Most people meet St. Anthony over something small — the keys, the wallet, the ring that was on the dresser a minute ago. The Church has never been embarrassed by that, because small lost things have a way of standing in for larger ones: the son who will not call back, the faith that went quiet years ago, the hope that slipped away without anyone noticing the day it left. St. Anthony of Padua is the patron of lost things in every size, and this novena is for all of them.
A novena is nine days of sustained prayer for one intention — a rhythm as old as the nine days the apostles spent praying between the Ascension and Pentecost. It is not a formula that obligates God, and it does not require eloquence. It asks only that you keep showing up, which is also how most things get found.
Below is the complete novena: the traditional Unfailing Prayer, a short reflection and prayer for each day, and honest answers to common questions. The traditional dates run June 4–12, ending the eve of his feast — but a novena to St. Anthony can be started any day of the year, including the day something goes missing.
How to pray this novena
Each day for nine days: pray the opening prayer — the traditional Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony — naming your intention where it invites you to, then read the day’s reflection and pray the day’s prayer, and finish with the closing prayer. An Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be at the end is a common and worthy custom.
If you miss a day, pick up where you left off — do not start over, and do not worry. A novena is a devotion, not a contract. St. Anthony, of all saints, understands that things get misplaced, including days.
Opening prayer — pray each day
O holy St. Anthony, gentlest of saints, your love for God and charity for His creatures made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were ever ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore you to obtain for me (mention your request). The answer to my prayer may require a miracle; even so, you are the saint of miracles. O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the sweet Infant Jesus, who loved to be folded in your arms, and the gratitude of my heart will ever be yours. Amen.
The nine days
Day 1 — The lost object
Begin with the small ask, if that is what brought you here — the keys, the document, the heirloom. There is no petition too little for a member of your family, and the saints are family (CCC 956). God, who counts the hairs on your head, does not find your lost ring beneath His attention.
St. Anthony, finder of lost things, present my small need to God without embarrassment, and teach me that nothing carried to Him in trust is trivial. Amen.
Day 2 — The lost person
The tradition behind this devotion was never really about a book. A novice took Anthony’s psalter and, after Anthony’s prayer, came back — returning the book, and himself. From the beginning, the deeper search has been for people: the estranged sibling, the child who drifted, the friend who stopped answering. Name yours today.
St. Anthony, who prayed a wandering brother home, intercede for the person I am missing, that God may guard them wherever they are and open a way back between us. Amen.
Day 3 — Lost faith
Some losses are interior. Faith can go missing the way an object does — not thrown away, just set down somewhere during a hard year and never picked back up. If that is your loss, or a loved one’s, this is the day to say so plainly. Anthony spent his life restoring people to what they had misplaced.
St. Anthony, Evangelical Doctor, ask God to rekindle faith where it has gone quiet — in me, and in those I love — and to let none of us stay lost. Amen.
Day 4 — The poor: St. Anthony’s Bread
The oldest answer to “What do I give St. Anthony?” is: nothing to him — something to the poor. St. Anthony’s Bread is the centuries-old custom of giving alms in thanksgiving for his intercession. Gratitude, in this devotion, is expressed as charity. Decide today what your thanksgiving will feed.
St. Anthony, friend of the poor, pray for all who are hungry today, and let my gratitude for God’s help become bread on someone else’s table. Amen.
Day 5 — Speaking truth kindly
Anthony was the most sought-after preacher of his century, yet his method was not the hammer but clarity — he won people by making the Gospel more beautiful than the alternative. Most of us have a conversation we are avoiding or a truth we keep delivering badly. Ask his help with it today.
St. Anthony, preacher of the Word, obtain for me the grace to speak the truth with charity — the right words, at the right time, in the right spirit. Amen.
Day 6 — The Word made close
Sacred art almost always shows Anthony holding the child Jesus — a tradition that he was once seen adoring the Christ Child in his arms. Whatever the historical details, the image teaches something true: the Word of God is not an abstraction to be mastered but a Person to be held close. Spend a few minutes with Scripture today.
St. Anthony, who held the Word made flesh, pray that Christ may be as near and as dear to me as He was to you. Amen.
Day 7 — Patience in searching
Day seven is where a novena starts to feel long — which is exactly the terrain of searching. Most finding is not a flash of light but a faithful retracing of steps. Jesus praised the woman who swept the whole house for one coin (Luke 15:8–10). Keep sweeping.
St. Anthony, patron of patient searchers, obtain for me perseverance — in this novena, in this intention, and in every search God has given me. Amen.
Day 8 — Finding what God wants found
Be honest today about a harder possibility: sometimes the thing we are hunting is not the thing God most wants to restore to us. Anthony arrived in Italy because a storm blew his ship off course — the patron of finding was himself, by every human measure, lost. Ask to find what God wants found, even if it surprises you.
St. Anthony, led by God through what looked like being lost, ask Him to grant my petition — and beyond it, to restore whatever He knows I have lost without noticing. Amen.
Day 9 — Gratitude and giving back
End the novena the way the devotion has always ended: with thanksgiving that circulates. Favor received, bread given, the loop closed on someone else’s need. Thank God today — for the answer if it has come, for His faithfulness if it has not yet — and keep the promise you made on day four.
St. Anthony, wonder-worker and servant of God, I entrust my intention finally to Him, I thank Him for hearing me, and I ask the grace to turn every favor I receive into generosity. Amen.
Closing prayer — pray each day
May the votive commemoration of blessed Anthony, Thy Confessor, be a source of joy to Thy Church, O God; that she may ever be defended by Thy spiritual help, and merit to attain everlasting joys. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Common Questions
When does the St. Anthony novena start in 2026?
The traditional dates run June 4 through June 12, finishing the day before his feast on June 13. But any nine consecutive days work — many people begin the day something, or someone, goes missing. The traditional window is a beloved custom, not a rule.
What are the Thirteen Tuesdays of St. Anthony?
A beloved longer devotion: thirteen consecutive Tuesdays of prayer in his honor — Tuesday for the day he was buried in 1231, when the miracles at his tomb began, and thirteen for the June 13 of his death. It sits alongside the novena, not in competition with it; the novena is nine days, the Tuesdays are thirteen weeks, and both may be prayed any time of year.
Can I pray this novena for a lost object, or is that too trivial?
Pray it for the object. The Church has never been embarrassed that people come to St. Anthony for keys and wallets, because asking a saint for small help is family behavior, not superstition. Catholics believe the saints intercede for us with God (CCC 956), and no genuine need is beneath that.
What if the lost thing is never found?
Then the novena was still heard. Prayer to St. Anthony is a request for God’s help, not a mechanism that guarantees an outcome — and the devotion’s own history points past objects to deeper recoveries: peace, trust, people. Many who prayed for a thing report finding something else they had lost without noticing.
What is St. Anthony’s Bread?
The centuries-old tradition of giving alms — especially food or funds for the hungry — in thanksgiving for favors received through St. Anthony’s intercession. Many parishes and Franciscan shrines keep a St. Anthony’s Bread fund. It is the traditional way to say thank you: nothing to him, something to the poor.
What happens if I miss a day?
Pick up where you left off and continue. Missing a day does not invalidate anything — a novena is a devotion of love, not a legal formula. And St. Anthony, of all saints, understands that things get misplaced — including days.
Meet the saint
Who was St. Anthony of Padua? Read the life behind the devotion →
Sources & Church Teaching
- The Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony (traditional public-domain devotional text)
- Collect for June 13, traditional Roman Missal (public-domain translation)
- Catechism of the Catholic Church 956 (the intercession of the saints), 2634–2636 (prayer of intercession)
- Tradition of the recovered psalter and the Thirteen Tuesdays devotion (Franciscan sources); Julian of Speyer, Si quaeris miracula (13th c.)
- Luke 15:8–10 (the woman searching for the lost coin)