The Irish standard., 1899-07-15
A Few of His Doings As Related
By His Chroniclers.
HAILED BY EXPECTANT MULTyTUDHE
He Delivered Many Persons from
Sore Temptations.

That miracles have occurred, and are
occurring even in our day, there is no
shadow of doubt. What is miracle?
According to Worcester, miracle is
"an effect of which the antecedent can
not be referred to any secondary cause;
an event or occurrence which can not
be explained by any known law OF ma
ture; something not only superhuman,
but preternatural; prodigy, wonder,
a marvel"
Thousands of witnesses bore tes-
timony in their day to the wonders
worked by St. Anthony in France and
Italy. 1t would seem that his fame must
have preceded him, and that wherever
he went his approach must have been
heralded and his appearance hailed with
enthusiasm by expectant and animated
throngs. This was not the case. Obedi-
ent to the voice of his superiors, he
went wheresoever he was bidden; went
alone and unannounced; a stranger in a
strange land, unrecognized of any until
he had lifted up that voice whose per-
suasive eloquence no one was long able
to Withstand. Then came his triumph
complete and overwhelming. Triumph
followed upon triumph, until at last the
land rang with his praises. On every
hand he gave abundant proof of the di-
vine power which he was called upon
to exercise. Following in the footsteps
of his Blessed Master, he healed the
sick, raised the dead to life, and wax
ened the living to life everlasting.
Preaching once upon time in the
pulpit of the church OF St. Eusebius in
Vicelli-a small Italian city, then an in
dependent republic, like many another
city of that day-vast crowds pressed
around him. Suddenly great commo-
tion arose. With difficulty a grief
stricken family bore toward him the
body of one of their number, cut down
in the prime of life. A great wall went
UP from the people. Anthony paused
in his discourse, profoundly moved.
Reco11ecting himself, he extended his
hand toward the body and cried: "In
the name of Christ, I say unto you,
young man, arisep And Immediately
the youth arose from the dead, full of
joy, restored to health and to the arms
of those who had bewailed him.
Great is the number and the variety
of the wonders worked by Anthony.
Here are a few of them taken at random
from the pages of his several chroni-
clers:
He was preaching in the cathedral at
Montpelier, in the presence of the clergy
and vast multitude. 1t was Easter
Sunday. In the midst of the discourse
he suddenly remembered that he had
been appointed to sing at solemn High
Mass in the choir of neighboring con-
vent chapel. He had forgotten this; he
had even forgotten to find substitute,
and the hour Of the Mass was at hand.
This seemed to him an act of disobedi-
ence; and, in his distress he drew his
cowl over his face, sank back in the
pulpit and remained silent for long
time The people, in amazement,
watched and waited. At the moment
when he ceased speaking in the cathe-
dral, though all the while visible to the
congregation, he appeared in the con-
vent choir among his brethren and sang
his office. At the close of the service
he recovered himself in the pulpit of the
cathedral, and, as the chronicler says,
finished his sermon with incompatible
eloquence."
Anthony had completed his Com
mentary on the Psalms," the fruit of
long vigilance and profound meditation.
A novice, weary of the religious life and
its ceaseless austerities, resolved to re-
turn to the world; and, coveting An
thongs precious manuscript, he cap
tured it and fled. The young rascal
could have had no sense OF humor, or
he would hardly have turned his back
on the cloister and sought the mixed
society of the world, the flesh and the
devil with a stolen copy of Com
mentary on the Psalms" as his COM
panion. Probably he hoped to profit by
it in worldly way; but in this he was
strangely thwarted. Upon discovering
his loss, Anthony had, as ever, recourse
to prayer. At that very moment the
fleeing youth was confronted by mon
strous creature, that ordered him to re-