Saint Anthony of Padua is probably best known for his title of “Miracle Worker”, but this is only one of the many titles he possesses. The particular title that reflects the sanctity of St. Anthony in this story is that wonderful title of “Malleus hereticorum”; which translated from the Latin is “Hammer of Heretics”. But what is a heretic? A heretic is anyone who has been validly baptized into the Roman Catholic Church but rejects one or more of the Truths revealed by God to His church. For it is only through the Roman Catholic Church that God reveals to all people His Truths - what He wants us to believe and how He wants us to behave. Knowing that heretics place themselves outside of the Church and therefore risk not going to Heaven when they die, St. Anthony fought against heresy with great strength and energy. He was rewarded with many conversions, as numerous heretics came to see their errors, publicly reject them, and return to the One, True Church.

On one occasion, St. Anthony traveled to the town of Rimini in France, where there were many Albigensians. Albigensians are heretics (as you may remember from