ver guessed that their new brother, who always chose the meanest jobs,
was a nobleman's son and a famous scholar of one of the greatest
monasteries in Portugal.

For a whole year St. Antony lived like this. Do you think he wished
himself back in the beautiful monastery in Portugal, with his books and
his clever, interesting friends? No; for he loved what was God's Will
for him above all things. People should not pine for the past, nor be
impatient for the future; they should live heart and soul in the
present, because the present is always what has just been provided by
God, and so it is the best possible thing.

But God meant His faithful servant to be made known, and I will tell
you, now, the wonderful way in which He made it happen.

In the town, not far from St. Antony's little friary, there was one day
a meeting of Franciscan and Dominican Friars for an important ceremony.
After the service the Superior asked the Dominicans, who were clever men
and good preachers, to preach a sermon. But they all said they were not
prepared; and so did the Franciscans. So the Superior turned to St.
Antony, who had come as a companion of his Minister, and ordered him to
preach. St. Antony tried to get out of it, but, finding he must obey, he
walked slowly up into the pulpit.

The Friars did not expect much of a sermon. This was only poor Brother
Antony, whose chief job was washing dishes.

St. Antony, ready to _do his best_ for God, did not think of himself a
bit. He just turned over in his mind what would be the best thing to
preach on so as to help his brothers and bring honour and glory to his
God. By the time he was in the pulpit the Holy Spirit had put a text
into his mind. He gave it out in his clear, ringing voice: "For us
Christ became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Then he
began to preach.

The Friars sat up and stared. The young, unknown Friar was pouring forth
a wonderful flood of eloquence, full of the deepest thought, and showing
such learning as none of them possessed. Only a scholar could preach
like that; and only a scholar who was full of the fire of the Holy Ghost
could move the hearts of his hearers as this man did!

The Friars and their Superiors sat spellbound. They quite forgot the
preacher, and were carried away by his words into a greater love of God.
When at last he ceased, and walked quietly down from the pulpit, his
eyes on the ground, deep humility in his heart, his hearers turn