From Lisbon to the Franciscans
He was born Fernando Martins de Bulhões in Lisbon to a prominent family and entered the Augustinian order at fifteen. After nine years of theological study, the turning point came when the remains of five Franciscan friars, martyred while preaching in Morocco, were brought back through his monastery in a public procession. Moved by their example, Fernando left the Augustinians, joined the Franciscans, and took the name Anthony.
He set out for Morocco himself, hoping for the same fate, but fell seriously ill and had to turn back. A storm blew his ship off course to Sicily instead, where Franciscan friars nursed him back to health. From there he asked only for a quiet life of prayer in a hermitage, without mentioning his years of theological training.
A preacher discovered by accident
According to the traditional account, Anthony's gift for preaching surfaced almost by chance: asked to give an impromptu sermon at an ordination gathering in 1222 because no one else had volunteered, he spoke with a passion that startled everyone present. Word reached Francis of Assisi, who reassigned him to preach across northern Italy and southern France. He is said to have made hundreds of preaching journeys over the following years, and later became the first friar authorized by Francis to teach theology within the order.
Anthony died near Padua in 1231 at thirty-six, worn out after a final Lenten preaching season so popular that crowds reportedly numbered in the thousands. He was canonized the following year, one of the fastest canonizations in Church history, and Pope Pius XII named him a Doctor of the Church in 1946. Centuries of popular devotion have also attached miracle stories to his name, most of which the Church itself is careful to distinguish from official teaching.