Notable Quote: In the Mirror of the Cross by St. Anthony of Padua

June 13^th was the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, a Franciscan friar originally from Lisbon, Portugal, not Padua Italy.  But he made his way to Italy and ultimately died in Padua.  He was known for his preaching and even apparently out shined the Dominicans in one particular event.  His sermons are supposed to be so extraordinary that on that basis he was made a Doctor of the Church.

The devotional magazine, Magnificat, had this quote attributed to him on his feast day entry.  It really caught my attention.

“Christ who is your life is hanging before you, so that you may look at the cross as in a mirror.  There you will be able to know how mortal were your wounds, that no medicine other than the Blood of the Son of God could heal…Nowhere other than looking at himself in the mirror of the cross can man better understand how much he is worth.”

That is an astonishing insight.  When you are gazing on a crucifix, you are looking at yourself in a mirror at your suffering humanity.  Wow!

By the way, my father, who was not a religious man, had a particular liking to St. Anthony.  He is in the local lore of Italians, and they have brought that devotion here to the United States.  I always find it amazing that I see so many garden statues of St. Anthony in the New York City Italian-American neighborhoods.  Indeed, if you read his Wikipedia entry you will find that Italian-American neighborhoods across the country revere him.  I’m pretty sure that’s why “Anthony” is such a popular name among Italians.  I grew up thinking he was Italian only to find he was actually Portuguese.  I wonder how many Italians and Italian-Americans actually know that.  I don’t think my father did. 

St. Anthony is usually invoked as the patron saint of lost items.  Perhaps many of you have heard the prayerful appeal to St. Anthony when searching for a lost item: “Tony, Tony, look around.  Something’s lost and must be found!”  You can read about that at Aleteia.  

There is also a legend of St. Anthony holding the child Jesus, and that is why you see his images and statues holding a child.  You can read about that at Franciscan Media.