St Antonio de Sant’Anna Galvao
October 25
Franciscan priest. Brazil’s first native-born saint. Antonio was one of 11 children born in Guarantingueta near Sao Paulo, Brazil, Antonio attended the Jesuit seminary in Belem but later decided to become a Franciscan friar. Invested in 1760, he made final profession the following year and was ordained in 1762.
He served as preacher, confessor and porter in Sao Paulo and then chaplain to the Recollects of St Teresa, a group of nuns. Together with Sister Helena Maria of the Holy Spirit he founded a new community of sisters under the patronage of Our Lady of the Conception of Divine Providence. He was also novice master for the friars in Macacu and guardian of St Francis Friary in Sao Paulo. Fr Antonio founded St Clare Friary in Sorocaba.
With the permission of his provincial and the bishop, he spent his last days at the Recolhimento de Nossa Senhora da Luz, the convent of the sisters’ congregation he had helped establish.Throughout his life he had a reputation for being a mystic and healer. Many people came to him for prayer and support. He died in 1822.
He was beatified in Rome on October 25, 1998, and canonized in 2007.