St. Anthony's Feast Day
The Legend of St. Anthony’s Bread
St. Anthony's Bread is a longstanding tradition that involves blessing and sharing loaves of bread in honor of St. Anthony, as well as giving alms to the poor in gratitude for blessings received through the saint's intercession.
The first legend associated with St. Anthony's Bread dates to the year 1263 when a child drowned near the Paduan Basilica of St. Anthony during its construction. The child's mother prayed to St. Anthony to bring her son back to life, promising to share an amount of corn equal to the child's weight with the poor. Miraculously the child survived, and the mother fulfilled her promise to St. Anthony's for his intercession.
In 1888, a woman named Louise Bouffier, who ran a small bakery in the seaside village of Toulon, France, experienced a miraculous event involving St. Anthony. Unable to open her bakery door, Louise prayed to St. Anthony for assistance. The locksmith was unable to open the door and suggested breaking it, Louise prayed for a different outcome. The Locksmith tried again and miraculously was able to open the door without force or damage. Louise fulfilled her promise of sharing bread with the poor. Inspired by Louise's example, her friends began making similar promises to give bread or alms to the poor in exchange for prayers answered by St. Anthony. In the 1890s, this practice became a charity known as St. Anthony's Bread.
This year, we were thrilled to partake in this meaningful tradition at St. Anthony’s. Commencing on June 1st, we congregated for a daily rosary at 5:00 pm over 13 days leading up to the Feast of St. Anthony on June 13th.
The significance of the number 13 in this novena, or Tredicina, stems from St. Anthony's passing on Tuesday, June 13, 1231, relating to the concept of a group of thirteen, as denoted by the Italian term Tredicina.
Upon the completion of this Tredicina, and keeping with tradition, St. Anthony’s Bread was blessed and distributed among the participants. A heartfelt thank you is extended to Fr. McDermott for his blessings and to Mark Paielli at Paielli's Bakery for skillfully crafting the special loaves of bread.
Our parish is committed to perpetuating the tradition of the Tredicina and bread distribution for future years on the Feast Day of our revered Patron, St. Anthony of Padua.
We invite you to join us on June 1st, 2025!
