I was going to keep quiet about St Anthony finding lipstick…


Isn’t it Shakespeare’s King Lear who declares; ‘vanity thy name be woman’? Well the mad King Lear summed me up; I’m a woman and vain. I’m all for the simple Snow White look; powder-white pale skin with red lipstick and a dark sweeps of hair. But Snow White wore the same dress every day.  And I found myself wanting a specific type of lipstick that would coordinate with burgundy/reddish-purple suede skirts and wool sweaters. But finding the right shade that’s not too pink and not too red is so trying that it could turn you into a loony. It involves doing the rounds of the make-up counters in lit-up by million-watt bulbs department stores and chemists. Then one must meet over-anxious sales people who always have imploring, never-blinking eyes that implore you to buy, buy, buy! Then one must inspect tray after tray of gooey neon pink and yellow lipstick, smear it one your fingers until your hand looks tie-died, but you must say something nice about the lipstick.
And usually you come to the conclusion that shade ‘priggish plum’ and ‘putrid peach’ is not for you. Then there’s shopping-for-lipstick blindness: you see so many shades that they all look the same brown-red-violet mélange. Then there’s the task of telling the saleswoman that you won’t purchase ‘cremated cherry’ because it will clash with your wardrobe of clothes. The saleslady will bite her pink-frosted lips, hold back silver tears, sigh and say that she could’ve talked to other customers who would’ve bought ‘mulberry mishap’ and that she wasted thirty minutes convincing you of the joys of ‘juicy lemon’ because ‘yellow is the new lipstick for 2012.’
Trust me, buying the right shade of lipstick is such an ordeal; that it could be the new test for psychic powers; if someone who reports to be clairvoyant can automatically pick the correct shade of lipstick for a person, then they must have supernatural strengths. But I don’t believe in psychics or employ them, even if it means that picking the right colour lipstick would be made easier.  And I didn’t want to waste hours traipsing round shops to find the exact shade of wine-pink lipstick. So a few weeks ago, in deepest, darkest December, I threw my hands up in the air, said that I wouldn’t waste time and money and sanity in looking for a very specific shade of lipstick that I had in mind. And I said to St Anthony, ‘you must be sick of me by now, but if there’s any way that I can find that lipstick, or if the lipstick would just appear?’ The last part seemed a bit fantastical, even to me. 
Again, I never said a word about my desire for a type of dark puce lipstick; really I can’t bore my friends with make-up monotony.  But I was given a present of a little jacket with pockets and the first day that I wore it, I found that one pocket had a strange ‘lump’ in it.  I pulled out a blue lipstick case. 

I opened it to find that it was the exact hue that I had asked St Anthony to find. Thinking that I was kidding myself, I held the lipstick up to the light, tried it on and pronounced that it was the one that I had asked St Anthony to find. I thought that I would keep the matter to myself; it's of too much a fashion-fanatic theme to share with the readers. But it does demonstrate that we might be surprised if we ask for little things.
First tea, second soap, now lipstick! 

Comments

  1. Would you happen to know if Saint Anthony does ties? I have a dreadful time with those.

    ;-o)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had not realised that picking lipstick could be so exciting and hazardous! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you. I think we are challenged to tell Jesus about all aspects of our lives. I'm sure they were pretty tickled when you sent up this request. So, if lipstick is your thing then have your dialogue. I just started telling Jesus about the 'mundane' things in my life. The seemingly one-way conversation starts something like this: so... you know I'm about to go to the bank, or sign up for this class, what do you think...

    ReplyDelete
  4. It was actually Hamlet, and the line is, "frailty, they name is woman," often misquoted as "vanity." I only know this because I played Hamlet in college. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Over my 64 years ,I have found that nothing is too small for St. Anthony. Two incidents stand out in my memory,as I turn everything over to him that is lost or misplaced. When my fourth toddler was three, she wanted to play with her older sisters Strawberry Shortcake doll while her sister was in school.In the process she lost the dolls tiny socks. I turned the room upside down and even looked through books to no avail. I told St Anthony that we were leaving the room for an hour & for him to please find the socks for me. An hour later I went back into the room and there were the tiny socks folded as neat as could be on the bedspread.The other time I ordered a $200 item from a co. and still had not received it three months later. Contacted co. to no avail. Once again St Anthony to the rescue. NINE MONTHS later ups put a pkg on my porch. No co. name ,so I was afraid to open it as I didnt recently order any .I checked emails but no co. contacted me about an order. It was my 40th wedding anniv.,so I decided to open it. What a shock it was my order from nine months ago and not even from the co. I ordered from. The return address said Annie.St. Anthony has never failed me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. How do you ask St. Anthony for his help? Out loud? On your knees, in your mind and heart? Write it down? I sure could use his aid for a few things right now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love Saint Anthony! My favorite miracle that he prayed for me was finding my checkbook! I was expecting our first child, and had already lost the family checkbook once! Luckily I found it easily, but a few weeks later it went missing for a few days. I was in a panic. I came home early from work and checked again the shelf that we kept it on. It was not there. I began to pray fervently to St. Anthony and went into the garage to thoroughly check my car. 30 minutes later I was in tears, I had not found the checkbook. I went back into the kitchen and looked at the shelf. Sitting there, in plain sight, was the checkbook, right where it usually is. Saint Anthony has come through for me so many times before and since this incident, but that is one of his more dramatic rescues for me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. St Anthony finds everything and also intercedes for people who have speech impediments etc.My son was 4 years old and did not speak a word.The doctor's could not explain why and intervention programs just aggrevated the situation. After praying to St.Anthony, he finally began to speak. When I was a child my family made an annual novena to St Anthony and my devotion to him still exists. He truly is a miracle worker. I can't begin to tell you the things I have lost and he has found. Remember that Anthony was also a great orator, so pray to him before an important speech or when you are at a loss for words. Thank you St.Anthony for your powerful intercession!

    ReplyDelete
  9. My wife lost the lone key to the van and we had to leave the vehicle at Notre Dame Catholic Church parking lot overnight. We prayed right away to St Anthony. It was already pretty dark when we stopped looking for the lost key. I just decided to return the next day to have the van towed to our place. It was the church bazaar and one could imagine the many people roaming about the church grounds and all. To make the long story short, the next day, the towing company couldn't move the van because my wife parked it at an angle, and the towing gentleman kindly informed me that forcing the van onto the trailer would destroy it and the best alternative was to continue looking for the lost key. Came the deacon who told me that we could look at the 'lost-and-found' at the sacristy. Well, there were 2 chests: the one in the altar servers' vesting room contained a picture of St Anthony, and the deacon jokingly told me that even St Anthony gets lost at times. The key wasn't there. The last chance was the one in the priests' room, and sure enough, there it was, amidst the prayer books.

    ReplyDelete
  10. St. Anthony and my hairbrush. Before going with some friends to a restaurant, I decided to take my hairbrush with me, as it was breezy along the Ocean restaurant. After eating, I searched my purse for the hairbrush. It was not there - After returning home, I was unable to find the hairbrush. Also, bought a new hairbrush several days later. 6 weeks later, I found it under my bed. I cleaned and mopped under my bed several times before St. Anthony located the brush..I distinctly remember placing the brush in my purse. Now St. anthony I need your help in finding my emerald ring. It came missing last September..this one will be difficult to locate, as I think someone took it from my dresser drawer.Please help St. Anthony..Ruthie

    ReplyDelete
  11. Help! I lost my car keys last September (I'm still convinved my three year old knows where they are...) and need to find them before my husband returns from his deployment this month! Would you please intercede with St. Anthony for me? I've been asking for months to no avail. You seem to be on good terms with him... St. Anthony, please return my keys to me! Thanks, Libby

    ReplyDelete
  12. What is the color? I have looked for years (not constantly mind you) for that shade! I don't know how many I have bought & alas it ends up being the wrong shade!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. @ Libby. I'll pray that you find your car keys. You may also pray and that will be equally powerful.

    @anonymous. It's called 'a drop of sherry'; quite a festive title...

    ReplyDelete
  14. @Philomena - I usually pray to St Anthony using the Rosary, or I present him with petitions when I visit his statue in the Church.

    And during an average day, I offer up mental prayer such as today, 'please help me find my watch St Anthony'.

    You may kneel when praying to any saint, not just St Anthony. But if you're praying to him while driving, on the bus or in a supermarket queue then it might not be practical to kneel at the same time.

    St Anthony likes if you remember his cause - giving bread to the poor. A part of the donations that I get through this blog go into St Anthony's Bread-for-the-poor charity.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Philomena: as to "how do you pray to St. Anthony" I'll give you just one example of how we did it (I posted the comment on the other blog - Mary's soap story - about 'my favorite St. Anthony story'). It was about 12 years ago and I was in New Orleans and my wife Ani called me and, frustrated, asked if I could come back to Baton Rouge earlier than planned (I was visiting my parents in N.O.) due to her having lost the van keys at the swimming pool club which she was the manager of that summer. When I arrived (it's a 1.5 hour drive from N.O. to Baton Rouge), about one hour before it turned dark outside, we all looked and looked (I have 4 kids who were also looking) and we just couldn't locate the missing keys. We probably looked for about 30 minutes, walking up and down and adjacent to a certain sidewalk where Ani thought she must have dropped them on the ground - maybe somewhere close to - the same sidewalk that led to the snack room where all the hungry little swimmers would gather to eat. After having no luck in finding them and seeing that it was almost dark, I realized that, well, you know, it was that time - it was "St. Anthony time." I said to Ani and all of the kids - verbally, out loud (obviously) and in a relaxed, and hopeful/confident tone of voice (knowing how St. Anthony had helped us before) - "all right everybody here we are; it's that time where we know we're stuck and need help; we need to ask St. Anthony for help...Anthony, Anthony come around, our keys are lost and can't be found, please St. Anthony, help us find our van keys that we have looked and looked for and just cannot find; help us St. Anthony." (now as I said this, all of the rest of the family stopped for a moment in silent respect - of me leading the prayer and invoking St. Anthony's intercession). I had barely finished talking to St. Anthony out loud, invoking his help, when one of my kids says in a loud voice: "I found the keys." The funny thing is, where the kids were found, in the slightly overgrown St. Augustine grass, I know we had all looked before..... go figure. As to me and my family when this happened (and it has happened several times) I guess the best way to describe the "feeling" one has after such a thing has happened is - thankfulness. One walks away from this pondering, pondering on the mystery of the Saints and our belief in the "Communion of Saints." Certainly, afterwards, a simple "Thanks Jesus for allowing your humble little Saint Anthony to help us find our lost item" .... is in order.

    ReplyDelete
  16. i just submitted my comments to Philomena as to how to pray to St. Anthony and realize that I made a funny error in my third to last sentence in which I stated that "....where the kids were found..." This is funny; it was the keys that were found in the slightly overgrown St. Augustine grass! Feel free, if you are able to, to make this correction!

    ReplyDelete
  17. please St. Anthony,Saints of Miracles my usb was lost for almost a month now I cannot find it the files inside was very important for our prayer warriors of the holy souls.please help me find it.thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have an uncle, now deceased, who shared my birthday. Once, on a visit, he gave me a beautiful, unique medal of Mary. it was octagonal, gold metal, Mary's face in profile, with a mother-of-pearl back. The front, the representation of Mary, was sort of cut out of the gold, so that the white mother-of-pearl showed through in places as the background for Mary's profile. He had traded a soldier a bar of soap for it while stationed overseas. I think he gave it to me because we shared a birthday and, as he put it, "I practiced the Faith." I treasured it and wore it every day, taking it off only at night. About 11 years ago, we moved. Soon after, I realized that I hadn't seen it since the move. We had many people, friends and relatives, who helped us on that day. Maybe, in all of the confusion, I forgot to wear it, and someone lost it. I hope no one stole it. In any case, I have prayed to St. Anthony ever since, but it has never turned up. I know that we shouldn't be too attached to objects, even religious ones, but it was so special to me, from my uncle. Please ask St. Anthony to help me find it, which would be a miracle, after 11 years. Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it would be a miracle and you probably will find it when you least expecting it. I found my diploma after 24 yrs! I had lost right after graduation in 1988. I prayed daily for it to be found and it was no where to be found. Well two weeks ago, I prayed again and while I packing away a few boxes full of books to be donated to a local hospital I found an unmarked large envelope, and there it was my diploma inside with the Dean's letter congratulating me. I had tears in my eyes, since the past 24 yrs I've been a stay at home mom, now that I'm single mom and looking for a job I can add my diploma plus University to my resume.

      Delete
  19. I love St. Anthony. A few weeks ago I could not find one of my rings and it is not an expensive ring but it is my favorite ring. I looked everywhere and was beside myself thinking what could I have done with it. Well like always I asked out loud for St. Anthony to help find my ring that is lost. I went into my bedroom and on the bedspread was my ring. Thank you for all you do for all of us, St. Anthony. What a great freind we have in him. God is so good to give us such a wonderful saint. Irishlady

    ReplyDelete
  20. My mother lost a "family rosary". This rosary was made by a dear friend who has passed away. Please help us pray to St. Anthony to retreve this priceless treasure.

    ReplyDelete
  21. All I can say is that St.Anthony is a amazing!

    My family and I have prayed to St. Anthony for his help on finding things and he is always there ready to help.

    Thank you Lord for your Blessed Mother and your Holy Angels and Saints!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I had lost my utmost Favorite Signet Ring at work last May while I was doing the "Prepping the Chickens." This signet ring was on my left pinky finger, and it was Very,very Expensive. I did try to pray to St. Anthony to help me find it, to no avail, the ring is lost. I've had it for 10 yrs. Now I'm saving my $$$ to buy a new one from Garrards in UK to replace it. It will be alot of $$$ in Today's $$ compared to 1995 when I got it.
    Please Pray that St. Anthony will find it and bring it back to Jean Reed in the Deli. I love this ring very,very much. I used it with Sealing wax, for it was my Crest/ Shield of the Reed Coat of Arms. Thank you.
    Sincerely Yours,
    Jean Reed Saylor

    ReplyDelete
  23. Mary and Mike, thank you so much for responding to my questions. By doing so, you have supported someone who is suffering in a bout of flagging faith. I will remember both of you during my holy hour today.

    ReplyDelete
  24. St. Anthony is certainly a favorite on my family. He is so powerful that for the past six years my admin. and her friends and family avidly pray to him to find lost items. A wedding purse with all of the couple's funds started it. Since that time every time St. Anthony responds to their prayers they donate to our church. My wife,who works for the church receives the donations without fail. My admin. goes on vacations all over the globe with her husband and makes it a point to attend a church named after St. Anthony and pray. I told her that he will convert her entire family. You see we are devout Catholics. She and her family are devout Buddhists. St. Anthony is so powerful, I have no doubt my prediction will come true.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Car keys today ! Hundreds inthe past !

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anytime I misplace things, I always ask St. Anthony of Lost Items to help me retrieve/find whatever is missing. More times than not he has come through for me. Remember to always say thank you afterward!!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I have had St. Anthony find many things for me but I've never though to ask him about lipstick. I usually buy two different shades that are similar and apply them both to get the shade I want. Yu can also pray to St. Anthony for your loved ones who have "lost" their faith. let-Canada!

    ReplyDelete
  28. My father was a lax Baptist but a wonderful Dad and husband. As such he knew nothing about saints. One day, he lost something and demanded to know whether there was a saint for "lost stuff." I told him about Saint Anthony. From then on whenever he lost anything Daddy would ask this saint for help. But he would say, "Tony the Wop, please help me!" I hated the fact he would say such a disrespectful thing to a saint of God and I would scold him for calling a saint a bad name. "He isn't even Italian," I would complain. But the saint would always help my father find lost things. "Tony understands me," Daddy would say.

    Years later when my father was dying, I was living somewhere else and working as a pastor and I was worried about what was going to happen with him. The whole family thought that he would die on the same date as my mother did years before on June 17th. The early morning of June 13th, I had a dream in which I saw a fairly stout looking man dressed as a Franciscan come over to a hospital bed where my father was lying in a coma. I saw this friar lean over and pat my father's face and say, "Pablito, Pablito then it sounded like, vente, vente!"

    I saw something rise out from my father's body and form a shape just like my father used to look when he was young and vigorous. He looked at the friar and frowned. Before he could say anything the friar took my father by the hand and spoke to him something like Ici, then he patted his chest and said what sounded like Souez Antonio, Vente,"

    My father looked confused but when the friar put out his hand to him, Daddy took it, smiled shyly, put his head down like a child and they walked away into this really bright light that led up into the ceiling.

    Then they were gone. A few minutes later I called my sister and found out that Daddy had gone.

    So, to this day Saint Anthony is our family patron saint for Clan McDaniels.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Trimelda, are you saying that your Dad died on June 13th, St. Anthony's Feast Day? Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  30. My cousin and I were saying the Rosary on Saturday and we had made a special prayer to St. Anthony to help us find her mother's sunglasses and her disabled parking permit, and to help ease her mother's anxiety about losing things. Well, Sunday night my cousin sent a picture text of the sunglasses and placard. St. Anthony is my cousin's patron Saint. Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I have a screen saver that says, "Don't worry about anything- instead, pray about everything. Tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for his answers." Philippians 4:6. I am so grateful to God that he has introduced me to beloved St. Anthony. St.Anthony has always answered my prayers and shown me so much love and kindness. He has always tried to alleviate my grief and worry by answering my prayers so fast. He has even begun to answer my prayers on behalf of friends and family. When I began to tell my family about my devotion to St. Anthony, my Aunt asked me to pray for the return of her lost car key. We prayed as a family and I told her that I would continue to pray for the return. Three days later she found it. A week later we moved my mom into her new house and in the process we misplaced all her medications. We searched for hours, but I forgot to pray to St. Anthony to help us. When my aunt reminded me to pray to St. Anthony I began in earnest and immediately was drawn to a drawer. It was deep and painted jet black and her medicine bag was sitting at the bottom, it too was jet black. Just last week my mother misplaced my handicap parking placard. We are using a rental car so we didn't want to leave it in a car we didn't trust. We've been searching and searching for it. Yesterday, we were at the shopping mall, and the only spots open were the handicap spots. So we all prayed again in earnest that the placard would be returned to us so that I would have an easier time getting around. When we returned home we were putting away our things and in a bag from a random store we went to more than a week ago, we found the handicap placard. I have been offering a chaplet to St. Anthony for many months now, praying to him and God that I would find a good Christian man. There is a man that I am interested in, but I have started feeling embarrassed to keep praying for a specific person, as if I am allowing my will rather than God's to set the direction. My cousin and I have been talking about if it's "right" to ask God for who you want specifically rather than to ask to be married. This is especially true if I am also asking St. Anthony to, "bring to me the heart of a man who is to be my partner in life." But, when we found the handicap placard and I started to thank God and St. Anthony, it reminded me about the Bible verse and praying for everything. That which I worry about that, that which I've lost, and now the man that I want to spend my life with, bring it all to God. With God and prayer and the love and compassion of our Saints like St. Anthony, anything is possible. I'm no longer embarrassed to pray for what I want specifically. I understand I need to leave my prayers and their feet and myself open to God's voice and will. I am so grateful to God for his salvation and love and that he has gifted us with Saints to watch over us, who are willing to intercede on behalf and answer our prayers. I will keep you all in my prayers, I pray that you find what you have lost and may God and St. Anthony's love surround you.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I love this post - this is the way he seems to help me too. He is one of my favorite saints! As mentioned no request is too trivial and his help has put a smile on my face on more than one occasion. From lost earrings found in the most random of places (orly I put those there? O.o ) to countless times I have had his assistance in numerous ways. I constantly invoke this wonderful saint - St. Theresa is another one I ask for help with small things and seemingly trivial matters, as she has the little way. :) Of course it is God working through them and He has blessed them. I always try to remember to thank them and God with an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be. God bless you all!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I don't know if he can help me with this but I have nothing to lose by asking. I have a beautiful and gentle Tennessee Walking Horse named "Ruger" (already named this when I bought him from the previous owner) I spent months having him trained to perfection, he is beyond amazing, long story short ...I brought him home this week and my Stallone tried to kill him. No matter what we do it just will not work and I don't have enough space to keep them seperated for the rest of their lives. I can't get rid of my Stallone because he has been with me forever and loves me to bits, even though he is hostile to Ruger he's a gentle giant with me and my other horses, he just for some reason hates Ruger. I need to find a new and loving home for Ruger, he is scared to walk around the pasture I have him in for fear the Stallone will come after him (they are in seperate pastures) Do you think if I asked St. Anthony to help me find a new home for my horse Ruger he would help? I know he helps people but not sure if he can help with this one since it's basically to help an animal find a new home.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. I'm so sorry to hear that you are looking for a new home for your horse, Ruger. You must be feeling grief that you have to give Ruger away.

      You may ask St Anthony to 'find' Ruger a new home. I've already prayed for this intention. I would suggest that you use a St Benedict Medal for your animals. On my sidebar you can see a post about the St Benedict Medal curing animals. Some readers got in touch and left comments with amazing stories.

      Let us know if Ruger gets a good home.

      I look forward to hearing your news,


      Mary

      Delete
  34. Thank you Mary, I am not trying to place an animal above people but he is such a wonderful animal and I feel he deserves a loving home, he would have had that here but I guess that's not going to happen. I don't want him to end up hurt or maimed by my Stallone. Thank you so much for your caring and understanding message, and your prayers ...God Bless you!

    I will keep you posted!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts