Day 9: Conclusion

The ninth and last day of the Saint Anthony Novena closes with thanksgiving and final entrustment. The Catholic faithful who have prayed the novena through these nine days have placed themselves under the patronage of one of the most universally invoked saints in the Catholic tradition. The novena ends, but the relationship with Saint Anthony continues, as a daily Catholic friendship that bears fruit through the rest of life.

Today's invocation

O glorious Saint Anthony of Padua, model of every virtue, intercessor before the throne of God for those who have recourse to you, in the name of your love for the Lord Jesus and for His Blessed Mother, hear my prayer in this novena. Through your intercession with the Lord, obtain for me the graces I most need (state your petition), if they be conducive to my salvation. Amen.

Today's intention and act of thanksgiving

Bring to Saint Anthony for the last time in this novena the principal intention you have been carrying through these nine days. Whatever the visible state of the matter at the close of the novena, give thanks for his maternal attention.

A traditional Catholic act of thanksgiving and entrustment:

Saint Anthony of Padua, glorious Franciscan, Doctor of the Gospel, patron of lost things and lost souls, I thank you for the prayers you have offered with me and for me through these nine days. I commit my intention finally to your hands. Continue to intercede for me. Make me an instrument of your charity in my own daily Catholic life. Bring me at the end of my days to the Beatific Vision in the company of you, Saint Francis of Assisi, and all the saints. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Practical follow-through

In the days and weeks following the close of the novena, consider:

• Beginning or renewing the Tuesday Devotion to Saint Anthony.
• Adopting a regular Saint Anthony's Bread almsgiving at your parish.
• Wearing a Saint Anthony medal as a Catholic sacramental.
• Praying the brief invocation Saint Anthony, pray for us each time you lose something, with the corresponding small almsgiving when the lost thing is recovered.
• Praying the novena annually in the nine days before his feast on 13 June, particularly in connection with the Thirteen Tuesdays tradition.

Reflection

The Catholic devotion to Saint Anthony is among the most universally fruitful Catholic devotions because it integrates so naturally into the ordinary daily Catholic life. The lost keys, the difficult moral decision, the worried prayer for a fallen-away family member, the small almsgiving at the parish food pantry, the Tuesday Mass, the weekly novena prayer: these are the small Catholic disciplines through which the Saint Anthony devotion forms the soul over a lifetime. The cumulative effect over many years is a Catholic relationship with the saint that bears a remarkable amount of spiritual fruit, often without dramatic moments but with steady consolation.

The Catholic faithful who have prayed many Saint Anthony novenas across many years often testify that the saint has become, in their experience, almost a daily companion: they invoke him spontaneously throughout the day, in moments of loss and in moments of success, in moments of need and in moments of gratitude. The novena, prayed for the first time, is the Catholic introduction to this lifelong friendship.

Conclusion of the novena

For the saint himself, see Saint Anthony of Padua. For other novenas in the Catholic tradition, see the novenas hub. For broader theological context, see the Communion of Saints and Saint Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan family of which Saint Anthony was the second-greatest member.

Closing prayers

Conclude with the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be.

Saint Anthony of Padua, glorious Franciscan, Doctor of the Gospel, pray for us. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.