Florence, 13 June 2024 – Today, June 13thday of death of Sant ‘Antonio, we remember and celebrate the Saint of Miracles, so defined in the world for the many miracles that were attributed to him both when he was still alive and after his death. It was 1220 when Anthony came into contact with the friars minor. At the time he was still called Fernando, and the occasion was the transport to Coimbra, precisely where Fernando was, of the relics of five Franciscan missionaries who had been killed in Morocco. He then joined the followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. Antonio was of wealthy origin, and his preaching reached everyone’s hearts. As an Augustinian as he was, he abandoned the life of the monastery to marry ‘sister poverty’ according to the Franciscan ideal. He was entrusted with teaching theology and Saint Francis sent him to France to fight the Cathars. He died in Padua in 1231. The tradition of Saint Anthony’s bread it originates in the miracle of little Tommasino, who was healed precisely through the intercession of the Saint. The child’s young mother, to show her gratitude, then decided to offer as much bread to the convent as her child weighed. The bread could thus be given back to mothers who were in need and poor. The tradition of blessed bread is renewed every year on this day, when it is customary to share bread with those who are poor and alone. Born today William Butler Yeats born 13 June 1865 in Dublin. Between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries he was one of the great protagonists of poetry. He has written: “Education does not mean filling a bucket, but lighting a flame”.
