St. Anthony greatly impacted my relationship with a Buddhist family from Vietnam who moved next to us in late 2003. Their 5 year old little girl befriended me first, then as I got to know the family and to befriend them more and more, I told them about St. Anthony and how he very reliably helps to find things lost. They thought that the concept was a ridiculous Catholic superstition. I said, "No! It's not superstition at all! It's not MAGIC, of course. And the prayers to St. Anthony have to be made by one sincerely seeking friendship with God. But it works. In fact, it works so well, I usually find the lost thing within 20 minutes or so!" The mother was looking for her cell phone at the time. I said the prayer in front of them. They found it -- in 20 minutes. The Vietnamese family all laughed at the "coincidence."
After that incident, after I prayed to St. Anthony the family found the wad of cash from the father's paycheck, a wedding ring, car keys, the cell phone again. And, as if to verify my words to my new friends, they always found each item within 20 minutes. My neighbor's friends became "spooked" by these events. At one point they asked me to please STOP praying to St. Anthony, because it FRIGHTENED them!
One day the wife tried it on her own. She had misplaced a document she HAD to have, at that moment, so that her grandmother from Vietnam could visit the United States. She called me on the telephone to tell me that St. Anthony had not answered her sincere prayer. I said, "That's not possible." I asked her what she HAD found. She said, "My daughter's homework folder from school." I asked, "Did you LOOK in it?" She yelled to her daughter in Vietnamese. A few seconds later, I heard the daughter yelling in English, "Mommy! Mommy! He was right! I accidentally put the paper in my homework folder!" I heard the mother whispering, "I can't believe it! I can't believe it! I can't believe it!" as she hung up the phone.
Thank you to P.J.D. commenting on The Path Less Taken blog for this wonderful St. Anthony story~
He is one of the great saints of the Catholic Church, and one of the beloved--even far beyond Catholics themselves. Untold numbers of people turn to him, still, when there is loss. And strangely--at least strangely in the usual ways of the world--those things often quickly turn up. And often they turn up in the most unexpected--even seemingly miraculous ways. Let the stories begin.
