Friar Mario
JOHN
OF LA Rochelle, the first Franciscan friar to receive a degree in
Theology from the University of Paris, knew Saint Anthony personally,
and wrote of him, “Never in our times did we hear a sweeter comforter of
the poor than Saint Anthony, nor a bolder opponent of the strong and
powerful”. Our Saint had, in fact, a faithful following wherever he
went.
The fundamental secret behind Anthony’s appeal was not so
much his power as a wonder-worker, but his deep awareness that he had
embraced the cause of the poor and downtrodden; that he had chosen to
promote what we today call “human rights”.
He was there with the
people; he suffered and toiled with them, and fought against injustice,
violence and those social structures which humiliate people and thwart
their development.From the earliest biographies we learn of two
very symbolic episodes which well portray his untiring efforts to
promote human rights.
The first incident occurred on March 17,
1231, during his Lent preaching. Anthony presented himself to the local
civic authorities with a proposal to reform the section of the Penal
Code concerning insolvent debtors. The practice up until then had been
to leave debtors languishing in dreadful prisons, where they were
treated more like animals than human beings. Anthony managed to convince
the authorities to change the prison sentence into the seizure of the
debtor’s possessions, and banishment from the city of Padua. The public
legislator who drew up the resulting legal document stated quite clearly
in the preface: “Following the request of the Venerable Friar Anthony
of the Order of the Friars Minor, we have decided to change a paragraph
of our Penal Code”.
The second episode took place approximately
two months later – a few weeks before Anthony’s death. Despite being
terribly exhausted and close to death, he nevertheless accepted the
request to go to Verona and ask Ezzelino III of Romano to free some
political prisoners.
Ezzelino belonged to the political party
known as the Ghibellines. Both they and their opponents, the Guelphs,
were famous for their conniving and bloodthirstiness, and Ezzelino was
considered by all to be a master in the art of treachery.
Ezzelino
was holding certain Paduan Guelphs as prisoners, threatening to execute
them. Anthony courageously stood before him and called him to
conversion. The tyrant repented his ways, only to lapse after the Saint
left. This heartfelt, though unsuccessful, attempt before this sinister
despot shows how important the defence of human rights was for Anthony,
and the responsibility he felt for people crushed by violence.
Human rights is on everyone’s lips these days, yet few seem to be aware that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document adopted in Paris by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1948.
Speaking in front of representatives from 192 nations at the UN, Pope Benedict XVI recalled the anniversary, “
Human
rights are increasingly being presented as the common language and the
ethical substratum of international relations.” And added, “The
promotion of human rights remains the most effective strategy for
eliminating inequalities between countries and social groups, and for
increasing security.” Unfortunately, many believe that
the mandate to promote and protect human rights concerns only a small
number of people: heads-of-state, politicians or UN representatives.
They do not realise that the promotion of human rights is to be
shouldered by all of us. Human rights are, in fact, as the Holy Father
emphasised, based on the dignity of the human person, “the high-point of God’s creative design for the world and for history.” Saint
Anthony knew this well, and whenever he took up the cause of the poor,
he did not do so out of sentimentality or out of some ideology. His
solidarity was the result of his deep religious feelings and
convictions.Through baptism we are all brothers and sisters
in Christ, and therefore, as Saint Paul declared, in Christ there
should be no divisions of class, race, sex, etc. It was this conviction
that gave Anthony the strength to oppose those who, through their
selfishness, introduced into the Christian community any form of
injustice and discrimination leading to the marginalisation of the poor.
His
opposition was, however, always respectful of the people he reproached.
As a true follower of Saint Francis, Anthony gently approached sinners,
and won them over through the holiness of his life and the evidence of
Scripture. From his Sermons we can see how he tried with all his
strength to unmask the most widespread sins; those sins which were the
same yesterday as today: greed, lechery, and craving for power. What a
luminous example Anthony has left us! ( from the messenger of Saint Anthony in Italy)
Note: Therefore a true devotee of Saint Anthony of Padua, follows his footsteps and promote the protection of Human dignity. Let us bring back to our suffering brothers and sisters; the poorest of the poor their GOD GIVEN DIGNITY as Humans created in HIS HOLY IMAGE.- fra. Francis Gregory
The
life of a Christian, the saint observes poetically,
happens on earth like the majestic rainbow spreads
itself from one point to another in the sky. There are various
colours in the rainbow, but fire red and pale blue are
predominant. 
