At the hermitage of Camposampiero

There are various reasons why Anthony withdrew to the hermitage at Camposampiero.

The first is rarely mentioned but easily imagined. After the intense mission of preaching and reconciliation during Lent and the Easter season, he was simply exhausted.

The second reason is given in the Assidua (15,2) and echoed by subsequent biographers. For practical reasons Anthony was obliged to suspend his preaching so that the people could attend to their crops.

The third reason was that he wished to isolate himself in a tranquil, out of the way place, to continue writing the Sunday Sermones and perhaps finish them.

The fourth motive was that he wished to avoid alarming his brother friars who were witnessing Anthony's declining health.

And most importantly, no doubt, Anthony wished to retreat from active life, to immerse himself in prayer and prepare his spirit for his coming death.

We can theorise that Anthony departed from Padua on Monday, May 19, and, therefore, his sojourn at Camposampiero, including a short stay at Verona, lasted approximately twenty-five days.

Death of Saint Anthony

In late spring 1231, Anthony was taken ill. Knowing this to be his final illness, he asked to be taken to Padua, wishing to breathe his last in that city. He was laid on a cart pulled by oxen, and set off for the city in the company of some other friars. But when they reached Arcella, a small town on the outskirts of Padua, death took him. His final words were, "I see my Lord." It was 13 June, and Anthony was 36 years old.

The Saint was buried in Padua, in the church of Santa Maria Mater Domini, which had been his spiritual refuge during the period of his most intense apostolic work. At the end of the funeral celebrations, St. Anthony's body was buried in the small church of the city's Franciscan friary. It was probably not placed underground, but left suspended in an ark-tomb so that the growing number of faithful could see and touch it.

A year after his death, the fame of many miracles brought about through his intercession convinced Pope Gregory IX to shorten the period for his canonisation, and Anthony was proclaimed a Saint on 30 May 1232, only 11 months after his death.

The Church has also done justice to his spiritual doctrine, since Pope Pius XII proclaimed him "Doctor of the Universal Church" in 1946.