Also called Tony, Tony, look around, prayer to St. Anthony for lost things, lost item charm
The best-known way to find something lost in the Catholic world is to ask Saint Anthony of Padua for help, often with a short rhyme; other folk traditions add knots, prayers and calm searching rituals.
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
Take care: If what is missing is a wallet, phone or ID, cancel cards and report it right away rather than relying on prayer alone.
Alongside the rhyme, Catholic publishers print a longer prayer that asks Anthony both to restore the lost thing and to give the person peace of mind if it is not found. It frames the request as trust rather than a formula that must work.
People who receive a favor from Saint Anthony give money or bread to the poor in thanks. Many parishes keep a box labeled Saint Anthony's Bread for exactly this purpose.
Folklore collectors record the rhyme passed from grandparents to grandchildren, sometimes said with a set number of Hail Marys. The Church has never made it an official prayer, and families treat it as a homely habit as much as a petition.
Anthony of Padua (1195 to 1231) was a Portuguese-born Franciscan preacher who died near Padua and was canonized within a year. His link to lost things comes from a story told about his life: a novice left the community and took Anthony's book of psalms, a precious handwritten volume, and after Anthony prayed for it the young man returned it. From that episode he became the saint people ask for help when something goes missing.
The short rhyme is much younger and has no known author; collectors record it mainly in the United States in the 20th century. Folk charms for lost objects exist in many traditions, and Catholic Europe also had prayers to Saint Anthony carried on cards and medals. The most useful part of every version is the same: it makes you stop, calm down and search properly.
A farm charm from Johann Georg Hohman's 1820 book: walk your animals three times around a stump or stone with salt so they always come home. Here it is adapted into a home rite for keeping what you have and drawing it back to you.
Two old English answer-finding methods in which a key tied into a Bible, or a sieve balanced on shears, turns or falls when a certain name is spoken, used to name a sweetheart or a thief.
Holding a weight on a thread still over a question, a chart or a map and reading its swing as yes, no or a direction.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
