Miracles of Saint Anthony
Miracles of Saint Anthony
Saint Anthony performed many miracles during his lifetime. He healed the sick people, brought back dead people to life, and changed people with stone hearts towards God. Many people got cured praying to him after his death. Even toughing his tomb healed the sick and the sufferers from various diseases and problems. He brought many people to God from their disbeliefs and changed their lives from the not acceptable to God. Even today people get healed from diseases and get protection against evil through his intercession.
Saint Anthony preaches to the fish
Saint Anthony was preaching in Rimini, Italy where there were many heretics who opposed catholic beliefs. He desired to bring them to light of the truth, he argued with them over their wrong positions. But they were stubbornly stuck to their errors, not only rejecting his arguments but even walking away so that they would not have to listen to him.
Therefore, St. Anthony, inspired by God, went over to where the river runs into the sea. Standing on the shore, between the sea and the river, he began to call out in God’s name to the fish, inviting them to come to listen to his homily. He said, “Listen to the Word of the Lord, O fish of the sea and river, for the faithless heretics refuse to listen to it.” Immediately an immense school of fish, small and large, gathered near St. Anthony. There were more than had ever been seen together in that region. They all raised their heads a little out of the water to listen to the homily of St. Anthony.
A donkey adores the Eucharist
Near Toulouse, the holy man, having energetically discussed the salvation giving sacrament of the Eucharist with a heretic, had arrived at the point of all but convincing him of the truth of the faith. He after arguing for a long time, finally said, “Very well, let’s drop the discussion and see the deeds. If you, Anthony, manage to show me through a miracle performed in front of everyone that this is the body of Christ, I will renounce every heresy and submit myself to the obedience of the faith.
After the Saint made a firm promise that he would do this, the deretic added, “I will shut up my donkey for three days until it is all but starved. Three days hence I will bring it out in front of all these people. I will show it its fodder. You stand in front of the animal holding what you claim is the body of Christ. If the animal, starving, ignores the fodder instead approaches that God Who you say is to be adored by every creature, I will truly believe in the faith of the Church.” The saint immediately agreed. On the day, they had fixed, people from direction and filled up the large square.
That heretic was there with a gang of his evil accomplices and they led out the donkey which had been starved. Its food was laid down near it. St. Anthony was celebrating mass in a nearby chapel. As soon as the Mass was over, he carried the most holy body of Christ in front of the crowd and laid it down in silence. He said to the donkey, “In the virtue and in the name of the Creator, whom I even though I am so unworthy, truly hold in my hands, I tell and command you, o animal, to immediately and humbly draw near and offer Him the veneration due Him. Thus, these evil heretics will be persuaded that every creature is subject to their Creator, and that priests regularly hold Him in their hands upon the alter.”
In the meantime, the heretics offered the hungry donkey its food. But something extraordinary happened. The animal, dying of starvation, listened to St. Anthony’s words. It ignored its forage and immediately bent its head and knelt down in front of the life giving sacrament. This brought joy to the Catholics and due despair to the heretics. That non-believer, after he renounced every heresy as he had promised, embraced the faith, rending himself obedient to the precepts of the Church.