Feast of St. Anthony the Great

Today is the Feast Day of St. Anthony the Great, or Anthony of the Desert, as he is sometimes called. Although he is not the first monk or aesthetic, his austere lifestyle and influence in gaining hundreds of followers and to forsake everything to devote their lives to prayer and alms giving won him the honor as the Father of Monasticism.


From the Life of St. Anthony
by St. Athanasius of Alexandria

When Anthony was about eighteen or twenty years old, his parents died, leaving him with an only sister. He cared for her as she was very young, and also looked after their home.

Not six months after his parents’ death, as he was on his way to church for his usual visit, he began to think of how the apostles had left everything and followed the Saviour, and also of those mentioned in the book of Acts who had sold their possessions and brought the apostles the money for distribution to the needy. He reflected too on the great hope stored up in heaven for such as these. This was all in his mind when, entering the church just as the Gospel was being read, he heard the Lord’s words to the rich man: If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor – you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.

It seemed to Anthony that it was God who had brought the saints to his mind and that the words of the Gospel had been spoken directly to him. Immediately he left the church and gave away to the villagers all the property he had inherited, about 200 acres of very beautiful and fertile land, so that it would cause no distraction to his sister and himself. He sold all his other possessions as well, giving to the poor the considerable sum of money he collected. However, to care for his sister he retained a few things.

The next time he went to church he heard the Lord say in the Gospel: Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Without a moment’s hesitation he went out and gave the poor all that he had left. He placed his sister in the care of some well-known and trustworthy virgins and arranged for her to be brought up in the convent. Then he gave himself up to the ascetic life, not far from his own home. He kept a careful watch over himself and practised great austerity. He did manual work because he had heard the words: If anyone will not work, do not let him eat. He spent some of his earnings on bread and the rest he gave to the poor.

Having learned that we should always be praying, even when we are by ourselves, he prayed without ceasing. Indeed, he was so attentive when Scripture was read that nothing escaped him and because he retained all he heard, his memory served him in place of books.

Seeing the kind of life he lived, the villagers and all the good men he knew called him the friend of God, and they loved him as both son and brother.


Read in full at NewAdvent.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Khufu's Pyramid

Image
Every morning I generally sit at my computer for an hour or so and look to read things. I try to find something that is new to me that is interesting instead of perusing some almost-stranger's photos of his or her trip to Folly's Beach. Much to my chagrin, the latter creeps up more than I care to remember. This past weekend I stumbled across some articles about the Pyramids of Giza–Khufu's Pyramid in particular. Fascinating stuff. There is something super mysterious about this structure from antiquity. It's mondo old and big. It's survived over 4500 years of wars, famine, natural disasters, and looting. It's well preserved–the only intact Wonder of the Ancient World, and in my opinion, the most recognizable building on earth. The most intriguing of all, it tells us a great deal about the intelligence and craftsmanship of its makers, the Egyptians. Ok, we all know about the Egyptians to some extent and that they all wear eyeliner and don snakes for hats. Hey, I a...
Read more

All Saints' Day

Image
Alleluia. Salvation, glory, and power to our God: Alleluia. his judgments are honest and true. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Sing praise to our God, all you his servants, Alleluia. all who worship him reverently, great and small. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. The Lord our all-powerful God is King; Alleluia. let us rejoice, sing praise, and give him glory. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. The wedding feast of the Lamb has begun, Alleluia. and his bride is prepared to welcome him. Alleluia. Alleluia. See Revelation 19 The beauty of the Gospel is fully alive in the saints. Today is the Solemnity of All Saints and also the third anniversary of the day that I decided to be Catholic. It was best decision I have ever made. There is nothing like going along for the ride on the Barque of St. Peter. One of my greatest joys these last three years has been getting to know the saints. I knew about some of them: those living in the apostolic age, of course, and saints like Augustine an...
Read more

History vs. History

I for one get a major kick out of creating and reading lists. Greatest bands of all-time, greatest athletes, awesomest people evah, biggest a-holes of all-time. Anything with the words "all-time" immediately has my undivided attention. The fun and intrigue is never ending. My brother and I would love to create a fighting video game in the style of street fighter compiled with the most badass dudes in history. Each of the characters would have a special move or two that plays to the strength of that historical character. For instance, Theodore Roosevelt would have strong health and, of course, would carry a big stick, or call upon the Rough Riders to win the day. Now to create a game like this, one has to compile the list. These have to be historical characters, so Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer from Predator won't be present but Arnold as himself is more than welcome. We toyed with the idea of combining certain characters, such as Hannibal–Scipio Africanus or Pat...
Read more