Tantony is a shorted form of the name of St. Anthony the Abbot, a prominent figure among the

Desert Fathers The Desert Fathers or Desert Monks were early Christian hermits and ascetics, who lived primarily in the Scetes desert of the Roman province of Egypt , conventional_long_name = Roman Egypt , common_name = Egypt , subdivision = Province , na ...

. It is used in reference to the attributes by which the saint is represented. These primarily are the ''Tantony Pouch'', ''Tantony Bell'' (a small church bell), ''Tantony Pig'' (the smallest pig of the litter). Anthony became the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

swineherd A swineherd is a person who raises and herds pigs as livestock. Swineherds in literature * In the New Testament are mentioned shepherd of pigs, mentioned in the Pig (Gadarene) the story shows Jesus exorcising a demon or demons from a man and a ...

s, due to the reported relationship a pig had with him in keeping him attuned to the hours of the day for his prayers, one of several animals who played a role in his life. Thus he is most frequently represented as accompanied by a pig. In Spain and its former colonies, this Anthony is honored as the patron saint of domestic animals. They would be blessed on his feast day (17 January), as today is done elsewhere for the feast of St.

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

. Large bonfires are still lit on this day in Spain for the feast, with reveling held around it, focusing on the consumption of pork and sausages."Feast of San Antonio Abad" by Lisa & Tony Sierra
Retrieved 23 January 2012

References

Religious symbols Animals in Christianity Saints' days