Antony of Padua

1195-1231. Patron saint of the poor, of Portugal, and of Padua, Italy. Born of noble parents at Lisbon, he joined the [[Augustinian Canons]]* in 1210. In 1212 he entered the Augustinian study house at Coimbra, where he took his doctorate, gaining a reputation for preaching skill and biblical and theological learning. Seeking to emulate the first Franciscan martyrs in Morocco, he joined that order, exchanging his baptismal name of Ferdinand for Antony, and left for Africa, but illness forced his return. His ship was carried in a storm to Sicily, from which he traveled to the general chapter at Assisi in 1221. He then retreated for further study and contemplation with the celebrated mystic, Thomas Gallo, translator and commentator on the so-called [[Dionysius the Areopagite]]. Summoned from this life of seclusion at the behest of St. Francis,* who at the urging of [[Elias of Cortona]] reluctantly commissioned him the first teacher of the order, Antony subsequently taught at Bologna (1222