st. Anthony of Padua helper against infertility and spinsterhood

In preparation for our coming Novena I wanted to post some info about St. Anthony so I started gooling and found out many unknown things by me about him.

I should know him very well since I have heard him mentioned in my family most of my life, but when things are so familiar to you you then never think about them.

His name came up always in the most unusual ways. One that I always will rememeber is when my grandmother used to say when looking for a parking spot (and she always found one immediately!):
San Antonio bendito.
concedenos, concedemos
un lugarcito

Which means:
Holy St Anthony,
grant us, grant us
a little space!

When I started my google search I was struck time and time again that he is mainly known as a saint for the following:

Barren Women!!!!!!!!!!!!!, Lost Articles, the Poor and Oppressed; Travelers

Only until a few days ago did I find out about the barren woman part. I really feel so dumb!!! I found sterility, barreness, infertility and many other ways to say basically that he helps those who have an inability to bear children.

I googled for a long time and could not find why he is the patron of this. If anybody has any idea I would love to know why!

During my IF journey I have prayed so many times to several saints for a baby and all this time I have never thought to ask him about this. So with this Novena I am going to my family´s most trusted intercessor who happens to be an expert in my most important pain..

My family is so devoted to him and has asked for his intercesion for so many years that I only thought of him as a finder of objects and husbands. But when I started reading more about him time and time again came the barren woman part!

So fitting for me and for many of us joining the Novena .

In Mexico he is also very, very famous for finding husbands. Women purchase statues or stamps of him and put him upside down on his head in corner until they find a husband or boyfriend (in our culture its not offensive althought it sounds horrible) and churches are filled with offers to him.

One day even my university friends and I went to a special church that was packed to a Mass in his honor. Each of us was single and we asked for his intercession and we took a staute of him home. I remember clearly in my closet having him on a corner until I felt so bad that I decided to treat him better. I am blushing right now just thinking about it.

When I was single right before meeting my DH I asked him again and he was the very best. He brought into my life DH whom I met in Church.

I am very bad with blogger but on top of this post you can see a painting (an ex-voto which is a painting to thank God for a favour) in thanks for a marriage who made me smile and that I wanted to share here.

On the right you can see poor st. Anthony on his head and in the right the happily married woman.

Below it says:

My daughther Dolores was 40 years old and the eldest and only woman of my 16 children given to me by God. I was very concerned that the train would leave her, poor little one. (an expresion which means that she would be left behind by men and never get married)I put St. Anthony on its head and prayed day and night to him. Then she met a "gringo" called Maicol (Michael written how it sounds in Spanish) and got married. She even used my wedding dress.

In thanks: María del Socorro López López, 1963