Very little is known about the childhood of Saint Anthony, born Fernando in Lisbon (Portugal) to Martino de' Buglioni and Maria Taveira. According to some, he was born in 1195, but the date should be brought forward to around 1190, as the Holy Order, which he received in 1219 (or 1220), according to the Ratio Studiorum and the canon law of the time could not have been administered before 30 years. We don't even know the reasons why at the age of 18 he decided to join the Canons Regular of St Augustine at the monastery of St Vincent of Fuori, that is, outside the walls of his native city.
Two years later he moved to the large convent of Santa Cruz, in Coimbra, where he was able to dedicate himself to intellectual and spiritual training, relying on valid teachers and a library full of volumes; he dedicated himself above all to the study of the human, theological and biblical sciences: the Bible and patristics were the basis of his education.
The turning point in Fernando's life came in 1220, when he encountered Franciscanism. In 1219 Francis of Assisi organized a missionary expedition to Morocco, with the desire to bring the Gospel to North Africa. The friars Berardo, Pietro, Ottone, Adiuto and Accursio also passed through Coimbra: Don Fernando heard about them (we don't know if he met them), but he was fascinated by them. We know the end of the friars, of the "Franciscan protomartyrs". When their mangled bodies were brought to the church of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, Don Fernando decided to leave the Augustinians to enter the Franciscan Order, with the approval of the Augustinian prior and the Provincial Minister of Spain: he became Br. Anthony in honour of the Egyptian hermit, owner of the hermitage of St Anthony of Olivares, where the Franciscans lived. He soon left as a missionary in Morocco, but for health reasons (perhaps malaria) he had to leave immediately. On the return journey a storm dragged the ship to the coast of Sicily (Italy); hosted in a Franciscan friary, Anthony learned of the Chapter of the Mats convened by Francis for the spring of 1221 and set off with his brothers. In Assisi, unknown to everyone, he was noticed by Brother Graziano, Minister of Romagna, who wanted him with him at the hermitage of Montepaolo (Forlì) as a priest.
But the Lord did not want a hermitic life for Anthony. On the occasion of the priestly ordinations which were held in Forlì in 1222, he was in charge of the exhortative speech to be addressed to the ordinands and to all those present, in front of Bishop Alberto: his biblical knowledge and theological doctrine now hinged on the new Franciscan spirituality caused amazement and everyone's admiration. A new life as a preacher began for Anthony. In fact, one of his first biographers says that Anthony "passed through cities and castles, villages and countryside, spreading the seeds of life everywhere with generous abundance and fervent passion".
His word was based on theological studies and above all full of divine science. By living what he said, Brother Anthony shone in the Church of the time in which episcopal appointments were manipulated by powerful lay people, where pastors and clergy often had no spiritual and cultural preparation and religious ignorance reigned undisturbed amongst the faithful.
Francis of Assisi addressed him a short letter in which he called him "my bishop", recognizing his mission as a teacher of theology which belonged by nature to the successors of the apostles. In fact, in addition to preaching, Anthony had received the task of teaching theology in Bologna (1223-24), in Montpellier and Toulouse (1225) in France, and in Padua (1229-31). He was also Provincial Minister of Northern Italy, which role he renounced at the General Chapter of Assisi in May 1230. Amongst the many charisms he received from the Lord, he is particularly recognized for the miracles he put at the service of charity towards the poor, the sick and the exploited.
In his famous Sermons, there was no shortage of invectives against usurers: speaking of the seductions of wealth, his story is famous - between history and legend - of the deceased rich man who did not have his heart in his chest, but in the safe together with his money, according to what is written in the Gospel: "Where your treasure is, there is your heart also" (Mt 6:21).
Feeling that Sister death was near, Anthony asked to be taken to Padua, which he did not reach, because he died in the Arcella hospice, on the outskirts, on the afternoon of the 13th June 1231, whispering ecstatically: "I see my Lord!".
The canonical process on the life and miracles of Anthony immediately began and on the 30th May 1232 Gregory IX canonized him in the cathedral of Spoleto. On the 16th January 1946 he was proclaimed Evangelical Doctor of the universal Church by Pope Pius XII.
The thorns correspond to the wild beasts, by which, as we have said, we mean the wicked usurers. The Prophet says of them: “Behold the large sea with broad and spacious arms: there are reptiles without number, small and large animals. Ships ply it" (Psalm 103.25-26). Pay attention to the words: The sea, that is, this world, full of bitterness, is large for riches, spacious for pleasures, because the path that leads to death is spacious and broad (cf. Mt 7:13). But for whom? Certainly not for the poor of Christ, who enter through the narrow gate (cf. Mt 7.13), but for the hands of usurers, who have now taken control of the whole world.
(From the Sermons, Sexagesima Sunday, Debut, n. 9)
From Friars Minor Saints and Blesseds, edited by Br. Silvano Bracci, OFM and Sr. Antonietta Pozzebon, FMSC. Editrice Velar, 2009, pp.22-29.
