A Catholic meme page’s post about St. Anthony of Padua, the patron saint of lost things, went viral among Filipinos.
The Facebook page “PRO DEO ET Tawa sa ECCLESIA” shared a close-up statue of the Franciscan friar, who appeared to have a slightly raised eyebrow and a neutral expression.
“POV [point of view] ni St. Anthony after mo makita ‘yung pinapahanap mo sa kanya,” the page said in the caption.
It also included a made-up dialogue as an in-line text.
“O [‘di ba], nandiyan lang,” it reads.
The Facebook post has reached 3,100 pure laughing reactions, 2,000 shares and over 160 comments so far.
St. Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is on June 13, is known as the patron saint of the poor, sailors and fishermen, priests and travelers. He is also the protector and guardian of mails.
He is also known as the “finder of lost items” due to an incident that happened in his life.
“As the story goes, he had a favorite book of psalms that was very valuable to him,” the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement said on its website.
“As this was before the invention of printing, the book was a hand-printed book – but of even more value were his personal notes and the comments he had made in the Psalter to assist with teaching students in the Franciscan order,” it added.
“It was suspected that a novice leaving the community had stolen the Psalter. Anthony prayed for the return of his beloved possession. Shortly after, the novice returned the book and sought Anthony’s forgiveness, which was given,” it continued.
