Education in Faith
The Celebration of our Patron Saint!
The 13th of June each year marks the feast day of St Anthony of Padua, and we have had a great time celebrating this at our school and in our parish!
As some of our students have very correctly suggested, we know Saint Anthony was a pretty special person purely because our school and parish is named after him! Let's unpack some of the finer details of his life though!
St. Anthony of Padua was born in Portugal in 1195. His real name was Fernando, but he changed it to Anthony when he became a monk. As a young boy, he went to a school run by the church and decided he wanted to serve God. When he was 15, he joined a group of priests called the Augustinians.
Anthony's life changed when he heard about the Franciscan friars, who lived very simple lives and traveled to teach about God. He decided to join them and became a Franciscan friar. Anthony was a great preacher, which means he was good at talking about God and teaching others. People loved to listen to him because he spoke with a lot of love and wisdom. His knowledge of the church was so extensive he became what is known as a Doctor of the Church.
Anthony traveled to many places in Italy and France, helping the poor and teaching about Jesus. Because of his teachings and miracles, many people turned back to God.
Sadly, Anthony died young at the age of 35 in1231. Even though he lived a short life, he did many wonderful things. He was quickly canonised by the church after his death and became a saint.
The Image of a Saint
Like many Saints, when pictured in paintings and statues Saint Anthony is shown with a number of symbols and characteristics. These speak to his life story and how he is celebrated and remembered.
The Simple Brown Robes: This represents the simple life of Friars, and putting their service of God above all material means.
The Haircut: This is always a keen source of discussion with our students! Some students have mentioned they could pull off this haircut, but we're not sure anyone can! Which is sort of the point! The shaved head is to symbolise for Friars such as St Anthony that they do not care at all about their appearance, but rather their number one priority remains the service of God.
The Christ Child: Saint Anthony is often pictured with Christ as a baby, or even a little bit older as a young child. This is to mark his purity and trustworthiness, but also speaks to his life as a teacher of others.
The White Lillies: These are another symbol of the purity of Saint Anthony. They are a very common motif in the words of the Bible and represent love, calm and fragility.
The Bible: This links to perhaps the most famous of Saint Anthony's stories, and symbols! Saint Anthony is the Patron Saint of Lost Items.
As the story goes, a student left Saint Anthony's Franciscan community, taking with him a Bible belonging to Anthony. As a time before printing presses, all books were very expensive! Further to this the Bible held great sentimental value to Anthony, as he had written many notes in it for his teaching.
In a stressful situation where someone could easily feel furious or helpless, Saint Anthony instead turned to God and prayed for the successful return of his precious item. Feeling guilty, the student actually returned the Bible, and decided to stay at the community moving forward.
Thus Saint Anthony became the patron saint of lost items, but also on a different level, the patron saint of lost people. We can pray to Saint Anthony when we can't find our car keys, but also when we feel confused, hopeless, lost or alone. His story teaches us to be calm in times of stress where possible, and trust that with kindness and love things will work out for us.
A Celebration in our Parish
As a school we were fortunate enough to celebrate the Feast of St Anthony on the actual day itself, as well as Parish celebration that weekend and a further school ceremony the following week. Attending any of these in our beautiful church, you will have seen many wonderful work samples from our students decorating the walls!
These work samples demonstrated the fantastic learning taking place in our classrooms about Saint Anthony.
Junior School:
Prep, Year One and Two students drew beautiful images of Saint Anthony in groups. They then brainstormed words relevant to his story and life such as 'caring', 'helpful' and 'smart.'
Middle School:
Year Three and Four students focused on the theme of Saint Anthony being the patron saint of lost things. They reflected as outlined above that this does not simple mean material items, but can also include the times we feel lost in our own lives.
Senior School:
Year Five and Six students completed detailed information reports on the life of Saint Anthony. They unpacked what made him so special, and detailed his many acts of service to God.
We are so proud of all of our students during this period, and how diligently they have worked through studying the life of our beloved Saint Anthony. We are also so proud to have his name adorn our community, and we hope to live our lives with the same commitment and selflessness he did.
May Saint Anthony continue to bless our wonderful community, and may we all feel the impact of his love and support over this holiday break.
Take care everyone,
Tim O'Mahoney
Education in Faith Leader