In mid-2018, when I was 14 weeks pregnant with our second child, I woke up one morning to a gush of blood. I was home alone with our 2-year-old and at first couldn’t contact my husband because he was at work.

It was the scariest moment of my life. The only prayer I could muster in that moment was, “St. Joseph, St. Anthony, please don’t let me lose my baby.”

I remember uttering, while seeking the intercession of St. Anthony: “If you save my baby, I will name him or her after you.”

My friend, who had experienced a miscarriage of her own, came over and watched our daughter while I drove myself to the hospital, sobbing the entire time.

I sat in the waiting room, sobbing the entire time.

I waited for the ultrasound, sobbing the entire time.

And then, during the ultrasound — they found the heartbeat!

I remember the doctor, who wasn’t my OB-GYN, somberly telling me, “I’m not going to tell you it’s going to be okay, because it might not be.”

Thanks, Doc.

From there, we didn’t stop praying. We learned we were having a boy and prayed for him by name: Anthony.

“St. Anthony, protect our Anthony. St. Anthony, don’t let us lose our Anthony.”

And the prayers were answered. Shortly after Christmas, our precious Anthony David was born, healthy, cuddly and safe.

Now, my sweet boy is 6 years old and full of life. He is charming, comical and heroically kind. He loves hiking with Dad, building blocks and wooden trains, and writing “I love you Mom” notes to me almost every day.

He also is thinking ahead to his vocation: He wants to be a dad and grandpa, or a priest who constructs his own church. I can’t wait to see the man he grows up to be!

But did St. Anthony save my son? Only heaven knows.

What I do know is that, in a moment of crisis, my friends were there for me — on earth and in heaven. My earthly friend who rushed to my apartment that morning became Anthony’s godmother. And my heavenly friend St. Anthony of Padua came through with a gentle assurance that, no matter the outcome, everything was in God’s hands. No matter what happened, my sweet child would never be lost.

Let’s celebrate St. Anthony of Padua’s intercession year-round and remember that he’s good for far more than just helping you find your keys or wallet.

He’s known as the “Hammer of Heretics” because his preaching stunned and converted many heretics and nonbelievers.

He proved the mighty power of God through seemingly impossible feats, like commanding a heretic’s mule to prostrate itself before the Blessed Sacrament; giving a sermon to an attentive school of fish after being mocked by nearby townsmen; and miraculously reattaching a man’s severed foot.

And when it came to safeguarding the life of my unborn son, I have no doubt he could have been responsible: Through his intercession, on two known occasions, drowned children were miraculously revived; a boy who died after falling into a pot of boiling water was brought back to life through St. Anthony’s intercession, too; and when the saint’s own father was on trial for a murder he did not commit, St. Anthony summoned the witness of the corpse, who rose from the dead long enough to exonerate Anthony’s father, receive absolution from Anthony, and then return to the grave.

Surely, no one under the protection of St. Anthony will be lost.

Consider praying to St. Anthony for a wayward soul. My husband and I composed this prayer for our book, The Prayer Book for Tired Parents:

O Holy Saint Anthony,

Hammer of Heretics, miracle-worker, and Doctor of the Church,

You humbly gave your life in service of Christ,

Preaching the truth in charity at a time when heresy persisted.

Saint Anthony, patron of lost souls, I ask you to keep in mind a particular lost soul, Name, Who I fear is in danger of eternal punishment. O devotee of the Child Jesus, Bring my prayer before Our Lord, That Name might be protected from harm And reconciled with our merciful Father, Amen.

St. Anthony of Padua, pray for us!