Calling St. Anthony

St Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of lost things. Although not a particularly religious woman, my grandmother Theresia always called upon his help when she couldn’t find something. And, apparently he never let her down.

It has been said that we all turn into our Mothers eventually. What they don’t tell you is that if you live long enough, you turn into your Grandmother. Yikes!

I am not a superstitious person, but I decided to call upon our favourite Saint whenever I lost something. I was telling myself “what have I got to lose?” and then “but I already lost it” and “what a loser I am” or “have I lost my mind and just don’t know it yet?”

After all this internal dialogue, I just concentrated on a simple thought, “Dear St Anthony, please help me find the ………amen”. “please,please please help me find it ” and then “thank you”.

It’s amazing and magical and wondrous, because in almost every circumstance, the missing object is found. It usually works within a few minutes and never fails to amaze me. The power of focused energy is phenomenal.

On one such occasion, I was visiting my sister in London and my mom and I were ready to drive back to Windsor. Imagine us ready and packed and standing by the door, but missing the car keys. We looked everywhere, turned our pockets inside out, emptied our purses and searched the entire house for 30 minutes. We even called a locksmith to open the car trunk to see if the keys were in there. No luck. All of a sudden, in a flash of inspiration, I remembered St Anthony. I closed my eyes and said a short but desperate prayer. Then, as if I was led by some unseen force, I walked into the laundry room and found the keys laying on top of the laundry basket. Voila! Problem solved.

I was missing two rings and searched high and low and in between. I called friends and family to check their homes. It was time to ask a higher power. I sent out my request and then let it be. I stopped looking and knew that they would be found when they were meant to be found. It took a week.

Sometimes, just to keep me from getting over confident, things really do stay lost. I misplaced my favourite pair of glasses and no amount of praying has brought them back.

Two cats have gone missing in the last 4 years and I suspect my waistline is gone for good.

Ah well. That’s life!

And just in care you’re listening…“St Anthony….you rock!!!..…at least most of the time.”