Saint Anthony of Padua

Anthony of Padua with the Infant Jesus by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1627–1630

The 13th of June is the feast day of Saint Anthony of Padua. He is the patron saint of lost items, lost people, lost souls, American Indians; amputees; animals; barrenness; Brazil; elderly people; faith in the Blessed Sacrament; fishermen; Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land; harvests; horses; lost articles; lower animals; mail; mariners; oppressed people; poor people; Portugal; pregnant women; seekers of lost articles; shipwrecks; starvation; sterility; swineherds; Tigua Indians; travel hostesses; travellers; Tuburan, Cebu; Watermen; runts of litters; counter-revolutionaries; San Antonio De Padua Parish, Taytay, Rizal.

Saint Anthony of Padua was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1195. His family was powerful but pious. He chose to serve God with the Augustinians at the age of 15. He passed through a town where he was stationed, and witnessed the bodies of Franciscan friars martyred by Muslims and renewed his zeal to follow Christ more completely like the martyrs. Saint Anthony joined the Franciscans and went to Morocco hoping to preach to the Moors. His poor health forced him to return to Italy where he lived a quiet and secluded life. One day he was asked to be a substitute teacher and astounded everyone with his knowledge and gift of speech. He was then sent to preach against the heretics and was known as the "Hammer of the Heretics." He died at the age of 35 in 1231. He became a Doctor of the Church in 1946.

Reference: Morning Offering, Wikipedia