St. Anthony of Padua- The Saint Who Preached to Fish

Who is coming to tea today? Join Miss Katie as we welcome St. Anthony of Padua to our tea table! Through Heavenly Treasures, inspiring stories, and simple catechism lessons, children will learn about the saint who preached to the fish, loved Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, and helped others grow closer to God.

Together we'll discover how St. Anthony spent his life knowing, loving, and serving God—and how we can do the same.

Don't forget to visit www.reginabooks.com for a free St. Anthony coloring page and family extension activities connected to this episode.

Perfect for children ages 2–10 and the grown-ups who love them.

Catholic printables from each episode?! Yes!

Check out Tea Time for Little Catholics Podcast — Regina Books to purchase a printable bundle of feast day activities to go along with today's podcast. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Hello dear friends and welcome to Tea Time for Little Catholics. I'm Miss Katie and I'm so happy you've joined me today. Something mysterious has just happened at my tea table. Wow, guess what happened? I always leave an empty chair for any unexpected guest that might show up. And guess what happened? I think angels have been here, and they've left three heavenly treasures around the empty place at the table. Oh I know. These treasures must be holy clues to help us know who might be coming to join us for tea. All right, well let's see what is the first treasure? Oh it's a beautiful white lily. Do you know white lilies? They're beautiful flowers. Sometimes you see them at Easter. The beautiful white lily is a clue, a treasure that reminds us that our special guest loved God very much and tried to keep his heart pure. Now let's see our second treasure. Oh it's a fish. Wow, this treasure reminds us of a very unusual sermon. One day when people would not listen, our mystery guest preached to the fish. Oh how silly that is. Now what is our third treasure the angels left behind? Why it's a little donkey. This treasure reminds us of a miracle involving Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Can you guess who's coming to tea today? We have a white lily, a fish, and a donkey. Yes, you guessed it. Saint Anthony is our heavenly guest for tea today. Oh what an honor Saint Anthony of Padua. I can't wait to tell you all about him. Well let's start as all good stories start. Once upon a time in a country called Portugal, there lived a little boy named Fernando. Fernando loved God very much. He loved learning about Jesus and praying, and as he grew older he wanted to give his whole life to God. When he became a young man, Fernando joined a religious community called the Franciscans. He received a new name. Can you guess what that name was? Yes, Anthony. And that is the saint we know today as Saint Anthony of Padua. Anthony became a priest. He was a very humble priest who dedicated himself to prayer and work for the other priests and the poor. He scrubbed floors, he cooked meals, and did all the simple work in a very humble and holy way. One day he was called upon to give a sermon. Now no one knew except God that Saint Anthony had been given a special gift for teaching and preaching. All the people listening to the sermon were amazed. Saint Francis later hearing the special gift that Saint Anthony had been given, the gift of preaching and teaching, he told Saint Anthony that his new job was to preach and teach all over Italy and to bring people back to Jesus. And that is just what he did. Saint Anthony traveled from town to town in Italy, teaching people about Jesus. His words were simple, his words were clear, and he brought many, many souls to Jesus. He loved helping others learn about God. Everywhere he went he encouraged people to love Jesus with all their hearts, and when Saint Anthony spoke, everyone listened and understood. Well that is until one day something very odd happened. Saint Anthony arrived in a town where many people did not want to hear him preach. Oh how terrible. Some ignored him, others just walked away. No one seemed interested in hearing about God. Oh so sad. Anthony was sad, not because people were being unkind to him, but because he wanted them to know how much Jesus loved them. So Anthony did something very peculiar. He walked down to the seashore. The waves rolled gently onto the sand and the breeze blew softly. And there standing beside the water, Saint Anthony began to preach. Oh well that's funny. Who is he preaching to? He wasn't preaching to the people. He was preaching to the fish. Now children, can you imagine that? A priest standing on the beach giving a sermon to fish. But something amazing happened. Fish began gathering near the shore, little fish, big fish, fish of every kind. They seemed to listen carefully as Anthony spoke. And soon the people of the town noticed. They came running to see what was happening. When they saw the fish gathered together, they were amazed. They knew that it was a miracle. Many of them finally stopped to listen to Anthony's preaching. God used this miracle to help open their hearts. Now children, perhaps the most famous story about Saint Anthony involves a donkey. One day a man argued with Saint Anthony. The man did not believe that Jesus is truly present in the Holy Eucharist. Oh dear hearts, now we know that is very wrong. Jesus is really present in the Eucharist body, blood, soul, and divinity, right? Anthony was very patient and he explained the Catholic faith to the man, but the man would not believe. His heart was hard. Finally the man proposed a challenge. He said I will keep my donkey from food for several days. Then I will place a pile of fresh hay before him. If my donkey chooses Jesus in the blessed sacrament over the hay, I will believe. Oh wow, what's going to happen? The townspeople gathered to watch. Everyone wondered and waited and watched. The day arrived and the donkey was very hungry. Fresh hay was placed before him. Then Saint Anthony arrived carrying Jesus and a beautiful monstrance. Inside the monstrance was Jesus himself. The crowd became silent. The donkey was released. Everyone expected him to run straight to the hay, but instead the donkey walked towards Saint Anthony, towards Jesus. The donkey stopped. Do you know what he did, dear friends? He lowered his head and knelt before the blessed sacrament. The crowd gasped in amazement, and the man who doubted believed. He knew that by that miracle everything that Saint Anthony had told him was true. He believed in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Saint Anthony lived only to be thirty six years old, but in his short life he performed many miracles and preached to thousands of people. Did you know that the church declared him a saint less than one year later? That's one of the fastest canonizations in church history. Oh now that's a very big word. Canonization What does that word mean? Canization It means that the Holy Catholic Church has declared that a specific person is a happy holy saint with Jesus in heaven. What can we learn, dear hearts from Saint Anthony? Oh so much. He's one of the greatest saints that ever lived. We know that Saint Anthony loved Jesus, and he loved Jesus in prayer, he loved Jesus in scripture, and especially he loved telling other people all the stories about Jesus. And just like Saint Anthony, we can love him with all of our hearts. Just like Saint Anthony, we can be saints in heaven one day too. Well what does it take to be a saint in heaven? Well, let's think about Saint Anthony's life. What did Saint Anthony do to become a saint? He learned about God, he loved God, and he served God in the way that God asked him to. Well that sounds just like our catechism question for today. Our question is what must you do to be happy with God in heaven? To be happy with God in heaven I must know him, love him and serve him in this world. Let's say it together one more time. What must you do to be happy with God in heaven? To be happy with God in heaven I must know him, love him and serve him in this world. Dear Hearts, Saint Anthony is a saint in heaven because he learned about God, he loved God, and he served God on earth. It's very simple. Sometimes us grown ups make it sound like being a saint is hard to do. We must all remember that to be happy with God in heaven we must know love and serve him in this world. It's that simple. And that's what Saint Anthony did. And God will always give us the strength to love and serve Him too. Dear hearts remember, God always keeps His promises, and He has promised to never stop loving us and to never leave us. Now let's listen to a verse from sacred Scripture. Mark chapter sixteen verse fifteen says Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. Now these words were spoken by Jesus Himself. Saint Anthony believed those words, and he allowed Jesus to speak through him. He preached to all different types of people, the poor and the rich, the smart and the uneducated, the old and the young? And what did Saint Anthony do when people didn't want to listen? Yes, you guessed it right. He preached to the fish. Dear Hearts, would you like to meet Saint Anthony in heaven one day? I know I would. I'm greatly looking forward to it. Guess what? Saint Anthony wants to meet you too. But until you reach heaven and you can have a tea party in heaven with Saint Anthony, you can make Saint Anthony one of your best friends here on earth. How can you do that? You can ask for his intercession. Oh wow, that's another big word. What does intercession mean? Intercession means asking someone to pray for you. Have you ever asked your mom or your dad to pray for you? Maybe you've asked a friend, a grandparent, or even your priest to pray for you. Well, the saints in heaven can pray for us too. That is one of their biggest jobs, and they are so happy to do it. They want to help us. They want to pray for us. Saint Anthony is alive with God in heaven right now, and he loves helping people grow closer to Jesus. So when you pray and say, Saint Anthony, pray for me, you're asking your heavenly friend to bring your prayer to Jesus. And do you know something wonderful? The more we pray to the saints and follow their example, the closer we grow to God. Perhaps one day when God calls us home to heaven, Saint Anthony will be there waiting with a smile, ready to welcome us to the greatest tea party of all. Well our tea time is almost over for today. Thank you for joining us, dear hearts. I want you to remember that Saint Anthony can be one of your special friends in heaven. You can ask for his prayers any time, and he will gladly help lead you closer to Jesus. Saint Anthony of Padua, pray for us. Moms and dads and all the grown ups listening, don't forget to visit us at www.regenabooks.com where you'll find a free Saint Anthony colouring page and family extension activities to help you continue learning about today's saint together. Until next tea time, may the Lord's peace and goodness be with you, and may our lady's gentle beauty shine in your hearts for the whole world to see. God bless you, dear friends. Goodbye for now.