SAG wooden/rubber stamp. Hand made by us!

Saint Anthony Guide, wooden handled rubber stamps. Hand made by us! They come with a Hession bag with S.A.G. printed on the front for safe keeping. My husband made the stamps from wood he salvaged from old fence posts at the Carmelite monastery in Mathoura, Australia. (https://carmeljmj.org.au/) 

Traditionally Catholics write S.A.G. on their letters to ensure their safe arrival at their destination, with help from saint Anthony (patron saint of lost items). I made a stamp for myself when I began my little business and since then I have been asked to make them available in my shop. It has been one of those simple projects that Lachie and I could never quite get finished, but thankfully we have now. 

Here is how the Saint Anthony Guide tradition began:

The writing of “S.A.G.” (Saint Anthony Guide) on envelopes has its roots in a miracle. St. Anthony is well known as the Franciscan Friar who finds lost articles, but this is not the reason for the pious custom of giving him charge of our mail. In the early eighteenth century, a certain merchant sailed from Spain to Peru. His wife wrote him several letters, but never received a reply. At length, being at the end of her material sustenance and without hearing from her husband, she invoked the aid of Saint Anthony with childlike confidence. In the Franciscan church in Oviedo, she placed another letter to her husband into the hand of a large statue of the saint, begging him to have it safely delivered. 

She later returned to the church, and seeing the paper still in the statue’s hand, she began complaining to St. Anthony for not living up to her confidence. A priest, hearing her cries, came to see what the problem was. Upon hearing the story, he asked her to get the letter, for the statue would not give it to him! The woman reached up for the letter, and not only could she take it easily, but several gold pieces fell to the floor. To her joy, the letter was not hers, but an entirely different letter from her husband, who expressed concern about not hearing from her sooner. He also related that a Franciscan father had brought his wife’s letter and had promised to deliver the reply. The letter may still be seen at Oviedo and is dated Lima, July 23, 1729.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for supporting our Australian, Catholic small business. Please note that if ordering from overseas my orders could take 3-6 weeks to arrive. Occasionally some arrive within 10 days! Express shipping can be arranged if need. Please order early if you need your items to arrive in time for a special date!