Fr. Alex’s St. Anthony story

Fr. Alex Kratz outside the St. Joseph Chapel on the Terra Sancta Campus in Pontiac, Michigan

Calling on St. Anthony

I remember it vividly. It was Saturday, June 8, 2013, less than a week before the Feast of St. Anthony. I drove to the church after a long day of appointments and was so tired that I decided to push back the seat of my car and take a power nap. Then I went into the church to prepare for evening Mass with our visiting missionary, Fr. Tom, from Food for the Poor. After Mass I was ready to drive home but faced a locked car and no keys!

I went back in and searched the church and the offices where we do our Holy Land ministry but had no luck. A kind parishioner gave me a ride home. I have no spare set so finding the keys was really important. The next morning I got a ride to the Sunday 8:00 am Mass. I reminded everyone about the upcoming St. Anthony Feast Day and told them that I lost my keys and as of yet, St. Anthony had not helped me find them.

After Mass I called AAA and the technician quickly unlocked the car. The keys were not in the car anywhere! I searched and searched.

So I prayed, “St. Anthony, help me find my car keys. You know I need them. I have no spare.”

My car seat was still pushed back from my power nap the day before and I thought that they may have accidentally fallen while I was napping. I said, “St. Anthony, help me!”

I looked at the stick shift and noticed a little piece of silver metal, barely noticeable sticking out. Gosh, I thought I had looked there before. I crawled into the middle of the car to look more closely and sure enough, there was the key—way down in a crevice. Anthony made sure I could see just a bit of it to find my key. I guess being groggy when I woke up, I didn’t even notice.

Thank you, St. Anthony!

(Fr. Alex Kratz, OFM, is a spiritual director at the Terra Sancta Campus in Pontiac, Michigan. He leads tours of the Holy Land through Terra Sancta Pilgrimages.)

We’d love to hear your St. Anthony story too.  Use our Contact Page or Email: shrine@franciscan.org or Call Colleen Cushard at: 513-721-4700.  Share your prayers with us and our online community at our Prayer Page.  You can donate to St. Anthony Bread or any of our ministries at our Donation Page.