Novena to St. Anthony of Padua & Latin Responsory

Saint Anthony of Padua is known throughout the Catholic world as the saint of everyday miracles and the guardian of lost things. His life, marked by profound scholarship and an ardent zeal for the Gospel, earned him the title of Evangelical Doctor of the Church.

The Patron of Lost Things

Popular devotion associates Saint Anthony with finding lost objects, as well as finding lost spiritual peace. This tradition stems from an event where a novice stole Saint Anthony’s personal psalter. After the saint’s prayer, the novice felt moved to repent and return the valuable manuscript.

“If you seek miracles, death, error, calamity, the demon, and leprosy flee; the sick arise healed.” — From the Responsory of Saint Anthony

The Sacred Latin Responsory: Si quaeris miracula

The responsory of Saint Anthony of Padua is a miraculous 13th-century hymn composed by the Franciscan Julian of Speyer. Below is the opening text for liturgical devotion:

Si quaeris miracula,
Mors, error, calamitas,
Daemon, lepra fugiunt,
Aegri surgunt sani.

Cedunt mare, vincula,
Membra resque perditas
Petunt et accipiunt
Juvenes et cani.

How to Pray the Novena to Saint Anthony

The novena to Saint Anthony is traditionally prayed in preparation for his feast day on June 13th (or at any time of trial). It consists of meditating for nine consecutive days on his Christian virtues, accompanied by the responsory Si quaeris miracula and a commitment to charity toward those in need.