St. Anthony Chaplet
How to Pray to the Chaplet
In Padua, Italy, as well as in other places, there arose in the 19th century the practice of saying 13 times the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be in thanksgiving for favors granted after having prayed the “Miraculous Responsory” in honor of St. Anthony. Some sources say it honors 13 of the Saint’s miracles enumerated in the Responsory. This practice came to be the “Chaplet of St. Anthony.”
Many devotions to St. Anthony feature the number 13, the day of his death and feast in June; while Tuesday is his special day of the week. A novena of 13 consecutive Tuesdays may be made before his feast, and the chaplet is sometimes suggested for this novena.
This chaplet is composed of thirteen sets of three with three beads each. On the first bead of each set of three is said the Our Father, on the second the Hail Mary, and on the third the Glory Be. At the end, on the single bead near the medal, the “Miraculous Responsory” is recited.
“The Miraculous Responsory”
If miracles thou fain would see: Lo, error, death, calamity, The leprous stain, the demon flies, From beds of pain the sick arise. The hungry seas forego their prey, The prisoner’s cruel chains give way; While palsied limbs and chattels lost Both young and old recovered boast. And perils perish: plenty’s hoard Is heaped on hunger’s famished board, Let those relate who know it well, Let Padua of her patron tell. The hungry seas, etc. (Repeat verse) Glory be to the Father, etc. The hungry seas, etc. V. Pray for us, blessed Anthony, R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: O God, let the votive commemoration of Blessed Anthony, Thy confessor, be a source of joy to Thy Church; that she may always be fortified with spiritual assistance and may deserve to possess eternal joy. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Another method of reciting St. Anthony’s chaplet is to meditate on the virtues of the Saint praying the accompanying invocations.