Difference between revisions of "Saint Anthony" - New World Encyclopedia

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! colspan="2" style="background-color:white;font-size:120%"|'''''Saint Anthony'''''
 
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|'''Born'''
 
|'''Born'''
|[[251]], [[Heracleus]], [[Egypt]]
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|251, Heraclea, Egypt
 
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|'''Died'''
 
|'''Died'''
|[[356]], [[Mount Colzim]], [[Egypt]]
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|356, Mount Colzim, Egypt
 
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|'''[[Calendar of saints|Feast]] Day'''
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|'''Feast Day'''
 
|January 17 (Western Calender)
 
|January 17 (Western Calender)
[[Month of Tobi|Tobi]] 22 (Jan. 30) (Eastern/Coptic Calendars)
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Tobi 22 (Jan. 30) (Eastern/Coptic Calendars)
 
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|'''Iconographic Symbols'''
 
|'''Iconographic Symbols'''
|bell; book; crutch; hermit; man with a pig at his side; pig; Saint Anthony's cross (tau-shaped); tau cross with a bell on the end.  
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|bell; book; crutch; hermit; man with a pig at his side; pig; Saint Anthony's cross (tau-shaped) with a bell on the end.  
 
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|'''Areas of [[Patron saint|Patronage]]'''
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|'''Areas of Patronage'''
 
|amputees; animals; basket makers; brushmakers; Burgio, Sicily; butchers; domestic animals; eczema; epilepsy, ergotism; erysipelas; graveyards; hermits; Hospitallers; monks; pigs; relief from pestilence; Saint Anthony's fire; skin diseases; skin rashes; swineherds; lost items
 
|amputees; animals; basket makers; brushmakers; Burgio, Sicily; butchers; domestic animals; eczema; epilepsy, ergotism; erysipelas; graveyards; hermits; Hospitallers; monks; pigs; relief from pestilence; Saint Anthony's fire; skin diseases; skin rashes; swineherds; lost items
 
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Lord God, You gave Saint Anthony the Abbott the grace of serving in the desert in prayer with You. Aided by his intercession, may we practice self-denial and hence always love You above all things. Amen.  
 
Lord God, You gave Saint Anthony the Abbott the grace of serving in the desert in prayer with You. Aided by his intercession, may we practice self-denial and hence always love You above all things. Amen.  
 
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'''Saint Anthony the Great''' ([[251]] - [[356]]), also known as '''Saint Anthony of Egypt''', '''Saint Anthony of the Desert''', '''Saint Anthony the Anchorite''', and '''The Father of All Monks''', was an early [[Christianity|Christian]] ascetic, later [[saint|sanctified]] for his exemplary devotion to the lifestyle and teachings of [[Jesus Christ|Christ]]. He was an unofficial leader and spokesman of the [[Desert Fathers]], a loosely-organized group of Christian hermits who left hearth and home to take up residence in the harsh Eyptian desert as a form of ''imitatio Christi''. Though no surviving texts are unequivocally attributed to him, Anthony's life is recounted in considerable hagiographic detail in Bishop [[Athanasius]]'s ''Vita Antonii'' - the source of many tales of his spirtual strivings and the means by which the remainder of the Christian polity came to know of this retiring Egyptian "monk."<ref>Note: The term "monk" is used in quotation marks because the idea of Christian monasticism was yet inchoate at this early period in the tradition's history. Indeed, Anthony was, in this way, a spiritual innovator who was responsible for the notion of a Christian life entirely dedicated to religious faith and observance. However, it was not until the time of [[Saint Pachomius]] that these ideas became formalized into a tradition proper.</ref>
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'''Saint Anthony the Great''' (251 - 356 <small>C.E.</small>), also known as ''Saint Anthony of Egypt'', ''Saint Anthony of the Desert'', ''Saint Anthony the Anchorite'', and ''The Father of All Monks'', was an early [[Christianity|Christian]] ascetic, later [[saint|sanctified]] for his exemplary devotion to the lifestyle and teachings of [[Jesus of Nazareth|Christ]]. He was an unofficial leader and spokesman of the [[Desert Fathers]], a loosely organized group of Christian hermits who left hearth and home to take up residence in the harsh Eyptian desert as a form of ''imitatio Christi''.
  
His [[feast day]] is celebrated on [[January 17]]th in some churches, but celebrated on [[Month of Tobi|Tobi]] 22 ([[January 30]]) in the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]] and the [[Coptic Catholic Church]] (both of which have the closest cultural and geographical ties to him).  
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Though no surviving texts are unequivocally attributed to him, Anthony's life is recounted in considerable hagiographic detail in Bishop [[Athanasius]]'s ''Vita Antonii'' - the source of many tales of his spirtual strivings and the means by which the remainder of the Christian polity came to know of this retiring Egyptian "monk."<ref>Note: The term "monk" is used in quotation marks because the idea of Christian monasticism was yet inchoate at this early period in the tradition's history. Indeed, Anthony was, in this way, a spiritual innovator who was responsible for the notion of a Christian life entirely dedicated to religious faith and observance. However, it was not until the time of [[Saint Pachomius]] that these ideas became formalized into a tradition proper.</ref>
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His [[feast day]] is celebrated on January 17 in some churches, but celebrated on Tobi 22 (January 30) in the [[Coptic Orthodox Church]] and the [[Coptic Catholic Church]] (both of which have the closest cultural and geographical ties to him).  
  
 
==Life of St. Anthony==
 
==Life of St. Anthony==
 
===Context===
 
===Context===
Though Anthony is often recognized as the "Father of [[Monasticism]]," such a title is somewhat misleading, as [[hermit|eremetic]] (solitary, often desert-dwelling) Christian, Jewish and pagan monasticism was already being practiced throughout the known world. For example, the Hellenized Jewish philosopher [[Philo of Alexandria]] (20 BCE - 40 CE) described such individuals in his ''De vita contemplativa'' (On the Contemplative Life), where he notes that their individual dwellings (and loosely-organized communal organizations) were long established in the harsh environments surrounding [[Lake Mareotis]] (close to [[Alexandria]]) and in other less-accessible regions. His account is notable for addressing both the actualities of their renunciation and also the motivations that could underlie such a difficult spiritual path:
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Though Anthony is often recognized as the "Father of [[Monasticism]]," such a title is somewhat misleading, as eremetic (solitary, often desert-dwelling) Christian, Jewish and pagan forms of monasticism were already being practiced throughout the known world. For example, the Hellenized Jewish philosopher [[Philo Judaeus|Philo of Alexandria]] (20 <small>B.C.E.</small> - 40 <small>C.E.</small>) described such individuals in his ''De vita contemplativa'' (“On the Contemplative Life”), where he notes that their individual dwellings (and loosely-organized communal organizations) were long established in the harsh environments surrounding Lake Mareotis (close to Alexandria) and in other less-accessible regions. His account is notable for addressing both the actualities of their renunciation and also the motivations that could underlie such a difficult spiritual path. The renunciants were praised for their singularity of purpose, as they "always retain an imperishable recollection of God, so that not even in their dreams is any other object ever presented to their eyes except the beauty of the divine virtues and of the divine powers."<ref> From "The Contemplative Life or Suppliants" in ''The Works of Philo'', translated by C. D. Yonge, (London: H. G. Bohn, 1854-1890), sections II (18-20) and III (25-27). Accessed online at: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/yonge/book34.html.</ref>
: When, therefore, men abandon their property without being influenced by any predominant attraction, they flee without even turning their heads back again, deserting their brethren, their children, their wives, their parents, their numerous families, their affectionate bands of companions, their native lands in which they have been born and brought up, though long familiarity is a most attractive bond, and one very well able to allure any one. And they depart, not to another city as those do who entreat to be purchased from those who at present possess them, being either unfortunate or else worthless servants, and as such seeking a change of masters rather than endeavouring to procure freedom (for every city, even that which is under the happiest laws, is full of indescribable tumults, and disorders, and calamities, which no one would submit to who had been even for a moment under the influence of wisdom), but they take up their abode outside of walls, or gardens, or solitary lands, seeking for a desert place, not because of any ill-natured misanthropy to which they have learnt to devote themselves, but because of the associations with people of wholly dissimilar dispositions to which they would otherwise be compelled, and which they know to be unprofitable and mischievous.
 
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: And in every house there is a sacred shrine which is called the holy place, and the monastery in which they retire by themselves and perform all the mysteries of a holy life, bringing in nothing, neither meat, nor drink, nor anything else which is indispensable towards supplying the necessities of the body, but studying in that place the laws and the sacred oracles of God enunciated by the holy prophets, and hymns, and psalms, and all kinds of other things by reason of which knowledge and piety are increased and brought to perfection. Therefore they always retain an imperishable recollection of God, so that not even in their dreams is any other object ever presented to their eyes except the beauty of the divine virtues and of the divine powers. Therefore many persons speak in their sleep, divulging and publishing the celebrated doctrines of the sacred philosophy. And they are accustomed to pray twice every day, at morning and at evening; when the sun is rising entreating God that the happiness of the coming day may be real happiness, so that their minds may be filled with heavenly light, and when the sun is setting they pray that their soul, being entirely lightened and relieved of the burden of the outward senses, and of the appropriate object of these outward senses, may be able to trace out truth existing in its own consistory and council chamber.<ref> From "The Contemplative Life or Suppliants" in ''The Works of Philo'', translated by C. D. Yonge, (London: H. G. Bohn, 1854-1890), sections II (18-20) and III (25-27). Accessed online at: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/yonge/book34.html.</ref>
 
  
In this way, it is notable that the renunciant path was not an alien mode of spiritual praxis to Anthony, who was raised as an Egyptian Christian. Indeed, E. C. Butler notes that "long before [Anthony's time] it had been usual for Christians to practice asceticism, abstain from marriage and exercising 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."<ref>E. C. Butler, "St. Anthony" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Accessed online at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01553d.htm.</ref> However, Anthony's contribution, as discussed elow, was as an exemplar whose exploits were publicized far beyond the his desert fastness, making this mode of devoted existence known throughout the Christian communion. Also, he was of the first to truly take renunciation to the desert, denying the supports of home and community relied upon by the vast majority of his predecessors.
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Thus, according to Philo's writings, the renunciant path would not have been an alien mode of spiritual praxis to Anthony, who was raised as an Egyptian Christian. Indeed, E. C. Butler notes: <blockquote>Long before [Anthony's time] it had been usual for Christians to practice asceticism, abstain from marriage and exercising 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 in Egypt, such ascetics lived in huts, in the outskirts of the towns and villages, and this was the common practice about 270."<ref>E. C. Butler, "St. Anthony" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Accessed online at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01553d.htm.</ref></blockquote> However, Anthony's contribution, as discussed below, was as an exemplar whose exploits were publicized far beyond his desert region, making his mode of monasticism known throughout the Christian world. He was one of the first to take renunciation to the desert, denying the supports of home and community relied upon by the vast majority of his predecessors.
  
 
===Textual History===
 
===Textual History===
Most of what we know about the life of St Anthony is derived from the Greek ''[[vita]]'' (Life of Antony) by [[Athanasius]] (d. 373), a text that was highly influential throughout the Eastern Christian world. Following its composition, it was soon translated into Latin, which allowed its influence to be extended throughout the Western half of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].  
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Most of what we know about the life of Anthony is derived from the Greek ''vita'' (“Life of Antony”) by [[Athanasius]] (d. 373), a text that was highly influential throughout the Eastern Christian world. Following its composition, it was soon translated into Latin, which allowed its influence to be extended throughout the Western half of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].
  
All further information comes from a limited selection of surviving homilies and epistles, all of which provide some scant autobiographical details. Unfortunately, their attribution to Saint Anthony has been roundly questioned.<ref>Though such difficulties and ambiguities are frustrating for the modern historical scholar, it must be noted that the authors of these [[hagiography|hagiographic]] sources had a far different motives for memorializing their religious "heroes." Often, these accounts were the only means whereby the saint's message/example would ever be known outside of their particular localities. In this way, writing hagiography was both a means of conveying that exemplarity for popular consumption and also of demonstrating their own commitment to the ideals and the person of the sainted individual being thus described. As such, though historical accuracy is sometimes questioned, the spiritual validity and utility of such texts cannot be. See Derek Kruger's "Writing as Devotion: Hagiographical Composition and the Cult of the Saints in Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Cyril of Scythopolis," ''Church History'', Vol. 66 (4), Dec. 1997, 707-719.</ref>
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Other information on his life comes from a limited selection of surviving homilies and epistles. However, their attribution to Saint Anthony has been roundly questioned.<ref>Though such difficulties and ambiguities are frustrating for the modern historical scholar, it must be noted that the authors of these [[hagiography|hagiographic]] sources had a far different motives for memorializing their religious "heroes." Often, these accounts were the only means whereby the saint's message or example would ever be known outside of their particular localities. In this way, writing hagiography was both a means of conveying that exemplarity for popular consumption and also of demonstrating their own commitment to the ideals and the person of the sainted individual being thus described. As such, though historical accuracy is sometimes questioned, the spiritual validity and utility of such texts cannot be. See Derek Kruger, "Writing as Devotion: Hagiographical Composition and the Cult of the Saints in Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Cyril of Scythopolis." ''Church History'' 66: 4 (Dec. 1997): 707-719.</ref>
  
 
===Biography===
 
===Biography===
In the year 251 CE, Anthony was born into an upper class Christian family near [[Heraclea]], in [[Upper Egypt]]. He had an unremarkable childhood and adolescence, which was abruptly shattered in 271 with the death of his parents, who left him with the care of his unmarried sister. Not long after, he was attending a [[mass]] and was transfixed by the Gospel's depiction of the Christian path of renunciation: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come, follow Me." ([[Matthew]] 19:21). Taking these teachings to heart, Anthony decided that he too wanted to embark on this path of devoted practice. So, he gave his wealth to the poor and needy and placed his sister with a group of Christian virgins (a proto-nunnery), freeing himself from personal and financial obligations, which, in turn, allowed him to devote his entire energy to the path of renunciation that had so captivated him.
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In the year 251 <small>C.E.</small>, Anthony was born into an upper class Christian family near Heraclea, in Upper [[Egypt]]. He had an unremarkable childhood and adolescence, which was abruptly shattered in 271 with the death of his parents, who left him with the care of his unmarried sister. He subsequently attended [[mass]] and was transfixed by the Gospel's depiction of the Christian path of renunciation: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Matthew 19:21). Taking these teachings to heart, Anthony decided that he too wanted to embark on this path of devoted practice. So, he gave his wealth to the poor and needy and placed his sister with a group of Christian virgins (a proto-nunnery), freeing himself from personal and financial obligations, which, in turn, allowed him to devote his entire energy to the path of renunciation that had so captivated him.
  
Anthony is notable for being one of the first ascetics to attempt living in the desert proper, completely cut off from civilization. His anchoritic (isolated) lifestyle was remarkably harsher than his predecessors.  Saint Anthony decided to follow this tradition and headed out into the alkaline desert region called the Nitra in Latin ([[Wadi al-Natrun]] today), about 95&nbsp;km west of Alexandria, some of the most rugged terrain of the [[Western Desert (North Africa)|Western Desert]].
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[[Image:Antoniusaltaar.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The main altar of the hermitage church in Warfhuizen in the [[Netherlands]] with a mural of Anthony Abbot and a reliquary with some of his [[relic]]s]]
  
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.
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Anthony's anchoritic (from the Greek: "to withdraw") lifestyle was remarkably harsher than that practiced by his ascetic predecessors, as he was one of the first to attempt living in the [[desert]] proper, completely cut off from [[civilization]]. Specifically, he chose to head directly into the arid alkali-plains region called the ''Nitra'' (in Latin) (''Wadi al-Natrun'' today), about 95&nbsp;kilometers west of Alexandria, some of the most rugged terrain of the Western Desert. His flight from society was motivated by a desire to imitate Christ's forty-day sojourn in the desert.  
  
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|Arsinoë in the Fayyum]].  Here he lived strictly enclosed in an old abandoned Roman fort for some twenty years.  According to Athanasius, the devil again resumed his war against Saint Anthony, only this time the phantoms were in the form of wild beasts, wolves, lions, snakes and scorpions. They appeared as if they were about to attack him or cut him into pieces. But the Saint would laugh at them scornfully and say, "If any of you have any authority over me, only one would have been sufficient to fight me." At his saying this, they disappeared as though in smoke, and God gave him the victory over the devils. While in the fort he only communicated with the outside world by a crevice through which food would be passed and he would say a few words. Saint Anthony would prepare a quantity of bread that would sustain him for six months. He did not allow anyone to enter his cell: whoever came to him, stood outside and listened to his advice.  
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During this time, the ''Vita'' (written by [[Saint Athanasius]]) describes the contest between Saint Anthony and the [[Devil]], who "afflicted him with boredom, laziness, and the phantoms of women."<ref>From the Coptic ''Life of Anthony'', accessed online at: http://www.copticchurch.org/StAnthonyGreat.htm.</ref> It was only through a drawn-out battle and a steadfast reliance on the power of prayer that Anthony was able to emerge unscathed. After these trials, he sealed himself into a tomb, relying on some local villagers to provide him with food and water. Again, the Athanasian account states that the monk was confronted by the Devil, who physically assaulted him and left him for dead. When his patrons from the local village came to visit, bringing their gifts of bread and water, they were shocked by the dire straits that the holy man was in. So, they quickly crafted a litter and carried him out of the desert to a local church.
  
[[Image:Antoniusaltaar.jpg|thumb|left|250px|The main altar of the hermitage church in [[Warfhuizen]] in the [[Netherlands]] with a mural of Anthony Abbot and a [[reliquary]] with some of his [[relic]]s.]]
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After Anthony recovered, he made a second effort, going even further into the desert, to a mountain by the [[Nile]] called Pispir (now ''Der el Memun''), opposite Arsinoë in the Fayyum. Here he enclosed himself in an abandoned [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] fort, where he remained for some 20 years. According to Athanasius, the devil wasted no time in resuming his assault against the now segregated Anthony, though his attack took a rather different form:
  
The one day he emerged from the fort with the help of villagers to break down the door. By this time most had expected him to have wasted away, or gone insane in his solitary confinement, but he emerged healthy, serene, and enlightened. Everyone was amazed he had been through these trials and emerged spiritually rejuvenated. He was hailed as a hero and from this time forth the legend of Anthony began to spread and grow.  
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<blockquote>And the place was on a sudden filled with the forms of lions, bears, leopards, bulls, serpents, asps, scorpions, and wolves, and each of them was moving according to his nature.... Altogether the noises of the apparitions, with their angry ragings, were dreadful. But Antony, stricken and goaded by them, felt bodily pains severer still. He lay watching, however, with unshaken soul, groaning from bodily anguish; but his mind was clear, and as in mockery he said, 'If there had been any power in you, it would have sufficed had one of you come, but since the Lord hath made you weak you attempt to terrify me by numbers: and a proof of your weakness is that you take the shapes of brute beasts.' And again with boldness he said, 'If you are able, and have received power against me, delay not to attack; but if you are unable, why trouble me in vain? For faith in our Lord is a seal and a wall of safety to us.' So after many attempts they gnashed their teeth upon him, because they were mocking themselves rather than him. <ref>St. Athanasius, ''Vita Antony'', from "Athanasius: Select Works and Letters," ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'' Volume IV, Series II, Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, editors. New York: The Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1890. 198-199. Accessed online at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vita-antony.html</ref></blockquote>
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When confronted with his unflappable faith, the demons were said to have vanished.  
  
The backstory of one of the surviving epistles, directed to [[Constantine I (emperor)|Constantine I]] recounts how the fame of Saint Anthony spread abroad and reached Emperor Constantine. The Emperor wrote to him, offering him praise and asked him to pray for him. The brethren were pleased with the Emperor's letter, but Anthony did not pay any attention to it, and he said to them, "The books of God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, commands us everyday, but we do not heed what they tell us, and we turn our backs on them." Under the persistence of the brethren who told him, "Emperor Constantine loves the church," he accepted to write him a letter blessing him, and praying for the peace and safety of the empire and the church.
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While sealed in the fort, Anthony only communicated with the outside world through a crevice just large enough to accept the food brought to him by pilgrims. Though he never saw these supplicants, his words of support and consolation, plus his reputation as a spiritual adept, gradually drew a crowd of devotees, who (over his twenty years of seclusion) formed a makeshift community around the abandoned fortress.
  
Then he went to the [[Al Fayyum|Fayyum]] and confirmed the brethren there in the Christian faith, then returned to his old Roman fort. Anthony wished to become a [[martyr]] and went to Alexandria. He visited those who were imprisoned for the sake of [[Christ]] and comforted them. When the Governor saw that he was confessing his Christianity publicly, not caring what might happen to him, he ordered him not to show up in the city. However, the Saint did not heed his threats. He faced him and argued with him in order that he might arouse his anger so that he might be tortured and martyred, but it did not happen.
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In approximately 305, Anthony finally ceded to requests that he emerge from his confinement to instruct the community. When the door to his cell was opened, those present were shocked: though they had expected him to have wasted away or gone insane in his solitary confinement, he emerged healthy, serene, and enlightened. After this point, he took a brief hiatus from his extreme eremtism, choosing instead to serve as a teacher for the community:
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<blockquote>For five or six years [after his emergence,] 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, Der Mar Antonios. 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, and he used to cross the desert to Pispir with considerable frequency. <ref>E.C. Butler, "Saint Anthony," [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01553d.htm Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907].</ref></blockquote>
  
Then he went back to the old Roman fort and many came to visit him and to hear his teachings. He saw that these visits kept him away from his worship. As a result, he went further into the [[Eastern Desert]] of Egypt. He travelled to the inner wilderness for three days, until he found a spring of water and some palm trees, and then he chose to settle there. On this spot now stands the monastery of Saint Anthony the Great. On occasions, he would go to the monastery on the outskirts of the desert by the [[Nile]] to visit the brethren, then return to his inner [[monastery]].
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In the years that followed, the [[Roman Empire]]'s persecution of Christians reached new heights, especially under Emperor Maximinius. Wishing to demonstrate the depth of his commitment to the faith, Anthony traveled to Alexandria, in hopes that he could become a [[martyr]]. While there, he ministered to those who were imprisoned for the sake of [[Jesus of Nazareth|Christ]] and comforted them. When the governor saw that Anthony was confessing his [[Christianity]] publicly, not heeding the potential consequences, he ordered the saint to leave the city immediately. This warning had no effect, as is evidenced in the Athanasian ''vita'':
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<blockquote>Antony gave so little heed to the command that he washed his garment, and stood all next day on a raised place before them, and appeared in his best before the governor. Therefore when all the rest wondered at this, and the governor saw and passed by with his array, he stood fearlessly, shewing the readiness of us Christians. For, as I said before, he prayed himself to be a martyr, wherefore he seemed as one grieved that he had not borne his witness. But the Lord was keeping him for our profit and that of others, that he should become a teacher to many of the discipline which he had learned from the Scriptures. For many only beholding his manner of life were eager to be imitators of his ways. So he again ministered as usual to the confessors, and as though he were their fellow captive he laboured in his ministry.<ref>St. Athanasius, 209-210.</ref></blockquote>
  
According to Athanasius, Saint Anthony heard a voice telling him, "Go out and see." He went out and saw an angel who wore a girdle with a cross, one resembling the holy Eskiem ([[Tonsure]] or [[Schema]]), and on his head was a head cover (Kolansowa). He was sitting while braiding palm leaves, then he stood up to pray, and again he sat to weave. A voice came to him saying, "Anthony, do this and you will rest." Henceforth, he started to wear this tunic that he saw, and began to weave palm leaves, and never got bored again. Saint Anthony prophesied about the persecution that was about to happen to the church and the control of the heretics over it, the church victory and its return to its formal glory, and the end of the age. When [[Saint Macarius]] visited Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony clothed him with the monk's garb, and foretold him what would be of him. When the day drew near of the departure of Saint [[Paul the First Hermit]] in the desert, Saint Anthony went to him and buried him, after clothing him in a tunic which was a present from [[Athanasius of Alexandria|St Athanasius the Apostolic]], the 20th [[List of Patriarchs of Alexandria|Patriarch of Alexandria]].
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After the Maximinian persecution ceased, Anthony returned to his desert fortress to resume his ascetic devotions. While he willingly addressed the renunciants who had gathered, he was plagued by a sense that he was letting his own spiritual discipline atrophy. As a result, he departed from his followers and traveled deeper into the Eastern Desert of Egypt. After three days of travel, he found a spring of water and some palm trees, where he chose to settle. He described this location as his "inner monastery." However, Anthony did not allow his personal spiritual quest to overrule that of his fellow seekers, so, on occasion, he would return to his previous dwelling (in the abandoned fort) to offer them instruction.  
  
When Saint Anthony felt that the day of his departure had approached, he commanded his disciples to give his staff to Saint Macarius, and to give one sheepskin cloak to Saint Athanasius and the other sheepskin cloak to [[Saint Serapion]], his disciple. He further instructed his disciples to bury his body in an unmarked, secret [[grave]], lest his body become an object of [[veneration]]. He stretched himself on the ground and gave up his spirit. Saint Anthony the Great lived for 105 years and departed on the year 356. Probably he spoke only his native language, [[Coptic language|Coptic]], but his sayings were spread in a [[Greek language|Greek]] translation. He himself left no writings. His biography was written by Saint Athanasius and titled ''Life of Saint Anthony the Great''. Many stories are also told about him in various collections of sayings of the [[Desert Fathers]].
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After years of steadfast worship and instruction, Anthony realized that the end of his life was nearing. So, he summoned his most devoted followers around him&mdash;including his successor Marcarius&mdash;divided up his meager possessions among them, and described his funeral requests to them. Specifically, he asked that they place his body in an unmarked grave in the middle of the desert, so that it would not become an object of veneration.<ref>From the Coptic ''Life of Anthony'', accessed online at: http://www.copticchurch.org/StAnthonyGreat.htm.</ref> After making his preparations and uttering a brief prayer, he died. It is thought that he had lived for 105 years.
 +
 
 +
Though he spoke only his native language, Coptic, Anthony's sayings were primarily promulgated in [[Greek language|Greek]] translations and in the Athansian ''Life of Saint Anthony the Great''. This document, which was read throughout the Christian community, also popularized the legendary accounts of the ascetic's life. Finally, many sayings attributed to him (and stories told about him) are found in various collections of sayings of the [[Desert Fathers]].
  
 
====Cultural Impact of the ''Vita Antonii''====
 
====Cultural Impact of the ''Vita Antonii''====
Some of the stories included in Saint Anthony's biography are perpetuated now mostly in paintings, where they give an opportunity for artists to depict their more lurid or bizarre fantasies. Many pictorial artists, from [[Hieronymus Bosch]] to [[Salvador Dalí]], have depicted these incidents from the life of Anthony; in prose, the tale was retold and embellished by [[Gustave Flaubert]].
+
Due to their awe-inspiring and often fantastic nature, the stories included in Anthony's hagiography have become source material for various artistic ventures, both historical and modern. In the sphere of letters, esteemed French novelist [[Gustav Flaubert]] considered his ''La Tentation de Saint Antoine'' to be his most significant literary work. More significantly, visual artists, such as [[Hieronymus Bosch]], Mathias Grünewald, Martin Schongauer, and [[Salvador Dalí]], have all depicted incidents from the life of Anthony. Indeed, such images (especially surrounding Anthony's temptations) have been common subject matter for European visual art since the tenth century.
  
 
==Founder of monasticism==  
 
==Founder of monasticism==  
Saint Anthony and [[Paul of Thebes|Saint Paul the Hermit]] are seen as the founders of [[Christian monasticism]]. Saint Paul the Hermit is lauded by Saint Anthony as the first hermit. The monastery of Saint Paul the Hermit exists to this day in Egypt. Saint Anthony himself provided the example that others would follow (see [[Saint Pachomius]]). Anthony himself did not organize or create a monastery, but a community grew up around him based on his example of living an ascetic and isolated life. Those who wished to follow him needed the company of others to survive the harsh conditions.
+
The Roman Catholic and Eastern Rite Christian sects laud Anthony as the founder of Christian [[monasticism]]. Though he himself credited the legendary [[Saint Paul the Hermit]] as a predecessor, Anthony was one of the first Christians to take to the desert in a conscious attempt to imitate the life and sufferings of Christ. Though this lifestyle was extant in Egypt and surrounding areas before his time, Anthony can be credited for his role as an exemplar&mdash;motivating others to adopt this lifestyle through his teachings and biography (particularly as recorded in the ''Vita'' written by [[Saint Athanasius]]).
 +
 
 +
Though he did not organize a monastic community (which occurred 50 years later at the hand of [[Saint Pachomius]]), a community of like-minded believers sprung up around him organically. The development of organized monasticism can be seen as a natural outgrowth of this, especially for those who wished to follow him, but needed the company of others to survive the harsh conditions.  
 +
 
 +
Athanasius' work, ''Life of Anthony'' provides an excellent description of the founding of this proto-community:
 +
<blockquote>And [the Lord] gave grace to Antony in speaking, so that he consoled many that were sorrowful, and set those at variance at one, exhorting all to prefer the love of Christ before all that is in the world. And while he exhorted and advised them to remember the good things to come, and the loving-kindness of God towards us, 'Who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all [7],' he persuaded many to embrace the solitary life. And thus it happened in the end that cells arose even in the mountains, and the desert was colonised by monks, who came forth from their own people, and enrolled themselves for the citizenship in the heavens.<ref>St. Athanasius, 201.</ref></blockquote>
  
 
==Monastery of St. Anthony the Great==
 
==Monastery of St. Anthony the Great==
The fortress-like Coptic Monastery of St Anthony the Great stands at an oasis spring in the Red Sea Mountains, 155 km (100 miles) south east of Cairo. It was founded in the mid-4th century, perhaps in 356, on Saint Anthony's burial site. The [[Coptic Orthodox]] monastery, presided over by an [[abbot]], is the oldest Christian monasteries in the world.
+
The most enduring physical remnant of Anthony's life and mission can be found at an oasis in the Red Sea Mountains, 155 kilometers (100 miles) south east of Cairo: the fortress-like Coptic Monastery of St Anthony the Great. This structure, the oldest Christian monastery in the world, was founded in the middle of the fourth century on Anthony's burial site. It recently received international news coverage when a monk (working with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities) discovered an entire eighth century church buried beneath the existing structure, and, beneath that, preserved cloisters dating back to the fourth century&mdash;the oldest ever unearthed.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/09/27/news/journal.php International Herald Tribune, 2005.]</ref>
 
 
In 2005 it was reported that monks' cells dating to the 4th century - the oldest ever found - had been discovered at the monastery, beneath the Apostles Church.[http://www.iht.com/bin/print_ipub.php?file=/articles/2005/09/27/news/journal.php International Herald Tribune]
 
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
Line 90: Line 97:
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
{{wikiquote}}
+
*The Greek ''Vita'' of Athanasius. Edited by G. J. M. Bartelink ('Vie d'Antoine'). Paris, 2000. Sources Chretiennes 400.
{{commonscat|Saint Anthony the Great}}
+
*The almost contemporary Latin translation: in Heribert Rosweyd, ''Vitae Patrum'' ([[Migne]], ''Patrologia Latina''. lxxiii.). New critical edition and study of this Latin translation: P. H. E. Bertrand, ''Die Evagriusübersetzung der Vita Antonii: Rezeption - Überlieferung - Edition. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Vitas Patrum-Tradition''. Utrecht, 2005 (dissertation). Freely available [http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2006-0221-200251/index.htm here.]
*The Greek ''Vita'' of Athanasius. Ed. by G.J.M. Bartelink ('Vie d'Antoine'). Paris 2000. Sources Chretiennes 400.
+
*An English translation: St. Athanasius. ''Vita Antony'' from "Athanasius: Select Works and Letters." ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'' Series II, Volume IV. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. New York: The Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1890. Full text available online through [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vita-antony.html Fordham University's ''Medieval Sourcebook'']. This account features criticisms for and against the attribution of this ''vita'' to Athanasius.
*The almost contemporary Latin translation: in Heribert Rosweyd, ''Vitae Patrum'' ([[Migne]], ''Patrologia Latina''. lxxiii.). New critical edition and study of this Latin translation: P.H.E. Bertrand, ''Die Evagriusübersetzung der Vita Antonii: Rezeption - Überlieferung - Edition. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Vitas Patrum-Tradition''. Utrecht 2005 (dissertation) [free available: http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2006-0221-200251/index.htm]
+
*Accounts of Saint Anthony are given by [[Cardinal Newman]] ("Church of the Fathers" in ''Historical Sketches'') and Alban Butler, ''Lives of the Saints'' (under Jan. 17).
*An English translation: in Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, editors ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'', Series II, vol. IV [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vita-antony.html Full text on-line], with criticisms pro and con of the attribution of this ''vita'' to Athanasius.
 
 
 
*Accounts of St Anthony are given by [[Cardinal Newman]] ("Church of the Fathers" in ''Historical Sketches'') and [[Alban Butler]], ''Lives of the Saints'' (under Jan. 17).
 
* [http://www.copticchurch.net/classes/synex.php?sa=1&month=5&day=22&btn=View A Hagiographic Account of the life of St. Anthony from the Coptic Church] 
 
  
 
===Historical and critical===
 
===Historical and critical===
*E. C. Butler, (1898, 1904). ''Lausiac History of Palladius'', Part I. pp. 197, 215-228; Part II. pp. ix.-xii. (See [[Palladius]]).
+
* Bertrand, P. H. E. ''Die Evagriusübersetzung der Vita Antonii: Rezeption - Überlieferung - Edition. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Vitas Patrum-Tradition''. Utercht 2005. [dissertation] freely available: [http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2006-0221-200251/index.htm]
*S. Rubenson, 1995. ''The Letters of St. Antony : monasticism and the making of a saint'' (Minneapolis)  An analysis of the letters, including authenticity and theological content.
+
* Butler, E. C. ''Lausiac History of Palladius''. 1898, 1904. The W.K.L. Clarke Translation (London: SPCK, and New York: Macmillan, both 1918) is available online at [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/palladius-lausiac.html Fordham University’s Medieval Sourcebook].
* P.H.E. Bertrand, ''Die Evagriusübersetzung der Vita Antonii: Rezeption - Überlieferung - Edition. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Vitas Patrum-Tradition''. Utercht 2005. [dissertation] [free available: http://igitur-archive.library.uu.nl/dissertations/2006-0221-200251/index.htm]
+
* Butler, E. C. "St. Anthony the Great." [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01553d.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', 1908.]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01553d.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' 1908:] "St. Anthony the Great"
+
* Kruger, Derek. "Writing as Devotion: Hagiographical Composition and the Cult of the Saints in Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Cyril of Scythopolis." ''Church History'' 66: 4 (Dec. 1997): 707-719.
*[http://stanthony.i8.com/ Coptic Monastery of St Anthony the Great website]
+
*Rubenson, S. ''The Letters of St. Antony: Monasticism and the Making of a Saint''. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1995.
  
===Texts attributed to St Anthony===
+
==External links==
* [http://www.seanmultimedia.com/Pie_Antonyofthedesert_discourseondemons.html "Discourse on Demons"], translated by Rev. H. Ellershaw (on-line)
+
All links retrieved December 22, 2022.
* [http://www.seanmultimedia.com/Pie_Antonyofthedesert_Letters.html "Letter To Theodore"], translated by Rev. Daniel and Esmeralda Jennings (on-line)
+
* [http://www.seanmultimedia.com/Pie_Antonyofthedesert_discourseondemons.html "Discourse on Demons"], translated by Rev. H. Ellershaw.
 +
* [http://www.seanmultimedia.com/Pie_Antonyofthedesert_Letters.html "Letter To Theodore"], translated by Rev. Daniel and Esmeralda Jennings.
  
[[Category: Philosophy and religion]]
+
[[Category:Philosophy and religion]]
[[Category: Religion]]
+
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category: Biography]]
+
[[Category:Biography]]
  
 
{{Credit1|Anthony_the _Great|90224799}}
 
{{Credit1|Anthony_the _Great|90224799}}

Latest revision as of 19:06, 22 December 2022

Saint Anthony
StAnthony.jpg
Father of Christian Monasticism
Born 251, Heraclea, Egypt
Died 356, Mount Colzim, Egypt

Feast Day January 17 (Western Calender)

Tobi 22 (Jan. 30) (Eastern/Coptic Calendars)


Iconographic Symbols bell; book; crutch; hermit; man with a pig at his side; pig; Saint Anthony's cross (tau-shaped) with a bell on the end.

Areas of Patronage amputees; animals; basket makers; brushmakers; Burgio, Sicily; butchers; domestic animals; eczema; epilepsy, ergotism; erysipelas; graveyards; hermits; Hospitallers; monks; pigs; relief from pestilence; Saint Anthony's fire; skin diseases; skin rashes; swineherds; lost items

A Typical Prayer to Saint Anthony

Lord God, You gave Saint Anthony the Abbott the grace of serving in the desert in prayer with You. Aided by his intercession, may we practice self-denial and hence always love You above all things. Amen.

Saint Anthony the Great (251 - 356 C.E.), also known as Saint Anthony of Egypt, Saint Anthony of the Desert, Saint Anthony the Anchorite, and The Father of All Monks, was an early Christian ascetic, later sanctified for his exemplary devotion to the lifestyle and teachings of Christ. He was an unofficial leader and spokesman of the Desert Fathers, a loosely organized group of Christian hermits who left hearth and home to take up residence in the harsh Eyptian desert as a form of imitatio Christi.

Though no surviving texts are unequivocally attributed to him, Anthony's life is recounted in considerable hagiographic detail in Bishop Athanasius's Vita Antonii - the source of many tales of his spirtual strivings and the means by which the remainder of the Christian polity came to know of this retiring Egyptian "monk."[1]

His feast day is celebrated on January 17 in some churches, but celebrated on Tobi 22 (January 30) in the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Coptic Catholic Church (both of which have the closest cultural and geographical ties to him).

Life of St. Anthony

Context

Though Anthony is often recognized as the "Father of Monasticism," such a title is somewhat misleading, as eremetic (solitary, often desert-dwelling) Christian, Jewish and pagan forms of monasticism were already being practiced throughout the known world. For example, the Hellenized Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria (20 B.C.E. - 40 C.E.) described such individuals in his De vita contemplativa (“On the Contemplative Life”), where he notes that their individual dwellings (and loosely-organized communal organizations) were long established in the harsh environments surrounding Lake Mareotis (close to Alexandria) and in other less-accessible regions. His account is notable for addressing both the actualities of their renunciation and also the motivations that could underlie such a difficult spiritual path. The renunciants were praised for their singularity of purpose, as they "always retain an imperishable recollection of God, so that not even in their dreams is any other object ever presented to their eyes except the beauty of the divine virtues and of the divine powers."[2]

Thus, according to Philo's writings, the renunciant path would not have been an alien mode of spiritual praxis to Anthony, who was raised as an Egyptian Christian. Indeed, E. C. Butler notes:

Long before [Anthony's time] it had been usual for Christians to practice asceticism, abstain from marriage and exercising 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 in Egypt, such ascetics lived in huts, in the outskirts of the towns and villages, and this was the common practice about 270."[3]

However, Anthony's contribution, as discussed below, was as an exemplar whose exploits were publicized far beyond his desert region, making his mode of monasticism known throughout the Christian world. He was one of the first to take renunciation to the desert, denying the supports of home and community relied upon by the vast majority of his predecessors.

Textual History

Most of what we know about the life of Anthony is derived from the Greek vita (“Life of Antony”) by Athanasius (d. 373), a text that was highly influential throughout the Eastern Christian world. Following its composition, it was soon translated into Latin, which allowed its influence to be extended throughout the Western half of the Holy Roman Empire.

Other information on his life comes from a limited selection of surviving homilies and epistles. However, their attribution to Saint Anthony has been roundly questioned.[4]

Biography

In the year 251 C.E., Anthony was born into an upper class Christian family near Heraclea, in Upper Egypt. He had an unremarkable childhood and adolescence, which was abruptly shattered in 271 with the death of his parents, who left him with the care of his unmarried sister. He subsequently attended mass and was transfixed by the Gospel's depiction of the Christian path of renunciation: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Matthew 19:21). Taking these teachings to heart, Anthony decided that he too wanted to embark on this path of devoted practice. So, he gave his wealth to the poor and needy and placed his sister with a group of Christian virgins (a proto-nunnery), freeing himself from personal and financial obligations, which, in turn, allowed him to devote his entire energy to the path of renunciation that had so captivated him.

The main altar of the hermitage church in Warfhuizen in the Netherlands with a mural of Anthony Abbot and a reliquary with some of his relics

Anthony's anchoritic (from the Greek: "to withdraw") lifestyle was remarkably harsher than that practiced by his ascetic predecessors, as he was one of the first to attempt living in the desert proper, completely cut off from civilization. Specifically, he chose to head directly into the arid alkali-plains region called the Nitra (in Latin) (Wadi al-Natrun today), about 95 kilometers west of Alexandria, some of the most rugged terrain of the Western Desert. His flight from society was motivated by a desire to imitate Christ's forty-day sojourn in the desert.

During this time, the Vita (written by Saint Athanasius) describes the contest between Saint Anthony and the Devil, who "afflicted him with boredom, laziness, and the phantoms of women."[5] It was only through a drawn-out battle and a steadfast reliance on the power of prayer that Anthony was able to emerge unscathed. After these trials, he sealed himself into a tomb, relying on some local villagers to provide him with food and water. Again, the Athanasian account states that the monk was confronted by the Devil, who physically assaulted him and left him for dead. When his patrons from the local village came to visit, bringing their gifts of bread and water, they were shocked by the dire straits that the holy man was in. So, they quickly crafted a litter and carried him out of the desert to a local church.

After Anthony recovered, he made a second effort, going even further into the desert, to a mountain by the Nile called Pispir (now Der el Memun), opposite Arsinoë in the Fayyum. Here he enclosed himself in an abandoned Roman fort, where he remained for some 20 years. According to Athanasius, the devil wasted no time in resuming his assault against the now segregated Anthony, though his attack took a rather different form:

And the place was on a sudden filled with the forms of lions, bears, leopards, bulls, serpents, asps, scorpions, and wolves, and each of them was moving according to his nature.... Altogether the noises of the apparitions, with their angry ragings, were dreadful. But Antony, stricken and goaded by them, felt bodily pains severer still. He lay watching, however, with unshaken soul, groaning from bodily anguish; but his mind was clear, and as in mockery he said, 'If there had been any power in you, it would have sufficed had one of you come, but since the Lord hath made you weak you attempt to terrify me by numbers: and a proof of your weakness is that you take the shapes of brute beasts.' And again with boldness he said, 'If you are able, and have received power against me, delay not to attack; but if you are unable, why trouble me in vain? For faith in our Lord is a seal and a wall of safety to us.' So after many attempts they gnashed their teeth upon him, because they were mocking themselves rather than him. [6]

When confronted with his unflappable faith, the demons were said to have vanished.

While sealed in the fort, Anthony only communicated with the outside world through a crevice just large enough to accept the food brought to him by pilgrims. Though he never saw these supplicants, his words of support and consolation, plus his reputation as a spiritual adept, gradually drew a crowd of devotees, who (over his twenty years of seclusion) formed a makeshift community around the abandoned fortress.

In approximately 305, Anthony finally ceded to requests that he emerge from his confinement to instruct the community. When the door to his cell was opened, those present were shocked: though they had expected him to have wasted away or gone insane in his solitary confinement, he emerged healthy, serene, and enlightened. After this point, he took a brief hiatus from his extreme eremtism, choosing instead to serve as a teacher for the community:

For five or six years [after his emergence,] 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, Der Mar Antonios. 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, and he used to cross the desert to Pispir with considerable frequency. [7]

In the years that followed, the Roman Empire's persecution of Christians reached new heights, especially under Emperor Maximinius. Wishing to demonstrate the depth of his commitment to the faith, Anthony traveled to Alexandria, in hopes that he could become a martyr. While there, he ministered to those who were imprisoned for the sake of Christ and comforted them. When the governor saw that Anthony was confessing his Christianity publicly, not heeding the potential consequences, he ordered the saint to leave the city immediately. This warning had no effect, as is evidenced in the Athanasian vita:

Antony gave so little heed to the command that he washed his garment, and stood all next day on a raised place before them, and appeared in his best before the governor. Therefore when all the rest wondered at this, and the governor saw and passed by with his array, he stood fearlessly, shewing the readiness of us Christians. For, as I said before, he prayed himself to be a martyr, wherefore he seemed as one grieved that he had not borne his witness. But the Lord was keeping him for our profit and that of others, that he should become a teacher to many of the discipline which he had learned from the Scriptures. For many only beholding his manner of life were eager to be imitators of his ways. So he again ministered as usual to the confessors, and as though he were their fellow captive he laboured in his ministry.[8]

After the Maximinian persecution ceased, Anthony returned to his desert fortress to resume his ascetic devotions. While he willingly addressed the renunciants who had gathered, he was plagued by a sense that he was letting his own spiritual discipline atrophy. As a result, he departed from his followers and traveled deeper into the Eastern Desert of Egypt. After three days of travel, he found a spring of water and some palm trees, where he chose to settle. He described this location as his "inner monastery." However, Anthony did not allow his personal spiritual quest to overrule that of his fellow seekers, so, on occasion, he would return to his previous dwelling (in the abandoned fort) to offer them instruction.

After years of steadfast worship and instruction, Anthony realized that the end of his life was nearing. So, he summoned his most devoted followers around him—including his successor Marcarius—divided up his meager possessions among them, and described his funeral requests to them. Specifically, he asked that they place his body in an unmarked grave in the middle of the desert, so that it would not become an object of veneration.[9] After making his preparations and uttering a brief prayer, he died. It is thought that he had lived for 105 years.

Though he spoke only his native language, Coptic, Anthony's sayings were primarily promulgated in Greek translations and in the Athansian Life of Saint Anthony the Great. This document, which was read throughout the Christian community, also popularized the legendary accounts of the ascetic's life. Finally, many sayings attributed to him (and stories told about him) are found in various collections of sayings of the Desert Fathers.

Cultural Impact of the Vita Antonii

Due to their awe-inspiring and often fantastic nature, the stories included in Anthony's hagiography have become source material for various artistic ventures, both historical and modern. In the sphere of letters, esteemed French novelist Gustav Flaubert considered his La Tentation de Saint Antoine to be his most significant literary work. More significantly, visual artists, such as Hieronymus Bosch, Mathias Grünewald, Martin Schongauer, and Salvador Dalí, have all depicted incidents from the life of Anthony. Indeed, such images (especially surrounding Anthony's temptations) have been common subject matter for European visual art since the tenth century.

Founder of monasticism

The Roman Catholic and Eastern Rite Christian sects laud Anthony as the founder of Christian monasticism. Though he himself credited the legendary Saint Paul the Hermit as a predecessor, Anthony was one of the first Christians to take to the desert in a conscious attempt to imitate the life and sufferings of Christ. Though this lifestyle was extant in Egypt and surrounding areas before his time, Anthony can be credited for his role as an exemplar—motivating others to adopt this lifestyle through his teachings and biography (particularly as recorded in the Vita written by Saint Athanasius).

Though he did not organize a monastic community (which occurred 50 years later at the hand of Saint Pachomius), a community of like-minded believers sprung up around him organically. The development of organized monasticism can be seen as a natural outgrowth of this, especially for those who wished to follow him, but needed the company of others to survive the harsh conditions.

Athanasius' work, Life of Anthony provides an excellent description of the founding of this proto-community:

And [the Lord] gave grace to Antony in speaking, so that he consoled many that were sorrowful, and set those at variance at one, exhorting all to prefer the love of Christ before all that is in the world. And while he exhorted and advised them to remember the good things to come, and the loving-kindness of God towards us, 'Who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all [7],' he persuaded many to embrace the solitary life. And thus it happened in the end that cells arose even in the mountains, and the desert was colonised by monks, who came forth from their own people, and enrolled themselves for the citizenship in the heavens.[10]

Monastery of St. Anthony the Great

The most enduring physical remnant of Anthony's life and mission can be found at an oasis in the Red Sea Mountains, 155 kilometers (100 miles) south east of Cairo: the fortress-like Coptic Monastery of St Anthony the Great. This structure, the oldest Christian monastery in the world, was founded in the middle of the fourth century on Anthony's burial site. It recently received international news coverage when a monk (working with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities) discovered an entire eighth century church buried beneath the existing structure, and, beneath that, preserved cloisters dating back to the fourth century—the oldest ever unearthed.[11]

Notes

  1. Note: The term "monk" is used in quotation marks because the idea of Christian monasticism was yet inchoate at this early period in the tradition's history. Indeed, Anthony was, in this way, a spiritual innovator who was responsible for the notion of a Christian life entirely dedicated to religious faith and observance. However, it was not until the time of Saint Pachomius that these ideas became formalized into a tradition proper.
  2. From "The Contemplative Life or Suppliants" in The Works of Philo, translated by C. D. Yonge, (London: H. G. Bohn, 1854-1890), sections II (18-20) and III (25-27). Accessed online at: http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/yonge/book34.html.
  3. E. C. Butler, "St. Anthony" in The Catholic Encyclopedia. Accessed online at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01553d.htm.
  4. Though such difficulties and ambiguities are frustrating for the modern historical scholar, it must be noted that the authors of these hagiographic sources had a far different motives for memorializing their religious "heroes." Often, these accounts were the only means whereby the saint's message or example would ever be known outside of their particular localities. In this way, writing hagiography was both a means of conveying that exemplarity for popular consumption and also of demonstrating their own commitment to the ideals and the person of the sainted individual being thus described. As such, though historical accuracy is sometimes questioned, the spiritual validity and utility of such texts cannot be. See Derek Kruger, "Writing as Devotion: Hagiographical Composition and the Cult of the Saints in Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Cyril of Scythopolis." Church History 66: 4 (Dec. 1997): 707-719.
  5. From the Coptic Life of Anthony, accessed online at: http://www.copticchurch.org/StAnthonyGreat.htm.
  6. St. Athanasius, Vita Antony, from "Athanasius: Select Works and Letters," Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Volume IV, Series II, Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, editors. New York: The Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1890. 198-199. Accessed online at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vita-antony.html
  7. E.C. Butler, "Saint Anthony," Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907.
  8. St. Athanasius, 209-210.
  9. From the Coptic Life of Anthony, accessed online at: http://www.copticchurch.org/StAnthonyGreat.htm.
  10. St. Athanasius, 201.
  11. International Herald Tribune, 2005.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • The Greek Vita of Athanasius. Edited by G. J. M. Bartelink ('Vie d'Antoine'). Paris, 2000. Sources Chretiennes 400.
  • The almost contemporary Latin translation: in Heribert Rosweyd, Vitae Patrum (Migne, Patrologia Latina. lxxiii.). New critical edition and study of this Latin translation: P. H. E. Bertrand, Die Evagriusübersetzung der Vita Antonii: Rezeption - Überlieferung - Edition. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Vitas Patrum-Tradition. Utrecht, 2005 (dissertation). Freely available here.
  • An English translation: St. Athanasius. Vita Antony from "Athanasius: Select Works and Letters." Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Series II, Volume IV. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. New York: The Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1890. Full text available online through Fordham University's Medieval Sourcebook. This account features criticisms for and against the attribution of this vita to Athanasius.
  • Accounts of Saint Anthony are given by Cardinal Newman ("Church of the Fathers" in Historical Sketches) and Alban Butler, Lives of the Saints (under Jan. 17).

Historical and critical

  • Bertrand, P. H. E. Die Evagriusübersetzung der Vita Antonii: Rezeption - Überlieferung - Edition. Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Vitas Patrum-Tradition. Utercht 2005. [dissertation] freely available: [1]
  • Butler, E. C. Lausiac History of Palladius. 1898, 1904. The W.K.L. Clarke Translation (London: SPCK, and New York: Macmillan, both 1918) is available online at Fordham University’s Medieval Sourcebook.
  • Butler, E. C. "St. Anthony the Great." Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908.
  • Kruger, Derek. "Writing as Devotion: Hagiographical Composition and the Cult of the Saints in Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Cyril of Scythopolis." Church History 66: 4 (Dec. 1997): 707-719.
  • Rubenson, S. The Letters of St. Antony: Monasticism and the Making of a Saint. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1995.

External links

All links retrieved December 22, 2022.

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