Spoiled by a Saint
I’m 23 years old and I have never lost a single thing in my entire life! Sure I’ve had my bag snatched and I’ve accidentally thrown things away by mistake and lost pieces of jewelry down the drain, but I have never really misplaced anything which I haven’t found. Why? Cause St. Anthony spoils me silly! Everyone has their own special saint: not the same way we all have guardian angels, but in the sense that we have one particular saint with whom we have a special devotion to more than the rest. It could be because of the patronage of the saint or because of an even in the saint’s life that we relate to, or even simply because our prayers are answered when we ask for it through his/her intercession. Whatever the reason, we usually have one saint who we tend to gravitate to. Though I have devotions to many saints, St. Therese, St. Dwynwen, and St. Francis, to name a few, I have always had a special relationship with St. Anthony which started when I was very young. My mom tells me that when I was really young (maybe around 2 years old or so), she would hear me say things like “St. Anthony, where are my socks? Help me find my socks!” while going around the room, and sure enough, my socks would pop out soon after that. Things haven’t changed. Whenever things go missing I just have to ask St. A and so far, he has never failed me! Some times it takes a long time and lots of prayer while other times the item pops out after a few seconds with nothing but the mention of St. A’s name! The longest it has ever taken me to find a missing item is 1 year. I have a tape of Christmas songs which I’ve played every Christmas since I was 7. One Christmas I couldn’t find it. I searched high and low but it was no where to be found. I asked St. A to help me find it but Christmas came and left but it was nowhere to be found. The next Christmas rolls around and I’m depressed cause of my missing tape. I beg St. A to find it for me and Ta-Da! The tape was in the first box that I opened. The shortest time it took me to find something was a couple of seconds with nothing but the mention of St. A’s name. My mom couldn’t find her wallet so the first place she looked was in her desk drawer where she usually keeps it. It wasn’t there so she asked St. A for help and turned her room upside down looking for it but to no avail. When she couldn’t find it, she called our helper to ask for assistance and the first placed she looked was also the drawer cause she knows that that’s where it usually is. It still wasn’t there so they continued searching the whole house. When I got home my mom told me “Bear, ask St. Anthony to help you find my wallet. You’re so malakas with him.” Sure enough, I just said “Come on, St. Anthony. Give me a hand”, opened the drawer and the wallet was right there on top of all the things even though both my mom and our helper had already checked it twice. What can I say? St. Anthony spoils me silly . . . and I love it! When I graduated from High School my mom took me to Padua to visit him and it was one of the most amazing experiences ever. I entered the basilica like a typical tourist. I took my time looking at all the frescos and sculptures and took pictures of the interesting sights. But the moment I got to St. A’s tomb I started sobbing uncontrollably though I didn’t know why. The nearer I got to St. A’s bones, the harder I cried and as I prayed I began to realize why. I was crying because I felt like I was seeing a long lost friend whom I haven’t seen in years. They were tears of wonder, joy, amazement, and so much more. If there was a statue of St. A within reach, I probably would have hugged it. They say St. Anthony is the most popular saint in the world and its no wonder why. He helps find lost things (and parking spaces), he can be at 2 places at the same time, he talks to fish, he can reattach severed limbs, what more can you ask for? If there’s a St. Anthony Fan Club, I think you should sign me up.
