ST.ANTHONY OF PADOVA

Thy Sins Are Forgiven Thee!

ANTHONY the priest spent long hours in the confessional. There he was brought face to face with strange and sorrowful problems of all kinds. One penitent in particular found that, when he knelt at the feet of this young Franciscan priest, he was unable to confess his sins. The sorrow which filled his heart was so great that he simply could not speak. Anthony read that heart and and knew that it was sincerely penitent. so he said to the man, "Go home, write your sins on a piece of paper, then bring the paper back to me."

The man did so. Anthony bade him read the list. Obediently the penitent started with the first. To his astonishment he saw that, as soon as he had told it, the name of each sin disappeared from the paper. So it went on. When the last sin had been confessed, the paper was perfectly blank.

In Defense of His Own Father!

WHILE St. Anthony was at Padua, a man was killed in Lisbon and the corpse buried in the garden of Anthony's father. Try as he might to prove his innocence, the grisly evidence found in the family garden was enough to convict the poor man of the murder. Just when things were at their worst, God revealed to Anthony the plight of his father.

Immediately, the Saint obtained permission to go to Lisbon. Padua was days away from Lisbon but Anthony was there in a matter of hours. In the court room he asked that the body of the murdered man be produced. Anthony approached the corpse and, in a firm voice, bade the man speak and tell who had killed him. To the amazement of all, the corpse sat up and clearly attested the innocence of the accused. Anthony's father was freed and the next day the Saint was back in Padua. After all, he had asked permission to be away only over night.