February 15 for the devotees of St. Anthony is a special feast. It occurs because the extraordinary event of the discovery of the language of Anthony, miraculously incorrupt.
The chronicles of the time tell us that back in 1263, exactly thirty two years after the death of the Saint, was the first exhumation of the body of Antonio, to be moved into "his" new church. Among the many devotees, there was St. Bonaventure Bagnoreggio, then minister general of the Franciscans. The marvel was accomplished under the eyes of all, open the chest, it was discovered the language still intact! The joy of the faithful, mixed with astonishment was so great, so that St. Bonaventura exclaimed with joy: " O blessed tongue, you have always praised the Lord and he did it to bless others, now occurring in all the great merits of your acquired with God .
Thus was born the devotion to St. Anthony language, that language became a tool in the marvelous preaching of the Word of God Antonio, we may well dirlo, tra tutti i santi è stato il predicatore più "famoso" di tutta la storia della Chiesa, basti pensare alle folle che accorrevano alle sue predicazioni, tanto da spingere il Santo, ormai negli ultimi giorni della sua vita terrena a rifugiarsi nell'eremo di Camposampiero per trovare la serenità che la sua "fama" gli toglieva. La storia di questo miracolo suscita in me molte riflessioni, basti pensare cosa è scritto nella Sacra Bibbia, e precisamente nel libro dei Proverbi: Argento pregiato è la lingua del giusto,e le sue labbra ammaestrano molti. Appena ho letto queste righe, il mio pensiero è andato subito al Santo di Padova, il quale il Signore ha concesso che la sua lingua non andasse in corruption, that language so that he praised God and never spoke in vain. But how do we relate to us today, with this event? What about Antonio the miracle of his tongue incorrupt? Our language at times, deserves to be removed, because God offends, insults his neighbor, the brothers .. We use offensive language as a sharp sword, a sword that hurts more when it hits a real sword, because the shot goes straight to the heart . Antonio teaches us even today to use our language well. Not to make an instrument of aggression, but because they like him, we praise the Lord, singing its wonders, bless him and thank him, and never to insult or worse, give him the blame for our suffering. With our language we can do well also to our brothers, our neighbor, write a word of comfort, hope, bring the other to God, to witness how His love has changed our lives .. and above all become courageous witnesses of the Word of God Yes, as it did with Antonio so the Lord has need of our "language" so the Word comes to the ends of the earth. Only by doing this, we are true Christians, true sons of God, our Lord Jesus' brothers and friends of Anthony, our traveling companion.
Vincenzo
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