Fernando was born in Lisbon about 1195 and as a young man joined the Augustinian canons, first in Lisbon and then at Coimbra, where he studied Scripture and the Fathers. In 1220 the bodies of five Franciscans martyred in Morocco were brought to Coimbra. Moved by their witness, he joined the Friars Minor, took the name Anthony and set out for Morocco himself, but illness forced him to turn back, and a storm drove his ship to Sicily.
In 1221 he attended the general chapter at Assisi and was sent to a hermitage in the Romagna. When he was asked to speak at an ordination at Forlì, his learning and eloquence astonished everyone, and he was sent out to preach. Francis wrote to him allowing him to teach theology to the brothers. He preached in northern Italy and southern France, especially where the Cathar heresy had spread, and served as a provincial minister of his order.
Anthony of Padua in the library (1 work)
- The Moral Concordances (attributed to Saint Anthony of Padua) — 13th century; translation 1867
A handbook of Scripture texts arranged by subject for preachers, long printed under the name of the Franciscan Doctor of the Church; modern scholars doubt that it is his.