A friar looked at the door and saw St. Francis
St. Francis was alive at the time and far away in Italy, and Friar Monaldo saw him blessing the men in the room.
About this picture
AI-generated image, in the manner of a Trecento buon fresco, from the paper's reference portrait based on St Anthony of Padua, from the fragments of a double-sided dossal from San Francesco al Prato, Perugia (Master of Saint Francis, c. 1272 AD, Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia) View source artwork.
ARLES, Provence, 1224 AD — In the middle of a sermon to the friars gathered at Arles this year, Saint Francis of Assisi was seen in the doorway of the room. He was blessing the men inside. He was alive at the time, and he was far away in Italy.
The man preaching was Saint Anthony of Padua, and he was twenty-nine. The friars had come together for a chapter. That is the meeting the friars of a whole region were called to once a year.
St. Anthony had been called into Languedoc this year to preach. He was teaching in the Order’s own schools at Toulouse and Montpellier.
At Arles he preached to the friars on the words over the Cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.” He had a loud, clear voice and a young face, and he knew the Bible inside out.
The man in the doorway
He was in the middle of that sermon, explaining what those words meant. That was when St. Francis appeared in the doorway of the room. He was raised off the ground, with his arms stretched out wide in the form of a cross. He was blessing the men in front of him. Friar Monaldo, sitting among the friars, looked at that door and saw him with his own eyes. The other friars believed the vision, and believed that St. Francis was there.
Friar Monaldo was a man of proven virtue, and afterwards he said he had seen it.
Thomas of Celano wrote the first book about the life of St. Francis. He wrote that God had made St. Francis appear at St. Anthony’s preaching, so that what St. Anthony preached would be shown to be true.
St. Francis afterwards said openly that it had happened.
About this story
Catholic Saints News tells the lives of the saints as news from their own time and place. This story was written with AI from the historical record, and we read and approved it before it ran.
The Saints' words. This newspaper will never make a saint say something the historical record does not preserve.
Junior Report. Written for readers ten to twelve, from the same sources and under the same rules as the rest of the paper. The words are shorter, hard terms are explained, and the question at the end is for the reader to think over.
Read more
- · Jean Rigauld OFM, The Life of St. Antony of Padua (Catholic Truth Society, 1904)
- · Niccolò Dal-Gal, 'St. Anthony of Padua', The Catholic Encyclopedia (1907)
Image. AI-generated image, in the manner of a Trecento buon fresco, from the paper's reference portrait based on St Anthony of Padua, from the fragments of a double-sided dossal from San Francesco al Prato, Perugia (Master of Saint Francis, c. 1272 AD, Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia) — see the original.
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Sources for this story
Listed by paragraph.
- Paragraph 1
- attested Very Rev. Raphael M. Huber OFM Conv., St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal; a critical study of the historical sources of the life, sanctity, learning, and miracles of the Saint of Padua and Lisbon, ch. II, note 48, citing Celano, Vita Prima, I, ch. XVIII and St Bonaventure, Legenda Maior, ch. IV
- documented Jean Rigauld OFM, Bishop of Treguier (written c. 1293-1310); trans. an English Franciscan, ed. Fr Andrew Egan OFM, The Life of St. Antony of Padua, ch. VIII
- attested Niccolò Dal-Gal, St. Anthony of Padua (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. I), para. 12
- attested Very Rev. Raphael M. Huber OFM Conv., St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal; a critical study of the historical sources of the life, sanctity, learning, and miracles of the Saint of Padua and Lisbon, ch. II, note 48, and ch. III, part 3
- Paragraph 2
- attested Very Rev. Raphael M. Huber OFM Conv., St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal; a critical study of the historical sources of the life, sanctity, learning, and miracles of the Saint of Padua and Lisbon, ch. II, note 48, and ch. III, part 3
- documented Jean Rigauld OFM, Bishop of Treguier (written c. 1293-1310); trans. an English Franciscan, ed. Fr Andrew Egan OFM, The Life of St. Antony of Padua, ch. VIII
- attested Niccolò Dal-Gal, St. Anthony of Padua (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. I), para. 12
- documented EWTN, The Rule of the Friars Minor confirmed in 1223 (Regula Bullata), English text, Chapter VIII
- Paragraph 3
- attested Very Rev. Raphael M. Huber OFM Conv., St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal; a critical study of the historical sources of the life, sanctity, learning, and miracles of the Saint of Padua and Lisbon, ch. II
- attested Niccolò Dal-Gal, St. Anthony of Padua (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. I), para. 8
- documented Pope Pius XII, Exulta, Lusitania felix — Apostolic Letter declaring St Anthony of Padua a Doctor of the Universal Church, "Bononiae in urbe docuit... dein Tolosae, postremo Monte Pessulano"
- Paragraph 4
- documented Jean Rigauld OFM, Bishop of Treguier (written c. 1293-1310); trans. an English Franciscan, ed. Fr Andrew Egan OFM, The Life of St. Antony of Padua, ch. VIII
- attested Niccolò Dal-Gal, St. Anthony of Padua (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. I), para. 9
- attested Very Rev. Raphael M. Huber OFM Conv., St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal; a critical study of the historical sources of the life, sanctity, learning, and miracles of the Saint of Padua and Lisbon, ch. III, part 2
- attested Rev. Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, vol. VI (June): 13 June, St Antony of Padua, Confessor, 13 June, St Antony of Padua
- Paragraph 5
- attested Very Rev. Raphael M. Huber OFM Conv., St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal; a critical study of the historical sources of the life, sanctity, learning, and miracles of the Saint of Padua and Lisbon, ch. II, note 48, citing Celano, Vita Prima, I, ch. XVIII and St Bonaventure, Legenda Maior, ch. IV
- documented Jean Rigauld OFM, Bishop of Treguier (written c. 1293-1310); trans. an English Franciscan, ed. Fr Andrew Egan OFM, The Life of St. Antony of Padua, ch. VIII
- attested Niccolò Dal-Gal, St. Anthony of Padua (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. I), para. 12
- attested Very Rev. Raphael M. Huber OFM Conv., St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal; a critical study of the historical sources of the life, sanctity, learning, and miracles of the Saint of Padua and Lisbon, ch. VI
- Paragraph 6
- attested Very Rev. Raphael M. Huber OFM Conv., St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal; a critical study of the historical sources of the life, sanctity, learning, and miracles of the Saint of Padua and Lisbon, ch. II and note 48
- documented Jean Rigauld OFM, Bishop of Treguier (written c. 1293-1310); trans. an English Franciscan, ed. Fr Andrew Egan OFM, The Life of St. Antony of Padua, ch. VIII
- attested Niccolò Dal-Gal, St. Anthony of Padua (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. I), para. 12
- Paragraph 7
- Paragraph 8
- attested Very Rev. Raphael M. Huber OFM Conv., St. Anthony of Padua: Doctor of the Church Universal; a critical study of the historical sources of the life, sanctity, learning, and miracles of the Saint of Padua and Lisbon, ch. II and note 48
- documented Jean Rigauld OFM, Bishop of Treguier (written c. 1293-1310); trans. an English Franciscan, ed. Fr Andrew Egan OFM, The Life of St. Antony of Padua, ch. VIII
- attested Niccolò Dal-Gal, St. Anthony of Padua (The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. I), para. 12
