Who is the patron saint of lost things?
The patron saint of lost things is St. Anthony of Padua. He was born Fernando Martins de Bulhões in Lisbon, Portugal, around 1195. As a young man he joined the Augustinian Canons and was ordained a priest. In 1220, moved by the witness of the first Franciscan friars martyred in Morocco, he left the Augustinians and entered the new Order of Friars Minor, taking the name Anthony.
He became one of the most powerful preachers and biblical teachers of his age, laboring across Italy and France. He died near Padua on 13 June 1231, at about 35 years old. Pope Gregory IX canonized him on 30 May 1232 — less than a year after his death, one of the swiftest canonizations in the Church's history. In 1946, Pope Pius XII named him a Doctor of the Church, giving him the title Doctor Evangelicus, the “Evangelical Doctor.” His feast day is June 13.
Why is St. Anthony invoked for lost things? The stolen psalter
The patronage comes from an incident in Anthony's own life. He owned a book of psalms (a psalter) filled with his personal notes and comments — a tool he used to teach the friars studying under him. According to the traditional account, a novice who had decided to leave the community took the book with him when he departed.
Realizing it was gone, Anthony prayed that the psalter would be returned. The novice, the story goes, was so shaken — some tellings describe a frightening apparition or storm he understood as a warning — that he brought the book back and returned to the Order, which received him again. Because a heartfelt prayer restored both a lost object and a lost man, the faithful began asking Anthony's help in recovering lost or stolen things after his death. From the start, then, his patronage covered far more than car keys: it reached lost souls, too.
The prayer: “St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please come around”
The most familiar appeal is a short folk rhyme, prayed the moment something goes missing:
“St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please come around. Something is lost and cannot be found.”
A fuller, traditional form begins: “St. Anthony, perfect imitator of Jesus, who received from God the special power of restoring lost things, grant that I may find [name the item] which has been lost.” You can pray the complete version on our prayer to St. Anthony page.
A word of caution that keeps the devotion healthy: the rhyme is an act of trust, not a magic spell. We are not commanding a force; we are asking a brother in heaven to pray with us to God. Scripture itself grounds this confidence — “The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects” (James 5:16). Browse more devotions in our prayer library.
Is asking a saint for help against the Bible? What the Church teaches
A fair question, and one worth answering plainly out of charity to every reader. Catholics believe there is one Savior and one mediator — “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Asking St. Anthony to pray for us takes nothing from Christ; it depends entirely on Him.
The saints in heaven are not distant or asleep. Scripture pictures them offering “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints” (Revelation 5:8), and calls them a “cloud of witnesses” surrounding us (Hebrews 12:1). The Catechism teaches that those in heaven “do not cease to intercede with the Father for us… through the one mediator… Christ Jesus” (CCC 956), and that “we can and should ask them to intercede for us and for the whole world” (CCC 2683). We honor the saints; we worship God alone (CCC 957).
Patron of lost people, not just lost things
St. Anthony's deepest patronage is not over misplaced objects but over lost people. Jesus told two parables about exactly this: the shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to find the one that strayed, and the woman who loses a single coin and will not rest until it is recovered — “she lights a lamp and sweeps the house and seeks diligently until she finds it” (Luke 15:8–9). Heaven, Jesus says, rejoices over one sinner who comes home.
That is why Anthony is invoked for those who have drifted from the faith — a spouse who stopped believing, a child who left the Church, or our own soul when it feels far from God. If you are the one who has been away, the way back is gentler than you fear. Our guide to going to Confession after years away walks through it step by step. What was lost can be found.
When the lostness is deeper: mental and spiritual struggle
Sometimes the thing that feels lost is peace itself — a mind that won't quiet, grief that won't lift, anxiety that steals sleep. The Church honors another companion for those seasons: St. Dymphna, traditionally invoked as the patron of those suffering mental illness and emotional distress. You can pray with her on our prayer to St. Dymphna page, or turn to our Catholic prayer for anxiety.
One honest word: devotion to any saint is never a substitute for professional care. If you are struggling with your mental health, please reach out to a doctor or counselor — and if you are in crisis, contact emergency services or a crisis line right away. The saints accompany good treatment; they do not replace it. God works through skilled hands as surely as through prayer. For a rule of life that keeps a man rooted, the Sanctum app pairs daily prayer with the sacraments that steady the soul.