Anthony of Padua

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Anthony of Padua : biography

15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231

Asia

Devotion to Saint Anthony is popular throughout all of India. In Uvari, in Tamil Nadu, India, the church of Saint Anthony is home to an ancient wooden statue that is said to have cured the entire crew of a Portuguese ship suffering from cholera. Saint Anthony is said to perform many miracles daily, and Uvari is visited by pilgrims of different religions from all over South India. Christians in Tamil Nadu have great reverence for Saint Anthony and he is a popular saint there, where he is called "The Miracle Saint." The southern Indian state of Karnataka is also a holy pilgrimage center in honor of Saint Anthony (specifically located in the small village of Dornahalli, near Mysore). Local lore holds that a farmer there unearthed a statue that was later identified as being that of Saint Anthony. The statue was deemed miraculous and an incident of divine intervention. A church was then erected to honor the saint. Additionally, Saint Anthony is highly venerated in Sri Lanka, and the nation’s Saint Anthony National Shrine in Kochikade, Colombo, receives many devotees of Saint Anthony—both Catholic and non-Catholic.

Veneration

Anthony was canonized by Pope Gregory IX on 30 May 1232, at Spoleto, Italy, less than one year after his death. His fame spread through Portuguese evangelization, and he has been known as the most celebrated of the followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. He is the patron saint of his adopted home of Padua, not to mention many places in Portugal and in the countries of the former Portuguese Empire. He is especially invoked for the recovery of lost items.

"The richness of spiritual teaching contained in the Sermons was so great that in [16 January] 1946 Venerable Pope Pius XII proclaimed Anthony a Doctor of the Church, attributing to him the title Doctor Evangelicus ["Evangelical Doctor"], since the freshness and beauty of the Gospel emerge from these writings."

In films

  • Umberto Marino’s 2002 Sant’Antonio di Padova aka Saint Anthony: The Miracle Worker of Padua is an Italian TV movie about the saint. at the Internet Movie Database. While the VHS format is without English subtitles, on Amazon.com. the DVD version released in 2005 is simply called Saint Anthony and is subtitled. on Amazon.com.
  • Antonello Belluco’s 2006 Antonio guerriero di Dio aka Anthony, Warrior of God on Amazon.com with English subtitles. is a biopic about the saint. at the Internet Movie Database.