June 13

St. Anthony of Padua's Feastday

 
St. Anthon was not a native of Padua. After attending the Franciscan chapter at Arles, France, and preaching in the French region of Provence, Anthony returned to Italy and served as envoy from the general chapter to Pope Gregory IX. At the papal court, his preaching was hailed as a "jewel case of the Bible" and he was commissioned to produce "Sermons for Feast Days."

It was Anthony' s  preaching prowess that gained him great fame throughout France, Italy, and Sicily. He traveled to Africa to teach the gospel to the Moors but became very ill and was forced to go to Spain to unsuccessfully regain his health. Eventually he left for Bologna where he taught scripture at the University and later taught at Toulouse, Montpellier. and eventually Padua where he died


One of the great apocryphal stories about the saint's spellbinding oratory is the legend of  the fish that stood up in the water to hear Anthony speak. The fish allegedly was a gauvat, a local variety of gobius indigenous to the Forli Cesena province in Italy. The fish's scientific name is gobius paganalles (little pagan fish) which commemorates their attentiveness to Anthony's sermon. At least they were easy to baptize.

Padua is a major agricultural and livestock center am holds its annual agricultural fair on St. Anthony' s feastday. The day is marked with many local specialties named after the saint including piedi di maili alIa Sant'Antonio (breaded pigs' feet with truffles and cucumbers) which could also be the only dish to combine to rooter and the rootee, and Zuppa di Sant' Antonio (St. Anthony's soup) .The perfect accompaniment is an Italian TV film- - Sant' Antonio di Padova (2002).

  

                   Saint Anthony of Padua


Zuppa di Sant' Antonio
(St. Anthony's Soup).
 

 

Ingredients
 

2-4 cups of cooking oil
 4 eggs
3 TB flour
1/4 tsp salt
 

I tsp baking powder
2 quarts chicken broth
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
freshly grated Parmesan cheese
 
Instructions
 
  1. Beat eggs. Add flour, baking powder and salt and whip into a thin batter. Drop batter by teaspoonful into deep hot oil forming small balls. When batter balls are lightly browned, remove with a slotted spoon and drain en paper towels.
  2. Heat broth until boiling. Add batter balls and spinach and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and serve with Parmesan cheese.

© 2011 Gordon Nary