Saint Anthony the Great
Feast Day January 17th
Historical Overview [1]
Saint Anthony the Great was a Christian monk from Egypt, revered since his death as a saint. He is distinguished by various epithets: Anthony of Egypt, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Anthony the Hermit, and Anthony of Thebes. He is also known as the Father of All Monks.
The Feast of St. Anthony the Great is celebrated on January 17th. Anthony lived in Egypt where at the time Christianity was flourishing. Although there are other sources, we primarily learn about St. Anthony from an account given by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. This biography of Anthony's life served as an inspiration to Christian monastics and helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism throughout the East and later in Western Europe via its Latin translations.
The Feast of St. Anthony the Great is celebrated on January 17th. Anthony lived in Egypt where at the time Christianity was flourishing. Although there are other sources, we primarily learn about St. Anthony from an account given by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. This biography of Anthony's life served as an inspiration to Christian monastics and helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism throughout the East and later in Western Europe via its Latin translations.
Early Life
Anthony was born around 251AD at Coma, near Heracleopolis Magna in Fayum, approximately 15 km west of the modern city of Beni Suef, in the Beni Suef Governorate of Egypt. He was an illiterate, the son of well-to-do parents, and upon their passing, in his twentieth year, he inherited their possessions.
Athanasius writes:
“Now it was not six months after the death of his parents, and going according to custom into the Lord's House, he communed with himself and reflected as he walked how the Apostles (Matt 4:20) left all and followed the Savior; and how they in the Acts (Acts 4:35) sold their possessions and brought and laid them at the Apostles' feet for distribution to the needy, and what and how great a hope was laid up for them in heaven. Pondering over these things he entered the church, and it happened the Gospel was being read, and he heard the Lord saying to the rich man (Matt 19:21), ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ Antony, as though God had put him in mind of the Saints, and the passage had been read on his account, went out immediately from the church, and gave the possessions of his forefathers to the villagers … that they should be no more a clog upon himself and his sister. And all the rest that was movable he sold, and having got together much money he gave it to the poor, reserving a little however for his sister's sake.”
He then left to live an ascetic life, placing his sister into a convent to be brought up with known and faithful virgins.
Athanasius writes:
“Now it was not six months after the death of his parents, and going according to custom into the Lord's House, he communed with himself and reflected as he walked how the Apostles (Matt 4:20) left all and followed the Savior; and how they in the Acts (Acts 4:35) sold their possessions and brought and laid them at the Apostles' feet for distribution to the needy, and what and how great a hope was laid up for them in heaven. Pondering over these things he entered the church, and it happened the Gospel was being read, and he heard the Lord saying to the rich man (Matt 19:21), ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ Antony, as though God had put him in mind of the Saints, and the passage had been read on his account, went out immediately from the church, and gave the possessions of his forefathers to the villagers … that they should be no more a clog upon himself and his sister. And all the rest that was movable he sold, and having got together much money he gave it to the poor, reserving a little however for his sister's sake.”
He then left to live an ascetic life, placing his sister into a convent to be brought up with known and faithful virgins.
Father of Christian Monasticism
Long before this it had been usual for Christians to practice asceticism, abstain from marriage and exercise themselves in self-denial, fasting, prayer, and works of piety, but this they had done in the midst of their families, and without leaving house or home. Later on, in Egypt, such ascetics lived in huts, in the outskirts of the towns and villages, and this was the common practice about 270, when Anthony withdrew from the world. He began practicing the ascetical life in this fashion without leaving his native place. He used to visit the various ascetics, study their lives, and try to learn from each of them the virtue in which he seemed to excel.
Then he took up his abode in one of the tombs near his native village, and there it was that Athanasius' Life records strange conflicts with demons in the shape of wild beasts who inflicted blows upon him and sometimes left him nearly dead. According to Athanasius, the devil fought Anthony by afflicting him with boredom, laziness, and the phantoms of women, which he overcame by the power of prayer.
After fifteen years of this life, at the age of thirty-five, Anthony determined to withdraw from the habitations of men and retire in absolute solitude. He crossed the Nile, and on a mountain near the east bank, then called Pispir, now Deir el Memum, across from Faiyum, he found an old fort into which he shut himself and lived there for twenty years without seeing the face of man, food being thrown to him over the wall. There, with time, a colony of ascetics was formed who begged Anthony to come forth and be their guide in the spiritual life. At length, about the year 305, he yielded to their importunities. |
For five or six years he devoted himself to the instruction and organization of the great body of monks that had grown up around him; but then he once again withdrew into the inner desert that lay between the Nile and the Red Sea, near the shore of which he fixed his abode on a mountain where still stands the monastery that bears his name, Deir Mar Antonios, the Monastery of St. Anthony. Here he spent the last forty-five years of his life, in a seclusion, not so strict as Pispir, for he freely saw those who came to visit him.
He died at the age of a hundred and five, and St. Jerome places his death in 356-357. At his own request his grave was kept secret by the two disciples who buried him, lest his body should become an object of reverence.
He died at the age of a hundred and five, and St. Jerome places his death in 356-357. At his own request his grave was kept secret by the two disciples who buried him, lest his body should become an object of reverence.
His Last Will
Athanasius writes:
“…and having bidden farewell to the monks in the outer mountain entered the inner mountain, where he was accustomed to abide. And after a few months he fell sick. Having summoned those who were there — they were two in number who had remained in the mountain fifteen years, practicing the discipline and attending on Antony on account of his age — he said to them, 'I, as it is written Joshua 23:14, go the way of the fathers, for I perceive that I am called by the Lord. And do you be watchful and destroy not your long discipline, but as though now making a beginning, zealously preserve your determination. For you know the treachery of the demons, how fierce they are, but how little power they have. Wherefore fear them not, but rather ever breathe Christ, and trust Him … Therefore, be the more earnest always to be followers first of God and then of the Saints; that after death they also may receive you as well-known friends into the eternal habitations. Ponder over these things and think of them, and if you have any care for me and are mindful of me as of a father, suffer no one to take my body into Egypt, lest haply they place me in the houses, for to avoid this I entered into the mountain and came here. Moreover, you know how I always put to rebuke those who had this custom, and exhorted them to cease from it. Bury my body, therefore, and hide it underground yourselves, and let my words be observed by you that no one may know the place but you alone. For at the resurrection of the dead I shall receive it incorruptible from the Savior…”
“…and having bidden farewell to the monks in the outer mountain entered the inner mountain, where he was accustomed to abide. And after a few months he fell sick. Having summoned those who were there — they were two in number who had remained in the mountain fifteen years, practicing the discipline and attending on Antony on account of his age — he said to them, 'I, as it is written Joshua 23:14, go the way of the fathers, for I perceive that I am called by the Lord. And do you be watchful and destroy not your long discipline, but as though now making a beginning, zealously preserve your determination. For you know the treachery of the demons, how fierce they are, but how little power they have. Wherefore fear them not, but rather ever breathe Christ, and trust Him … Therefore, be the more earnest always to be followers first of God and then of the Saints; that after death they also may receive you as well-known friends into the eternal habitations. Ponder over these things and think of them, and if you have any care for me and are mindful of me as of a father, suffer no one to take my body into Egypt, lest haply they place me in the houses, for to avoid this I entered into the mountain and came here. Moreover, you know how I always put to rebuke those who had this custom, and exhorted them to cease from it. Bury my body, therefore, and hide it underground yourselves, and let my words be observed by you that no one may know the place but you alone. For at the resurrection of the dead I shall receive it incorruptible from the Savior…”
“And they afterward, according to his commandment, wrapped him up and buried him, hiding his body underground. And no one knows to this day where it was buried, save those two only.”
Athanasius ends Anthony’s biography with these valuable words:
“Even if this account is small compared with his merit, still from this reflect how great Antony, the man of God, was…And the fact that his fame has been blazoned everywhere; that all regard him with wonder, and that those who have never seen him long for him, is clear proof of his virtue and God's love of his soul. For not from writings, nor from worldly wisdom, nor through any art, was Antony renowned, but solely from his piety towards God. That this was the gift of God no one will deny. For from whence into Spain and into Gaul, how into Rome and Africa, was the man heard of who abode hidden in a mountain, unless it was God who makes His own known everywhere, who also promised this to Antony at the beginning? For even if they work secretly, even if they wish to remain in obscurity, yet the Lord shows them as lamps to lighten all, that those who hear may thus know that the precepts of God are able to make men prosper and thus be zealous in the path of virtue.”
“Even if this account is small compared with his merit, still from this reflect how great Antony, the man of God, was…And the fact that his fame has been blazoned everywhere; that all regard him with wonder, and that those who have never seen him long for him, is clear proof of his virtue and God's love of his soul. For not from writings, nor from worldly wisdom, nor through any art, was Antony renowned, but solely from his piety towards God. That this was the gift of God no one will deny. For from whence into Spain and into Gaul, how into Rome and Africa, was the man heard of who abode hidden in a mountain, unless it was God who makes His own known everywhere, who also promised this to Antony at the beginning? For even if they work secretly, even if they wish to remain in obscurity, yet the Lord shows them as lamps to lighten all, that those who hear may thus know that the precepts of God are able to make men prosper and thus be zealous in the path of virtue.”
St. Anthony probably was not the first Christian hermit. Yet it is abundantly evident that from the middle of the fourth century throughout Egypt, as elsewhere, St. Anthony was looked upon as the founder and father of Christian monasticism. He is justly recognized as the father not only of monasticism, strictly so called, but of the technical religious life in every shape and form. Few names have exercised a deeper and more enduring, widespread, or beneficial influence on the human race.
Quotes
“The fruits of the earth are not brought to perfection immediately, but by time, rain and care; similarly, the fruits of men ripen through ascetic practice, study, time, perseverance, self-control and patience.”
“Whoever hammers a lump of iron, first decides what he is going to make of it, a scythe, a sword, or an axe. Even so we ought to make up our minds what kind of virtue we want to forge or we labor in vain.”
“Just as fish die if they stay too long out of water, so the monks who loiter outside their cells or pass their time with men of the world lose the intensity of inner peace. So like a fish going towards the sea, we must hurry to reach our cell, for fear that if we delay outside, we will lose our interior watchfulness.”
“If we would despise the enemy, our thoughts must always be of God and our souls always glad with hope.”
“I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility.”
“Beware of hesitation and lethargy in doing good, and be cautious of false glory. For indeed, all that we do does not compare to the glory of heaven... Let us strive towards what aligns our steps towards heaven, looking neither to the right nor the left. Let us hasten, staying vigilant, looking forward in our striving, so that we do not miss justice or courage, nor conviction or wisdom. Let us cling to faith, hope, and love. Let us march with a triumphant spirit against anger, envy, desire, and anything that hinders us in the path of our struggle, acting in accordance with the words of the Apostle: ‘For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.’ (Romans 8:36).”
“Whoever hammers a lump of iron, first decides what he is going to make of it, a scythe, a sword, or an axe. Even so we ought to make up our minds what kind of virtue we want to forge or we labor in vain.”
“Just as fish die if they stay too long out of water, so the monks who loiter outside their cells or pass their time with men of the world lose the intensity of inner peace. So like a fish going towards the sea, we must hurry to reach our cell, for fear that if we delay outside, we will lose our interior watchfulness.”
“If we would despise the enemy, our thoughts must always be of God and our souls always glad with hope.”
“I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility.”
“Beware of hesitation and lethargy in doing good, and be cautious of false glory. For indeed, all that we do does not compare to the glory of heaven... Let us strive towards what aligns our steps towards heaven, looking neither to the right nor the left. Let us hasten, staying vigilant, looking forward in our striving, so that we do not miss justice or courage, nor conviction or wisdom. Let us cling to faith, hope, and love. Let us march with a triumphant spirit against anger, envy, desire, and anything that hinders us in the path of our struggle, acting in accordance with the words of the Apostle: ‘For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered.’ (Romans 8:36).”