After many years, I am finally able to see the face of my favourite person...

He was an impassioned preacher, who died at the tender age of 35. Only a year after his death, he was canonised, meaning he had the second fastest canonisation in history. 

He is, of course, St Anthony, and my number one saint. 



St Anthony is my favourite regular person that ever lived. Please don't think that I'm side-stepping Our Lady and Our Lord in a rude and blasphemous way. Our Lady is the masterpiece of God's hands, and Our Lord is His Son. 

It's just that St Anthony is in my most cherished 'ordinary' person, who was like us, in that he was born a fallen creature, and strove to become a saint. 

After watching the Rome Reports video, my main comment would be that the real St Anthony had a very rugged, manly face. He had a firm jaw, sturdy, dynamic feautures and deep-set eyes. 

Such a contrast to the soft-chinned, big-cheeked, oval-faced St Anthony of the statues and pictures in our churches and homes. The St Anthony of our imagination is a more motherly creation, who appeases us by looking gentle enough to hold the Baby Jesus. The reality is that St Anthony cut a dashing figure of a strong father...