The St Anthony Novena

The Saint Anthony Novena is one of the most-prayed Catholic novenas in the world. It is addressed to Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), the Portuguese-Italian Franciscan friar whose preaching, miracle-working, and intercession have made him one of the most universally venerated saints of the Catholic devotional tradition. The Catholic faithful turn to Saint Anthony for the recovery of lost things (both material and spiritual), for the conversion of sinners, for the intercession in difficult family situations, and for the long list of particular needs that fall under his comprehensive patronage.

Origin and history

Saint Anthony of Padua (treated more fully in Saint Anthony of Padua) was born Fernando Martins de Bulhões in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1195. He entered the Augustinian Canons Regular as a young man, was ordained a priest, and developed a serious theological education before transferring to the newly-founded Franciscan Order in 1220. He was sent on missionary work to North Africa but was forced by illness to return to Italy. There he was discovered as a preacher of extraordinary gifts and was sent on preaching missions throughout northern Italy and southern France. He died at Padua on 13 June 1231 at the age of thirty-five, after a brief but extraordinarily fruitful life of preaching, teaching, and miracle-working.

He was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in May 1232, only eleven months after his death (one of the fastest canonizations in Catholic history). He was declared a Doctor of the Catholic Church by Pope Pius XII in 1946 with the title Doctor Evangelicus (the Evangelical Doctor) for the depth and the orthodoxy of his sermons on the Gospel.

The Saint Anthony Novena tradition developed organically from the universal Catholic devotion to Saint Anthony in the centuries after his death. Several Catholic devotional forms exist alongside the standard nine-day novena: the Tuesday Devotion (a weekly Mass and devotion in honor of Saint Anthony, kept by Catholic faithful on Tuesdays, the day of the week traditionally associated with him); the Thirteen Tuesdays of Saint Anthony (a thirteen-week devotion of Tuesday Masses leading up to his feast on 13 June); and the Saint Anthony's Brief (the small leaflet inscribed with a passage from the saint's writings, traditionally carried by Catholics as a sacramental). The nine-day novena is the form most adaptable to particular Catholic needs throughout the year.¹

Structure of the novena

Each day of the Saint Anthony Novena follows the same form:

1. Opening invocation: O glorious Saint Anthony of Padua...
2. A meditation on a theme proper to the day, drawn from the saint's life, sermons, and Catholic devotional tradition.
3. The petition: the specific intention for which the novena is being prayed.
4. The classical Saint Anthony novena prayer, preserved in the Franciscan tradition.
5. Closing prayers: the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, and the brief invocation Saint Anthony, pray for us.

When the novena is prayed

The Saint Anthony Novena is most commonly prayed:

• In the nine Tuesdays leading up to his feast on 13 June (a Catholic adaptation of the Thirteen Tuesdays tradition, condensed to nine).
• In the nine days before his feast on 13 June (the standard nine-day form).
• In moments of particular need, especially for the recovery of lost things (Saint Anthony's most universally invoked patronage).
• For the conversion of fallen-away Catholic family members, where the lost in Saint Anthony's patronage extends to the spiritually lost.

Pairing with other prayers

The Saint Anthony Novena is paired with:

• The Holy Rosary, particularly the Joyful Mysteries (in which the Christ Child appears, as He famously appeared in vision to Saint Anthony).
• The traditional Saint Anthony's Brief (the sacramental leaflet, traditionally inscribed with the antiphon Ecce Crucem Domini, fugite partes adversae (Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee adversaries).
• The Litany of Saint Anthony of Padua, an indulgenced prayer in the Catholic tradition.

For the saint himself, see Saint Anthony of Padua. For broader theological context, see the Communion of Saints.

Sources

Footnotes

1. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907), "Saint Anthony of Padua," available at newadvent.org. Pope Pius XII, Exsulta Lusitania Felix (declaration of Doctor of the Church, 16 January 1946), available at vatican.va. The Franciscan Order's traditional devotional manuals preserve the various forms of the Saint Anthony devotions. ↩