St. Anthony Helps Family with Items During a Move
The beloved Eleanor
I overheard my elementary-age girls fervently praying: “Please, St. Anthony! Help us find Eleanor!”
We had just moved to a new house, and it seemed that one special doll did not make it. We had been through every box in the house, or at least opened every box to peek inside. I unpacked dozens of dolls over the previous days—but there was no sign of Eleanor. Eleanor was not an expensive doll, and I found it online and offered to buy it again it for my kids, but they wanted the original Eleanor.
St. Anthony of Padua
My girls are quite familiar with St. Anthony and they attend Catholic school, so they understand prayer and saints. They prayed on their own that St. Anthony would help find their beloved doll, and I prayed silently myself too, also adding more intentions for other important items missing from our move—all of the girls’ keepsake bedding and an important bag with a lot of my work over the years, including a catalog I helped produce.
A week went by. Eleanor and my items were definitely not among the final boxes in the house. We did have some boxes in the garage, but they were garage items. Many times over the week my husband and I tried to see if perhaps a box or two meant for the house was hidden among them, but we didn’t see anything.
I resigned myself to the fact that God hears every prayer, though we don’t always get the answer we’d like. I assumed that these items were gone forever, and I focused on the fact that many people in Ukraine are currently losing everything due to the war—their homes, all their possessions, and even their lives. It helped put things in perspective for me.
Later that week, my husband was searching for the printer in the garage, and he came across two boxes that seemed different. We had been to this area several times before, but neither of us saw them. We opened them up, and we found Eleanor in one box and the other missing items in the other box. We were incredibly elated and grateful.
Thank you, St. Anthony, for always hearing our prayers and always interceding with God on our behalf.
Lindsey A.
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.
Posted in: Prayer, Saint Anthony
