St. Anthony was born in Portugal in 1195; on 15th August according to Baroque tradition. He was the son of the nobleman, Martino de Buglioni and Donna Maria Taveira, who lived a few metres away from the cathedral. He was christened with the name Fernando.
He spent his formative years under the cultured guidance of the canons of the cathedral. Many of his school companions were boys who were considering the priesthood as a career. It is likely that young Fernando's commitment to join the priesthood was born among his close friends.
In fact, the moral mediocrity and corruption of the society around him convinced Anthony to choose this path.
He entered the Augustinian monastery of St. Vincent, outside the walls of Lisbon, where he lived uncompromisingly according to his evangelical ideal.
Among the Augustinians
Trevisan, St. Anthony as an AugustinianHe stayed at St. Vincent for approximately two years. But, distracted by continuous visits from friends, he asked to be transferred elsewhere. He thus undertook his first great journey to Coimbra, then the capital of Portugal. The new monastery of Santa Cruz was about 230 km from Lisbon.
He was seventeen years old and was to live in this monastery of nearly 70 members for eight years from 1212 to 1220.
These were very important years in the young saint's humanistic and intellectual development. He was surrounded with good teachers and a vast, up-to-date library.
Fernando completely dedicated himself to the study of human and theological sciences in an attempt to remove himself from the tensions in the community. The years in Coimbra left a deep mark on the future apostle's personality and existential development.
Moreover, he already began to show signs of his solitary nature. He was a man indifferent to outward appearances and ostentations of any kind, without social ambitions or a desire to be seen in public, unless spurred on by the duty of spreading the Gospel. When it was time to leave Coimbra, he had become a man of mature stature.
His theological training, based on a solid biblical and patristic tradition, had been firmly engrained.
Fernando the priest
Fernando was ordained a priest in the monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, probably in 1220.This would have made him twenty-five years old, and it thus appears that the canonical rule which forbids ordination before the age of thirty was for some reason waived for Fernando.
The Saint was buried in Padua on Tuesday 17 June, in the church of Santa Maria Mater Domini, which had been his spiritual refuge during the period of his most intense apostolic work. At the end of the funeral celebrations, St. Anthony's body was buried in the small church of the city's Franciscan friary. It was probably not placed underground, but left suspended in an ark-tomb so that the growing number of faithful could see and touch it.
Trevisan, St Bonaventure finds St. Anthony's incorrupt tongueThe most important recognition and transposition took place on 8 April 1263. After a significant part of the construction of the new church had been completed, it was decided to transfer St. Anthony's body.
St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, who was then Minister General of the Franciscans, presided over the ceremony..
While examining the holy remains, before they were placed in a new wooden chest, he realised that St. Anthony's tongue was incorrupt.
Bonaventure exclaimed:
"O blessed tongue, which always blessed the Lord and made others bless him, now you show all the great merits you have acquired with God".
On that occasion, the tomb with St. Anthony's mortal remains was probably set in the centre of the transept, under the present conical cupola (the Angel cupola), in front of the presbytery.
Another transposition certainly took place on 14 June 1310 when the new chapel dedicated to St. Anthony at the left-hand end of the transept had been completed; the sacred remains were solemnly transferred.
On 14 February 1350, Cardinal Guido de Boulogne came to Padua to fulfil a vow (he had been cured of the black plague) and to give a precious reliquary in which St. Anthony's chin (or to be more precise his jawbone) was placed. A final, temporary transposition occurred at the beginning of the 16th century when St. Anthony's Gothic chapel was demolished to make room for the new Renaissance chapel, which, despite being incomplete, was inaugurated in 1532.
An important investigation of St. Anthony's mortal remains was conducted on 6 January 1981, on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the Saint's death. Religious and scientific commissions, both nominated by the Holy See, opened the tomb and examined the contents.
Once the green marble tombstone had been removed, a large wooden chest was found wrapped in cloth.
This chest contained another smaller wooden chest, inside which various items, wrapped in precious cloth and labelled, were found in three compartments.They included the skeleton, apart from the chin, the left forearm and other minor bones, which for centuries had been preserved in special reliquaries.
The other contents included St. Anthony's woollen habit; a stone with the date of his death and another one with the date of the recognition and transposition of 1263 and the "massa corporis", his ashes.
St. Anthony's remains were exhibited from 31 January to Sunday 1 March 1981 (for a total of 29 days) for the veneration of the faithful, who arrived in the thousands, over 650,000. The skeleton was then recomposed and placed in a crystal casket.
glass casket containing St. Anthony's bodyThis was then returned to the centuries-old altar-tomb in the chapel dedicated to St. Anthony. Some of the discoveries, the Saint's habit in particular, are now on display in the Treasury Chapel.
He spent his formative years under the cultured guidance of the canons of the cathedral. Many of his school companions were boys who were considering the priesthood as a career. It is likely that young Fernando's commitment to join the priesthood was born among his close friends.
In fact, the moral mediocrity and corruption of the society around him convinced Anthony to choose this path.
He entered the Augustinian monastery of St. Vincent, outside the walls of Lisbon, where he lived uncompromisingly according to his evangelical ideal.
Among the Augustinians
Trevisan, St. Anthony as an AugustinianHe stayed at St. Vincent for approximately two years. But, distracted by continuous visits from friends, he asked to be transferred elsewhere. He thus undertook his first great journey to Coimbra, then the capital of Portugal. The new monastery of Santa Cruz was about 230 km from Lisbon.
He was seventeen years old and was to live in this monastery of nearly 70 members for eight years from 1212 to 1220.
These were very important years in the young saint's humanistic and intellectual development. He was surrounded with good teachers and a vast, up-to-date library.
Fernando completely dedicated himself to the study of human and theological sciences in an attempt to remove himself from the tensions in the community. The years in Coimbra left a deep mark on the future apostle's personality and existential development.
Moreover, he already began to show signs of his solitary nature. He was a man indifferent to outward appearances and ostentations of any kind, without social ambitions or a desire to be seen in public, unless spurred on by the duty of spreading the Gospel. When it was time to leave Coimbra, he had become a man of mature stature.
His theological training, based on a solid biblical and patristic tradition, had been firmly engrained.
Fernando the priest
Fernando was ordained a priest in the monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, probably in 1220.This would have made him twenty-five years old, and it thus appears that the canonical rule which forbids ordination before the age of thirty was for some reason waived for Fernando.
The Saint was buried in Padua on Tuesday 17 June, in the church of Santa Maria Mater Domini, which had been his spiritual refuge during the period of his most intense apostolic work. At the end of the funeral celebrations, St. Anthony's body was buried in the small church of the city's Franciscan friary. It was probably not placed underground, but left suspended in an ark-tomb so that the growing number of faithful could see and touch it.
Trevisan, St Bonaventure finds St. Anthony's incorrupt tongueThe most important recognition and transposition took place on 8 April 1263. After a significant part of the construction of the new church had been completed, it was decided to transfer St. Anthony's body.
St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, who was then Minister General of the Franciscans, presided over the ceremony..
While examining the holy remains, before they were placed in a new wooden chest, he realised that St. Anthony's tongue was incorrupt.
Bonaventure exclaimed:
"O blessed tongue, which always blessed the Lord and made others bless him, now you show all the great merits you have acquired with God".
On that occasion, the tomb with St. Anthony's mortal remains was probably set in the centre of the transept, under the present conical cupola (the Angel cupola), in front of the presbytery.
Another transposition certainly took place on 14 June 1310 when the new chapel dedicated to St. Anthony at the left-hand end of the transept had been completed; the sacred remains were solemnly transferred.
On 14 February 1350, Cardinal Guido de Boulogne came to Padua to fulfil a vow (he had been cured of the black plague) and to give a precious reliquary in which St. Anthony's chin (or to be more precise his jawbone) was placed. A final, temporary transposition occurred at the beginning of the 16th century when St. Anthony's Gothic chapel was demolished to make room for the new Renaissance chapel, which, despite being incomplete, was inaugurated in 1532.
An important investigation of St. Anthony's mortal remains was conducted on 6 January 1981, on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the Saint's death. Religious and scientific commissions, both nominated by the Holy See, opened the tomb and examined the contents.
Once the green marble tombstone had been removed, a large wooden chest was found wrapped in cloth.
This chest contained another smaller wooden chest, inside which various items, wrapped in precious cloth and labelled, were found in three compartments.They included the skeleton, apart from the chin, the left forearm and other minor bones, which for centuries had been preserved in special reliquaries.
The other contents included St. Anthony's woollen habit; a stone with the date of his death and another one with the date of the recognition and transposition of 1263 and the "massa corporis", his ashes.
St. Anthony's remains were exhibited from 31 January to Sunday 1 March 1981 (for a total of 29 days) for the veneration of the faithful, who arrived in the thousands, over 650,000. The skeleton was then recomposed and placed in a crystal casket.
glass casket containing St. Anthony's bodyThis was then returned to the centuries-old altar-tomb in the chapel dedicated to St. Anthony. Some of the discoveries, the Saint's habit in particular, are now on display in the Treasury Chapel.
