
Today is June 13, when we celebrate the memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, the great Franciscan Doctor of the Church who has devoted his time in heaven to locating good pens whenever some telephone helpdesk operator blindsides us with a surprise confirmation number. Perhaps you share my own experience in that nearly every time I’ve ransacked my house for a key to something I don’t usually unlock, a brief prayer to St. Anthony seems to locate it in record time. However, resist in all forms the temptation to treat this devotion to St. Anthony as a magic trick or form of superstition; it’s just plain unfair to take advantage of the Evangelistic Doctor’s services without publicly acknowledging his invaluable assistance to at least one other person during the course of the day.
St. Anthony of Padua, ora pro nobis!
-Matt Swaim