St. Anthony was a Franciscan monk who lived from 1195 – 1231 AD. He is one of the most famous disciples of St. Francis of Assisi . He joined the Franciscan order of monks because he wanted to become a missionary. But because his health was so poor he couldn't travel abroad to perform missionary work. He instead spent his life in Europe where he became very famous for his powerful and eloquent preaching.

St. Anthony is best known today as being the patron saint of lost objects. This ability is attributed to the following story. A novice (monk in training) had run away with a very valuable prayer book that Anthony had been using. St. Anthony, not knowing what had happened to it, prayed hard that it would be found. The novice saw an alarming apparition of St. Anthony and returned it immediately.

I became interested in writing about this Saint when a short time ago, a customer notified me that her order she placed with us had not been received. It had been long enough to safely assume that it had been lost in the mail somewhere. Because this was an international shipment there was no way of tracing it. I was quite distressed. I remembered that St. Anthony was the patron saint of lost things and called on him for his help. Within just a few days, she notified me that the package had been found at her local post office. I was extremely relieved and grateful to St. Anthony. I have used his services off and on over the years and this was just the latest in a series of little miracles.

So, whenever you have lost something, try this short invocation to St. Anthony, then just wait and see what happens. Then be sure to thank St. Anthony when your lost object is found!

Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around.

Something is lost and can't be found.

<then state what it is that has been lost>