|
Patrician family; his father Lazzaro died when Anthony was two, and his
mother, Antonia Pescorali, widowed at age 18, devoted herself to her son.
He studied medicine at Padua, receiving his doctorate at age 22. Working
among the poor in Cremona, he felt called to the religious life. He
bequeathed his inheritance to his mother, worked as a catechist, and was
ordained at age 26; legend says that angels were seen around the altar at
his first Mass.
In Milan he established the congregations, the Society of Clerics of Saint
Paul (Barnabites) (men religious), and the Angelics of Saint Paul (uncloistered
nuns). These groups helped reform the morals of the faithful, encouraged
laymen to work together with the apostolate, and frequent reception of
Communion. While on a peace mission, Anthony became ill and died at his
mother's house; tradition says that in his last moments he had a vision of
Saint Paul.
|
