A Niche for Saint Anthony

We regularly call on Saint Anthony for help because we are regularly losing things. Last year we went to a yard sale and found a type of ‘niche’ (for a religious statue) at this sale. The seller said we could just have it for free! We went to a local garden center and found a statue. It was marked as St. Francis and ‘identified’ by another person as St. Joseph, but it was St. Anthony. When we got it home I looked up his feast day and, lo and behold, that very day was Saint Anthony's feast day!

A Cross Found

I had a Franciscan cross that I hadn't seen in several years. I knew it was in a jewelry box at my mother's home. After watching a tape of Bishop Fulton Sheen, who was wearing a Franciscan cross, I began to ardently want to find and wear it again. I had looked for the jewelry box during several recent visits to my mother's house, to no avail. The night before I was to go over for another look, I asked St. Anthony to help me find the cross. When I arrived at her house, I began looking in my bedroom (where I had looked many times before). I got an idea to get a flashlight to help me look. I went into my study, when I was drawn to an old bookcase. I noticed that there were some papers in the front of a lower shelf. And I felt moved to move them aside; reaching blindly into the dark recesses of the shelf, I put my hand on the missing jewelry box and retrieved the St. Francis Cross. I am wearing my cross as I write this testimony. I thanked St. Anthony and Jesus profusely that I had found my little cross. This experience has helped me to see just how much St. Anthony has been in the background of my life, helping me all along. I am now thankful for his presence in my life, and have renewed my devotion to one of my favorite saints.

Have a Saint Anthony lost & found story of your own to share with our readers? Email it to us and we will post it on the blog~

Anthony's to the Rescue

I first heard about St. Anthony in San Francisco, where I had a financial hardship and could not afford to treat an ongoing infection. Someone suggested I go to St. Anthony's medical center, which I did. I was given antibiotics for free, which stopped my infection for good. But as I was not Catholic, I didn't know the meaning of St. Anthony, so I forgot about it.

Recently, my car had a serious engine problem, and all the mechanics who looked at it said the car is as good as dead. I couldn't afford a new car. In desperation I prayed for help. The next day, when I looked in the phone book, I saw an ad for "Anthony's Engines." The mechanic, named Anthony, came up with a solution that I could afford. I cannot express how relieved I was. After that time, it dawned on me that the name Anthony had often played a savior's role in my life, including a lawsuit in which an adjuster named Anthony took my case, which nobody had wanted, and won. I had never prayed to St. Anthony, but I feel I was helped by him. I believe he watches over all the lost. Now that I am aware of St. Anthony's graciousness, I feel it is time to thank him for his ever generous help. Anyone can be helped by the intersession of good St. Anthony.

Prayers To St. Anthony For A Baby

My husband and I had tried for five years to have a baby. Infertility specialists told us we had less than a 3% chance of getting pregnant on our own. All along my family had prayed that God would help us. My aunt, a Sister of St. Joseph, sent me a statue of St. Anthony and a prayer to him. She said it belonged to a man who had great faith in St. Anthony and his power of intervention. She said we would have a baby. My husband and I had gone through so much; could we really allow ourselves to get our hopes up? But I trusted my aunt and prayed daily to St. Anthony. In March of that year I discovered I was pregnant! All our hopes had come to be, and in December we had a beautiful baby boy. We named him Anthony, of course, and have since had two little girls. I am so thankful for our beautiful family and strongly recommend prayer to St. Anthony to anyone in need.

Prayer to St. Anthony, Consoler of the Afflicted

Dear St. Anthony, comforting the sorrowful is a Spiritual Work of Mercy and a Christian duty. By word, attitude, and deed I should try to brighten their days and make their burden easier to bear. St. Anthony, Consoler of the Afflicted, may I remember when helping someone in sorrow that I am helping Jesus Christ Himself. Kindly mention my pressing needs to Him (Name you special intentions). Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...

A Missing File

I attended a meeting with a man who desperately needed to find a file and leave the office in order to attend a family function. He had looked for hours for the file and was distraught about missing his family party. I asked him if he believed in St. Anthony, and told him he is the patron saint of missing articles. After I asked him for a description of the file, I effortlessly walked over to a desk and picked up the file that he tirelessly looked for. He dropped to his knees and said, "I do believe, I do believe". Ever since then, I tell all my friends, and they believe in the intersession of St. Anthony, too.

A Locket -- Lost and Found

One day I noticed, on returning home from a walk, that I had lost a gold locket which I prized very much, not only on account of it having been blessed, but also for its contents. The loss of it did not affect me very much, as St. Anthony never failed helping me in similar circumstances. After saying three Our Fathers, I retired to rest as soon as I had finished my prayers. Of course I did not leave the work of finding the locket to St. Anthony without taking the trouble to try and find it myself; but the next morning I began to visit the different places to which I had been the evening before. I was interrupted in my search by the bell ringing for Mass. At first I hesitated about going to church, but finally I made up my mind to go, for is not one Mass worth more than all the lockets in the world? Besides, was there any certainty of my finding the locket even if I stayed away? When Mass was over I continued my walk, but to no purpose. Fearing the trinket might have fallen into the hands of some one who would only have cared for its intrinsic value, and perhaps laughed at its contents, I asked Our Lady not to permit such a thing to happen, and for this intention invoked Pope Pius IX, St. Anne, St. Joachim, and especially St. Anthony, in whose honor I said another Our Father. I suppose my persistency must have touched our good St. Anthony, for very shortly afterwords a stranger, noticing I was searching for something, accosted me, asking if I had lost anything. On my replying in the affirmative, and giving him a description of my locket, he returned it to me, saying he had found it near St. Mary's Church. Many thanks to our dear Lady and good St. Anthony and my other holy friends.

Thank you to 'Miracles of St. Anthony of Padua' by Joseph A. Keller

St. Anthony's email bag - from Malaysia

My name is Theresa and I am from Malaysia. Saint Anthony has helped me a lot and I count on his devotions daily to make my life more manageable and better in many aspects. I was introduced to Saint Anthony by a close friend of mine when I had difficulty coping with my Masters assignments. I was a full time working student with three young kids and it was difficult for me to cope with my studies and family commitments at the same time. After my prayer to Saint Anthony, my results improved drastically and I was able to concentrate better in my studies. Further, Saint Anthony has helped me countless times to recover lost items either big or small. I invoke his intercession every day and may his name be made known throughout the universe.

Have your own testimony about St. Anthony and answered prayer? Email us to share your story~

St. Anthony and Venerable Solanus Casey - Prayer Request

St. Anthony is sometimes associated with healing and is a powerful intercessor for the sick in part because sickness is a loss--a loss of health, sometimes a loss of peace, of hope. The parishioners of St. Anne Byzantine Church in San Luis Obispo, CA., have started a special prayer campaign for their priest, Fr. James Lane. He was recently diagnosed with an aggressive, malignant tumor near his right eye. He has already started an urgent regimen of chemotherapy and radiation. And in spite of some terrible secondary effects, he is continuing on. Some of the children in the parish were especially moved as he insists on being part of evening prayer services--in spite of having to leave several times because of nausea. The parish members are suggesting Novenas to Venerable Solanus Casey, the prayer asking for his intersession is given below. But we would also like to see this good priest restored fully to his parish and to his people. So pray to St. Anthony also that he might re-find his health.

Father, I adore You. I give myself to You. May I be the person You want me to be and may Your will be done in my life today. Thank You for the gifts You gave to Father Solanus. If it is Your will, glorify him on earth So that others will carry on his work For the poor, lonely, and suffering of our world. In order that others will joyfully accept Your divine plan, I ask You to hear this prayer (insert special request here) through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...

Update - March, 2012: Fr. James Lane has successfully undergone surgery and chemotherapy, and appears, according to his doctors, to be completely cancer free. Thank you Lord Jesus Christ, thank you St. Anthony and Venerable Solanus Casey for interceding on behalf of this beloved priest~

The New Wedding Ring

The wife of a baker had lost her wedding ring shortly after her marriage. This really worried her, as she considered losing the ring an ill-omen. She earnestly prayed to St. Anthony in the hopes of finding it, but he seemed to have turned a deaf ear to all her en- treaties. After searching everywhere for it, she came to the conclusion that she must have lost it while swimming in the Rhine at Breesach, and, therefore, gave up every hope of finding it again. A year had just passed, when the baker's little nephew came to pay them a visit, and one day while swimming in the Rhine, he began poking about the stones in the river, when suddenly something bright attracted his attention. It was the lost ring. The joy and gratitude of its owner can be easily imagined.
Thank you to 'Miracles of St. Anthony of Padua' by Joseph A. Keller

St. Anthony's Witness to a Communist Couple

St Anthony of Padua is truly a wonderful and powerful Saint! During the Second World War, my grandfather (a married Eastern Catholic priest with seven children) went to a store to buy food for the week. The couple who ran the store had lost the previous week's receipts and cash. They couldn't find it anywhere and they were getting really anxious. And they were members of the communist party. My grandfather, in his clerical collar, simply told them to pray to St Anthony as he would help them find the lost items. They laughed at him at first, but then, as their continued search didn't bear any fruit, looked at Fr. John and went into the next room, closing the door behind them. My grandfather could hear them praying . . . to St Anthony. They then emerged from the room, looking the whole time at my grandfather. Then the man did something interesting. He put his hand on his eyes and then reached out with his other hand to grab the first drawer handle he could reach. He then pulled it out and . . there was the money and the receipts! The communist couple then gave my priest-grandfather plenty of extra bread and even chocolate for his children (and no one had any chocolate in those days, as my grandfather related to me with a smile). I thank St Anthony of Padua for helping my family and for providing such a powerful witness to God's miraculous power through His Saints!! St Anthony of Padua, we praise you and ask you to bless us!

Thank you to Alex for this story. Have a St. Anthony story of your own to share? Email it to us and we will post it on our blog~

Just In Time

I have a nervous habit of sliding my wedding rings up and down on my finger. I was watching a television program that was very intense. After a particularly stressful scene I noticed my rings were missing. My husband and I searched the area for a couple of hours, taking the sofa apart, crawling on our hands and knees, shining a flashlight in every corner, pulling up the area rug...we looked everywhere! I was distraught! My husband said we should go to bed since it was almost midnight and we could look again in the morning. As I was drifting off to sleep I asked St. Anthony to find my rings for me. When I awoke I started looking again. For some reason a fragment of a dream came to my mind - a tissue in my hand. I wondered if I had been holding a tissue when I lost my rings. I went and looked in the garbage. I pulled out a tissue and my rings were there! My husband said he too dreamed of a tissue! Thank you, St. Anthony! Just in time because the garbage service was due to run in a couple of hours!

Prayer To St. Anthony - Thanksgiving for Answered Prayers

Most loving protector, St. Anthony, what gift can I give you in exchange to show my heartfelt gratitude? With your continued help I will show appreciation to you by being more faithful to God, more constant in prayer, and readier to do good to those nearest me. I praise you for the esteem in which your name is held throughout the world, for the miracles and wonders with which you have filled the Church, and for the many benefits mankind continues to recieve through your gracious help. May these intentions convey my great thanks to the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and to our Blessed Lady, Queen of heaven and earth.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...
For information on giving alms to an Anthonian mission hospital in Africa in thanksgiving for St. Anthony's help in your life, click here.

Have prayers answered through the intersession of Saint Anthony that you would like to share on our blog? Click here to email them to us to post - your stories can inspire others to turn to God in need, with the help of Good St. Anthony~

Another Special Ring

A very dear aunt of mine died tragically a few years ago. My mother, her sister, was the executrix of her estate. One of the things saved for me from my aunt was a diamond ring, which my mother gave to me when I returned from overseas a year later. I really cherished it and wore it every day. Some time later, I was doing some yard work which involved the uncleared lot we owned next to our house. While I was working it began to rain, but I continued to work as long as I could, which included taking large armfuls of weeds and throwing them into piles to be placed in bags at the curb. Arriving in the house soaking wet, I realized my son would soon be late for altar service so we quickly prepared for Mass and headed to church. Kneeling in the pew, I clasped my hands, and noticed the ring was missing! I had never removed it. I knew it had to be somewhere in those mounds of yard debris -- or the part of the lot we had worked, an area of at least fifty by fifteen feet! I decided to put it out of mind and concentrate on Mass. I hated the thought of telling my mother that I had lost her sister’s ring. My husband and I picked through every bit of the piles of yard debris. Nothing! I wandered in the lot and again: nothing. My husband told me I should forget trying to find that ring because the downpour had driven it into the sandy soil and it would be irretrievable, but I continued to pray and to beg St. Anthony (who had never let me down since I was a young girl). One afternoon as I sat on my bed I prayed again. The thought came to me to go out into that lot with a flashlight after dark. I'd had that thought several times before when praying and always discarded it as being so impractical. The lot was dark. The flashlight made only a small circle of light, the area to search was so large. For some reason this time I decided to act on that thought. As soon as it turned dark, out I went with the flashlight. I found a piece of tinfoil; then a small piece of cellophane gleamed. Then, a small glimmer of gold. There was the ring, directly in front of my feet and it was not the diamond sparkling in the light but the narrow golden band of the upside-down ring!

Can St. Anthony Intercede For Me With God??

A quote from St. Jerome explaining why we call apon the saints for help, and why they respond to our prayers; "If Apostles and martyrs while still in the body can pray for others, when they ought still to be anxious for themselves, how much more must they do so when once they have won their crowns, overcome, and triumphed? A single man, Moses, oft wins pardon from God for six hundred thousand armed men; and Stephen, the follower of his Lord and the first Christian martyr, entreats pardon for his persecutors (Acts 7:59-60); and when once they have entered on their life with Christ, shall they have less power than before? The Apostle Paul says that two hundred and seventy-six souls were given to him in the ship (Acts 27:37); and when, after his dissolution, he has begun to be with Christ, must he shut his mouth, and be unable to say a word for those who throughout the whole world have believed in his Gospel?"

Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog, http://wdtprs.com/blog, has an expanded explanation of the why's and how's of the intersession of the saints.

The Wedding Ring at the Beach

A man and his wife were at the beach and his wedding ring fell off while he was in the water, and was washed away by a wave. He called upon St. Anthony, and another wave came in and deposited his wedding ring at his feet.
Thank you to 'Help from Heaven Book' for this story

Prayer to St. Anthony In Time of Sickness

St. Anthony, physician of soul and body, consolation of the sick who ask your prayers, turn your compassionate eyes upon me, your foster child, who afflicted with painful infirmities, sends up sighs and prayers for relief from these sufferings, and for comfort for all in sickness. O great friend of God through your rich merits and your powerful mediation with Him, the sick are not only made sound and whole, but many are saved from death. Therefore, I earnestly beg you to have mercy upon me, and bear my sighs and petitions to the throne of God, that He may free me from my infirmities. O compassionate Jesus, Man of Sorrows, Who did deign to endure our weakness and sufferings, hear me, and have mercy on my weakness. Heal my soul, for I have sinned before You; heal my body also, that, restored to health through the merits of St. Anthony, I may give thanks to You. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...

Saint Anthony Quote -Your Name Is Joy

A quote from Good Saint Anthony:

“Sweet Jesus, is there anything sweeter than you? To remember you is more delightful than everything else. Your name is joy; it is the true gate of our salvation. What else are you, Jesus, if not our Savior? Be our Redeemer. Give us the virtues of hope and love, just as you have given us faith, our primary joy. Give us the words that we need to praise you always. With the help and through the prayers of your Mother. You who are blessed throughout the ages. Amen.”