Devotees celebrate feast of San Antonio de Padua

Devotees of miraculous saint San Antonio (Saint Anthony) de Padua commemorate his feast day on Thursday, June 13.

Feast masses, special prayers and solemn processions will be observed in churches around the country placed under his patronage such as at the St. Anthony de Padua Shrine in Sampaloc, Manila.

At the St. Anthony de Padua Church in Singalong, Manila, Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro C. Bacani, Jr. will preside over a Misa Mayor (High Mass) at 6 p.m. 

Many Filipino devotees of St. Anthony de Padua attest to his powerful intercession as the patron saint of lost things.

A Doctor of the Church, he is also the patron saint of the poor. Born in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 15, 1195, St. Anthony first joined the Augustinian Order before joining the Franciscan Order in 1221. 

He gave up his wealth to be a servant of God. Many miracles were reported during his time including the apparition of the Infant Jesus. He died in 1231 and was buried at the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy.

The Portuguese Catholic priest was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1232. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1946.

To this day, St. Anthony is often invoked for the recovery of lost things. His image is portrayed carrying the Infant Jesus in memory of the apparition.