Why was Saint Anthony of Padua sainted?

Answer 1

Saint Anthony of Padua was canonized a saint less than one year after his death. He made preaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ simplistic so that even children could understand his message. The infant Jesus appeared to him during his short life of 36 years which is why paintings of him show the infant Jesus in his arms along with The Bible. He would invoke the name of the Virgin Mary when working against the lies and deceits of heretics. One one occasion when preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to heretics who would not listen, he left their presence and walked to the sea shore to preach to the fishes for the glory of God. Thousands of fishes appeared at the surface of the water to hear his message and many of the heretics decided they should listen too after seeing this amazing event. Once when defending the real presence of the Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, Saint Anthony was challenged by a heretic. The challenge included starving a donkey for three days and during those three days Saint Anthony fasted and prayed for assistance. On the day of the contest, the donkey was placed in the middle of the town square with many people watching. The heretic placed a bale of hay 20 feet from the donkey while Saint Anthony waited on the opposite side of the square with the Holy Eucharist. When the animal was untied it walked toward the bale of hay until Saint Anthony exposed the Holy Eucharist and said to the mule, "Mule, in the name of the Lord our God, I command you to come here and adore your Creator!". The donkey stopped, turned around, walked toward the Holy Eucharist. Once there, it bent its forelegs and bowed its head toward the Holy Eucharist. Many in the town were converted to the Catholic faith that very day. There are many other miracles performed by the Saint and for these reasons made a saint. (Articles referenced: http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=24 and http://catholicexchange.com/2006/06/30/83233/ )