen a single 
 syllable of his sufferings, mental, 
 spiritual, or physical; but we know 
 full well that he was a man of 
 sorrows and acquainted with grief. 
 
J54 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 XXII. 
 
 THE JOYS OF ANTHONY. 
 
 SORROW is for a night; joy cometh 
 with the morning; and joys are 
 the more joyful by reason of the 
 sorrows that have preceded them. 
 Life without contrasts is like a 
 picture without light and shade 
 a blank. Such a life is not worth 
 the living. 
 
 A poet has remarked: "The joy 
 of love is loving." This is doubtless 
 true, and this was Anthony's chief 
 joy: he loved his fellowmen even 
 when he sought to shun them. It 
 was his nature to love, even as it 
 was his nature to seek retirement, 
 and to strive, perhaps, to forget 
 the object of his love; for his love 
 for God was the ruling passion of 
 his life. As he loved all, so he won 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 155 
 
 the love of all even the love of 
 his enemies, who straightway became 
 his faithful followers. 
 
 Out of the abundance of his love 
 he worked his wonders. Like a 
 good husbandman, he went to and 
 fro sowing peace in the field of 
 dissension. At his approach, bring- 
 ing with him as he did an atmosphere 
 that penetrated the hardest heart 
 and softened it, he attuned long- 
 standing discords; he harmonized 
 the inharmonious home circle. 
 
 To the wife fleeing from the wrath 
 of an enraged and unreasonable 
 husband, he said: "Return to your 
 own home in peace." And when 
 she had come to her own house, a 
 kindly welcome awaited her. To 
 the infant whose lips had not yet 
 framed a syllable, and whose father 
 had unjustly accused his wife of 
 infidelity, Anthony said : "My child, 
 I adjure thee, in the name of the 
 Infant God of the Manger, to declare 
 publicly, in clear and positive terms, 
 
 to whom thou owest thy exist ence." 
 11 
 
/5<5 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 The child, in the arms of its mother, 
 turned toward the accuser and pro- 
 nounced distinctly these three words : 
 "Behold my father!" Then An- 
 thony, taking the babe and placing 
 it in the arms of the husband, said: 
 " Love this child for it is indeed your 
 own. Love also your wife, who has 
 been proved to be faithful, devoted, 
 and worthy of your affection." 
 
 What a sermon, in a few words, on 
 true and false love, he preached at 
 the funeral of the Florentine notable ! 
 Anthony's text was: "Where thy 
 treasure is there thy heart is also." 
 Pausing suddenly, he beheld in a 
 vision the soul of that rich man in 
 torment. He exclaimed: "This rich 
 man is dead and his soul is in tor- 
 ture! Go open his coffers and you 
 will find his heart." The astonished 
 relatives and friends hastened to 
 do his bidding; and there, half 
 buried among the gold pieces, they 
 found the still palpitating heart of 
 the dead Croesus. 
 
 It was Anthony's fearless joy to 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 157 
 
 bring a misguided bishop to re- 
 pentance. He must have been con- 
 scious of his power to impart health 
 to the sick, and even to breathe 
 life into the marble lips of the 
 dead. Daily nay, almost hourly 
 he brought peace to the heart that 
 was troubled; he dried the tears 
 of the mourner, and planted hope 
 in the bosom of despair. These 
 were the joys that must have visited 
 him daily yea, even hourly; for 
 daily and hourly was he scattering 
 benedictions broadcast, even as the 
 rain from heaven that falleth alike 
 upon the just and the unjust. 
 
 And so he passed away from 
 sorrows that were ended, and from 
 earthly joys to the joys of heaven, 
 the joys that are without beginning 
 and without end. He passed away 
 beloved and bewailed by peoples 
 and by nations, whose hearts he 
 had touched as they had never yet 
 been touched; whose consciences he 
 had pricked until they had goaded 
 their possessors into new paths, 
 
j 58 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 where they learned to lead nobler 
 and braver lives; whose souls he 
 had quickened and gathered into 
 the fold, and saved forever and 
 forever. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 159 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 THE GLORIES OF ANTHONY. 
 
 NUMBERLESS are the glories of An- 
 thony, and they are ever increasing 
 from age to age. Pope Gregory IX., 
 who called him "the Ark of both 
 Testaments and the storehouse of 
 the Sacred Scriptures," longed to 
 honor him. Under his teaching and 
 preaching numberless heretics had 
 been converted, rebellious cities had 
 been reconciled, and the miracles 
 which were being constantly wrought 
 through his instrumentality had 
 created astonishing fervor through- 
 out the land; therefore it was the 
 wish of his Holiness to attach 
 Anthony to the Papal court and 
 invest him with the purple. The 
 gentle Franciscan, remembering the 
 replies of St. Dominic and St. Francis 
 
160 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 on a like occasion, in 1217, made 
 answer in the words of the founder 
 of his Order. "My Lord," said the 
 Seraphic Father, "my children are 
 called Friars Minor because they 
 hold the lowest rank in the Church. 
 This is their post of honor. Beware 
 of taking it from them under the 
 pretext of raising them higher. " 
 So Anthony was permitted to return 
 into the solitude of God, and this 
 was one of his glories. 
 
 It was a glorious privilege An- 
 thony enjoyed when he was per- 
 mitted to fly to the rescue of his 
 father, who was in dire distress. 
 That father Don Martino was still 
 a resident of Lisbon, still basking 
 in the favor of the King and holding 
 high office in the court. One day 
 a young nobleman coming from the 
 cathedral was seized and murdered 
 by assassins, who threw the body 
 into the garden of Don Martino, 
 which was close at hand. Don 
 Martino was arrested on suspicion 
 and cast into prison. 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 161 
 
 To Anthony the fate of his father 
 was miraculously revealed. Having 
 perfect faith in his innocence, and 
 desiring to go at once to his rescue, 
 Anthony asked leave of the superior 
 of the convent of Arcella to absent 
 himself from Padua for a little time. 
 He was himself Provincial, and not 
 obliged to ask leave of the Father 
 Guardian; but he never forgot the 
 exercise of humility, for he was 
 meekness itself. Having obtained 
 leave of absence, he began his weary 
 journey, scarcely knowing when or 
 how he was to reach its end, or 
 whether he should arrive in time to 
 rescue his father from impending 
 peril. Filled with hope and perfect 
 trust, suddenly he found himself 
 miraculously transported to Lisbon. 
 The trial was in progress. Anthony 
 at once entered the courts; and, 
 presenting himself before the judges, 
 who were struck dumb with amaze- 
 ment, he begged leave to speak in 
 defence of Don Martino. He de- 
 clared his father innocent. Where 
 
1 62 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 were his proofs? Anthony replied: 
 "The murdered man shall bear 
 witness as to the truth of my 
 testimony." 
 
 Anthony led the way to the 
 victim's grave, followed by the won- 
 dering judges and the excited popu- 
 lace. He commanded that the grave 
 be opened; and when it was opened 
 and the body was uncovered, An- 
 thony, addressing the dead man, 
 charged him, in the name of God 
 to say whether Martino de Bouillon 
 was his murderer. Rising in his 
 grave-clothes to a sitting posture, 
 resting upon one hand while the 
 other was raised to heaven, the dead 
 declared in a loud voice that Martino 
 de Bouillon was guiltless. Then, 
 turning to Anthony, he begged ab- 
 solution from an excommunication 
 under which he labored; and, when 
 his prayer was answered, he sank 
 back into his coffin, a corpse again. 
 Then the bewildered judges begged 
 the Saint to reveal the name of the 
 murderer, and he replied: "I come 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 165 
 
 to clear the innocent, not to denounce 
 the guilty." When Anthony re- 
 appeared at Arcella, he had been 
 absent two nights and a single day. 
 On another occasion Don Martino, 
 who had the management of a con- 
 siderable portion of the royal ex- 
 chequer, delivered a large sum of 
 money into the hands of his subor- 
 dinates, who neglected to give him 
 a receipt for it. Some months later, 
 when about to render his accounts 
 he remembered that he had no 
 receipt for certain monies delivered; 
 and when he asked for one, those who 
 had received the sum denied all 
 knowledge of the transaction. It 
 was a plot of his enemies to ruin 
 him. While he was standing before 
 his audacious accusers, in despair 
 of proving his case, Anthony ap- 
 peared at his side; and, naming to 
 his accusers the exact hour and the 
 very place when and where they had 
 received the money, even describ- 
 ing the different coins in which it 
 had been paid, he demanded that 
 
1 6 4 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 a full receipt be at once rendered 
 to his father; and as soon as it 
 was done he disappeared. This is 
 one of several instances of biloca- 
 tion in the miraculous history of 
 Anthony. 
 
 He knew the minds and the 
 hearts of all, and spoke to many 
 at a distance, calling them by 
 name he had perhaps never met 
 them face to face. At his word they 
 were converted, and returned to 
 the Holy Sacraments. Said Pope 
 Gregory IX. six hundred years ago: 
 "The supernatural which blossoms 
 from the tombs of the elect is a 
 continuous proclamation of truth; 
 for by this means God confounds 
 the malice of heretics, confirms the 
 truth of Catholic dogma, renews the 
 faith that is on the point of being 
 extinguished, leads back Christians 
 who have erred nay, even Jews 
 and pagans to the feet of Him 
 who is the Way, the Truth^ and the 
 Life." 
 
 The famous book of the Bollan- 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 165 
 
 dists contains nearly thirty folio 
 pages filled with the record of pure 
 miracles. Azevedo devotes an entire 
 book of four chapters to some of 
 the miracles of Anthony selected 
 by the Bollandists as most authen- 
 tic. Under the head of " Death, " 
 among the classified miracles, Aze- 
 vedo names a dozen cases; in each 
 case the dead was brought to life. 
 Under the head of ' ' Error " he 
 notes numerous miraculous conver- 
 sions, among them a Lutheran, a 
 Calvinist, a Turkish lady, and an 
 Indian prince. Under the title of 
 " Calamity " are stories of miraculous 
 relief brought to many and various 
 persons. Those condemned to death 
 were delivered, the imprisoned were 
 set free, and all manner of diseases 
 were healed. 
 
 It is a pretty story told of a child 
 whose mother seeing it fall from a 
 high window, cried to Anthony for 
 help. When the distracted mother 
 rushed to seek her boy, he ran 
 smiling to her and said: "A friar 
 
1 66 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 caught me in his arms and placed 
 me gently on the ground/' The 
 mother took her child to the old 
 Franciscan church of Ara Cceli, in 
 Rome, to return thanks; and as 
 they entered it the little fellow, 
 pointing to a picture, said: "See! 
 there is the friar who saved me!" 
 The friar was St. Anthony of Padua. 
 A poor leper was being carried 
 to the shrine of Anthony when he 
 was met by a heartless soldier who 
 scoffingly saluted him: "Whither 
 art thou going, wretch? May thy 
 leprosy come upon myself if St. 
 Anthony succeeds in curing thee!" 
 The leper went his way; and, while 
 praying fervently, the Saint ap- 
 peared to him and said: "Arise! 
 Thou art whole. But seek out the 
 soldier who mocked thee and give 
 him the clappers; for leprosy is 
 already devouring him." (The clap- 
 pers were an instrument of warning 
 which all lepers were obliged to 
 carry about with them when in 
 the streets, that people might avoid 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 167 
 
 infection.) He who was a leper but 
 a few moments before found the 
 soldier in a wretched plight. The 
 soldier, in his turn, repented; and, 
 calling upon the Saint, he was 
 straightway healed. 
 
 Many were the wells he blessed, 
 and the waters thereof cured fevers 
 from that hour. Indeed, so wide is 
 the range of his miracles that one 
 may call on him in any strait. 
 
 Perhaps the tenderest devotion 
 of all he has awakened in the 
 guileless heart of maidenhood. At 
 his feet she lays her heart, and asks 
 of him guidance in the choice of 
 its protector. Trusting him, through 
 him she would trust his choice for 
 her; and thus repose in perfect 
 confidence upon the bosom of one 
 whose lot in life she has been sought 
 to share in a union so dear, so 
 delicate, so devotional, it seems 
 indeed under the immediate patron- 
 age of the most loyal and lovable 
 of saints. 
 
 Anthony spent the first fifteen 
 
1 68 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 years of his brief life in his paternal 
 home; two years at St. Vincent's 
 the monastery of the Canons Regular 
 of St. Augustine, near Lisbon; nine 
 years at Santa Cruz, in Coimbra; 
 and about ten and a half years in 
 the Order of the Friars Minor. He 
 then passed away. So prodigious 
 were the wonders worked at his 
 tomb and through his intercession, 
 within six months after Anthony's 
 death the bishop of Padua petitioned 
 the Holy See to confer on the wonder- 
 worker the honor of canonization. 
 The preliminary judicial inquiries 
 were instituted without delay; and, 
 by an exception almost unparalleled 
 in history, before the year was 
 ended, on Whit-Sunday, May 30, 
 1232, the Sovereign Pontiff Gregory 
 IX., then at Spoleto, solemnly pro- 
 nounced the decree of canonization. 
 In it he says: 
 
 "Having ourselves witnessed the 
 wonderful and holy life of blessed 
 Anthony, the great wonder-worker 
 of the universal Church, and unwill- 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 169 
 
 ing to withhold the honor due on 
 earth from one whom Heaven itself 
 has surrounded with glory, we, in 
 virtue of the plenitude of our apos- 
 tolic authority, after having duly 
 consulted our brethren the cardinals, 
 deem it expedient to inscribe him 
 in the calendar of saints." 
 
 Indescribable rejoicing followed 
 the announcement that Anthony 
 had been declared a saint. His 
 mother and his two sisters, who 
 survived him, enjoyed the extraor- 
 dinary privilege of witnessing the 
 festivities given in honor of the 
 Saint. Every city that had known 
 him in the flesh now especially 
 honored him ; every house or hospice 
 or haunt that he had visited became 
 hallowed in the eyes of his followers 
 and a place of pious pilgrimage. 
 At Brive, in the south of France, 
 pilgrimages were twice interrupted 
 and for a long time discontinued. 
 In 1565 the Calvinists were the cause 
 of this interruption, and in 1793 the 
 Revolutionists. But in 1874 Mon- 
 
i jo The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 signer Berteaux re-established the 
 devotion; the sons of St. Francis 
 again took possession of the hill 
 sanctified by the prayers of the 
 wonder-worker; and the Bishop of 
 Tulle, on August 3, 1874, when 
 the Franciscans were reinstated, re- 
 marked on that joyful occasion: 
 
 " To-day I, the Bishop of this 
 diocese, in the name of the Church, 
 take possession again of this vener- 
 able sanctuary, this celestial hill. . . . 
 This spot has heard the ardent sighs 
 of an impassioned lover of Christ, 
 the mighty orator who drew his 
 mystic lore from the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures and deserved to be styled by 
 Gregory IX. 'the Ark of the Testa- 
 ment.' His commentaries on the 
 divine pages may be likened to a 
 golden harp sending forth magnifi- 
 cent harmonies to the glory of the 
 Word Incarnate. The Child Jesus 
 Himself touched his lips and his 
 fingers, that they might pour forth 
 golden words. This inspired preacher 
 of the word of God, whom we call 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 Anthony of Padua, has trodden 
 these valleys and plains, has prayed 
 and watched in this lonely cave, 
 has slaked his thirst in this clear 
 water which is a reflection of the 
 purity of his soul. To-day I bid 
 you welcome, sons of St. Francis, 
 to this spot, once inhabited by your 
 brother, the great wonder-worker. 
 Proclaim Christ wheresoever you 
 go; ... and in all your strivings 
 imitate your holy brother in St. 
 Francis, the great St. Anthony of 
 Padua." 
 
 Brive is annually the resort of 
 thousands of pilgrims; and not 
 Brive only and the valley of the 
 Correze: everywhere and under 
 many forms St. Anthony is ven- 
 erated. At Vaucluse and elsewhere 
 it has been the custom to invoke 
 St. Anthony in order to insure a 
 plentiful harvest. In a breviary of 
 the fourteenth century belenging to 
 the diocese of Apt we find the follow- 
 ing form of blessing, it is the bless- 
 ing of the seed-grain: 
 
 12 
 
172 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 " Bless, O Lord! this seed; and, 
 through the merits of our blessed 
 father St. Anthony, deign to mul- 
 tiply it, and cause it to bring forth 
 fruit a hundredfold; and preserve 
 it from lightning and tempest. Who 
 livest and reignest world without 
 end. Amen." 
 
 In the same volume is found the 
 following prayer used when a bless- 
 ing was invoked upon a child; and 
 a measure of corn the weight of 
 the child was distributed among 
 the poor: 
 
 "We humbly beseech Thy clem- 
 ency, O Lord Jesus Christ! through 
 the merits and prayers of our most 
 glorious father St. Anthony, that 
 Thou wouldst deign to preserve 
 from all ill fits, plague, epidemic, 
 fever and mortality -- this Thy 
 servant, who, in Thy name and in 
 honor of our blessed father St. 
 Anthony, we place in this balance 
 with wheat, the weight of his body, 
 for the comfort of the poor sick 
 who suffer in this hospital. Deign 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padva 173 
 
 to give him length of days, and 
 permit him to attain the evening 
 of life; and, by the merits and 
 prayers of the Saint we invoke, 
 grant him a portion in Thy holy 
 and eternal inheritance, guarding 
 and preserving him from all his 
 enemies. Who livest and reignest 
 with the Father and the Holy Ghost 
 world without end. Amen/' 
 
J74 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 AN UNFADING MEMORY. 
 
 FROM the very first, confraternities 
 in honor of St. Anthony have existed 
 in many parts of the world. With 
 the revival of the spirit of Catholic 
 devotion, the love for St. Anthony 
 increased. His blessed name had 
 ever been associated with the relief 
 of tte wants of the poor; and a 
 favorite form of charity, in his name, 
 has been the liberal bestowal of 
 loaves among the hungry and im- 
 poverished. This bread has come 
 to be known as the bread of St. 
 Anthony. 
 
 Says a good woman, writing as 
 late as 1892, from Toulon: 
 
 11 1 promised bread to St. Anthony 
 for his poor if he would help me, 
 and he has helped me. All my 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 175 
 
 friends pray with me to the good 
 Saint, and all our troubles are com- 
 mended to him with a promise of 
 bread to his poor. We are astonished 
 at the graces thus obtained. One 
 of my most intimate friends prom- 
 ised a certain amount of bread every 
 day of her life if a member of her 
 family could be cured of a fault 
 that had caused her great grief for 
 three and twenty years, and the 
 prayer was granted. In thanks- 
 giving she bought a little statue of 
 St. Anthony, and we put it up in 
 a dark corner where we require a 
 big lamp to see it. And now my 
 backshop is filled all day with people 
 in fervent prayer. Not only do they 
 pray, but one would think that 
 they were paid to spread this devo- 
 tion, so zealously do they do so. 
 Sometimes a soldier, an officer, a 
 sea-captain, going for a long voyage, 
 will promise so much per month in 
 bread to St. Anthony if they make 
 their journey safely. Sometimes it 
 is a mother asking for the health 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 of her sick child, or perhaps for 
 the success of an examination. Then, 
 again, it is a family asking for the 
 conversion of one amongst them 
 who is dying and will not see a 
 priest; a servant out of a place, or 
 working people out of work; and 
 all these petitions, which are accom- 
 panied with the promise of bread, 
 are granted/' 
 
 The Universal Association of St. 
 Anthony of Padua, founded by Don 
 Locatilli at the request and with 
 the blessing of Pope Leo XIII., has 
 been established at Padua. It now 
 numbers nearly 260,000 members. 
 The Pious Union a similar organ- 
 ization is flourishing in Rome. Here 
 and there in England and Ireland, 
 chiefly in convents, the bread-givers 
 have given freely in St. Anthony's 
 name. 
 
 There is a humble little Franciscan 
 monastery church at Crawley, Sus- 
 sex, England. Within that church 
 is a chapel which for a long time 
 was not dedicated to any special 
 
The Wonder-Worker of Padua 177 
 
 object. Recently a remarkably fine 
 portrait of St. Anthony was dis- 
 covered at Crawley; it was placed 
 in the unoccupied chapel, and the 
 chapel was dedicated to the Saint. 
 Thus was established the Guild of 
 St. Anthony; its object, the pro- 
 motion of devotion to St. Anthony 
 and to propagate the work of the 
 distribution of his Bread to the 
 Poor. ''Masses and other spiritual 
 advantages are given to its members, 
 who are placed under no other 
 obligation than the entering of their 
 names in the register kept for that 
 purpose at Crawley." The alms, 
 or the bread promised in the name 
 of St. Anthony, can be given wher- 
 ever the donor pleases. Any reader 
 who is interested in this beautiful 
 charity can learn full particulars by 
 applying in person or through the 
 mails to the Rev. Father Guardian, 
 O. S. F. C., Franciscan Monastery, 
 Crawley, Sussex, England. 
 
 When faith has been at a low 
 ebb devotion to our Saint has not 
 
IT '8 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 dwindled. At Auges, where there 
 is a very precious relic of St. An- 
 thony, the inhabitants have been 
 ever loyal to a man. A hard- 
 working peasant is reported to have 
 said to his son, with more enthu- 
 siasm than judgment: "You may 
 work on Sundays and you may 
 work on holydays even Christmas 
 and Easter if you must; but if 
 you are so wicked as to work on 
 St. Anthony's Day I will hang you 
 from the highest gable of the house/' 
 The body of St. Anthony was 
 brought into Padua on Tuesday. 
 It is a well-attested fact that no 
 single sufferer who invoked his aid 
 on that day failed to be cured. In 
 1617 a lady of Bologna, who in 
 her distress had appealed to St. 
 Anthony, saw in a dream his like- 
 ness. The Saint opened his lips 
 and said: "Go on nine consecutive 
 Tuesdays and visit the chapel of 
 the Friars Minor ; there receive Holy 
 Communion, and thy prayers shall 
 be granted." And it was as he 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 179 
 
 had promised her. This miracle gave 
 rise to the devotion of the Nine 
 Tuesdays in honor of St. Anthony; 
 later it was increased to thirteen, 
 in honor of the date of his death. 
 
 For more than thirty years the 
 body of the Saint remained in its 
 marble shrine in the Church of 
 Santa Maria Maggiore; but the 
 friars and the people were not 
 content, and in 1263 it was trans- 
 lated by St. Bona venture to the 
 high altar of a new church built 
 by the Friars Minor in his honor. 
 On opening the shrine at this time, 
 it was found that the body had 
 returned to dust, but the tongue 
 was incorrupt and of a natural 
 color. St. Bonaventure exclaimed 
 in a transport of devotion: "O 
 blessed tongue, which always didst 
 bless the Lord and cause others to 
 bless Him, now does it appear plainly 
 how highly thou wert esteemed by 
 God!"' 
 
 In 1310 his body was again 
 translated to a chapel which had 
 
180 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 been built expressly for it. This 
 chapel did not satisfy the devotion 
 of the friars; and still another, 
 far more commodious and splendid, 
 was erected, and thither the remains 
 were translated in 1350. Many relics 
 had been scattered among churches 
 in various parts of Europe; and 
 these were, as far as possible, 
 .gathered together, and in 1745 they 
 were all solemnly deposited in the 
 magnificent receptacle where they 
 are now venerated. 
 
 In 1749 the church was nearly 
 destroyed by fire, yet the altar of 
 the Saint was quite uninjured. While 
 the flames were raging fiercely, 
 crowds of people were seen climbing 
 upon the sagging roof and hurrying 
 through the building in the midst 
 of smoke and falling timbers; and, 
 though many fell among the glow- 
 ing coals and were struck by flying 
 firebrands, no one was injured. 
 
 The church and the chapel are 
 among the richest and most beauti- 
 ful in the world, and these alone are 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 181 
 
 sufficient to attract thousands annu- 
 ally to Padua. His is the ruling 
 spirit there; one thinks only of 
 him. Often a hideous little carving 
 of bone or wood or metal is offered 
 you for a mere trifle ; and his medals, 
 his photographs, copies of portraits 
 of surpassing loveliness, are for sale 
 on every street corner. Within that 
 shrine what splendor delights the 
 eye! All that can be done with 
 marble and bronze, and silver and 
 gold and precious stones has been 
 superbly done in the ornamentation 
 of that wondrous mausoleum. 
 
 Three sunburnt fishermen were 
 kneeling with their foreheads resting 
 on the sculptured marble of the 
 tomb when I last drew near it. Is 
 not good San Antonio the protector 
 of all seafarers? Do not fair winds 
 come through his intercession? Are 
 not his medals and statuettes worn 
 by devout Christian sailors the wide 
 seas over? 
 
 Having spent hours of rare refresh- 
 ment in that glorious temple, and 
 
182 The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 gathered my little store of pious 
 objects, I returned to mine inn for 
 rest. From the windows I saw the 
 lofty walls of II Santo the Basilica 
 of San Antonio towering against 
 the sunset. There is nothing finer 
 than the proportions of this wondrous 
 structure. Larger than San Marco 
 at Venice, it is far more impressive 
 when viewed from without. There 
 are a hundred gables that toss like 
 a broken sea. Clusters of delicate 
 spires spring into space like frozen 
 fountains; and over all rise seven 
 splendid domes that seem to be 
 floating in mid-air. One almost fears 
 that the whole will melt away in 
 the twilight, and leave only the 
 spot that it once glorified like an 
 Arabian tale that is told. Surely 
 its creation was magical. Some 
 genie, sporting with the elements, 
 made marble soluble; and, dreaming 
 of the fabulous East, he blew this 
 pyramid of gigantic bubbles, and 
 had not the heart to let them break 
 and vanish. Or is it but another 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 183 
 
 miracle of the beloved Saint? 
 St. Anthony of Padua has been 
 hailed as the Eminent Doctor, the 
 defender of the Divinity of the In- 
 carnate Word, and the vindicator 
 of the Real Presence. He was also 
 the champion and the apostle of 
 the glorious mystery of Mary's As- 
 sumption, as the Patriarch of Assisi 
 had been of her Immaculate Con- 
 ception. It was St. Anthony who 
 uttered the versicle incorporated in 
 her Office on the Assumption : "The 
 august Mother of God has been 
 assumed into heaven and placed 
 above the angelic choirs." What 
 proof had he of this? Our Blessed 
 Lady appeared to him; with his 
 eyes he saw her in her glory; with 
 enraptured ears he listened to her 
 voice celestial as she said: "Be 
 assured, my son, that this my body, 
 which has been the living ark of the 
 Word Incarnate, has been preserved 
 from the corruption of the grave. 
 Be equally assured that, three days 
 after my death, it was carried upon 
 
184. The Wonder -Worker of Padua 
 
 the wings of angels to the right 
 hand of the Son of God, where I 
 reign Queen. " 
 
 Therefore, with a heart filled with 
 indescribable joy, he exclaimed: 
 "The Virgin of Nazareth has, by a 
 singular privilege, been preserved 
 from the original stain and filled 
 with a plenitude of grace. Hail, 
 O Mother of God, city of refuge, 
 sublime mountain, throne of the 
 Most High, fruitful vine yielding 
 golden grapes, flooding the hearts 
 of men with the holy exaltation of 
 pure love! Hail, Star of the Sea! 
 Thy gentle and radiant light is our 
 guide in the darkness, showing us 
 the entrance to the harbor above. 
 Woe to the pilot whose eyes are 
 not fixed on thee! His frail bark 
 will become the plaything of the 
 storm, and will be swallowed up 
 in the foaming billows." 
 
 The glowing tributes which have 
 been paid to St. Anthony of Padua 
 would fill volumes, yet the noblest 
 tribute of all is the silent but ardent 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua 183 
 
 love his millions of followers have 
 given him. Nothing need be added 
 to this, yet I will add what St. 
 Bonaventure said: that St. Anthony 
 was "an angelic soul," and that his 
 crown of glory was enriched with 
 all the gems of grace and perfec- 
 tion distributed amongst the other 
 saints. "He possessed the science 
 of the angels, the faith of the 
 patriarchs, the foreknowledge of the 
 prophets, the zeal of the apostles, 
 the purity of virgins, the austerities 
 of confessors, and the heroism of 
 martyrs. " 
 
 St. Antoninus, the illustrious Arch- 
 bishop of Florence, says of St. An- 
 thony : "He was a vessel of election, 
 an eagle in knowledge, a wonder- 
 worker beyond compare." And the 
 Franciscan Liturgy adds: "A violet 
 of humility, a lily of chastity, a 
 rose of divine charity." He was the 
 ardent advocate, the favorite and 
 the champion of the Sacred Heart. 
 Three centuries after his death the 
 Venerable Jane Mary of the Cross 
 
186 The Wonder-Worker of Padua 
 
 describes the following vision with 
 which she was blessed: 
 
 "While in prayer on the Feast 
 of St. Anthony, I saw the soul of 
 this Saint borne by angels to the 
 feet of Christ. Our Lord opened 
 wide the wound of His Heart; and 
 this Heart, all radiant with light, 
 attracted and seemed, in some sort, 
 to absorb the soul of St. Anthony, 
 as the light of the sun absorbs all 
 other light. In the Heart of Jesus 
 the soul of the Saint appeared to 
 me like a precious gem of radiating 
 brilliancy, which filled all the cavity. 
 The varied play of its colors repre- 
 sented to me the virtues of the 
 Saint. They shone with marvellous 
 splendor in the ocean of light pro- 
 ceeding from the Heart of Jesus, 
 to the honor of Christ and the glory 
 of the Saint himself. Then Jesus 
 took this lustrous gem in His Heart 
 and presented it to His Heavenly 
 Father, who caused it to be admired 
 by the angels and saints." 
 
The Wonder -Worker of Padua i8j 
 
 "When you hear that I am a 
 saint, then bless ye the Lord." These 
 words, that fell from the lips of the 
 youthful Anthony when he first 
 went in search of martyrdom, were 
 not addressed to his brethren at 
 the Abbey of Santa Cruz alone : they 
 are as fresh and as appealing now 
 as they ever were; they are alive 
 and shall always remain alive; and 
 to-day now this very hour they 
 are addressed to me and to you, and 
 to everyone that lives or shall live 
 in ages to come, even unto the end 
 of the world. 
 
 "Bless ye the Lord!" 
 
LIFE OF THE CURE OF ARS 
 
 BY KATHLEEN O'MEARA 
 
 THE AvE MARIA Press, which has done so 
 much for Catholic literature and truth, has ren- 
 dered conspicuous service to the good cause in 
 publishing this volume. Readers of "Iza's 
 Story," "Narka," etc., will expect a rare treat 
 when they see Kathleen O'Meara's name, and 
 they will not be disappointed. In limpid, 
 pleasant style she tells the story of this wonder- 
 ful life, and we would recommend it to all, 
 especially to those weak-kneed believers who 
 are fond of concealing those supernatural aspects 
 of their religion at which the world is so much 
 inclined to scoff. Catholic Magazine, (South 
 Africa.) 
 
 A more beautiful story than Kathleen 
 O'Meara's "Life of the Cure of Ars" would be 
 hard to find. It is what might be called an 
 English life, that is, utterly free from the pietism 
 which for Americans so often disfigures the 
 true life of a saint in the hands of French and 
 Italian writers. It is not that our ideals of the 
 saint are different, but that for the most part 
 the saints have suffered from inferior biographers. 
 With these people the fasts, lashings, humilia- 
 tions of the saint, are more than his life. The 
 means is made the end for the sake of descrip- 
 tion, or to cover up the deficiencies of the 
 biographer. Donahoe's Magazine. 
 
 1 2 wo., cloth, $i. 
 THE AVE MARIA, Notre Dame, Indiana 
 
A TROUBLED HEART, AND HOW IT 
 WAS COMFORTED AT LAST. 
 
 This is a very entertaining volume of auto- 
 biography. In it the author tells the story of that 
 portion of his life during which he had been 
 troubled at heart, and tortured by religious 
 doubt. His description of the various mental 
 states through which he passed, of the different 
 sects of which he had experience, of their 
 worship and usages, is most interesting and 
 entertaining. The author brings to his task a 
 very correct and graceful English style, and 
 shows in many passages of his book that he is 
 gifted with descriptive powers of a very high 
 order. This work can be read both with pleasure 
 and profit. The Irish Ecclesiastical Record. 
 
 "A Troubled Heart, and How It was Com- 
 forted at Last," is the title of a remarkably 
 well-written account of the conversion of a 
 Protestant to the Roman Catholic Church. It 
 is the soul experience of one who longed for 
 something more vivid and tangible than the 
 Protestant service gave him, and who found it 
 in the impressive ritual of the Roman Church. 
 Many passages of the book glow with suppressed 
 feeling, and are eloquent with a fervor which 
 comes straight from the heart. However he 
 may differ from the author, no reader can fail 
 to respect his evident sincerity and his literary 
 gifts. Sunday Chronicle, (San Francisco.) 
 
 i6mo., cloth, 75 cts. 
 THE AVE MARIA, Notre Dame, Indiana 
 
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