Chapter VI - Saint Anthony Is Appointed Custodian of Limoges

A short time after Anthony left Toulouse and went to the convent of Puy-en-Velay, of which he had been appointed guardian. The city of Puy and the country round about soon knew the apostle, whose fame had already preceded him. Le Velay was not able to escape the invasion of heresy; but Anthony soon arrested the ravages of error. He employed all his energy to combat them, until he had destroyed and radically extirpated them. At the sound of his voice the true religion awakened in the hearts of these brave people, who hastened in crowds to listen to his preaching. His mission here was easy. From the beginning to the end there were constant miracles and prophecies, conversions and providential circumstances which rendered his missions most fruitful.

The first remarkable fact was the conversion of a notary, a man of lax morals and of violent character. Every time that Anthony met him in the streets the saint stopped and bowed profoundly before him. Irritated by what he regarded as a mockery, the notary avoided meeting his supposed insulter. One day, seeing the saint bending his knee before him, he angrily said: "What do you mean by these grimaces? Did I not fear the anger of God, I would pierce you with my sword." "My brother," Anthony replied, in a voice as calm and sweet as becomes a disciple of Saint Francis, "I desire your happiness. I wish for martyrdom, but Our Lord docs not so will it - yet He has revealed to me that He has reserved this grace for you. When this blessed hour shall come for you, remember, I beg of you, him who foretold it to you." The notary laughed uproariously at what he considered a senseless prediction. Some years after, however, Stephen III, bishop of Puy, set out with a troop of pilgrims to visit the holy places and to carry the torch of faith to the East. The notary, touched by grace and resolved to repair his scandals, joined the pious caravan. Having arrived at Palestine, he did not fear to assert his faith, and cry out to the Mussulmans that Mahomet was only an impostor. For this lie was arrested and condemned to death. As he walked to the scaffold he remembered the prophecy of Anthony, and spoke of it to the Franciscans who exhorted him to be brave in his martyrdom.

On another day, in the same city of Puy, a lady of quality, about to become a mother, recommended herself to the prayers of Saint Anthony. "Rejoice," he replied, as if by sudden inspiration; "the Lord will give you a son who shall be a member of the Friars Minor, and he shall be a martyr and illustrious in the Church." The prediction was fulfilled literally.

His was a magnanimous soul, which stopped at no personal consideration, an intrepid missionary who did not hesitate to speak the truth to great and small, to prelates as well as to the simple faithful, when the honor of the Church or the good of souls required it. Wherever he went the people obeyed his words, sinners were reconciled, vocations became numerous, and the ardor of the apostolic life burned with all its original brightness.

In the month of September, 1226, Anthony suspended for a time his apostolical labors to assist, with the other superiors in France, at the provincial chapter of Aries. Both old and young eagerly gathered about him and regarded him as the glory of their Order. They congratulated him for the strong blows he had given to the hydra-headed heresy of the Albigenses. But Anthony was not at all flattered by their warm compliments; even as the patriarch of Assisi, his model, he referred everything to God.

Talents and heavenly favors and personal merits recommended the Portuguese wonder-worker to the suffrages of his brethren. They elected him custodian of Limoges unanimously, that is to say, superior of two or three convents in the city. But Anthony was equal to the task assigned him.

A fortnight after his election, on the fourth day of October, 1220, the patriarch and founder of the Franciscan Order gave up his pure soul to God. Anthony inherited with the mantle of Francis not only a part of his authority, but his virtues, his humility, his mildness, and his zeal.

- taken from Saint Anthony, The Saint of the Whole World by Father Thomas F Ward