Three Favorite Hideaways
of St. Anthony of Padua

Q U I C K S C A N

A grotto near Spoleto
A cave at Mount La Verna
A tree hut in Camposampiero
What was the nature of Anthony’s contemplative union with God?

Most of the world knows the public profile of St. Anthony. He was a great preacher with a profound knowledge of Scripture. He was also an outstanding teacher of theology and was named Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII in 1946. He enjoys worldwide renown as a great wonder-worker and finder of lost objects.

But what many overlook is Anthony’s profound interior desire to be a contemplative, a person always on the search for intimate union with God. Anthony had a deep need to set time aside for solitary prayer in hidden caves and hermitages. Last fall (2006), while spending several weeks traveling between Assisi and Padua, I had an opportunity to seek out some of Anthony’s favorite places of contemplative prayer.

Anthony’s career as a brilliant preacher was launched when a religious superior insisted that he preach to the invited guests at an ordination ceremony in the Italian town of Forli, not far from Bologna. Anthony rose to the occasion and preached so inspiringly that he was soon in demand as a popular preacher throughout northern Italy and in southern France.

Anthony realized that in order to retain his spiritual equilibrium he had to find time to nurture his inner life by praying in remote places where he could dedicate his heart to God alone. Although I could point out as many as six or seven places where Anthony was known to assume the hidden life of a hermit, I have only enough space here briefly to point out three of Anthony’s favorite hideaways.

A grotto near Spoleto

(Photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.)

To reach this cave-like grotto hidden away in what is still called the “Sacred Woods” high above Spoleto, I had to take a half-hour drive up a winding road that climbs the steep mountainside. (Spoleto is a town about 25 miles south of Assisi.) Even after finding this awe-inspiring and mystical woodland, it took me another half-hour of searching before I found a little cave clearly marked as the grotto Anthony used in the 13th century. Only a few steps away from this grotto was a rocky ledge that overlooks the spectacular Spoleto Valley. The early Franciscan hermits who prayed on this and other mountains had a wonderful way of combining places of solitary prayer with panoramas of such incredible beauty that they lifted the human heart to songs of thanksgiving and praise!

A cave at Mount La Verna
(Oratory of St. Anthony)

(Photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.)

Anthony had an even greater affection for Mount La Verna as a place for withdrawing to satisfy his contemplative yearnings. La Verna sits about 90 miles north of Assisi. St. Anthony certainly shared St. Francis’ need for contemplative prayer as well as his love for the hidden caves of this mountaintop retreat in northern Italy. Anthony loved praying in a little cave on Mount La Verna, not far from the rocky precipice where Francis was embraced by the fiery love of God and where he received the stigmata, the five wounds of Christ. In more recent times, Anthony’s cave has been transformed into the Oratory of St. Anthony. Each week, hundreds of La Verna pilgrims stop and pray at Anthony’s oratory, located on top of the same rugged precipice as the Stigmata Chapel, where Francis met God amidst fiery Seraph wings.

A tree hut in Camposampiero

(Photo by Jack Wintz, O.F.M.)

About 30 miles north of Padua is the town of Camposampiero. This is the town to which St. Anthony moved when he realized that his life was coming to an end after spending two or three very active years as a preacher in his beloved Padua. He sensed that he needed to take a break from his labors and to dedicate more time to God alone. In Camposampiero, the nobleman Count Tiso had earlier built a hermitage for friars seeking more time for contemplative prayer. Anthony asked Tiso to build for him a solitary hut—something like a small tree house—into the branches of a large walnut tree in a thick forest, not far from the Franciscan hermitage where Anthony slept at night. Anthony spent a good part of the last weeks and months of his life praying in that small tree house.

We can imagine that Anthony had a great fondness for this, his last hermitage experience. He no doubt knew that—in leaving the earth behind and climbing into to his tree hut—he was preparing for his next life where he would be forever united with God in glory.

What was the nature of Anthony’s contemplative union with God?

In trying to answer this question, I think of a passage from one of Anthony’s sermons that has become one of my favorite quotes from St. Anthony. It also tells me of the rich love relationship he experienced with God in contemplative settings such as we have described above. This is the sermon passage I have in mind:

“The humanity of Christ is like the grape because it was crushed in the winepress of the cross so that his blood flowed over the whole earth...for the forgiveness of sins. How great is the charity of the Beloved. How great is the love the Bridegroom for his spouse, the Church.”

This sermon passage helps me to savor what I believe was the nature of the love relationship between St. Anthony and Christ. It is like a burning love relationship between two married partners deeply in love. Anthony knew that this kind of love relationship needs to be nurtured at frequent intervals. And that is why Anthony needed to get away from the distractions or ordinary life and to devote more energy to periods of contemplative prayer. That is why he had to get away to his grotto near Spoleto, his cave near La Verna or his contemplative hideaway in a tree, namely, to stir up the flames of love, as St. Francis had to do in his own case. And that is why you and I have to set time aside do the same.

To find out more about St. Anthony’s life and times—and about “St. Anthony, the Contemplative”—check out our special offer to purchase an autographed copy of Friar Jack’s little book, Anthony of Padua: Saint of the People. (See ad above on right.)

Friar Jim’s Inbox

Readers respond to Friar Jim’s “Catechism Quiz: How Is the Bible God’s Inspired Word?”

Dear Friar Jim: I am currently working in a Catholics Returning Home program at my parish. Last night the subject of the Bible as taught in Catholic schools and catechism classes in pre-Vatican II times came up. One member of our group understood that the Old Testament was never taught, while another remembered that her 84 year-old grandfather had told her that he studied the Bible all the time. Was the Old Testament taught to students in pre-Vatican II times?
Rob

Dear Rob: Yes, it was taught prior to Vatican II but not nearly so much as now. It was taught in the form of Bible stories and you can still find those books in Catholic bookstores as ways of teaching the Old Testament to children. Friar Jim

Dear Friar Jim: Thank you for an enlightening article on the Bible. If I am planning to purchase a new Bible, in your opinion, what considerations should I make? I would like background information, if you will, or footnotes which may help me understand more fully that which I am reading. Brenda

Dear Brenda: I would suggest the New American Bible (Catholic ed.) with the Revised New Testament. It is the one we use for all our Mass readings. Make sure it has footnotes, etc. St. Joseph is a nice version of the New American Bible. Also, while you’re at it, go to a Catholic bookstore and ask the clerk to show you some solid Catholic Bible commentaries. Some come in booklet forms and are for laity as well as religious. Some are very scholarly and really not necessary. God bless you on your biblical journey. Friar Jim

Send your feedback to friarjack@americancatholic.org.

This book by award-winning Franciscan writer Jack Wintz includes devotions, legends and perspective on how Anthony, saint of the people and finder of lost articles, plays a role in our lives today. Web-only exclusive offer of a special autographed copy! Click here to order.

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