Popular, that means authentic

Fr. Livio Tonello, director

February is a particularly important month for the Universal Association of St. Anthony as on Tuesday 15th we celebrate the feast of the Saint’s Tongue. This celebration is the most important one dedicated to our Saint after the June 13 feast. It recalls an event which occurred more than 750 years ago when Anthony ‘s tongue was found intact despite the fact that the Saint had passed away over 30 years previously.

It is a special date for millions of people who consider Saint Anthony their patron saint, their friend and a witness. In every catholic church of the world there is a statue or an image of the Thaumaturge, one of the most popular saints in the Catholic church: this is really a miracle without overshadowing other saints What is the meaning of this spiritual fervour and of the different forms of devotion?

The theologians call it “popular piety”, that means religion of the people. The popular religiosity is an authentic expression of the Christian faith even if it is not a part of the official liturgy. liturgy and worship are the expressions of Christian tradition with which we give praise to the Lord. On the other hand popular piety frequently finds expression in practices referred to as “devotions” often characterized by an appeal to emotions and a simplicity of form sometimes folklorist.

Popular piety and liturgy do not oppose each other but we must underline that adoration differs from veneration: we can venerate a Saint and Mary but we adore God alone, Jesus and the Holy Trinity. Our veneration of a saint is related to our worship of God who is the only one who gives the graces for which the saints intercede for us. Devotion is the expression of people’s emotions, of their desire to trust and to really live as Christians the most important moments of their lives such as birth, illness, love and death in harmony with the rhythm of the seasons and of time.

If we receive in liturgy, we give by popular piety. The devotion to St. Anthony should help us to reach God: this was Anthony’s great purpose: he served God to better serve people. So it is really meaningful to remember that 75 years ago Pope Pius XII declared St Anthony “Doctor of the Church” for his knowledge of Scriptures and gift of preaching and of master of faith. To entrust on the “Doctor Evangelicus” means to turn our eyes upon him, who was a great preacher for his simple and yet profound teaching of the Holy Scriptures: by invoking him we express faith to God who gives us all the graces, by imitating his example we bear witness to the Gospel with faith.

Because Jesus said (John 14,12): “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father”. The popular religiosity is not a “minor faith” but it is the voice of the humble. It is the humus of the ecclesial life, the fertile ground where the message of the Gospel flourishes in authentic and sincere forms. Each lit candle, each flower given, each rosary recited is a noble gesture. They are the expression of total trust and surrender to God that cold rationality cannot explain.

According to Dostoevsky beauty will save the world, so authentic popular piety will save Christianity from the oblivion of secularisation. May St. Anthony bless you, dear friends and members of the Universal Association, with my gratitude for your devotion and great generosity.