Patron Saint of Lost Things
St. Anthony of Padua, feast day 13 June
St. Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of lost and stolen things, with his feast on 13 June. The patronage comes from an episode in his own life in which a stolen book was returned. AngelGuard publishes the story behind it and how Catholics ask his help.
Quick facts
Why St. Anthony of Padua?
The story is specific, which is why it survived. Anthony had a book of psalms that he used for teaching, annotated in his own hand and, in an age before printing, effectively irreplaceable. A novice who was leaving the community took it with him. Anthony prayed for its return. The account holds that the novice turned back, returned the book, and rejoined the community. From that single incident, a patronage that now covers everything from car keys to missing persons. What keeps the devotion alive is not the miracle so much as the scale of it. Anthony is the saint people invoke over genuinely small things, and there is no embarrassment attached. A Church that only permitted prayer about grave matters would be teaching that God is interested in a shortlist. The habit of asking Anthony about a misplaced wallet quietly teaches the opposite, which is why parents pass it to children long before they explain anything else about the saints. He was, incidentally, one of the greatest preachers of his age and a Doctor of the Church. Almost nobody remembers him for that.
How to ask their intercession
The traditional couplet is short enough to say while still looking: Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around, something is lost and cannot be found. Say it, then keep searching. The devotion has never been understood as a substitute for looking properly.