During this Christmastide let us remember that the Child Jesus is the center of our devotion and life not just the trappings of a supposed traditional Christmas. Let us remind ourselves how St. Anthony carries the Child Jesus everyday. He carries him to remind us that Christmas is not just one day but it is every day of the year.He carries him to remind us that Jesus is to be the center of our life. Let us spend this time in prayer and hope that Jesus will be the center of our life and imitate our dear Saint Anthony holding Jesus close to our hearts at all times. The Child Jesus is the center of Christmas and the Child Jesus should be always present to us everyday. St Anthony of Padua pray for us!

Wow! St Anthony's Day is also the memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I am sure St. Anthony is so happy since his love for Mary is well known. Of his sermons still in exisitance his praise of Mary survives. St. Anthony is also the patron of Portugal and Our Lady appeared to the children of Fatima on St. Anthony's Day in 1917. The children had to skip the St. Anthony's day festivities in order to meet with Our Lady. I am sure St. Anthony would not mind us skipping anything to honor him in order to honor her to whom the Franciscan Order is dedicated. The San Antonio Mission in Jolon California is having their annual fiesta on the 14th of June this year. I hope you can make it. The Mass starts at 11:00am and the festivities follow. Go and donate to save the Mission. If you can't make it at least send a donation to the address below in honor of St. Anthony's Bread. God bless you all and happy feasts of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and St. Anthony of Padua. St.Anthony's Bread c/o Mission San Antonio de Padua P.. Box 803 (End of Mission Road) Jolon, CA 93928 Phone - 831-385-4478

This year it was difficult to approach the priest to have some St Anthony's Bread blessed. I felt like I always force this stuff on other people. I felt as if it would not matter one way or the other if I got the bread blessed and distributed it.. I guess I allowed discouragement to set root in my heart. As you may well assume, St. Anthony's Day is one of great festivity for me. I usually have bread, oil, lilies and images blessed. This year I was a bit more prudent and only had some bread blessed and gave away the oil and lilies that remained from last year. Each year is different but every year we need to remind ourselves of the prayers of the Saint of Padua and his great kindness toward all who call upon his prayers. Saint Anthony of Padua, pray for us!

Prayer of Consecration to St. Anthony

Dear Saint Anthony, glorious servant and blessed friend of God! I salute you in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Who, in the form of a sweet little child, you had the privilege of holding in your arms. I rejoice in your joy; I glory in your honor; I offer you my heartfelt congratulations upon the unspeakable bliss of heaven which is now your reward, and I thank God with all my heart for the graces and privileges with which He has distinguished you above so many other saints. O Saint Anthony, I consecrate myself to you. I choose you to be my patron, my advocate, my powerful intercessor at the court of Heaven, and I resolve to honor you always. I beseech you, therefore, receive me as your client, protect me, defend me, help me in all the necessities of life, and assist me in the hour of my death, that my soul may be saved, and that with you I may glorify God forever. Amen.

Even A Donkey Can Get It Right!

There is a very famous story in the life of dear St. Anthony of Padua in which he was taken to task over his belief in the Holy Eucharist. The Saint was challenged to prove his belief by seeing whether a donkey would go toward food and water or the Holy Eucharist. The poor beast had been starved for three days and St. Anthony had made it clear that the donkey would worship Jesus in the Eucharist before be driven by instinct to feed and satiate itself with the food and water.

Of course if the animal had followed its instincts we would not be remembering it today. The donkey not only did not go directly to the food and water but in the town square in from of the populus knelt and as it were adored the Holy Eucharist and made believers out of everyone.

We too need to ignore what our senses tell us about the Holy Eucharist. We need to find Jesus truly present and worship Him. We need to ask the prayers of St. Anthony to help us grow closer in love for Jesus and imitated Jesus in all things.

St.Anthony of Padua, pray for us!
Mark

One...Two...Three...

Several years ago there was a very popular television program by the name of M*A*S*H. There was a corporal named Klinger. Klinger always wanted to get out of the army by being proclaimed insane. He tried many ways and one time he was in trouble because he had a very short fuse and a very big temper. He would fight just about anybody and when his commanding officer asked him to try to calm down he replied that his wife always told him to count to ten and then pray to Saint Anthony, When the commanding officer asked him if it worked he said that he never ever got to the prayer he would start counting and around three or four would start slugging.

While this little joke is kind of funny it can teach us a great lesson. Maybe we pray and ask the help of St. Anthony only after the problems already exist. We need to pray to be delivered from all evil beforehand. Sound familiar? Jesus taught us the Our Father and most of the petitions are set in the future. We can take time and pray asking the prayers of St. Anthony before things happen.

If we have a flaw or weakness we can ask him to pray with us and for us to be strong and patient. I think we should probably take Klinger's wife Lavern's advice although maybe in reverse. Pray first and then maybe count to ten before we act instead of react.

St. Anthony of Padua, one... two....three... pray for us!
Mark

Hey...Where's My Book?

In 1224, when obedience set him to preach in France, St. Anthony made hundreds of converts and friends. Few people today think of the Saint as a polyglot but he was fluent in several languages. 

A jealous former friar is thought to have stolen St. Anthony’s breviary (pronounced "breev-ree"). The breviary is a prayer book that religious order priests, brothers and sisters pray with several times a day. Today we call the breviary the Liturgy of the Hours. It is mostly made up of the Psalms of the Bible. 

Since St. Anthony had great success as a preacher, this misguided ex-friar thought St. Anthony's success was in some way related to his daily reading from his breviary.  When no one was looking,the  man slipped into the Saint’s cell and stole his well-worn breviary. When  St. Anthony discovered the loss of his treasured book, he stormed heaven for help. The humility of St. Anthony moved him to pray with such intensity. He had written his personal meditations and insights on Scripture in the margins of the book. The Saint did not want the attention drawn to his writings. As the thief was nearing home, a terrible apparition with great growling and snorting seemed to block his way.  The thief promised that he would return the book if his life would be spared. Needless to say, he returned the book to St. Anthony throwing himself at the Saint’s feet. He was immediately forgiven.


We must remember that above everything else St. Anthony was a priest and forgiveness was his job. The fact that the Saint to this day is known for the recovery of lost and stolen articles is a witness to his enduring compassion.


I encourage you to ask St. Anthony for any lost or stolen thing(maybe a "lost" friend or relative or a stolen soul lost to addiction). Pray and ask his prayers that God may bring about the recovery of your lost or stolen anything!


St. Anthony of Padua, pray for us.
Mark