Father Mario Conte (from the Basilica di sant' Antonio di Padova – June 13, 2023)
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Two or three times a year I am St. Anthony’s traveling companion in the English-speaking world. You won’t believe it, but one of the questions I am most often asked by the faithful is whether I believe in miracles? And I always punctually reply, “Of course I do, I do believe in miracles.” My whole faith is based on a miracle, starting with the Father of all miracles. We can say even the grandfather of all miracles, the creation of the universe. And what about the Incarnation? The greatest miracle for us Christians is Eternal God becoming flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. And what about the Resurrection? The foundation of our faith. So if God was able to do all these extraordinary things, why should I be surprised if sometimes He decides to intervene to help someone who is in a difficult situation, maybe through the help and intercession of our dear Saint Anthony?
In this regard, there is a sentence from Jesus in Saint John’s Gospel which is very, very astonishing, very surprising. He says: “Truly I tell you, one who believes in Me will also do the works that I do, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.” I know, it is a truly amazing sentence, but if you think about it, this sentence of Jesus is realized in the many, many miracles obtained through the intercession of the Virgin Mary or the saints. One only has to visit the shrines dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and of course, here at Padua.
In the appendix to Saint Anthony’s biography, we find a list of 51 miracles that were read in the presence of Pope Gregory IX, which led to Saint Anthony’s canonization on the 30th of May, 1232. One of the most famous miracles on the list is about the heretic’s mule, which happened in 1223, so exactly 800 years ago this year. The city of Rimini was the center of the Cathar movement – the Cathar heresy – which denied the goodness of the material world, and denied also the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Anthony tried to convince these heretics in public debates, but although they were unable to contradict him, they would not back down from their ideas. One day, one of them wanted concrete proof of what Anthony proclaimed, and said to the Saint: “If you can make my mule bow before what you say is the body of Christ, I will believe.” Even though he didn’t want to put God to the test, Anthony eventually accepted. He had to, for it was a challenge that could not be avoided. For three days, the heretic kept the mule in the stable without any food. On the fourth day, many people gathered in the square in front of the church where Saint Anthony was celebrating Mass. At the end of the celebration of the Eucharist, Anthony went out holding the Blessed Sacrament, while the mule was taken to the front of the church and a large pile of hay put in front of it. Anthony called the mule, and said: “Humble creature, come here, and kneel before your Creator.” At these words, the animal approached Saint Anthony, bowed its head, and even bent its front legs in front of the Blessed Sacrament. And so it was that not only the owner of the mule, but many, many heretics were reconciled with the Church.
In his sermon on the Last Supper, Anthony wrote a beautiful sentence about the Eucharist, a sentence that can truly underline the meaning of this miracle. Listen: “It is firmly to be believed and confessed with the mouth that the very Body which the Virgin bore, which hanged on the cross, and laid in the tomb, which rose on the third day, and ascended to the Right Hand of the Father in Heaven, this body the Church truly makes daily and gives to her faithful."
Yesterday, as today, God intervenes in our life, often through the intercession of the Virgin Mary or the saints, with the only purpose of helping us to perceive in our lives the presence of grace that goes beyond our human logic. At present it goes beyond the kind of rationalistic faith that thinks certain events – miracles – can no longer happen – because today, with science, we can explain everything.
The miracles – or graces – that are granted to us or to other people, just want to remind us – all of us – that God continues to work grace upon grace to confirm and sustain us on our journey of faith toward the Kingdom of Never-Ending Love.
And I would like to conclude with a quote from a morning meditation of Pope Francis. He says: “Miracles still happen today. But to allow the Lord to carry them out, we must pray with courage to overcome that feeling of disbelief that dwells in the heart of every person, even in people of faith. Prayer works miracles, but we must believe in it."
The Eternal Father, speaking to Saint Catharine of religious orders, described them as ships captained by the Holy Sprit, and then described the Holy Ship of Saint Fancis:
“So [her soul] wanders, seeking by that light in what place and in what way she can pay her debt, trampling on her own fragility, and restraining her own will. Enlightened in her search by faith, she finds the place – namely, holy religion – which has been founded by the Holy Spirit, appointed as the ship to receive souls who wish to hasten to perfection, and to bring them to the port of salvation.
“The Captain of this ship is the Holy Spirit, who never fails in Himself through the defects of any of His religious subjects who may transgress the rule of the order. The ship itself cannot be damaged, but only the offender. . .
“I say, then, that the soul, on fire with desire and a holy self-hatred – having found her place by the light of faith – enters there as one dead, if she is truly obedient; that is to say, if she have perfectly observed general obedience. And even if she should be imperfect when she enters, it does not follow that she cannot attain perfection. On the contrary, she attains it by exercising herself in the virtue of obedience; indeed, most of those who enter are imperfect.
“There are some who enter already in perfection, others in the childhood of virtue, others through fear, others through penance, others through allurements, everything depends on whether after they have entered they exercise themselves in virtue, and persevere till death, for no true judgment can be made on a person's entrance into religion, but only on their perseverance, for many have appeared to be perfect who have afterwards turned back, or remained in the order with much imperfection, so that, as I have said, the act of entrance into this ship ordained by Me, who call men in different ways, does not supply material for a real judgment, but only the love of those who persevere therein with true obedience.
“This ship is rich, so that there is no need for the subject to think about his necessities either temporal or spiritual, for if he is truly obedient, and observes his order, he will be provided for by his Master, who is the Holy Spirit, as I told you when I spoke to you of My providence, saying that though your servants might be poor, they were never beggars. No more are these, for they find everything they need, and those who observe this order find this to be indeed true.
“Wherefore, see that in the days when the religious orders lived virtuously, blossoming with true poverty and fraternal charity, their temporal substance never failed them, but they had more than their needs demanded. But because the stench of self-love has entered and caused each to keep his private possessions and to fail in obedience, their temporal substance has failed, and the more they possess to the greater destitution do they come. It is just that even in the smallest matters they should experience the fruit of disobedience, for had they been obedient and observed the vow of poverty, each would not have taken his own, and lived privately.
“See the riches of these holy rules, so thoughtfully and luminously appointed by those who were temples of the Holy Spirit. See with what judgment Benedict ordered his ship; see with what perfection and order of poverty Francis ordered his ship, decked with the pearls of virtue, steering it in the way of lofty perfection, being the first to give his order for spouse, true and holy poverty, whom he had chosen for himself, embracing self-contempt and self-hatred, not desiring to please any creature but only your will; desiring rather to be thought vile by the world, macerating his body and slaying his will, clothing himself in insults, sufferings, and jibes, for love of the humble Lamb, with whom he was fastened and nailed to the cross by love, so that by a singular grace there appeared in his body the very wounds of your Truth, showing in the vessel of his body that which was in the love of his soul, so he prepared the way.
“But you will say, ‘Are not all the other religious orders equally founded on this point?’ Yes, but though they are all founded on it, in no other is this the principal foundation; as with the virtues, though all the virtues draw their life from charity, nevertheless, as I explained to you in another place, one virtue belongs especially to one man, and another to another, and yet they all remain in charity, so with the principal foundation of the religious orders.”
“Poverty belonged especially to My poor man Francis, who placed the principal foundation of his order in love for this poverty, and made it very strict for those who were perfect, for the few and the good, not for the majority. I say few because they are not many who choose this perfection, though now through their sins they are multiplied in numbers and deficient in virtue, not through defect of the ship, but through disobedient subjects and wicked rulers.”