Opening the list of the most popular saints in June, Saturday is Saint Anthony of Padua, who will later be followed by Saint Louis, Saint John, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, who make up what we might call a goal-scoring front line. He is not the only Anthony in the calendar of saints. In fact, and judging by the number of people who congratulate me every January 17th, Saint Anthony Abbot is very popular, especially in Mallorca. The fact that the Anthony of January is the one with the little pig or the donkeys makes you notice that more than one person particularly enjoys remembering you.
Being called Antoni is an adventure in life. To begin with, there are many who turn you into Toni, and there are even people who write it "Tony", influenced by English. The most curious thing is that for many Spanish speakers, even in Catalonia, Antoni is a name that they find difficult and pronounce it "Anthony", like my friend from Madrid Manolo from the Apm?. The climax comes with the famous: "Tell me your name so I know who to address." You say "Antoni" and they immediately reply "Well, Antonio...". When you interrupt them and point out that no, it's "Antoni", they don't understand anything: "Anthony??" "No, Anthony, no, Antoni, like Antonio but without the o at the end". Short circuit.
To be honest, at first I wasn't called Antoni but Antòniu, from the famous lineage of the Franciscus, the Carlus and the Assunssions. So when the law allowed it, and since I was still a minor, my father took me to the Civil Registry to have the translation done into Catalan.
Perhaps soon all this will be an old story. According to Idescat, only 28 children born between 2020 and 2023 were named Antoni. Of course, we will always have Gaudí, who perhaps when he is canonized will create a new generation of Antonis. After what we have seen this week, he is the only one who can perform the miracle.
