THE LILIES OF SAN ANTONIO
THE LILIES OF SAN ANTONIO
The lily or the lily is a symbol of purity and because just as the slightest contact tarnishes that most candid flower, so all guilt —even slight— tarnishes the purity of the soul.
The Saints who distinguished themselves during their lives for their innocence, are represented with this flower in their arms, in their hands or next to them.
We would not know Saint Anthony of Padua if we did not see his images with the lily or with the divine Child Jesus, lily of the valleys, who recreates among lilies. It is that San Antonio conserved the virginal innocence all his life and, if the lily or lily is the representation of the virtue of purity, this symbol could not be missing.
And it seems that San Antonio has a predilection for the lily and how he enjoys seeing his images with this flower and his altars adorned with lilies, which remind people of the duty to love and preserve at all costs the most delicate virtue of purity. To such an extent that such beautiful and white flowers of the field are called lilies of San Antonio.
The devotion of the lilies of San Antonio is ancient, although in the ecclesiastical liturgy it appears almost new. In 1680, in the town of Mantesca de Agesso, they took the artificial flower or lily from the Saint’s hands, replacing it with a natural one freshly taken from the garden. They left this flower in the hands of San Antonio after the party and for a whole year the lily was kept fresh, as if it had just been cut, with the same aroma that was perceived throughout the church.
In Marcase of Sicily another singular case happened. The Franciscans expelled by the revolution, people went to church on June thirteenth. After the party, the church was closed, forgetting to remove the flowers from the altar. After a long time, they returned to the church and found all the flowers withered, except for the lilies and lilies that surrounded the image of Saint Anthony. The whole city came to see the miracle and the people took the fresh and aromatic lilies of San Antonio as relics.
The Christian people have special veneration for the lily of Saint Anthony because, in addition to being convinced that with it they please the glorious Thaumaturge of Padua, they have seen in it a symbol of protection and help that the Saint of Miracles grants in favor of his devotees. who beg his support to preserve themselves in such an appreciated virtue.
This veneration is increased in an extraordinary way because Saint Anthony has sometimes used these flowers as an instrument to grant favors and work miracles. Remember the following case. A lady from Montreal (Canada) took the habit of a religious in the Convent of Our Lady of the Angels of Ass (Italy), and her name was Sister Margaret of Santa Clara.
On the occasion of a foundation in America, he had to embark and as soon as he arrived in New York, he felt a small pain in his tongue, which increased noticeably. Called a specialist, he declared that it was a malignant cancer and that the operation was essential.
Faced with such an omen, Sister Margarita turned to God, begging him, through the intercession of Saint Anthony, to help her. Suddenly the good Sister remembered that she had a lily petal blessed at the feast of Saint Anthony and that night, before going to bed (it was the eve of the day appointed for the operation) she spent some time in fervent prayer and then applied the petal. to the tongue, in the place where he had the cancer.
The next day, when he got up, what would not be his surprise and joy to see that his tongue was completely healthy? When the specialist doctor, who was not Catholic, arrived to perform the operation, he was surprised to see that there was no sign of the cancer left. The Sister told her that Saint Anthony had cured her. The doctor confirmed that such a case could only be carried out by a miracle.
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