Feast of St. Anthony of Padua

Happy Feast of St. Anthony of Padua!  :)

I was reading the St. Louis Review and discovered that St. Anthony of Padua Parish in South City was having a special Feast Day Mass complete with the blessing of bread and lilies.  The stars aligned and I was able to go!

The choir was in the choir loft!  The organ was used!  The music was *old* and not 1970s old but like 1870s old!  It was dare I say it...CATHOLIC!!!!  It was like a Sunday Mass on a Monday!!
Music:
Organ Prelude
Processional:  For All the Saints
Mass Setting: Mass of Creation
Presentation:  To Christ Our King
Sign of Peace:  St. Anthony Chorale
Communion:  How Firm a Foundation
Reflection:  A St. Anthony Hymn sung to O God Our Help in Ages Past

Recessional:  Day is Done

Organ Postlude

Father used Penitential Rite A!  There was a First and Second Reading.  The Nicene Creed.  It was neat!  Father used Eucharistic Prayer II and there were bells.  There would have been more Franciscans but they are at a Provincial Meeting.

Father's homily focused on the life of St. Anthony.  St. Anthony was born around 1195 and at 15 joined the Augustinians and became a Canon.  He had heard about Franciscans martyred in Morocco and he joined the Franciscans so he could get martyred as well.  The images all show St. Anthony as a young healthy guy.  He was short, squat and sickly.  St. Anthony did get sent to Morocco but he was so sick they sent him back.  He was supposed to go to Lisbon, but landed in Padua (must have used Google Maps...also explains why he is patron saint of lost things and travelers).  St. Anthony challenged heretics.  He died at age 35/36 and was canonized shortly after.  Around the 1500, the devotion to St. Anthony was suppressed by the Pope who had something against Franciscans.  But the devotion couldn't really be suppressed.  St. Anthony wanted to be a humble nobody.  It is those kind of people that usually don't get to live in anonymity.  In America, women pray to St. Ann to find a husband (St. Ann, St. Ann, send me a man, quick as you can!)  In Brazil, women pray to St. Anthony to find a husband (needs to find a novena/prayer quick!!! I has a new favorite saint) .  St. Anthony Devotions are traditionally said on Tuesday because St. Anthony died on Tuesday.  We all want to be somebody, we need to be somebody of the Gospel.

At the end of Mass, Father blessed lilies and bread and they were handed out.

Pictures:

View from the Middle Pew

See the Lilies on the Communion Rail?!

St. Anthony of Padua

They had 3! tables of votive candles surrounding the Altar!

Links:
Website of St. Anthony of Padua
Pictures from Rome of the West
Previous Visit 1 and 2

Update!!!!
I have an online friend who has told me of her success with praying to St. Anthony for a husband.  She said she prayed it everyday and it only took a month for her future husband to appear!  She has graciously translated the prayer for me and given me permission to post!

Saint Anthony, 

I know that marriage is a vocation blessed by God. 

It is the sacrament of love and can be compared to the love that Christ has for the Church. I feel called to marriage: so I ask you, Saint Anthony, help me find a good boyfriend, nice, serious and sincere who has the same feelings of affection that I feel. Help us to complement each other and form a union blessed by God, so that that we, together, are able to overcome any potential problems. May we always keep our love alive, and never lack understanding and family harmony. Saint Anthony, bless us both me and my boyfriend, accompany us to the altar and keep us united for the rest of our lives. 

Saint Anthony, pray for us.

Was that prayer too long?  How about..

Santo Antônio! Santo Antônio! Meu santinho tão querido, Quero pedir, em segredo, Que me arranje um marido.

Translated:

St. Anthony, St. Anthony, my little saint most dear. I ask you in secret, to sent me a husband.