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Pope Benedict XVI- General Audiences |
General
Audience
On St. Anthony of Padua
"One of the Most Popular Saints in the Whole Catholic Church"
H.H. Benedict XVI
February 10, 2010
www.zenit.org
Dear brothers and sisters,
After presenting two weeks ago the figure of Francis of Assisi, this
morning I would like to speak about another saint belonging to the first
generation of Friars Minor: Anthony of Padua or, as he is also called,
of Lisbon, referring to his native city. He is one of the most popular
saints in the whole Catholic Church, venerated not only in Padua, where
a splendid basilica was built, which houses his mortal remains, but in
the whole world. Dear to the faithful are images and statues that
represent him with the lily, symbol of purity, or with the Child Jesus
in his arms, in memory of a miraculous apparition mentioned in some
literary sources.
Anthony contributed in a significant way to the development of
Franciscan spirituality, with his outstanding gifts of intelligence,
balance, apostolic zeal and, mainly, mystical fervor.
He was born in Lisbon of a noble family around 1195 and was baptized
with the name Fernando. He entered the canons who followed the monastic
rule of St. Augustine, first in the monastery of St. Vincent in Lisbon,
and subsequently in that of the Holy Cross in Coimbra, renown cultural
center of Portugal. He dedicated himself with interest and solicitude to
the study of the Bible and of the Fathers of the Church, acquiring that
theological science that he made fructify in the activities of teaching
and preaching.
The episode that marked a decisive change in his life took place in
Coimbra: In 1220 the relics were exposed there of the first five
Franciscan missionaries who had gone to Morocco, where they met with
martyrdom. Their case aroused in young Fernando the desire to imitate
them and to advance in the way of Christian perfection: He then asked to
leave the Augustinian canons and become a Friar Minor. His request was
accepted and, taking the name Anthony, he also left for Morocco, but
Divine Providence willed otherwise. As the consequence of an illness, he
was obliged to return to Italy and, in 1221, he took part in the famous
"Chapter of the mats" in Assisi, where he also met St. Francis.
Subsequently, he lived for a time totally hidden in a convent near
Forli, in the north of Italy, where the Lord called him to another
mission. Invited, by totally accidental circumstances, to preach on the
occasion of a priestly ordination, he showed he was gifted with such
learning and eloquence that the superiors destined him to preaching.
Thus he began in Italy and France such an intense and effective
apostolic activity that he induced not a few persons who had separated
from the Church to retrace their steps. He was also among the first
teachers of theology of the Friars Minor, if not even the first. He
began his teaching in Bologna, with Francis' blessing who, recognizing
Anthony's virtues, sent him a brief letter with these words: "I would
like you to teach theology to the friars." Anthony set the foundations
of Franciscan theology that, cultivated by other famous figures of
thinkers, came to its zenith with St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio and
Blessed Duns Scotus.
Becoming provincial superior of the Friars Minor of northern Italy, he
continued with the ministry of preaching, alternating that with
administrative tasks. When his mandate as provincial came to an end, he
retired near Padua where he had already been other times. Barely a year
later, he died at the gates of the city on June 13, 1231. Padua, which
in life had received him with affection and veneration, showed him
forever honor and devotion. Pope Gregory IX himself, after hearing him
preach, described him as the "Arc of the Testament," and canonized him
in 1232, also as a result of the miracles that happened through his
intercession.
In the last period of his life, Anthony committed to writing two series
of "Sermons" titled, respectively, "Sunday Sermons" and "Sermons on the
Saints," written for preachers and professors of theological studies of
the Franciscan Order. In them he comments on the texts of sacred
Scripture presented by the liturgy, using the Patristic-Medieval
interpretation of the four meanings: the literal or historical, the
allegorical or Christological, the tropological or moral, and the
anagogic, which guides to eternal life. They are theologic-homiletic
texts, which take up the lively preaching in which Anthony proposes a
true and proper itinerary of Christian life. The wealth of the spiritual
teachings contained in the "Sermons" is such that, in 1946, the
Venerable Pope Pius XII proclaimed Anthony a doctor of the Church,
attributing to him the title of "Evangelic Doctor," because from these
writings arises the freshness and beauty of the Gospel; even today we
can read them with great spiritual profit.
In them, he speaks of prayer as a relationship of love, which drives man
to converse sweetly with the Lord, creating an ineffable joy, which
gently envelops the soul in prayer. Anthony reminds us that prayer needs
an atmosphere of silence, which is not the same as withdrawal from
external noise, but is an interior experience, which seeks to remove the
distractions caused by the soul's preoccupations. According to the
teaching of this distinguished Franciscan doctor, prayer is made up of
four indispensable attitudes which, in Anthony's Latin, are described
as: obsecratio, oratio, postulatio, gratiarum actio. We could translate
them thus: to open one's heart confidently to God, to speak
affectionately with him, to present to him our needs, to praise him and
to thank him.
In this teaching of St. Anthony on prayer we see one of the specific
features of Franciscan theology -- of which he was the initiator --
namely, the role given to divine love, which enters in the sphere of
affection, of the will, of the heart and which is also the source from
which springs a spiritual knowledge that surpasses all knowledge.
Anthony writes: "Charity is the soul of faith, makes it alive; without
love, faith dies" (Sunday and Holy Days Sermons II, Messagero, Padua,
1979, p. 37).
Only a soul that prays can make progress in the spiritual life: this is
the privileged object of St. Anthony's preaching. He knows well the
defects of human nature, the tendency to fall into sin; that is why he
constantly exhorts to combat the inclination to covetousness, to pride,
to impurity and to practice the virtues of poverty and generosity, of
humility and obedience, of chastity and purity. At the beginning of the
13th century, in the context of the rebirth of the cities and the
flourishing of trade, there was an increased number of people who were
insensitive to the poor. Because of this, Anthony many times invites the
faithful to think of true wealth, that of the heart, which, making them
good and merciful, makes them accumulate treasures for Heaven. "O rich
people," he exhorts, "befriend ... the poor, welcome them in your homes:
They will then be the ones who receive you in the eternal tabernacles,
where the beauty of peace is, the confidence of security, and the
opulent quiet of eternal satiety" (Ibid., p. 29).
Is not this perhaps, dear friends, a very important teaching also today,
when the financial crisis and the serious economic imbalances impoverish
not a few persons and create conditions of misery? In my encyclical
"Caritas in Veritate," I remind that: "The economy needs ethics in order
to function correctly -- not any ethics whatsoever, but an ethics which
is people-centred" (No. 45).
In Francis' school, Anthony always puts Christ in the center of life and
thought, of action and preaching. This is another typical feature of
Franciscan theology: Christ-centeredness. Willingly [this theology]
contemplates and invites to contemplate the mysteries of the Lord's
humanity, in a particular way, that of the Nativity, which arouse
feelings of love and gratitude toward divine goodness.
Also the vision of the Crucified inspires in him thoughts of gratitude
to God and of esteem for the dignity of the human person, so that all,
believers and non-believers, can find a meaning that enriches life.
Anthony writes: "Christ, who is your life, is hanging before you,
because you look at the cross as in a mirror. There you will be able to
know how mortal were your wounds, which no medicine but that of the
blood of the Son of God could have cured. If you look well, you will
realize how great are your human dignity and your value ... In no other
place can man realize better how much he is worth, but by looking at
himself in the mirror of the cross" (Sunday and Holy Days Sermons III,
p. 59).
[Translation by ZENIT]
[The Pope then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he
said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Continuing our catechesis on medieval Christian culture, we now turn to
Saint Anthony of Padua, a contemporary of Saint Francis who helped lay
the foundations of the Franciscan theological and spiritual tradition.
Born in Lisbon, Anthony became an Augustinian canon and then a
Franciscan Friar. His great eloquence and learning made him one of the
great preachers of his time. His Sermons, imbued with the traditional
spiritual exegesis of the Scriptures, offer a guide to growth in the
Christian life and stress the importance of prayer as a loving and
joy-filled conversation with the Lord. Here we see one of the principal
characteristics of Franciscan theology: its emphasis on God's love,
which grants spiritual knowledge and transforms lives. At a time of
great economic growth, Anthony called for the cultivation of interior
riches and sensitivity to the needs of the poor. Typical also of the
Franciscan tradition is his stress on the contemplation of Christ in his
humanity, particularly in the mysteries of the Nativity and the
Crucifixion. In this Year for Priests, let us ask Saint Anthony to pray
that all preachers will communicate a burning love for Christ, a thirst
for closeness to the Lord in prayer, and a deeper appreciation of the
truth and beauty of God's word.
I am pleased to offer a warm welcome to the Delegation of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America here with us today. I also greet
all the English-speaking visitors present in this Audience, especially
those from England, Denmark and the United States. Upon all of you I
invoke God's blessings of joy and peace!
©Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[In Italian, he said:]
I turn, finally, to young people, the sick and newlyweds. Tomorrow we
celebrate the feast of the Blessed Virgin of Lourdes and the World Day
of the Sick. May Mary Immaculate help you, dear young people, to always
be faithful in the commitment to follow Christ; may she turn her look
full of love and tenderness toward you, dear sick people, and sustain
you in bearing your cross with serenity, in union with that of Christ;
may she enlighten you, dear newlyweds, in the family path you have just
begun, and render it rich in goods and open to life, gift of the Lord.
[Translation by ZENIT]
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