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Hello All:

(This is my 1st post to the Byzantine Forum. My actual name is Adrian, but I'll understand if anyone calls me JohnVIII)

I used to think that all the hospitals and churchs that were named after St Anthony ment that they were named after St Anthony the Great. I was dissappointed to learn than perhaps all of them (that is all the Roman Catholic ones) refer to some Fransiscan saint. Does anyone know of even one church or hospital named after St Anthony in the USA refer to St Anthony the Great?

Adrian

(P.S. I pray I offend no one on this list. I am Russian Orthodox; I am not Roman Catholic. I welcome anyone who wishes to e-mail me privately for any reason. If anyone cares to know where I sit I concur with Archbishop Averky in this letter of his: http://www.eorthodox.net/eorthodox/The_Terms_Christian_Orthodox.htm

-- Grace and peace to all - Adrian)

Hi Adrian,

Welcome to the Byzantine Forum.

Somehow you post was buried. I really have no idea, but I would guess they are all Roman since in the early years most were the evangelization of Roman Clerics or churches.

Pani Rose

Just an asside the Roman church attached to the Russian Pontifical College is dedicted to St Anthony the Abbot. I think that centuries ago there was something like a hospital attached to it. I recall from an earlier visit seeing the T shaped markings high up on the domes and wondering what that was about. of course I had forgotten that that T is the T shaped crutches used still in Ethiopian churchs and monasteries.

Is St. Anthony of Padua the Franciscan saint which Adrian is referring to?

I know that the families of my Italian friends growing up had a great devotion to him.

( He was made a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII in 1946.

He is typically depicted with a book and the Infant Child Jesus, to whom He miraculously appeared, and is commonly referred to today as the "finder of lost articles." Upon exhumation, some 336 years after his death, his body was found to be corrupted, yet his tongue was totally incorrupt, so perfect were the teachings that had been formed upon it.)

In Christ,
Alice

Dear Alice,

St Anthony of Padua is the Western patron of things lost, as you know.

There is the devotion of the 13 Tuesdays in his honour and also hymns in honour of the relic of his incorrupt tongue with which he preached eloquently.

He is often portrayed with the Child Jesus in his arms and his cult was also popular among Greek-Catholics in E. Europe.

During the war, my grandfather was in a store buying rations for his family of eight.

The owners were atheists and, on that day, were perturbed because they had misplaced the day's receipts and cash.

My grandfather (a priest) suggested they pray to St Anthony of Padua . . .

They scoffed at that, but as they couldn't find the money, they retreated to a backroom, both of them, and my grandfather could hear them, yes, praying . . .

They then walked out and the woman covered her eyes with one hand and reached out at random to a drawer with the other - when she pulled it out, there was the money . . .

They gave my grandfather extra bread and chocolate for that . . .

There is a Polish invocation that is somewhat humorous:

"Svientey Antoni, day my sto zloty i paro koney!"

(St Anthony, grant me 100 zloty/dollars and a pair of horses!).

The Oxford University college of St Anthony is named for St Anthony of Egypt and its symbol is the "T" cross.

Alex

Now, this one is a funny way to ask St. Anthony of Padua intercession:

"In Portugal, Brazil, and some parts of Latin America he is recognized as the marriage saint, and on his day (June 13) single women may buy a small statue of Saint Anthony and place (or bury) it upside down for a week, blackmailing him to only put him in his normal position after they found a good husband."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_of_Padua

More over ... if you're really getting upset about not getting a man, you can take the Christ Child away from St Anthony and hold Him hostage until he delivers....

(Not that I condone such activity!)

Guess you haven't heard this one, practiced right here in the U.S. of A.....

Bury a statue of St. Anthony upside down in the grounds of your home in order to find a buyer when it is on the market.


Alice, who doesn't know if she should laugh or cry at such unorthodox nonsense. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

P.S. I really hope that St. Anthony of Padua has a good sense of humour with all this sacriledge associated with him!

Ummm - Alice are you certain of that ? :rolleyes:

I had heard it was St Joseph who found a buyer for your home.

Mind you I never head that over here - only come across it since I mixed with all you wonderful Americans :p

Anhelyna

OOPS!!! I stand corrected Anhelyna!

I got my 'silly things people do with saints' story confused!

Actually, the curious thing is that people over here swear about it being efficacious.

Maybe I wouldn't mind it so much if he was atleast put into the ground standing upright!!!

Thanks for pointing out the mistake.

In Christ,
Alice

Meanwhile back in the Egyptian desert...long before the other good man was to come along (as i wrote this it sounded like a line from the Goons).

In the palace of the Doge of Venice there is huge map of the known world and it has many lands on it and clearly marked is the monastery he founded, so important was it. This map was supposed to impress visiting dignatories as they waited for an audience with the Doge. The monastery I hve seen on TV is still there and thriving like most Coptic monasteries these days.