Everything about Anthony The Great totally explained
Saint Anthony the Great (c
251–
356), also known as
Anthony the Abbot,
Anthony of Egypt,
Anthony of the Desert,
Anthony the Anchorite,
Abba Antonius, and
Father of All Monks, was an
Egyptian Christian saint and the prominent leader among the
Desert Fathers. Anthony lived in
Alexandria for much of his life. He is celebrated in many churches on his
Feast Days:
January 17 in the
Eastern Orthodox Church, Western church, and the
Month of Tobi 22, (
January 30) in the
Coptic Orthodox Church and the
Coptic Catholic Church, which are historically associated with Saint Anthony.
Anthony is appealed to against infectious diseases, in particular
herpes zoster, hence
shingles are known as "Anthony's fire" in
Italy and
Malta. The biography of Anthony's life by
Athanasius of Alexandria helped to spread the concept of monasticism, particularly in Western Europe through
Latin translations.
Life
Most of what is known about the life of St Anthony comes from the
Life of Anthony, written in Greek around 360 by Athanasius of Alexandria. Sometime before 374, it was translated into Latin by Evagrius of Antioch. The Latin translation helped the
Life become one of the best known works of literature in the Christian world, a status it would hold through the
Middle Ages. In addition to the
Life, several surviving homilies and epistles of varying authenticity provide some additional autobiographical detail.
Anthony was born in Coma near
Herakleopolis Magna in
Lower Egypt in 251 to wealthy landowner parents. When he was about 18 years old, his parents died and left him with the care of his unmarried sister. In 285, at the age of 34, he decided to follow the words of
Jesus, who had said: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you've and give to the poor, and you'll have treasures in heaven; and come, follow Me." Taking these words quite literally, Anthony gave away some of the family estate to his neighbours, sold the remaining property, donated the funds thus raised to the poor, placed his sister with a group of
Christian virgins, a sort of proto-nunnery at the time, and himself became the disciple of a local hermit.
The appellation "Father of
Monasticism" is misleading, as Christian
monasticism was already being practiced in the deserts of
Egypt.
Ascetics commonly retired to isolated locations on the outskirts of cities. Anthony is notable for being one of the first ascetics to attempt living in the desert proper, completely cut off from civilization. His anchoritic lifestyle was remarkably harsher than his predecessors. By the 2nd century there were also famous Christian ascetics, such as
Saint Thecla. Saint Anthony decided to follow this tradition and headed out into the alkaline desert region called the
Nitra in Latin (
Wadi El Natrun today), about 95 km west of Alexandria, some of the most rugged terrain of the
Western Desert. Here he remained for some thirteen years.
According to Athanasius, the devil fought St Anthony by afflicting him with boredom, laziness, and the phantoms of women, which he overcame by the power of prayer, providing a theme for
Christian art. After that, he moved to a tomb, where he resided and closed the door on himself, depending on some local villagers who brought him food. When the devil perceived his ascetic life and his intense worship, he was envious and beat him mercilessly, leaving him unconscious. When his friends from the local village came to visit him and found him in this condition, they carried him to a church.
After he recovered, he made a second effort and went back to the desert, further out, to a mountain by the
Nile, called
Pispir, now
Der el Memun, opposite
Crocodilopolis. There he lived strictly enclosed in an old abandoned
Roman fort for some twenty years.
Coptic literature
Examples of purely
Coptic literature are the works of Saint Anthony and Saint
Pachomius, who only spoke Coptic, and the sermons and preachings of
Saint Shenouda the Archmandrite, who chose to only write in Coptic. Saint Shenouda was a popular leader who only spoke to the Egyptians in
Egyptian language (
Coptic language), the language of the repressed, not in Greek, the language of the repressive ruler.
The earliest original writings in
Coptic language were the letters by Saint Anthony. During the 3rd and 4th centuries many ecclesiastics and monks wrote in Coptic.
Prayer
Father, you called Saint Anthony to renounce the world and serve you in the solitude of the desert. By his prayers and example, may we learn to deny ourselves and love you above all things.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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