Part 6
ANTHONY-----THE WONDER-WORKER;
ANTHONY AND THE ISRAELITE;
ANTHONY AND THE CHRIST CHILD  

ANTHONY-----THE WONDER-WORKER

That miracles have occurred, and are occurring even in our own day, there is no shadow of doubt. What is a miracle? According to Worcester a miracle is "an effect of which the antecedent can not be referred to any secondary cause; an event or occurrence which can not be explained by any known law of nature; a deviation from the established law of nature; something not only superhuman, but preternatural; a prodigy, a wonder, a marvel."

Thousands of eye-witnesses bore testimony in their day to the wonders worked by Anthony in France and Italy. It would seem that his fame must have preceded him, and that wherever he went his approach must have been heralded and his appearance hailed with enthusiasm by expectant and animated throngs. This was not the case. Obedient to the voice of his superiors, he went wheresoever he was bidden; went alone and unannounced; a stranger in a strange land, unrecognized of any until he had lifted that voice whose persuasive eloquence no one was long able to withstand. Then came his triumph, complete and overwhelming. Triumph followed upon triumph, until at last the land rang with his praises. On every hand he gave abundant proof of the Divine power which he was called upon to exercise. Following in the footsteps of his Blessed Master, he healed the sick, raised the dead, and wakened the living to life everlasting.

Preaching once upon a time in the pulpit of the Church of St. Eusebius in Vicelli-----a small Italian city, then an independent republic, like many another city of that day-----vast crowds pressed about him. Suddenly a great commotion arose. With difficulty a grief-stricken family bore toward him the body of one of their number, cut down in the prime of life. A great wail went up from the people. Anthony paused in his discourse, profoundly moved.

Recollecting himself, he extended his hand toward the body and cried: "In the name of Christ I say unto you, young man, arise!" And immediately the youth arose from the dead, full of joy, restored to health and to the arms of those who had bewailed him.

Great is the number and the variety of the wonders worked by Anthony. Here are a few of them taken at random from the pages of his several chroniclers.

He was preaching in the cathedral at Montpellier, in the presence of the clergy and a vast multitude. It was Easter Sunday. In the midst of his discourse he suddenly remembered that he had been appointed to sing at Solemn High Mass in the choir of a neighboring convent chapel. He had forgotten this; he had even forgotten to find a substitute, and the hour of the Mass was at hand. This seemed to him an act of disobedience; and, in his distress, he drew his cowl over his face, sank back in the pulpit and remained silent for a long time. The people, in amazement, watched and waited. At the moment when he ceased speaking in the cathedral, though all the while visible to the congregation, he appeared in the convent choir among his brethren and sang his office. At the close of the service he recovered himself in the pulpit of the cathedral, and, as his chronicler says, finished his sermon "with incomparable eloquence."

Anthony had completed his "Commentary on the Psalms," the fruit of long vigilance and profound meditation. A novice, weary of the religious life and its ceaseless austerities, resolved to return to the world, and, coveting 
Anthony's precious manuscript, he captured it and fled. The young rascal could have had no sense of humor, or he would hardly have turned his back upon the cloister and sought the mixed society of the world, the flesh and the devil with a stolen copy of a "Commentary on the Psalms" as his companion. Probably he hoped to profit by it in a worldly way; but in this he was strangely thwarted. Upon discovering his loss, Anthony had, as ever, recourse to prayer. At that very moment the fleeing youth was confronted by a monstrous creature, that ordered him to return at once to the abbey and restore the "Commentary" to its author. This he was now only too glad to do. And the Saint, rejoiced at the recovery of his manuscript, as well as of the soul that was in peril, received the novice with every mark of affection. Nor was his loving-kindness ill bestowed; for the lad became one of the most favored of the faithful.

As St. Francis hushed the caroling birds in the Venetian lagoon, saying, "Cease your singing a little while until we have rendered to God our homage of praise," so Anthony rebuked the clamoring frogs in a noisy pool at the Convent of Montpellier, and they thereafter observed a respectable silence at the hours of prayer.

At Puy-en-Velay he converted a notary of dissolute habits and violent temper. When they met in the streets Anthony would bow to the notary, and the latter would fly into a rage, believing that he was in mockery. Still Anthony saluted him reverently and more reverently; whereupon the notary cried, in a fury: "What does this mean? But for fear of the anger of God I would run you through with my sword." Then Anthony replied, with perfect composure: "O my brother! you do not know the honor in store for you. I envy your happiness. I longed for the Martyr's palm: the Lord denied it to me, but He has revealed to me that this grace is reserved for you. When that blessed hour arrives, be mindful, I beseech you, of him who foretold it to you." And it came to pass even as it had been predicted.

To a lady of rank who recommended herself to his prayers, Anthony said: "Be of good heart, my daughter, and rejoice; for the Lord will give you a son who, as a Friar Minor and a Martyr, will shed luster upon the Church." This prediction was likewise fulfilled.

Many he delivered from sore temptations, and they were never again persecuted. To a poor sinner, overwhelmed with sorrow, who could find no voice with which to confess himself, Anthony said: "Go write down your
sins, and bring me the parchment." The penitent did as he was bidden, returning with a tear-stained scroll. As he read out his sins one after the other, each disappeared from the parchment; and, having reached the last of these, lo, the scroll was spotless!

At St. Junien, Anthony, who was about to address the public, predicted that the platform which had been erected for his use would collapse, but that no one would be injured. The fact was speedily verified.

One day, preaching to a great multitude in a large square in the city of Limoges, France, a violent storm gathered and filled the people with terror. They began to disperse in haste, when Anthony said: "Fear not: the storm will pass you by." So they remained; and, though the city was deluged, not a drop of rain fell in the square where Anthony was preaching.

At Brivé the Saint established a little hermitage similar to the one at Monte Paolo. Postulants joined him, seeking solitude and poverty. On one occasion, when they were in distress, a much-needed alms was sent them by a lady to whom they had reluctantly applied for aid. The lady's servant carried the gift to them through a severe storm; yet going and coming the servant walked dry-shod, and not one drop of water from the pouring clouds fell upon her.

One evening his companions at the hospice saw a band of marauders despoiling the field of one of the benefactors of the little community, and they hastened to complain to Anthony. "Fear not," said he. " 'Tis but an artifice of the Evil One to distract you." On the morrow they found that the field had been untouched.

The Cathari of Rimini invited the Saint to a feast of poisons. His astounding success in bringing wanderers back to the fold filled them with hatred of him. He knew at once that a snare had been laid for him by the Cathari, and denounced them openly; thereupon they said to him: "Either you believe the words of the Gospel or you do not. If you believe them, why hesitate to eat? Is it not written, 'In My name they shall cast out devils; they shall handle serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them?' If you do not believe the Gospel to be true, why do you preach it? Take, therefore, and eat. If you go unhurt, we swear to embrace the Catholic faith." Blessing the viands, the servant of God ate and was unharmed; and all those who beheld the miracle returned into the fold.

Paralysis and epilepsy he cured with the Sign of the Cross.

At Gemona, near Udine, where he Was erecting a small convent on the model of the Portiuncula, he one day hailed a peasant who was passing with an ox team, and begged that a load of bricks might be brought him. The peasant, not knowing who addressed him, and not caring to be pressed into Anthony's service, said: "I cannot help you, for I am carrying a corpse." The truth is, the peasant's son lay sleeping in the bottom of the cart. When the peasant, a little later, attempted to waken the boy so as to tell him how he had fooled the friar, he found that his son was dead. Then he ran to Anthony and implored him to restore the life of the boy; and Anthony making the Sign of the Cross over the body, the youth arose and blessed him.

Often, under the influence of his exhortations, penitents were moved to tears and convulsive sobs. To such he would say-----to quote from his notes: "Poor sinner, why despair of thy salvation, since all here speaks of mercy and of love? Behold the two advocates who plead thy cause before the tribunal of Divine Justice: a Mother and a Redeemer-----Mary, who presents to her Son her heart transfixed with the sword of sorrow; Jesus, Who presents to His Father the wounds in His feet and hands, and His Heart pierced by the soldier's lance. Take courage; with such a mediator, with such an intercessor, Divine Mercy can not reject thee."

Who could resist this appeal, or fail to find strength and consolation in it?

ANTHONY AND THE ISRAELITE

There dwelt at Bourges, the capital of Berry, in France an Israelite who was of all Israelites the most bitter foe of the Catholic Church. He was the leader in opposition to the Christian movement, an earnest worker in opposition to every doctrine that Anthony taught. Guillard the Jew was not an ignorant and blind bigot: he was a man of intelligence, an honest doubter. Often he had listened to the preaching of Anthony, yet he was not convinced. Shall we not say that it was his misfortune rather than his fault that he remained without the fold and persistently assumed an attitude of antagonism?

The dogma of the real presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament was naturally his chief stumbling-block. Much he could accept and much consider in a calm spirit of philosophical inquiry; but the Eucharist, transubstantiation-----the perpetual miracle-----was in his estimation past belief. For this miracle he demanded miraculous proof.

"The Turk does not question the word of Mohammed," observed Anthony to this fellow of Didimus the Doubter; "the philosopher accepts the philosophy of Aristotle; but you, who pride yourself upon being a worthy Israelite, will not accept the testimony of the Son of God."-----"I must see for myself, with these very eyes, before I can believe," replied the doubting Thomas. There are many who, like him, must put their finger in the wounds before they are convinced of the living truth.

One day Guillard said to Anthony: "Brother Anthony, if by some tangible, outward sign you can confirm the truth you have demonstrated by reasoning, I will abjure my ancient creed and embrace yours. Do you consent?" In order to save a soul one may make great concessions; nor was it beneath the dignity of Anthony to offer visible proof to an anxious and inquiring eye. "I consent," said he.-----"I have a mule," added the Jew: "I will keep him for three days under lock and key, and in all that time feed him nothing. At the end of the third day I will bring him to the largest public square in the city; and there, in the presence of all the assembled people, I will offer him a feed of oats. You on the other hand, will come carrying the Host, which, as you believe, is the true body of the Son of God. If the mule refuses the proffered food in order to prostrate himself before the monstrance, I will become a Catholic, and no longer question the truth of the doctrine taught by the Catholic Church."

Here was a direct challenge, and it was not declined. Anthony felt that his victory was assured. The reward of that victory was an immortal soul. For three days the young apostle devoted himself to fasting and prayer. Not for one moment did he lose faith in the success of the miracle he was about to work, but he dared not attempt it without solemn preparation. Meanwhile Guillard and his companions were so sure of Anthony's total defeat and discomfiture that there was much merriment at the wonder-worker's expense; and the interest in the approaching test increased from hour to hour.

The eventful day arrived. Guillard and his friends trooped into the public square with smiles and laughter, so confident were they that the famishing mule would instantly abandon himself to his oats. The immense throngs who had gathered to witness the impending spectacle were consumed with curiosity. As Anthony slowly approached, bearing reverently the Sacred Host, his eyes cast down, his air devotional, a great hush fell upon the multitude. He was followed by a large crowd of the faithful, singing canticles and whispering prayers.

The mule was then led forward, and the oats laid temptingly before him. At that moment Anthony drew near, bearing the monstrance. Turing toward the dumb brute, he exclaimed: "In the name of thy Creator, whose body I, though unworthy, hold in my hands, I enjoin and command thee, O being deprived of reason, to come hither instantly and prostrate thyself before thy God; so that by this sign unbelievers may know that all creation is subject to the Lamb who is daily immolated upon our altars." In the same moment Guillard and his friends presented the oats to the famished beast. Without taking the smallest notice of the food, the mule, turning away, walked to the feet of Anthony, and, bending his knees, knelt before the Blessed Sacrament and remained there in an attitude of adoration.

Great was the enthusiasm among the faithful. The heretics fled away in fright and hid themselves for shame; they dared not face the one who had proved that prayer is more powerful than the laws of nature. Many were so moved by the wondrous spectacle that, though they had long wandered from the path of duty, they returned into the fold. Guillard likewise sought admission, for he could no longer doubt; and with him came his household. He publicly attested his faith, and in gratitude erected a church upon the spot where the miracle had taken place; and that monument endures to this hour. As late as 1850 a block of marble, carved to represent a mule in the attitude of devotion, was discovered in the wall of the facade of the church built by Guillard, and consecrated in 1231 by Archbishop Simon de Sully.

Pierre Rosset, a Doctor of the University of Paris and a poet of the fifteenth century; Wadding, in his "Annals of the Friars Minor;" and Benedict Mazzara, in his "Franciscan Legends," bear witness to the authenticity of this memorial of a miracle. Toulouse and Rimini claim a like honor with Bourges, and there are those who have believed that the miracle was repeated. The evidence is cloudy and conflicting in these days, but there is no shadow of doubt that Anthony the wonder-worker worked that wonder in the ancient city of Bourges; and that Guillard the Israelite then and there built the Church of St. Peter in honor of his glorious conversion.

ANTHONY AND THE CHRIST CHILD

Let us not be disconcerted if we find several cities contending for the honor to which one only is entitled. Since Homer's death it has been the fate of the distinguished poet to be claimed by many and various peoples as father, brother, son; though while living in obscurity the devoted soul was suffered to endure neglect. It is not surprising that the miracles of Anthony have not always been definitely located. Some of them may have been repeated in two or more localities. Tradition is more or less elastic; it sometimes grows with what it feeds on. What is of utmost importance is the proof of a miracle; it matters less where it actually took place.

In Anthony we see embodied the beauty of holiness. There is one who has borne witness to the truth of this, for he was an eye-witness. The blessed privilege he enjoyed should have immortalized him, and yet the authorities are not united as to his identity.

Anthony founded the monastery of Arcella Vecchia, without the walls, about a mile distant from Padua. There he loved to dwell; but as his duties called him into the city daily, and when preaching or hearing confessions in the evening he was often detained until the city gates were closed, he found it necessary to seek a lodging which he could occupy at his leisure. This he found, as Azevedo informs us, at the house of Tiso, or Tisone, one of the ancient family of counts of Camposampiero, famous in the records of their time.

That a miracle was performed somewhere no chronicler doubts; but Azevedo seems to have had insufficient proof of the grounds for his statement that it took place in Padua. Wadding, on the other hand, does not attempt to locate it; but Father Bonaventure de St. Amable, a Carmelite of the seventeenth century, on the authority of ancient documents existing in his time, names without hesitation Châteauneuf-----the modern Châteauneuf-la-Forêt-----as the hallowed spot.

The legend is perhaps the best known in the life of the Saint, as it is certainly the most beautiful; and it has been a favorite subject for the art of the best masters during the last eight hundred years.

Accepting the hospitality of the Lord of Châteauneuf, who, according to the "Annals de Limousin," dearly loved St. Anthony and his holy Order, he retired to his chamber and began the prayerful vigil that usually extended far into the night. His host, who was in an adjoining apartment, was startled by a light as of a conflagration that poured from under the door of Anthony's room. Hastening to the door, but fearing to enter lest he should disturb his guest, he listened for a few moments. Hearing voices, he became agitated; and, riveting his eye at a crevice; he beheld a vision that filled him with awe and wonder.

Anthony knelt at a table where a large volume lay open; upon the volume, or above it, stood a child of such surpassing loveliness that the gazer's heart leaped within him, and his lips would have cried out for joy but that some mysterious influence enjoined silence upon him. The body of the infant was effulgent: a soft glow was diffused on every side. The luster of that countenance was ineffable. The radiant being seemingly reposed upon the air; and, from a soft veil of vapor that emitted a celestial fragrance, he leaned fondly upon the bosom of the friar, and with hands of exquisite loveliness, delicately caressed him. Soft music, mingled with voices of Heavenly tenderness and the flutter of invisible wings, betokened the presence of Angelic visitors.

The child, Who was the Christ Child, whispered in the ear of Anthony; and, as the Saint turned to the door, the master of Châteauneuf knew that his presence was detected. So when Anthony met him on the morrow these words passed between them; the Limousin chronicler records them in their brevity and simplicity: "Father, what did Our Lord say to you?"-----"He revealed to me that your house will flourish and enjoy great prosperity so long as it remains faithful to Mother Church; but that it will be overwhelmed with misfortune and become extinct when it goes over to heresy."

In the seventeenth century the then Lord of Châteauneuf espoused the cause of the Calvinists, and in the fall of that house the prophecy was fulfilled. As for Anthony, one ever associates him with the Christ Child who nestles in his arms. From the holy visitations of the Divine Infant he gathered inspiration, and it was he who said; "The Sacred Heart is a fountain of supernatural life; a golden altar whereon is burning, night and day forever, incense that ascends in clouds of fragrance toward the skies and envelops and embalms the earth."

Continued Next Page.

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