My Heavenly Friend

Dear Reader,

I consider Saint Anthony my closest friend because he is always giving me good advice and is taking care of me.

Last year, during the season of Advent, the days came and went filled with the comforting routines of life at the Basilica. There were common prayers with the friars, followed by work at the office of the Messenger of Saint Anthony. I would also take a silent hour of prayer in the Shrine, followed by the afternoon Mass. In these prayerful moments of stillness, I began to notice a slight tremor in my left hand.

At first, I dismissed it as fatigue or stress. As the days passed, the tremor gradually became more evident. Hoping for a simple explanation and an easy fix, I decided to see my doctor. He dismissed me rather hastily, telling me that it was probably just stress and that I should rest more. Then he added, “You have to take your age into account. Dear Father, you are no longer young!”

After the appointment, I still felt within me that something was wrong. So, I would go to the Tomb of our Saint Anthony and laying my hand on the marble slab, I would say to him, “Dear Saint Anthony, please help me. Let me serve you for a few more years!”

The day after Christmas, I was assigned to celebrate the evening Mass in the Basilica. Everything was going well up until the moment of consecration when, in lifting the paten, my left hand began to shake and several of the hosts fell onto the altar. I was so embarrassed! Fortunately, the friar who was concelebrating helped me put everything back in place and we were able to conclude the Mass without any further problems.

After Mass, I was so upset that I wanted to run to my room and be alone.  When I turned to leave the sacristy; I saw a couple waiting for me. “We are both doctors,” the man told me, “my wife’s a general practitioner, and I’m a neurologist with thirty years of experience in Parkinson’s disease. Here is our phone number. Call us as soon as you can and we’ll make an appointment. Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

A few days later I went to his medical office. He made a number of tests that confirmed his diagnosis of Parkinson’s, and then prescribed tablets that I started taking right away. The hand tremor has now virtually disappeared. “Fortunately,” the doctor told me, “we caught the disease right at the beginning. Don’t be anxious, everything will be alright!” 

It’s clear to me that it was Saint Anthony, who intervened by sending me the right doctor at the right time. Parkinson’s is now part of my life but my ministry as a Franciscan remains unchanged. With the support of my community and my faith in the knowledge that my heavenly friend Saint Anthony is so close to me, I continue to serve with a renewed sense of joy and gratitude.

Some time ago in a catechesis, Pope Francis said, “The relationship of friendship that I can build with a brother or sister next to me, I can also establish with a brother or sister who is in heaven.” He then added, “Saints are models and guides of the Christian life, but they are not unreachable human beings… Confidence must always animate us in turning to them in the decisive moments of our lives. They are there to give a hand to obtain the grace from God that we need.”

Dear reader, the Saints were close to God when they lived on earth, and they are even closer to Him now that they are in heaven. Find yourself a special friend in Heaven. They will never let you down!