The army's newest captain has been dead 462 years

LAGOS, Portugal, September 12, 1693 AD — Today the Portuguese army promoted one of its soldiers to captain. The soldier is Saint Anthony of Padua, and he has been dead since 1231 AD. That is four hundred and sixty-two years.

He had been on the list of the regiment of Lagos as a private soldier since January 24, 1688 AD. The army gave the reason as his good services and “the miracles performed for the benefit of our troops.”

A boy from Lisbon

St. Anthony was born at Lisbon in 1195 AD, and at his baptism he was named Ferdinand. At fifteen he joined the Augustinian canons at St. Vincent’s, just outside the city walls. Two years later he moved to the monastery of the Holy Cross at Coimbra. He stayed there eight years, studying and praying.

Then, in 1220 AD, five Friars Minor were put to death in Morocco. Their bodies were brought back to Coimbra. Seeing them decided him. He left the canons, joined the Franciscans, and set out to preach to the Muslims.

He died on June 13, 1231 AD, at Arcella, just outside the gates of Padua. He was thirty-six. Eleven months later Pope Gregory IX canonised him. That was on Pentecost Sunday, May 30, 1232 AD, in the cathedral of Spoleto.

A garrison town on the coast

Lagos, where the regiment has its seat, is a praça de guerra (a fortified garrison town) on the Algarve coast. A fort called Ponta da Bandeira was built there between 1680 and 1690 AD. It stands over the way to the town’s quay.

Portugal has been at peace with Spain for twenty-five years. In 1640 AD the kingdom broke free from Spanish rule. That started a war with Spain that lasted twenty-eight years.

The pay of a captain

In Brazil, St. Anthony is called St. Anthony of Lisbon. That is because he was born in Portugal. Pictures there often show him dressed as an officer of the army.

A rank in the army comes with a salary. St. Anthony has been dead since 1231 AD, so the pay goes to other people. For years the Franciscans of Brazil have collected the salary that goes with his rank.

From today, that salary is a captain’s.