Saint Anthony the Great is known as the Father of monasticism, and
the long ascetical sermon in The Life of St Anthony by St Athanasius
(Sections 16-34), could be called the first monastic Rule.
He was
born in Egypt in the village of Coma, near the desert of the Thebaid,
in the year 251. His parents were pious Christians of illustrious
lineage. Anthony was a serious child and was respectful and obedient to
his parents. He loved to attend church services, and he listened to the
Holy Scripture so attentively, that he remembered what he heard all his
life.
When St Anthony was about twenty years old, he lost his
parents, but he was responsible for the care of his younger sister.
Going to church about six months later, the youth reflected on how the
faithful,in the Acts of the Apostles (4:35), sold their possessions and
gave the proceeds to the Apostles for the needy.
Then he entered
the church and heard the Gospel passage where Christ speaks to the rich
young man: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give
it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow
Me” (Mt.19:21). Anthony felt that these words applied to him. Therefore,
he sold the property that he received after the death of his parents,
then distributed the money to the poor, and left his sister in the care
of pious virgins in a convent.
Leaving his parental home, St
Anthony began his ascetical life in a hut not far from his village. By
working with his hands, he was able to earn his livelihood and also alms
for the poor. Sometimes, the holy youth also visited other ascetics
living in the area, and from each he sought direction and benefit. He
turned to one particular ascetic for guidance in the spiritual life.
In
this period of his life St Anthony endured terrible temptations from
the devil. The Enemy of the race of man troubled the young ascetic with
thoughts of his former life, doubts about his chosen path, concern for
his sister, and he tempted Anthony with lewd thoughts and carnal
feelings. But the saint extinguished that fire by meditating on Christ
and by thinking of eternal punishment, thereby overcoming the devil.
Realizing
that the devil would undoubtedly attack him in another manner, St
Anthony prayed and intensified his efforts. Anthony prayed that the Lord
would show him the path of salvation. And he was granted a vision. The
ascetic beheld a man, who by turns alternately finished a prayer, and
then began to work. This was an angel, which the Lord had sent to
instruct His chosen one.
St Anthony tried to accustom himself to a
stricter way of life. He partook of food only after sunset, he spent
all night praying until dawn. Soon he slept only every third day. But
the devil would not cease his tricks, and trying to scare the monk, he
appeared under the guise of monstrous phantoms. The saint however
protected himself with the Life-Creating Cross. Finally the Enemy
appeared to him in the guise of a frightful looking black child, and
hypocritically declaring himself beaten, he thought he could tempt the
saint into vanity and pride. The saint, however, vanquished the Enemy
with prayer.
For even greater solitude, St Anthony moved farther
away from the village, into a graveyard. He asked a friend to bring him a
little bread on designated days, then shut himself in a tomb. Then the
devils pounced upon the saint intending to kill him, and inflicted
terrible wounds upon him. By the providence of the Lord, Anthony’s
friend arrived the next day to bring him his food. Seeing him lying on
the ground as if dead, he took him back to the village. They thought the
saint was dead and prepared for his burial. At midnight, St Anthony
regained consciousness and told his friend to carry him back to the
tombs.
St Anthony’s staunchness was greater than the wiles of the
Enemy. Taking the form of ferocious beasts, the devils tried to force
the saint to leave that place, but he defeated them by trusting in the
Lord. Looking up, the saint saw the roof opening, as it were, and a ray
of light coming down toward him. The demons disappeared and he cried
out, “Where have You been, O Merciful Jesus? Why didn’t You appear from
the very beginning to end my pain?”
The Lord replied, “I was
here, Anthony, but wanted to see your struggle. Now, since you have not
yielded, I shall always help you and make your name known throughout all
the world.” After this vision St Anthony was healed of his wounds and
felt stronger than before. He was then thirty-five years of age.
Having
gained spiritual experience in his struggle with the devil, St Anthony
considered going into the Thebaid desert to serve the Lord. He asked the
Elder (to whom he had turned for guidance at the beginning of his
monastic journey) to go into the desert with him. The Elder, while
blessing him in the then as yet unheard of exploit of being a hermit,
decided not to accompany him because of his age.
St Anthony went
into the desert alone. The devil tried to hinder him, by placing a large
silver disc in his path, then gold, but the saint ignored it and passed
by. He found an abandoned fort on the other side of the river and
settled there, barricading the entrance with stones. His faithful friend
brought him bread twice a year, and there was water inside the fort.
St
Anthony spent twenty years in complete isolation and constant struggle
with the demons, and he finally achieved perfect calm. The saint’s
friends removed the stones from the entrance , and they went to St
Anthony and besought him to take them under his guidance. Soon St
Anthony’s cell was surrounded by several monasteries, and the saint
acted as a father and guide to their inhabitants, giving spiritual
instruction to all who came into the desert seeking salvation. He
increased the zeal of those who were already monks, and inspired others
with a love for the ascetical life. He told them to strive to please the
Lord, and not to become faint-hearted in their labors. He also urged
them not to fear demonic assaults, but to repel the Enemy by the power
of the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord.
In the year 311 there was
a fierce persecution against Christians, in the reign of the emperor
Maximian. Wishing to suffer with the holy martyrs, St Anthony left the
desert and went to Alexandria. He openly ministered to those in prison,
he was present at the trial and interrogations of the confessors, and
accompanying the martyrs to the place of execution. It pleased the Lord
to preserve him, however, for the benefit of Christians.
At the
close of the persecution, the saint returned to the desert and continued
his exploits. The Lord granted the saint the gift of wonderworking,
casting out demons and healing the sick by the power of his prayer. The
great crowds of people coming to him disrupted his solitude, and he went
off still farther, into the inner desert where he settled atop a high
elevation. But the brethren of the monasteries sought him out and asked
him to visit their communities.
Another time St Anthony left the
desert and arrived in Alexandria to defend the Orthodox Faith against
the Manichaean and Arian heresies. Knowing that the name of St Anthony
was venerated by all the Church, the Arians said that he adhered to
their heretical teaching. But St Anthony publicly denounced Arianism in
front of everyone and in the presence of the bishop. During his brief
stay at Alexandria, he converted a great multitude of pagans to Christ.
People
from all walks of life loved the saint and sought his advice. Pagan
philosophers once came to Abba Anthony intending to mock him for his
lack of education, but by his words he reduced them to silence. Emperor
Constantine the Great (May 21) and his sons wrote to St Anthony and
asked him for a reply. He praised the emperor for his belief in Christ,
and advised him to remember the future judgment, and to know that Christ
is the true King.
St Anthony spent eighty-five years in the
solitary desert. Shortly before his death, he told the brethren that
soon he would be taken from them. He instructed them to preserve the
Orthodox Faith in its purity, to avoid any association with heretics,
and not to be negligent in their monastic struggles. “Strive to be
united first with the Lord, and then with the saints, so that after
death they may receive you as familiar friends into the everlasting
dwellings.”
The saint instructed two of his disciples, who had
attended him in the final fifteen years of his life, to bury him in the
desert and not in Alexandria. He left one of his monastic mantles to St
Athanasius of Alexandria (January 18), and the other to St Serapion of
Thmuis (March 21). St Anthony died peacefully in the year 356, at age
105, and he was buried in the desert by his disciples.
The Life
of the famed ascetic St Anthony the Great was written by St Athanasius
of Alexandria. This is the first biography of a saint who was not a
martyr, and is considered to be one of the finest of St Athanasius’
writings. St John Chrysostom recommends that this Life be read by every
Christian.
“These things are insignificant compared with
Anthony’s virtues,” writes St Athanasius, “but judge from them what the
man of God Anthony was like. From his youth until his old age, he kept
his zeal for asceticism, he did not give in to the desire for costly
foods because of his age, nor did he alter his clothing because of the
infirmity of his body. He did not even wash his feet with water. He
remained very healthy, and he could see well because his eyes were sound
and undimmed. Not one of his teeth fell out, but near the gums they had
become worn due to his advanced age. He remained strong in his hands
and feet.... He was spoken of everywhere, and was admired by everyone,
and was sought even by those who had not seen him, which is evidence of
his virtue and of a soul dear to God.”
The following works of St Anthony have come down to us:
Twenty Sermons on the virtues, primarily monastic (probably spurious).
Seven Letters to various Egyptian monasteries concerning moral perfection, and the monastic life as a spiritual struggle.
A Rule for monastics (not regarded as an authentic work of St Anthony).
In
the year 544 the relics of St Anthony the Great were transferred to
Alexandria, and after the conquest of Egypt by the Saracens in the
seventh century, they were transferred to Constantinople. The holy
relics were transferred from Constantinople in the tenth-eleventh
centuries to a diocese outside Vienna. In the fifteenth century they
were brought to Arles (in France), to the church of St Julian.
Source- oca.org
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