On the Feast of the Hammer of Heretics, Saint Anthony of Padua, June 13, 2024

No Catholic who takes the salvation of his immortal soul seriously can ignore the intercessory power of Saint Anthony of Padua. Over and above all of the little things we ask Saint Anthony to find after we have lost them, Saint Anthony of Padua, an exemplary preacher of the truths of the Catholic Faith, must be invoked today in our times under one of his most important titles, "The Hammer of Heretics." We need Saint Anthony's help right now in the midst of the difficulties within Holy Mother Church so that each of us will be fortified by our hidden time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and our unabashed expressions of love for the Holy Name of Mary to proclaim the truths of the true Faith openly in the midst of the heretics in the counterfeit church of conciliarism who want to convince us that everything about the Catholic Church prior to the death of Pope Pius XII on October 9, 1958, must be rejected and vilified and apologized for. Although Saint Anthony is a saint for all days and for all ages, he is particularly apt to help Holy Mother Church in these our days, rife as they are with all of the synthesized heresies that have amalgamated themselves under the aegis of Modernism.

Thirteen years the junior of Saint Francis of Assisi, Fernando Bulhom (or Bouillon) was born, as some accounts report, the son of Martin and Theresa Bulhom (or Bouillon) in Lisbon at a time, in 1195, when that great, proud capital of Portugal was under the control of Spain. Young Fernando joined the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine at the age of fifteen, leaving them at the age of twenty-six to join the Franciscans, having been inspired by the example of the Franciscan Protomartyrs (Saints Berard, Peter, Otho, Accursius and Adjutus) who were beheaded in Morocco in the year 1220. Fernando had seen the bodies of these great martyrs at the Church of Santa Croce in Coimbra shortly after their martyrdom at the hands of that peace-loving group known as Mohammedans. Fernando took the name of Anthony once he joined the Order of Friars Minor, where he lived and prayed and served so valorously until his death ten years later at the age of thirty-six.

Saint Anthony, who had distinguished himself in the Augustinian order, did not realize his desire to die a martyr's death at the hands of the adherents of George Walker Bush's and Barack Hussein Obama/Barry Soetoro's "religion of peace" that the conciliar "popes" have hailed as a "great monotheistic religion." A shipwreck in 1221 en route back to Portugal from Morocco, where he had taken seriously ill, placed Saint Anthony on the shores of Sicily. He went from there to try to get himself to the Third General Chapter of the Franciscans, being noticed by no one as the other Franciscans were receiving their various assignments. The learned and holy Saint Anthony was taken in by Father Graziano, the Provincial of Coimbra, who brought him to Monte Paolo, near Bologna, whereafter he was ordained to the priesthood to offer Holy Mass for the lay Franciscans. It was there that he was called upon to preach in the absence of any other priest who was prepared to do so during an ordination Mass. It was from that point on that his fame as a preacher and teacher and worker of miracles spread throughout Europe.

Saint Anthony's life of study and contemplation prior to that time, however, had prepared him very well to preach the Faith clearly and unequivocally at a time when the heresy of Albigensianism (a variation of Manicheanism, the belief that there was a "good spirit who created the spiritual, and in an evil spirit who created the material world, including the human body, which is therefore under his control") had spread in southern France in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. He was the most glorious and renowned of all of the sons of Saint Francis of Assisi, who addressed his son in these words in 1224: 

To Brother Anthony, my bishop (i.e. teacher of sacred sciences), Brother Francis sends his greetings. It is my pleasure that thou teach theology to the brethren, provided, however, that as the Rule prescribes, the spirit of prayer and devotion may not be extinguished. Farewell. (St . Anthony of Padua.)

Saint Anthony accepted his assignment as a professor, teaching at the University of Bologna and at the University of Toulouse, inspiring his students to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament in prayer and to proclaim the Holy Name of Mary when faced with difficult situations and persons. He was unafraid to proclaim the fullness of the Faith in whatever circumstances he found himself, sparing neither the lowly nor those of great station in the Church and in the world.

To wit, Saint Anthony once began a sermon at a synod in Bourges, France, reproving Archbishop Simon de Sully as follows: "You, the mitred one! It is about you I shall be preaching now." The archbishop repented of his errors and reformed. No, not even bishops were immune from his efforts to call men to absolute, unwavering fidelity to the Deposit of Faith and to the faithful fulfillment of their duties to oppose error without any ambiguity and without any hint of compromise with said error.

Saint Anthony was a lover of the poor. He pleaded with creditors to forgive the debts of their debtors. He preached against usury, which is one of the very foundations of contemporary commerical and economic life. And it was his tireless efforts that saw the municipality of Padua pass laws in 1231, shortly before his own death, that favored the cause of debtors who could not pay off their debts. He preached with great fire near the end of his life about the necessity of ending enmities and hatreds, thus effecting the reconciliation of countless thousands of estranged people to each other. Is it any wonder that the Christ Child, Who lived in poverty and Whose Sacred Heart is the repository of His Divine Mercy, appeared to Saint Anthony to smother his face with kisses?

Dom Prosper Gueranger paid homage to the Portuguese-born friar who became a legend in both Italy and in France because of his relentless refutation of heresy and his burning love for Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that made him an eloquent preacher who moved souls to repentance and conversion:

“Rejoice thee, happy Padua, rich in thy priceless treasure!’ Anthony, in bequeathing thee his body, has done more for thy glory than the heroes who founded thee on so favored a site, or the doctors who have illustrated thy famous university!

The days of Charlemagne were past and gone: yet the work of Leo III still lived on, despite a thousand difficulties. The enemy, now at large, had sown cockle in the field of the divine householder; heresy was springing up here and there, while vice was growing apace in every direction. In many an heroic combat, the Popes, aided by the monastic Order, had succeeded in casting disorder out of the sanctuary itself: still the people, too long scandalized by venal pastors, were fast slipping away from the Church. Who could rally them once more? Who wrest from Satan a reconquest of the world? At this trying moment the Spirit of Pentecost, ever living, ever present in holy Church, raised up the sons of St Dominic and of St Francis. The brave soldiers of this new militia, organized to meet fresh necessities, threw themselves into the field, pursuing heresy into its most secret lurking holes, and thundering against vice in every shape and wheresoever found. In town or in country, they were everywhere to be seen confounding false teachers by the strong argument of miracle as well as of doctrine; mixing with the people, whom the sight of their heroic detachment easily won over to repentance. Crowds flocked to be enrolled in the Third Orders instituted by these two holy founders, to afford a secure refuge for the Christian life in the midst of the world.

The best known and most popular of all the sons of St. Francis is Anthony, whom we are celebrating this day. His life was short: at the age of thirty-five, he winged flight to heaven. But a span so limited allowed, nevertheless, of a considerable portion of time being directed by our Lord, to preparing this chosen servant for his destined ministry. The all-important thing in God’s esteem, where there is question of fitting apostolic men to become instruments of salvation to a greater number of souls, is not the length of time which they may devote to exterior works, but rather the degree of personal sanctification attained by them, and the thoroughness of their self-abandonment to the ways of divine Providence. As to Anthony, it may almost be said that, up to the last day of his life, Eternal Wisdom seemed to take pleasure in disconcerting all his thoughts and plans. Out of his twenty years of religious life, he passed ten amongst the Canons Regular, whither the divine call had invited him at the age of fifteen, in the full bloom of his innocence; and there, wholly captivated by the splendor of the Liturgy, occupied in the sweet study of the holy Scriptures and of the Fathers, blissfully lost in the silence of the cloister, his seraphic soul was ever being wafted to sublime heights, where (so it seemed) he was always to remain, held and hidden in the secret of God’s Face. When on a sudden, behold! the Divine Spirit urges him to seek the martyr’s crown: and presently, he is seen emerging from his beloved monastery, and following the Friars Minor to distant shores, where already some of their number had snatched the blood-stained palm. Not this, however, but the martyrdom of love, was to be his. Falling sick and reduced to impotence before his zeal could effect anything on the African soil, obedience recalled him to Spain, but instead of that, he was cast by a tempest on the Italian coast.

It happened that Saint Francis was just then convoking his entire family, for the third time, in general chapter. Anthony, unknown, lost in this vast assembly, beheld at its close each of the friars in turn receive his appointed destination, whereas to him not a thought was given. What a sight! The scion of the illustrious family de Bouillon and of the kings of the Asturias completely overlooked in the throng of holy Poverty’s sons! At the moment of departure, the Father Minister of the Bologna province, remarking the isolated condition of the young religious whom no one had received in charge, admitted him, out of charity, into his company. Accordingly, having reached the hermitage of Monte Paolo, Anthony was deputed to help in the kitchen and in sweeping the house, being supposed quite unfitted for anything else. Meanwhile, the Augustinian Canons, on the contrary, were bitterly lamenting the loss of one whose remarkable learning and sanctity, far more even than his nobility, had, up to this, been the glory of their Order.

The hour at last came, chosen by Providence, to manifest Anthony to the world; and immediately, as was said of Christ himself, the whole world went after him. Around the pulpits where this humble friar preached, there were wrought endless prodigies in the order of nature and of grace. At Rome he earned the surname of Ark of the Covenant; in France, that of Hammer of heretics. It would be impossible for us here to follow him throughout his luminous course; suffice it to say that France, as well as Italy, owes much to his zealous ministry.

St. Francis had yearned to be himself the bearer of the Gospel of peace through all the fair realm of France, then sorely ravaged by heresy; but in his stead, he sent thither Anthony, his well beloved son, and, as it were, his living portrait. What St. Dominic had been in the first crusade against the Albigenses, Anthony was in the second. At Toulouse was wrought that wondrous miracle of the famished mule turning aside from the proffered grain in order to prostrate in homage before the sacred Host. From the province of Berry, his burning word was heard thundering in various distant provinces; while Heaven lavished delicious favors on his soul, ever childlike amidst the marvelous victories achieved by him, and the intoxicating applause of an admiring crowd. Under the very eyes of his host, at a lonely house in Limousin, the Infant Jesus came to him radiant in beauty; and throwing himself into his arms, covered him with sweetest caresses, pressing the humble Friar to lavish the like on Him. One feast of the Assumption, Anthony was sad, because of a phrase then to be found in the Office seeming to throw a shade of discredit on the fact of Mary’s body being assumed into heaven together with her soul. Presently, the Mother of God herself came to console her devoted servant, in his lowly cell, assuring him of the truth of the doctrine of her glorious Assumption; and so left him, ravished with the sweet charms of her countenance and the melodious sound of her voice. Suddenly, as he was preaching at Montpellier, in a church of that city thronged with people, Anthony remembered that he had been appointed to chant the Alleluia at the conventual Mass in his own convent, and he had quite forgotten to get his place supplied. Deeply pained at this involuntary omission, he bent his head upon his breast: whilst standing thus motionless and silent in the pulpit, as though asleep, his brethren saw him enter their choir, sing his verse, and depart; at once his audience beheld him recover his animation, and continue his sermon with the same eloquence as before. In this same town of Montpellier, another well known incident occurred. When engaged in teaching a course of theology to his brethren, his commentary on the Psalms disappeared; but the thief was presently constrained, even by the fiend himself, to bring back the volume, the loss whereof had caused our saint so much regret. Such is commonly thought to be the origin of the popular devotion, whereby a special power of recovering lost things is ascribed to Saint Anthony. However this may be, it is certain that, from the very outset, this devotion rests on the testimony of startling miracles of this kind; and in our own day, constantly repeated favors of a similar nature still confirm the same. (Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year, Feast of Saint Anthony, June 13.)

The holiness of Saint Anthony was evidenced by the many miracles he performed during his own life, to say nothing of the countless miracles that have taken place in the nearly eight centuries since his death in the year 1231. He bi-located while giving a sermon. His mere blessing made poisonous food designed to kill him totally harmless. A horse (or donkey) that had refused to eat for three days knelt before the Blessed Sacrament when It was brought to him by Saint Anthony by unbelievers who did not believe in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist.. Schools of fishes gathered to hear him when his words had been rejected by hardened heretics.

Indeed, time simply does not permit the recounting of so many other documented miracles that took place during Saint Anthony's life. The most important miracles wrought by Saint Anthony during his lifetime and that are still being wrought by his intercessory power from Heaven, however, involve the conversion of souls away from sin to scale the heights of personal sanctity as members of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church founded by Our Lord upon the Rock of Peter, the Pope. Saint Anthony, a true Wonderworker (or Thaumaturgist), is working wonders yet in the Church and the world today. We can fly to him in total confidence, not only in times when we are in need of finding some lost object but especially in times when our faith begins to falter and when we seem to lose our way on the rocky road that leads to the Narrow Gate of Life Himself.

The readings from Matins in today's Divine Office teach about about some of the numberless glories and miracles of this great saint, Saint Anthony of Padua:

Ferdinand de Bullones, afterwards called Anthony, was born of decent parents at Lisbon in Portugal, on the Feast of the Assumption, in the year of grace 1195. They gave him a godly training, and while he was still a young man, he joined an Institute of Canons Regular. However, when the bodies of the five holy martyred Friars Minor, who had just suffered in Morocco for Christ's sake, were brought to Coimbra, the desire to be himself a martyr took a strong hold upon him, and in 1220 he left the Canons Regular and became a Franciscan. The same yearning led him to attempt to go among the Saracens, but he fell sick on the way, and, being obliged to turn back, the ship in which he had embarked for Spain was driven by stress of weather to Sicily.

From Sicily he came to Assisi to attend the General Chapter of his Order, and thence withdrew himself to the Hermitage of Monte Paolo near Bologna, where he gave himself up for a long while to consideration of the things of God, to fastings, and to watchings. Being afterwards ordained Priest and sent to preach the Gospel, his wisdom and fluency were very marked, and drew on him such admiration of men, that the Pope, once hearing him preach, called him The Ark of the Covenant. One of his chief points was to expend all his strength in attacking heresies, whence he gained the name of the Heretics' everlasting Hammer.

He was the first of his Order who, on account of his excellent gift of teaching, publicly lectured at Bologna on the interpretation of Holy Scripture, and directed the studies of his brethren. He traveled through many provinces. The year before his death he came to Padua, where he left some remarkable records of his holy life. After having undergone much toil for the glory of God, full of good works and miracles, he fell asleep in the Lord upon the 13th day of June, in the year of salvation 1231. Pope Gregory IX. enrolled his name among those of the Holy Confessors. (Matins, The Divine Office.)

Consider the prayer of Dom Prosper Gueranger in The Liturgical Year:

O glorious Anthony, the simplicity of thine innocent soul made thee a docile instrument in the hand of the Spirit of love. The Seraphic Doctor,  St. Bonaventure, hymning thy praises, takes for his first theme thy childlike spirit, and for his second thy wisdom which flowed therefrom. Wise indeed was thou, O Anthony, for, from thy tenderest years, thou wast in earnest pursuit of divine Wisdom; and wishing to have her alone for thy portion, thou didst hasten to shelter they love in some cloister, to hide thee in the secret of God's face, the better to enjoy her chaste delights. Silence and obscurity in her sweet company was thine heart's one ambition; and even here below her hands were pleased to adorn thee with incomparable splendour. She walked before thee; and blithely didst thou follow, for her own sake alone, without suspecting how all other good things were to become thine in her company. Happy a childlike spirit such as thine, to which are ever reserved, the more lavish favours of eternal Wisdom!

'But,' exclaims thy sainted panegyrist, 'who is really a child nowadays? Humble littleness is no more; therefore love is no more. Naught is to be seen now but valleys bulging into hills, and hills swelling into mountains. What saith Holy Writ? When they were lifted up, thou hast cast them down. To such towering vaunters, God saith again: Behold, I have made thee a small child; but exceedingly contemptible among the nations such infancy is. Wherefore will ye keep to this childishness, O men, making your days an endless series of inconstancy, boisterous and vain effort at garnering wretched chaff? Other is that infancy which is declared to be the greatest in the land of true greatness. Such as thine, O Anthony! and thereby wast thou wholly yielded up to Wisdom's sacred influence.' (Saint Bonaventure's Sermon on Saint Anthony of Padua)

In return for thy loving submission to God our Father in heaven, the populace obeyed thee, and fiercest tyrants trembled at thy voice. Heresy alone dared once to disobey thee,  and dared to refuse to hearken to they word: thereupon, the very fishes of the sea took up thy defence; for they came swimming in shoals, before the eyes of the whole city, to listen to thy preaching which heretics had scorned. Alas! error, having long ago recovered from the vigorous blows dealt by thee, is yet more emboldened in these days, claiming even sole right to speak. The offspring of Manes, whom, under the name of Alibgenses, thou didst so successfully combat, would now, under the new appellation of freemasonry, have all France at its beck; they native Portugal behold the same monster stalking in broad daylight almost up to the very altar; and the whole world is being intoxicated by its poison. O thou who dost daily fly to the aid of thy devoted clients in their private necessities, thou whose power is the same in heaven as heretofore upon earth, succour the Church, aid God's people, have pity upon society, now more universally and deeply menaced than ever. O thou ark of the covenant, bring back one generation, so terribly devoid of love and faith, to the serious study of sacred letters, wherein is so energizing a power. O thou hammer of heretics, strike once more such blows as well make hell tremble and all the heavenly powers thrill with joy. (Dom Prosper Gueranger, O.S.B., The Liturgical Year.)  

Popular devotion to Saint Anthony is one of the things that unites Catholics of all stripes in these times of massive confusion and disarray. Thousands of slips of paper, containing on them the prayer intentions of Catholics beseeching our dear wonder worker in Heaven, Saint Anthony, adorn his statue in the great church of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, Italy. (See picture below.) We must spread devotion to Saint Anthony, beseeching him most of all to help us to find our way home to Heaven in these times of doctrinal and liturgical shipwreck that have devastated so many souls.

It is no accident that Our Lady appeared to Francisco and Jacinta Marto and Lucia dos Santos on June 13, 1917, the 686th anniversary of the death of the illustrious son of Portugal, Saint Anthony. Saint Anthony loved the Mother of God. Her intercession from Heaven had helped to keep the land of his birth safe during times of peril and corruption. He would join in those prayers from Heaven upon his death on June 13, 1231.

How wonderful it is that Our Lady told Lucia on this very day, June 13, that she was to stay on earth and to suffer much, telling her that "Jesus wants to make me known and loved. He wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who practice this devotion. Those souls will be loved by God like flowers arranged by me to decorate His throne." She then went on to tell Lucia, "My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the road that will lead you to Heaven."

Saint Anthony's heart must beat with special joy in knowing that the date of his own birth unto eternal life was chosen by Our Lady to ask his fellow native of Portugal to spread devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to whose Holy Name he was so devoted and invoked so fearlessly in the midst of difficulties and controversies. It should be remembered that Our Lady appeared to Saint Anthony to console him when a line he had read in the Divine Office disturbed his peace about her bodily Assumption into Heaven, assuring him that she had indeed been assumed body and soul into Heaven. How fitting that Our Lady, who had appeared to Saint Anthony in his lifetime, would appear to Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia for a second time on this date, the date of his own entrance into eternal life!

Saint Anthony is especially powerful against the demons that torment us in life, seeking to deter us from persevering on the path to sanctity. The Saint Anthony's Brief is thus a particularly potent prayer to recite and to keep on one's very person at all times:

Ecce Crucem Domini, Fugite parte adversae, Vicit Leo de Tribu Juda, Radix David, Alleulia!

Behold the Cross of the Lord! Ye Adversaries of the Tribe of Juda, Root of David has conquered. Alleluia!

Saint Anthony lived only thirty-six years on this earth. He lived fifteen at home with his parents, ten with the Augustinians, and eleven with the Franciscans.

It is not the longevity of our lives that matters but how we use our time to follow Our Lord as members of His true Church and imitating the virtues of all of the saints, starting with the Queen of Heaven and earth herself, Our Blessed Mother. Saint Anthony did a lot in a short amount of time. Imagine how slothful we must appear to him as we waste our time on various diversions that have nothing at all to do with the salvation of our immortal souls. Imagine how much he, as a lover of Our Lady and as one who lived at the same time as Saint Dominic de Guzman and Saint Francis of Assisi, want us to pray at least one set of mysteries of her Most Holy Rosary each and every day without fail.

Honoring Saint Anthony of Padua on this great feast day and remembering as well the second apparition of Our Lady in the Cova da Iria in his native country, may we give public expression to our confidence in Saint Anthony, a son of Mary and a son of Saint Francis, in our desire to embrace all of the virtues, especially holy poverty, so that we might be rich unto eternity in an unending Easter Sunday of glory in Paradise.

Our Lady, Ark of the New Covenant, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, pray for us.

Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us.

Saint John the Baptist pray for us.

Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us.

Saint Anthony, who was once called by Pope Gregory IX the "Ark of the Covenant," pray for us to imitate your virtues and to regain by penance what we have lost by sin and hard-heartedness.

Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

Saint Bonaventure, chronicler of the life of Saint Anthony, pray for us.

Saint Dominic de Guzman,, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

Saints Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, pray for us.

Litany of Saint Anthony of Padua

(For Private Use)

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us
Saint Anthony of Padua, pray for us
Saint Anthony, glory of the Friars Minor, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, ark of the testament, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, sanctuary of heavenly wisdom, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, destroyer of worldly vanity, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, conqueror of impurity, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, example of humility, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, lover of the Cross, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, martyr of desire, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, generator of charity, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, zealous for justice, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, terror of infidels, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, model of perfection, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, consoler of the afflicted, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, restorer of lost things, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, defender of innocence, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, liberator of prisoners, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, guide of pilgrims, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, restorer of health, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, performer of miracles, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, restorer of speech to the mute, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, restorer of hearing to the deaf, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, restorer of sight to the blind, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, disperser of devils, pray for us.
Saint Anthony, reviver of the dead  pray for us.
Saint Anthony, tamer of tyrants, pray for us.
From the snares of the devil, Saint Anthony deliver us.
From thunder, lightning and storms, Saint Anthony deliver us.
From all evil of body and soul, Saint Anthony deliver us.
Through your intercession, Saint Anthony protect us.
Throughout the course of life, Saint Anthony protect us.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V. Saint Anthony, pray for us.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

O my God, may the pious commemoration of Saint Anthony, Thy Confessor and Proctor, give joy to Thy Church, that she may ever be fortified with your spiritual assistance and merit to attain everlasting joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Miraculous Responsory of Saint Anthony

If then you ask for miracles, Death, error, all calamities, Leprosy and demons fly, And health succeeds infirmities. The sea obeys and fetters break, And lifeless limbs you do restore; While treasures lost are found again, When young and old your aid implore. All dangers vanish at your prayer, And direst need does quickly flee; Let those who know your power proclaim. Let Paduans say: these are yours. To Father, Son, may glory be And Holy Ghost, eternally. Pray for us Blessed Anthony. Make us worthy of the promises of Christ.

Oremus:

O my God, may the pious commemoration of Saint Anthony, Thy Confessor and Proctor, give joy to Thy Church, that she may ever be fortified with your spiritual assistance and merit to attain everlasting joy. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Memorare of Saint Anthony

Remember, O thou miracle-working Saint, that it never was heard that thou hast left without help or relief anyone who in his need had recourse to thee. Animated with the most lively confidence, nay, even with full conviction of not being refused, I fly for refuge to thee, O most favoured and blessed friend of the Infant Jesus! O eloquent preacher of the Divine mercies, despise not my supplications, but, bringing them before the Throne of God, strengthen them by thine intercession, and obtain for me what I ask - help and consolation in my need, O most glorious miracle-working St. Anthony. Amen.