(Short Version)
July 5: Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Priest—Optional Memorial
1502–1539
Patron Saint of physicians
Canonized by Pope Leo XIII on May 27, 1897
In 1502, Anthony Mary Zaccaria was born into a noble family in Cremona, in northern Italy. His young widowed mother ensured that her son received a good education and instilled in him a deep faith. He spent long periods before an altar dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in their home, attended Mass, and preached to his friends. Influenced by his mother’s care for the poor, Anthony once gave a poor, half-naked beggar his own silk cloak.
Anthony studied philosophy in Pavia and medicine in Padua. At age twenty-two, he earned his doctorate in medicine and returned to Cremona to work as a physician, devoting much time to caring for the poor. Doctor Anthony ministered to the physical and spiritual needs of the sick, encouraging those on their deathbeds to turn to God in prayer, receive the Sacraments, and turn away from sin. He taught poor children their catechism and preached in the local church as a layman.
Realizing that saving souls was of supreme importance, Doctor Anthony abandoned his medical practice and prayed to discern God’s will. He completed theological studies and was ordained to the priesthood in 1528, at the age of twenty-six. During his first Mass, Father Anthony was enwrapped in light at the moment of Consecration that remained until the Blessed Sacrament was consumed.
Father Anthony ministered in Cremona at a time when morals were in steep decline, poverty was on the rise, wars had taken a toll, and church attendance had greatly diminished. North of Italy, the ongoing Protestant Reformation sewed confusion. In Father Anthony’s eloquence and manifest holiness, many people found an answer to their spiritual emptiness. They listened to his sermons and teaching, confessed their sins, attended his Masses, and sought his counsel.
After two years, divine providence led Father Anthony to Milan. The moral decay there was so great that Father Anthony formed a new religious community that would work for the salvation of souls. The Clerics Regular of St. Paul embraced radical poverty, mortification, and charitable works, along with proclaiming the Gospel in imitation of Saint Paul. The order later became known as the Barnabites, after Saint Paul’s faithful companion, Barnabas. Father Anthony also gathered holy women and founded the Angelic Sisters of St. Paul. They lived lives of prayer, penance, poverty, and charity, working to reform religious life by their good example.
For the next few years, Father Anthony and his followers offered conferences for the clergy, established an organization for married persons, and offered missions of evangelization. He instituted the practice of forty-hours devotion before the exposed Eucharist, encouraged frequent Communion, and prompted churches to ring their bells at three o’clock on Fridays to invite people to a moment of prayerful recollec
