Saint Anthony of Egypt: the Father of Monks

Today is the feast¹ of the man many consider to be the founder of Christian monasticism, Saint Anthony the Great of Egypt, the “Father of Monks”.

He was born in the middle of the third century in decidedly Pagan Middle Egypt to a well-to-do, comfortable family. He spent much of his life avoiding the sorts of comforts available to him in his youth.

After the death of his parents when he was about twenty, he answered Christ’s call to give all his considerable goods to the poor.

He lived an ascetical life in his home town of Cooma, near Heracleopolis Magna according to the customs of the time.

Eventually, he headed out into the desert and became one of the earliest Desert Fathers. He practiced a life dedicated to fasting and prayer. After many years of living this harsh and solitary life, disciples gathered around him, and he founded a community of monks.

Somebody asked Anthony, “What shall I do in order to please God?”

He replied, “Do what I tell you, which is this: wherever you go, keep God in mind; whatever you do, follow the example of Holy Scripture; wherever you are, stay there and do not move away in a hurry. If you keep to these guidelines, you will be saved.”

(Sayings of the Desert Fathers)

He taught them that only by the denial of our own needs, can we truly give ourselves to God and to the works of mercy. That’s a hard teaching, and clearly the ascetical life is not for everyone, but it’s worth pondering in this society of ours, where in many ways our worth is measured by our material wealth.

Here is some of his advice to his monks:

Let it be your supreme and common purpose not to grow weary in the work you have begun, and in time of trial and affliction not to lose courage and say: Oh, how long already have we been mortifying ourselves! Rather, we should daily begin anew and constantly increase our fervor. For man’s whole life is short when measured against the time to come, so short, in fact, that it is as nothing in comparison with eternity. …

Therefore, my children, let us persevere in our acts of asceticism. And that we may not become weary and disheartened, it is good to meditate on the words of the apostle: ‘I die daily.’ If we live with the picture of death always before our eyes, we will not sin.

The apostle’s words tell us that we should so awaken in the morning as though we would not live to evening, and so fall asleep as if there were to be no awakening. For our life is by nature uncertain and is daily meted out to us by Providence. If we are convinced of this and live each day as the apostle suggests, then we will not fall into sin; no desire will enslave us, no anger move us, no treasure bind us to earth; we will await death with unfettered hearts.

Clearly his extreme lifestyle didn’t adversely affect his health; he died in the year 356 on Mount Kolzin by the Red Sea at the advanced age of 105 years old.

We beseech Thee, O Lord
may the intercession of the blessed Abbot Anthony
obtain for us Thy favour;
grant us to receive
through his patronage
that which we are unable to acquire
by our own merits.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

1. In the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite, Saint Anthony’s day is a Memorial. In both the Extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and in the Benedictine Ordo that I follow, it is a III Class feast. The modern Memorial is essentially the same rank as the older III Class feast.