Saint Anthony’s Sign of the Cross

Saint Anthony’s Sign of the Cross

Before he was widely known across Christendom as Saint Anthony of Padua, Fernando Martins was a young boy studying at the Lisbon Cathedral school. Legend has it that the local lad was tempted by the devil in the cathedral, but resisted and repelled his lures by making the sign of the cross. Visitors to the church can now see Martins’ sign on the wall, covered by a decorative grille, on the way up the stairs to the treasury. The presence of the m…