Prayers and history of Saint Anthony the Abbot: Saint who takes away pain and gives light

To San Antonio We invoke it when we feel that darkness surrounds us and that we need help to navigate life's difficulties.

San Antonio Abad or San Antón is known as the Animals pattern and also from:

basket weavers,
brush makers,
cemeteries,
butchers,
domestic animals.

It is said that he is a model of ascetic spirituality, since he was a Christian monk, founder of the hermitic movement and represents the man who grows in holiness.

He is also called Antón Abad, and is recognized as an important saint of the Catholic Church. He is the holy hermit and patron of monks, due to the life he led to seek his approach to God.

Legend surrounds the life and works of Antonio Abad, with stories that tell how he abandoned his property to lead a hermit existence and dedicate himself to study and prayer.

Others say that he performed miracles, that he could talk to animals and heal diseases and illnesses.

History of Antonio Abad, the Father of the Monks

The biography of this saint tells us that he was born in Egypt around the year 251 AD. C., and one of the legends that surrounds him, is that he lived to be 105 years old, having died in 356 AD

Saint Anthony led an austere life, became a monk and founder of the hermit movement. From him arose the beliefs that hermits are people who adopt a solitary lifestyle, whose purpose is to achieve a close relationship with God and purify themselves away from material goods.

Like Saint Anthony, those who decide to be hermits, perform penances such as withdrawing from the world, betting on silence, meditation, prayer and work. Thus, the story tells that, at the age of 20, Saint Anthony the Abbot sold everything he owned and the money he obtained he donated to the poor.

Antonio Abad, thus young, went to the desert to do penance and the myths tell that there the Evil One subjected him to all kinds of temptations that he finally managed to overcome.

Abad persevered in his faith and lived in a local community where he slept in a grave cave, seeking his life to purify his spirit by abstaining from material pleasures.

Later he locked himself in a castle for twenty years and led a life of perfect chastity and fasting and for this reason many revere him as the true model of Christianity.

The Cross of Tau: Symbol of Faith and Devotion

The cross of Tau

The fact that he always remained firm in the Christian faith, despite the many painful experiences that he had to go through, makes Saint Anthony the Abbot today considered the father of the monks figure.

The writings of Saint Jerome refer that it was Saint Anthony himself who directed him in monastic life, and upon his death, he buried him with the help of animals.

The distinctive symbol of Saint Anthony was a cross, his famous Tau cross that was shaped like the letter T, designated Tau in Greek.

This cross was his Christian symbol and is denoted as the Cross of Saint Anthony, which many devotees cling to today when they invoke the saint's help.

In his honor the order of the Antonians was founded, who settled in various points of the Camino de Santiago, on the outskirts of the cities, and cared for patients with contagious ailments: plague, leprosy, scabies, venereal and ergotism, also called San Antón fire, sacred fire or shingles.

San Antonio Abad and his religious syncretism with Osain del Monte

Representation of Osain del Monte, Yoruba orisha

In times of the Spanish colony, the slaves brought from Africa united their cults to the different figures of the Catholic Church, to be able to continue worshiping the deities of the Yoruba pantheon without their masters knowing about it.

Thus, the figure of Saint Anthony the Abbot syncretizes in the Yoruba religion with OsainOrisha, the greatest owner of the mountain and connoisseur of the ashé (energy and power) characteristic of each herb.

The celebration of both is united in a single cult on January 17, in the Afro-Cuban religion the saint and the orisha are venerated on this day.

Osain is the Orisha who represents nature and its secrets. Soothsayer and wise man, this deity protects the mountain and knows the properties of all plants, animals and minerals. He is also a fortune teller and lives as a hermit in the undergrowth.

He is a doctor and wise man, the owner of all the secrets of the plants and the absolute owner of the forest and the vegetation that is gathered there.

Like Saint Anthony the Abbot, Osain lives in humility and solitude, away from everyone. He spends his time studying each herb and its particular Ashé and uses them to do good to other people.

Keep reading about ... Who is Osain del monte?

Prayers to Saint Anthony the Abbot to ask for his blessings

We pray to Saint Anthony the Abbot fundamentally, for the welfare of animals, since he is the patron saint of our pets, whom we ask to keep away from these dear ones, evils and ailments.

If our dog or cat or any other pet becomes ill or suffers an injury, we can pray this prayer to Saint Anthony the Abbot to protect it:

Prayer to Saint Anthony the Abbot to ask for pets and animals:

Venerable Saint Anthony the Abbot, knowing that all of God's creation is perfect and has a noble purpose, I beg you as a holy intermediary before him for my pet (mention the name of the pet) so that his existence by my side may give him peace and be always happy.
Bless oh Saint Anthony the Abbot all the animals on earth, especially those who give us their company, love and warmth.
Take in your hands my pet, that his state of mind and his function of complementing me every day be faithfully maintained.
San Antonio Abad, my pet expects nothing in return, he is my joy and my company, there is no conditioning in his being set by his creator. Thanks for putting her in my way.
My pet is a member of the family and as such I treat him, impart your blessing on her and on all animals close to my family.
Amen

But we also pray to Saint Anthony the Abbot asking for his protection and his blessings, his help to bear temptations and purify ourselves.

Saint Anthony can help us overcome the trials that life imposes on us if we pray to him with great faith and devotion, asking him to grant us the light to see the path.

Thus, we pray to him to grant us the cure of the disease, to remove pain and attract happiness to us.

I pray to Saint Anthony to make a special request:

When we need your help, we can raise the following prayer:

Oh Holy Saint Anthony, the kindest and kindest
of the saints, your burning love for God,
your exalted virtue and your great charity towards your
alike, they made you worthy, when in the
earth possessed miraculous powers like the
that were not given to any other saint.
Miracle waited on your word, and that word
that you were always ready to talk to
request of those in trouble.
The eager prayer of bitter never tastes
it was addressed to you in vain.
You restored the sick to health;
restored what was lost; the afflicted pain
they were the objects of his tender compassion;
even the dead he raised to life
when the wounded heart cried out to you from
the depths of their bitter anguish.
When on earth nothing was impossible with you,
except to have no compassion for those who were afflicted.
Encouraged by this thought, and convinced of the efficacy of your saint
intercession, we kneel before your holy image, and full of confidence,
We implore you to obtain for us (here you mention your request).
The answer to this our prayer may require a miracle. Even so,
Are you not the Saint of Miracles, who, when he was on earth,
did he have more to speak of the mightiest wonders that had been done?
Oh gentle and loving Saint Anthony, whose heart was always full of sympathy
human, whispers our prayer to the ears of the Child Jesus, who loved
stay in your arms.
A word from you and our prayer will be granted. Oh speak, but that word and the gratitude of our hearts will be all yours!
Amen.