MIRACULOUS MIRACLES™

Prayer — Novenas

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Novena of Nine Tuesdays to St. Anthony of Padua

Bologna, 1617; the responsory indulgenced by Pius IX, 25 January 1866; the Thirteen Tuesdays by Leo XIII, 1 March 1898

The oldest saint's novena still in use, begun at Bologna in 1617: nine Tuesdays of Confession, Communion and prayer before the saint's image, with the Si quaeris responsory and the closing prayer.

The Prayer
English · Original
PREPARATORY PRAYER (each Tuesday)
O glorious St. Anthony, safe refuge of the afflicted and distressed, who through a miraculous revelation hast directed all those who seek thy aid to approach thy altar, with the promise that whoever visits it for nine consecutive Tuesdays and there piously invokes thee will feel the power of thy intercession, I, a poor sinner, encouraged by this promise, come to thee to-day with a firm hope, and I rejoice in the great honour which our holy mother the Church has shown to thee in placing thy image on her altars. I pour forth my prayer to thee; I implore thy aid, thy protection, thy counsel, and thy blessing. Obtain for me, I beseech thee, my request in this necessity (name it), provided it be not opposed to the will of God and the welfare of my soul. Should such, however, be the case, obtain for me such other graces as shall be conducive to my salvation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

PRAYER TO THE INFANT JESUS IN THE ARMS OF ST. ANTHONY
O Jesus, my Saviour! who didst vouchsafe to appear to St. Anthony in the form of an infant, I implore Thee, through the love Thou didst bear to this saint when he dwelt on earth, and which Thou now bearest to him in heaven, graciously hear my prayer and assist me in my necessities, who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

Almighty and eternal God! who didst glorify Thy faithful confessor, Anthony, with the perpetual gift of working miracles, graciously grant that what we confidently seek through his merits we may surely receive through his intercession, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

RESPONSORY OF ST. ANTHONY (Si quaeris miracula)
If then you ask for miracles,
Death, error, all calamities,
The leprosy and demons fly,
And health succeeds infirmities.

The sea obeys, and fetters break,
And lifeless limbs thou dost restore;
Whilst treasures lost are found again,
When young or old thine aid implore.

All dangers vanish at thy prayer,
And direst need doth quickly flee.
Let those who know thy power proclaim —
Let Paduans say — These are of thee.

The sea obeys, and fetters break, etc.

Glory be to the Father, etc.

The sea obeys, and fetters break, etc.

V. Pray for us, blessed Anthony.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
O God, may the votive commemoration of the blessed Anthony, thy Confessor, be a source of joy to thy Church, that she may always be fortified with spiritual assistance, and deserve to enjoy eternal rewards. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

CLOSING PRAYER OF THE NOVENA (on the ninth Tuesday)
O blessed St. Anthony, my faithful intercessor, I have now, through the grace of God and thy assistance, finished the pious exercises in thy honour. I have, indeed, the will and desire to do all in my power for thy greater honour and glory, but thou knowest my weakness and misery and want of devotion, wherefore I beseech thee to make amends for all my failings, and to offer thy merits and good works for me, that I may find grace and hearing with God. Obtain for me through thy merits the blessing of a virtuous life, a true knowledge of my God and of myself, a perfect mortification of my senses, and a complete triumph over all temptations. I place myself under thy special protection; assist me to follow thy example in life and come to my aid in death — in that dread moment let me experience the might of thy help. Amen.
When the Prayer is Said

On nine consecutive Tuesdays, or the nine days before 13 June; for things lost; for the poor (St. Anthony's Bread).

History & Background

Anthony died on a Friday, 13 June 1231, and was buried the following Tuesday; the first miracles at his tomb were on that day, and Tuesday has been his ever since. The nine-Tuesday form is dated exactly: at Bologna in 1617 a woman who had prayed to him for a grace reported that the saint appeared to her and said, 'For nine Tuesdays, one after the other, make visits to the church of my Order; on each of those days approach the holy sacraments of penance and of the altar; then pray before my picture, and what you ask you shall obtain.' The devotion spread from Bologna through the whole Catholic world, and Leo XIII in 1898 gave a plenary indulgence for each of thirteen consecutive Tuesdays or Sundays kept in his honour.

The responsory Si quaeris miracula, written within a decade of Anthony's death and probably by Julian of Speyer, is the heart of the devotion: it lists what people got from him — the leper healed, the sea calmed, fetters broken, lost things found. The texts are those of Our Favorite Novenas (1897) and, for the responsory and collect, the Raccolta (1910).

The promise reported in 1617 is a private account and binds no one; what the Church has done is indulgence the practice, which is the ordinary way she approves a devotion without vouching for its story.

Indulgences Attached

The responsory with its versicle and collect, one hundred days, and plenary once a month — Pius IX, 25 January 1866 (Raccolta, 1910, no. 358); a plenary indulgence on each of thirteen consecutive Tuesdays or Sundays — Leo XIII, 1 March 1898 (no. 362).

Related Saints
St. Anthony of Padua
August 15, 1195 – June 13, 1231
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