St. Anthony of Portugal

Q U I C K S C A N

Fernando’s Baptism and early Christian formation
Fernando enters the Augustinian Monastery of St. Vincent
Fernando asks to move to the more remote monastery of Santa Cruz
Fernando joins the Franciscans
Portugal’s gifts to St. Anthony

True or false: St. Anthony of Padua was born in Italy. Perhaps a good number of you, knowing that Anthony was born in Lisbon, Portugal, have answered correctly that the statement is false. But I dare say that at least some of you may have been tempted to give the wrong answer. Although the date of Anthony’s birth is not certain, many historians believe it was in 1195. In any case, to people of Portuguese descent, Anthony is known as “St. Anthony of Portugal.” Understandably, Portuguese people are quite attached to their saint! When Anthony died in 1231 on June 13—now his feast day—he was only 36 years old (if we accept 1195 as his date of birth). This means that Anthony spent about 25 of his years in Portugal, compared to only 10 or 11 in Italy. So we can’t blame our Portuguese brothers and sisters for claiming Anthony as their saint.

I trust that those of Italian descent among my readers will forgive me if I focus—in this issue of E-spirations—on inspiring aspects of Anthony’s life that took place in Portugal before he sailed for Morocco around the year 1220 and ended up in Italy. As some of you may suspect, I have a personal reason for my interest in Portugal at this particular time. Just over two weeks ago (on May 15), some 40 tourists and I flew off to Lisbon to visit the birthplace of St. Anthony in that city, as well as other sites not too far away.

I would like to single out four significant events of Anthony’s life that took place in the country of his birth. Each of these events is very closely linked to places we visited in Portugal.

Fernando’s Baptism and early Christian formation

St. Anthony’s name at birth was Fernando Bulhom. He was born into a noble and influential family in Lisbon. His home stood only a block away from the Lisbon Cathedral. Fernando was baptized in the same baptismal font that still stands in the Cathedral today. Because he was born of well-to-do parents, he also attended the Cathedral school and received a fine education from the priests who taught there. Fernando studied Latin, history and science, as well as the teachings of his Christian faith. His Catholic parents were happy to present their son for Baptism at the Cathedral as well as to provide him with a good Christian education—two priorities, of course, that many Catholics want for their children today.

As our tour group discovered just a week or two ago, Fernando’s birthplace is still an important pilgrimage destination in Lisbon. Thousands of pilgrims from around the world still visit the saint’s birthplace each month in a niche below the Church of Santo Antonio, which was built over his birthplace. As indicated earlier, this church stands only a block away from Lisbon’s Cathedral. It was awesome for our group to visit both of these holy places, realizing that each place had great significance for a young boy in Lisbon named Fernando Bulhom.

Fernando enters the Augustinian Monastery of St. Vincent

On the outskirts of Lisbon in Fernando’s day, but not too far from his birthplace, stood the Monastery of St. Vincent. It sat on a high plane overlooking the city and the ocean. In the year 1210 at age 15, Ferdinand decided to enter this monastery of the Augustinian friars. He would live in the community there according to the spirit of the rule and teachings of St. Augustine. This decision to enter the monastery and pursue a life of prayer and spiritual study revealed a contemplative yearning in Fernando that would never leave him.

Our recent pilgrimage to Lisbon included a visit to the Church of St. Vincent. The buildings we saw were not the exact same buildings that Anthony knew when he entered the Monastery of St. Vincent. But the structures still bear the name of St. Vincent and were rebuilt in the same location where Anthony spent two years of his life (approximately 1210-1212).

Fernando asks to move to the more remote Monastery of Santa Cruz

After spending two years at St. Vincent’s, Fernando asked his prior if he could be transferred to another monastery where he could find a better climate for his contemplative search for God. He believed that his search for God was being compromised in Lisbon because his old friends kept trying to visit him at the monastery. He sought a place of greater tranquility where he would be free of such distractions. He asked his prior if he could be transferred to the Augustinian Monastery of Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) in the city of Coimbra, which was then the capital of Portugal and located some 100 miles north of Lisbon.

The Monastery of Santa Cruz was the most important cultural center in all of Portugal. With its well-stocked library and excellent teachers, it was a center of Christian learning that could compete with the great Augustinian monasteries of France. It is believed that Fernando lived at Santa Cruz for about eight years. He advanced in his knowledge of Scripture, theology and the spiritual life. It is probable that Fernando was ordained at Santa Cruz as an Augustinian priest. Although Santa Cruz has been rebuilt more than once over the centuries, parts of the monastery that he knew—such as the chapter room, the sacristy and the monastery garden—still exist, as our tour group was happy to discover.

Fernando joins the Franciscans

In the year 1220, Fernando’s life took a surprising turn. It happened that the relics of five holy Franciscan martyrs, who had been beheaded in Morocco for preaching the gospel to the Muslims, were carried into Coimbra amidst great publicity and fervor. In fact the relics ended up in the Monastery of Santa Cruz, where they could be safely kept and held in highest esteem. Visitors can still venerate these relics today, a fact that our group can now attest to. The relics are contained in two silver reliquaries in a niche at the end of a corridor off the sacristy. As Fernando himself pondered the great faith and heroism of these Franciscan martyrs, a strong desire grew within him to follow in their footsteps and to go to Morocco himself and become a martyr for Christ.

One of Fernando’s responsibilities while residing at Santa Cruz as a monk was that of showing hospitality to visitors who came to the monastery’s front door. A group of Franciscans, who lived at the nearby Church of St. Anthony, used to show up at the monastery door and ask for alms. On one occasion, Fernando spoke earnestly to the Franciscans about his desire to become a Franciscan friar so that he, too, could be sent to Morocco to become a martyr for Christ.

The Franciscan friars assured him that this was possible and—to make a long story short—Fernando, the Augustinian, became Anthony, the Franciscan. He took his new name from the little church where the friars stayed and where he himself was to stay for a short time—a church named after St. Anthony of the Desert. And before long, Anthony was setting set sail for Morocco—never to return to his beloved Portugal.

Portugal’s gifts to St. Anthony

We can quickly summarize the blessings Anthony received in Portugal. First were his Baptism and excellent Christian education, made possible by the saint’s loving parents and by the Cathedral School of Lisbon. Next we recall the rich faith development Anthony received from the Augustinian tradition. This includes his two years at St. Vincent’s Monastery in Lisbon and eight years at the Monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra.

Very likely, Anthony would have never become a great teacher, evangelizer and Doctor of the Church had it not been for the great opportunities he had for education and spiritual growth among the Augustinians. We can add to this the special inspiration he received from the heroic witness of the Franciscan martyrs, whose bones were brought from Morocco to Portugal and placed in the Monastery of Santa Cruz while he was staying there. Be sure to celebrate the feast of St. Anthony on June 13. Happy Feast Day to all!

Send your feedback to friarjack@americancatholic.org.

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