Tag Archives: theology

Feast Day of Saint Anthony of Padua

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Saint Anthony of Padua with the Christ Child

Among the list of Franciscan saints, the most popular among them, after Saint Francis of Assisi, is Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231). But, were it not for a chance encounter, things might have been different.

He was born in Lisbon, Portugal, with the name of Fernando Martins de Bulhoes. The family was well off, and arranged for him to be educated in a local cathedral school. He would eventually join an Augustinian community near Lisbon. He would be ordained a priest and was giving the responsibility of welcoming visitors and guests to the monastery. It was then, that one could say, that the Holy Spirit then took over. Near the monastery was a small community of newly arrived Franciscan friars. They had established a small hermitage, and Fernando had frequent contact with them. He found their evangelical way of life attractive.

The Franciscans had sent a group of their brothers to North African country of Morocco, to evangelize. This group would suffer beheading at the hands of the Moroccan rulers. Their remains were returned to Portugal, and were buried at the Augustinian monastery. Fernando was inspired by their courage and their faith. He asked for, and received permission from the Augustinians to transfer over to the Franciscan order. He took the name Anthony, after an early Saint, Anthony the Great.

He joined another group of Franciscan friars being sent to Morocco, but he became seriously ill upon arrival. He was sent home back to Portugal. But stormy weather drove his ship further into the Mediterranean, winding up in Sicily. He went to the last great gathering of Franciscan friars with Saint Francis present. At the conclusion of it, he was sent to a small community of lay brothers, in Italy. There, the story goes, the community was celebrating the ordination of a friar, but the guest speaker had not arrived. Anthony was asked to preached. It was then the depth of his learning was revealed, as was also his skill as a speaker. And the rest, as they say, is history.

He would be sent out on preaching tours, up and down throughout Italy. It was said the thousands of people gathered to hear him speak. They came away inspired to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ more intensely. Francis himself, gave Anthony the work of teaching theology to the friars, and how to preach.

He became ill in his thirties, and died on June 13, 1231, in Padua.

He was canonized as Saint in 1232. He proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Prius XII, in 1946.

Laudato Si’ is Out; And it is Shaking Things Up!

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Laudato Si 2On June 18th, the Vatican officially released Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment:  “Laudato Si’.”  Truth be told, I have not actually read the document myself; I am basing my own observations on the analysis and commentary of others, whose opinions I trust.  Chief among them is John Allen, Jr. of Crux who has done some analysis on the encyclical.

The theological analysis of the document I have; comes from Father Dan Horan OFM, of Dating God, who gives a Franciscan perspective on the encyclical.  The other comes from Jay Michaelson, of Religion News Service.  He brings out some of the theological points in the document that he considers truly radical.

As a Franciscan, the theological points that grabbed my attention were found in Chapter 2: “Human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbors, and with the earth itself.”  And in Chapter 3: “Our ‘dominion’ over the universe should be understood more properly in the sense of responsible stewardship.”  To Western ears these statements may seem very strange, but they are not new.  If one was to get beyond the image of St. Francis of Assisi as a statue holding a birdbath, one can see a Francis who knew that because of his intimate relationship with God, he had to have an intimate relationship with all people, and all creation.  Joined intimately with Christ, through the Gospels, through the Eucharist, and prayer, he was fully open to, and accepted the reality that he shared a kinship with all people, with all creatures, with everything that exists.

Francis passed this realization on to his followers, through his words and his actions.  Sadly, some of his children did not realize the depth of his teaching, but in recent times, we are finally beginning to get the point.  In our Secular Franciscan Rule, we have Article 18: “Moreover they should respect all creatures, animate and inanimate, which bear the imprint of the Most High, and they should strive to move from the temptation of exploiting creation to the Franciscan concept of universal kinship.”

It is this idea of “universal kinship” that Pope Francis is calling on the world, on all of us, to realize, and to act on.  It is a call to change our way of life, that is abusing our earth, and live in ways that will enhance our planet.

I do plan to read this encyclical myself, and hopefully I will be able share my own insights with you soon.  Pace e Bene!