St Anthony of Padua and the Miracle of the Mule
This is the fourth post in a miniseries on donkeys and medieval saints and features Saint Anthony of Padua whose feast day is June 13.
Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) was born in Portugal as Fernando Martins de Bulhões and died in Padua, Italy. He started his religious life as an Augustinian in Portugal. During this time, he witnessed the return of the bodies of five Franciscan martyrs who had been killed whilst on a preaching mission in Morocco. This event caused him to join the Franciscan Order and take the name Anthony. Anthony soon made a name for himself as a persuasive preacher. He is the patron saint of many locations including Lisbon and other places in Portugal and the Portuguese empire; he is also the patron saint of lost things.
Anthony lived in a time when the biggest perceived threat to the medieval Church was heresy. Heretics were people who did not follow the orthodox teachings and practices of the Church. Some heretics formed into organised groups, such as the Waldensians and Cathars and they attracted lots of followers. Heretics were considered dangerous as they 1) threatened the salvation of ordinary Christians and 2) challenged the authority of the Church. The Church relentlessly sought out heretics with the aim of teaching them the correct way to practise and believe or if the heretic stubbornly refused, then to execute them. One way to convince heretics to return to orthodoxy was through preaching – Anthony’s forte. There are several stories of Anthony preaching to heretics but the one that concerns this blog features a mule.
This story is reputed to have happened in Toulouse, a Cathar stronghold in the south of France. One day, Anthony was preaching to a group of heretics trying to convince them of the errors of their ways. One of the heretics challenged Anthony on a matter of faith. The Cathars did not believe in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist – an incontrovertible belief for Christians and the argumentative heretic demanded that Anthony prove the miracle of the Eucharist – that it was the body of Christ. The test of proof involved the heretic’s mule which he starved for three days. At the agreed time the heretic appeared with the mule and some fodder, Anthony stood with the Eucharist which he held aloft. The mule ignored its hunger, went towards Anthony, and knelt before the Eucharist – clever mule! The miracle ends with the mule’s owner and other heretics being reconciled to the Church.
What is significant about this miracle and Saint Anthony?
- Heretics were considered stubborn – just like the mule; thus, the mule seems to be an analogy for the heretic. But …
- The kneeling mule represents the reformed heretic. Because …
- The donkey was a symbol for the humble and faithful Christian and the mule was half donkey, so the kneeling mule is also an analogy for the faithful Christian who recognises the significance of the Eucharist.
- The twelfth-century jurist, Gratian, described heresy as “an opinion chosen by human perception contrary to Holy Scripture, publicly avowed and obstinately defended.” In other words, a heretic is someone who chooses to go against accepted doctrine, makes his opinions known publicly – i.e., does not keep them secret – and persistently defends them.
- The miracle story was evidence of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist – a topic that had been debated within the Church and decided but which many heretical groups contested, either rejecting Christ’s presence altogether or considering it a metaphorical presence.
- Anthony was a powerful preacher with the ability to convince heretics of the errors of their ways.
