By Archimandrite Elpidios Vagianakis (in
greek)
SAINT ANTHONY THE GREAT
FOUNDER OF
CHRISTIAN MONASTICISM
(Commemorated on January
17th)
HIS
CHILDHOOD YEARS
Saint Anthony was born in 251 A.D. in Koma, a small village in south Memphis in
Egypt near the banks of the Nile River, during the era of the Roman Emperor
Decius, a notorious persecutor of Christians.
His parents were rather wealthy but also
devout Christians. By his nature little Anthony was an extremely sweet, polite,
and humble child. Everyone loved him as their own child for the goodness and
respect which he showed to all people.
He loved everyone, even the most scorned
person. Whenever Anthony saw a poor, orphaned or sick child, he was inclined to
assist them.
Even though he was so young, his words
were full of wisdom and prudence.
But what most impressed everyone and made
them refer to him as a child of God was his great devotion and tender love
towards Jesus Christ. Whenever he spoke of Him, his heart would burn like lava
in a volcano.
His greatest joy was attending divine
services with his beloved parents in their small village church. There, he
would listen carefully to the reading of the Gospels, which he had an eager
desire to follow and apply precisely in his life.
When he prayed, his entire being literally
became a single flame. Watching him one could see how the saints used to pray.
He was a man of temperance in his diet and
very careful with the company he kept. He craved solitude most of the time in
order to pray without disturbance. When other children were reading or playing,
he would kneel in some corner and pray. He had such passion for prayer from the
time he was a little boy and nothing else on earth could move him as much.
Vainly his various friends and relatives tried to turn his attention elsewhere.
He saw all the joys of life as temporary
and therefore they didn’t interest him, and so, even though he was very
intelligent, he never went to school to learn how to read and write.
During this period not everyone in his
small village had converted to Christianity and going to school caused him
great distress because he was forced to learn about idolatrous beliefs with the
other children, which conflicted with his Christian faith.
Moreover, his pious parents strived to
educate and nurture their beloved boy only in the Christian culture and faith.
They raised him with the sacred stories from the Bible and also of the holy
Christian martyrs, who at that time watered the soil of the Roman Empire with
their blood.
HE
DISTRIBUTES HIS PROPERTY TO THE POOR
At the age of eighteen, Anthony lost his
dear parents. Their death caused him great sorrow. He realized how futile this
world is and how quickly a person passes through this temporary life.
Orphaned now with only his younger sister
in the house for company, he fervently prayed to God to show him His will and
how to follow it.
One Sunday, when he
went to church with his little sister, he heard the passage from the Gospel in
which a rich, young man asked Jesus Christ what he must do to become perfect
and obtain salvation for his soul. In response, Christ said to the rich young
man:
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell what
you have, and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow Me.” (Matt 19:21)
These words of Christ made a great
impression on the young Anthony.
He was himself young and wealthy and
shared the same agony and desire as the young man mentioned in the Gospel.
He understood the message, which the Lord
had clearly sent him as an answer concerning his future path.
Immediately, he sold his possessions and
donated most of the money to the poor and destitute in his neighborhood.
Afterwards, he put aside a small portion for his sister’s needs.
But as his sister was equally pious,
virtuous and deeply fond of her brother, she followed his example.
One day, while attending the divine
service in church, they heard the Gospel teaching of Christ, saying:
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about its own things.” (Matt 6:34)
As soon as they returned home, she gave
him back the remaining money, so it could be distributed to the suffering poor.
HE LEAVES
FOR THE DESERT
Having no remaining possessions, this
brother and sister choose to totally dedicate themselves to God.
His sister entered a commune where
virtuous Christian women lived in prayer, with one purpose: to do good deeds
out of love to-wards their fellow men and obey God’s will.
Anthony started living a hermit’s life in
a little hut he had built, outside his village.
During those days, there weren’t any
monasteries like today, but only small hermitages, where holy souls lived
ascetically in solitude and prayer.
In one such hermitage, not far away from
the humble little hut of Anthony, lived an ascetic elder. His holy life
attracted the young Anthony who asked him for direction in the ways of the
virtuous ascetic life. Thus, the holy hermit became the first spiritual father
and guide of Saint Anthony.
Anthony intensely desired to acquire
virtues, so whenever he learned of some wise and holy elder, he would run close
to him like a thirsty deer to a spring, to observe and then imitate his ascetic
life.
All the hermits loved him because he struggled
not only to imitate them, but also to surpass them! Thus, from one he
discovered the grace of prayer, from another the grace of humility, from the
next the grace of great abstinence, and generally from all, every talent that
God had adorned each one of them according to their asceticism.
His diet was as little as possible,
consisting of dry bread, vegetables and some water. He would go for days
without eating at all. At nights, he laid awake making prostrations and praying
before God. To remain awake he stood erect most of the time and he had a wooden
stick to rest on, in order not to collapse from fatigue. Thus, his fiery and
powerful prayer rose up like fragrant incense to the heavenly throne of God.
Anthony struggled with all the strength of his soul to acquire the various
virtues. With deep humility and much suffering, he proceeded steadily,
step-by-step, on the difficult path of ascetic life. Jesus Christ blessed the
young man and filled him with heavenly gifts. Within a very short time, all the
virtues adorned the 20-year-old Anthony.
THE FIRST
TEMPTATIONS
Due to Anthony’s spiritual progress and
holiness, a demon became enflamed and wounded him and set evil traps to stop
his efforts to live a hermit’s life. The first weapon he used was the confusion
of thoughts.
He said cunningly and persuasively:
“Why are you so stupid? You left so much
wealth to come here in the middle of the desert to die of hunger and cold. Your
hut is damp and you don’t even have a mattress to rest your weary body on.
You’re exhausting your body so much that after a little while you won’t be able
to endure this hardship and you’ll die. We’ll see then what you’ll say to God
when you have killed your body with this stupid asceticism. And why are you so
ascetic? Will all the others who live in the world be lost, and only you be
saved? Is what you’re doing right?”
But Anthony said within himself, rebuking
the devil:
“I’m neither foolish for distributing my
property to the poor, nor for struggling in asceticism for the sake of my
beloved Jesus. It’s wonderful for somebody to struggle for the love of God, and
thus acquire the divine virtues, by which he will be elevated and become His
true child. And though my body suffers, it’s also been taught to obey and
follow me towards a virtuous life, instead of enslaving me to the various
passions that you stir up.”
The demon was shaken, but he continued his
tempting assaults.
“Fine, you don’t care about yourself, but
what about your sister? Don’t you feel sorry for abandoning her all alone at
such a young age? Instead of standing by her, protecting and supporting her,
you deserted her as if she was a stranger. How she suffers, the poor child!
You’re a callous brother.”
Anthony again said within himself:
“Nobody can protect anyone else but God.
You, cursed demon, I left my dear sister in the hands of the most powerful
protector, our heavenly Father.”
The demon was greatly disturbed by the
powerful, wise resistance of Anthony, but he didn’t quit the war against him.
He thought that it would be embarrassing for such a young boy to defeat him. He
set about implementing other evil schemes that he was sure would beat him.
The next temptation was very powerful. In
order to take advantage of his youth, he disturbed him with shocking visions.
He showed him places of entertainment where, among much wine and immodest
music, young men and women performed lewd and demonic acts. Day and night the
attacks continued. He hoped at some point to lure him in and then cast him down
from the pillar of his virtues.
Anthony fought back like a lion. He
resisted the assaults of these temptations. He extended and increased his
fasting. He reduced the little food that he ate. The demon became furious and
wouldn’t stop. He became more provocative. He appeared now before Anthony as a
naked girl and induced him to sin. He said passionate things and words to him
to excite his imagination.
Anthony suffered under the strength of
this temptation. The war was extremely tough. The demon hoped to cause the
downfall of the young ascetic. Anthony, weary from the fierce and merciless
struggle, knelt with tears in his eyes, and cried out for help to his beloved
Saviour:
“My Lord, Jesus Christ, help me, your
humble servant. The demon, like a wild and starving animal wants to swallow me.
To You, I entrust my soul and all my hopes. Don’t let me be lost!”
That was all it took! The saint’s prayer
drove out the demon. He roared with rage at the power of Anthony’s prayer. He
left for a while to prepare new snares. He would now use his most powerful
temptation: pride.
He, therefore, appeared in the form of a
sickly black youth and said to him:
“Anthony, I have wrestled with many people
and I’ve beaten them all. Many of them I have deceived with my tricks and
they’ve become my slaves. I’m tired of fighting with you. You’re stronger than
I am. I salute you.”
“Who are you, appearing suddenly in front
of me with such a wretched appearance?”
“I’m the spirit of lust, and my work is to
cunningly produce fleshly desires in the youth and throw them into sin.”
Anthony didn’t become proud, as Satan had
hoped, but wept with distress, seeing with what shrewdness the demon darkens
the minds of men and seduces them to sin. He asked God to protect and enlighten
all the children of the world and enable them to escape the snares of Satan.
With disgust, he turned to the demon and said to him:
“Get away from me, Satan. With the help of
God, I’m not afraid of you.”
These were the first great temptations and
victories of Anthony.
HIS
STRUGGLES AGAINST SATAN
Since Saint Anthony knew that the tricks
of Satan were diverse, he never neglected to shield himself from them.
He continuously armed his soul with spiritual
weapons. He frequently kept vigils all-night long. Once a day after sunset, he
would eat a few vegetables and every two or three days some dried bread with
water. He would sleep on the ground or an old mat for as long as his body could
endure it, without becoming ill.
In this method, he subdued the disorderly
impulses of the body. He didn’t torture his body because he hated it, but
disciplined it in order to suppress the rebellion of his flesh.
He knew that Satan wouldn’t abandon the
fight so easily. Therefore, he prepared himself for this moment with diligence.
He didn’t want Satan to catch him off-guard.
To increase his asceticism he went and
settled in a small space, in an old tomb far from the village.
A pious Christian, who greatly respected
Anthony, brought him some food every few days.
Enclosed in this damp prison, he increased
his ascetic struggles and prayers to God. He would raise his hands to heaven
and stay in this position for many hours. He was so absorbed in this divine
communication that he’d forget his earthly body.
The prayers of the saints aren’t just a
formal repetition of certain words to God, but a powerful and essential
relationship between God and the person concerned.
The praying saint transcended the narrow
limits of this world and plunged into another spiritual dimension. There, he
enjoyed an advanced taste of the supernatural grace of paradise, like what the
saints experience in the Kingdom of God.
THE DEMONS
LEAVE HIM UNCONSCIOUS
Satan didn’t remain indifferent to
Anthony’s new spiritual struggles. He prepared new battles and new snares for
him.
Once, in the middle of the night, while he
was praying with deep repentance, entirely forgetting mundane affairs, a
tremendous uproar took place. A large number of wild animals and reptiles
appeared: snakes, tigers, scorpions, wolves, lions and many more. They started
biting him and tearing at his flesh. They were the demons that wanted to
terrify and chase him out of his solitude.
Anthony the Great saw the wild rage of the
dark powers but he knew how to act. Showing great generosity and courage he
shouted at them with all his might:
“I’m not afraid of you! You won’t beat me!
Your screams only bring to light your great weaknesses.”
Anthony’s courage and patience made the
devils furious. They rushed at him and started beating him. They gave him such
a thrashing that his body was completely covered with wounds. Only when he was
senseless and half-dead did the demons leave him.
The next morning, the Christian who brought
Anthony his food, found him in this sorry state. At first, he thought that he
was dead but when he saw that he was still breathing, he quickly carried him to
friends to tend to him.
Anthony recovered overnight and with the
help of his Christian supporter, returned to his small abode. After praying, he
addressed the demons and shouted:
“Here I am! With the power of Jesus
Christ, I’m not afraid of your satanic assaults or your beatings!“
The demons were irate. They appeared again
as wild animals and reptiles, bellowing and hissing loudly. They gnashed their
teeth viciously and tried to use their poison on him. The tomb was shaken to
its foundation, as if a big earthquake had occurred. It was pandemonium.
Various wild animals attacked him. The lion roared and jumped on him trying to
eat him; the scorpion stung him; the bull tried to gore him with its horns; and
all the others used every means to frighten him.
Anthony’s body was still tender from the
previous assaults and he suffered greatly.
But he was not discouraged. He laughed at
them and said:
“If you had a little power, only one of
you would be enough to exterminate me, but because my Lord has deprived you of
any power, you’re just trying to scare me by using different illusions,
transforming into many wild animals. If you have the authority to exterminate
me, do it now. Go ahead! Why do you look so upset?”
CHRIST
PRESENTS HIMSELF
The words of the saint made the devils
gnash their teeth viciously. Their hatred for the young ascetic was tremendous.
They started a new attack, but suddenly a
heavenly, divine light shone through the roof of the damp tomb and the demons
immediately disappeared.
An indescribable serenity and peace spread
everywhere. The fresh wounds of our saint were miraculously healed! A vast joy
filled up the heart and soul of the holy ascetic.
Anthony perceived the divine visit of his
beloved Jesus and he gently moaned, saying:
“Where were you before this, my dear
Jesus? Why didn’t you soothe my pains from the very beginning? For sixteen
years now Satan has been inflaming me.”
Then he heard the sweet, affectionate
voice of Jesus saying to him:
“I was here, Anthony, all the time,
watching you even though you couldn’t see me. I was waiting to see if you would
resist. Since you suffered all these martyrdoms faithfully for Me, I’ll be
close to you forever and make your name renowned all over the world.”
Saint Anthony was filled with courage and
heavenly power upon hearing these words.
He thanked God with tears of gratitude for
giving him the necessary strength to win this battle. He had never before felt
so capable and vigorous, as he did then in the Lord’s presence!
HE DEPARTS
FOR THE INNER DESERT
After this significant divine
intervention, Saint Anthony decided to go even further away from worldly
matters.
It was 285 A.D. Our saint was about 35
years old.
Before he departed for the inner desert,
he had met with his holy elder; his first instructor who’d initiated him into
the ascetic life. He wanted his blessing and also to ask him if he was willing
to come with him to the desert.
The old man blessed the young ascetic with
all his heart, but he refused to follow him. In the first place, he was too old
and couldn’t endure the hardships and secondly, it wasn’t a habit among the
hermits of this era to go to the inner desert.
Saint Anthony, therefore, started off on
his journey alone. He passed through the Nile River and turned towards the
mountains on the right bank of the river, which face Arabia.
THE SILVER
DISK AND THE GOLD
While he was walking slowly on the hot
desert sand, saying his prayer, he heard a noise, like someone had thrown
something. He immediately turned towards it and saw a silver disk glittering in
the sand! Anthony the Great ignored it for a minute, then glancing nonchalantly
at it again, he wondered:
“How did this disk get here? There’s no
road here or path or even footprints from people passing by. If this disk was
dropped by somebody, wouldn’t he have heard it fall and turned back around to
get it? Demon, this is a trick of yours in order to tempt me with greed and
deceive me! I’ll give this coin to you! Take it with you to the dark kingdom of
Hell!”
As soon as he had said this, the disk
disappeared. The demon was defeated but that didn’t stop his evil plotting.
* * *
As Anthony continued walking, a bright
pile of gold appeared in front of him.
Saint Anthony was impressed with the
amount of gold, but instead of showing any interest, he quickly ran away.
It was a victory for our saint over the
craftiness of Satan, who had hoped to make him pause to admire the earthly
wealth and entice him to greed.
Gold, a source of power and authority on
earth, didn’t tempt our saint at all, who maintained his indifferent attitude.
God allowed this trial to occur, to show all his children and the devil too,
that perfect happiness can only be found in God.
For the saints, the true philosophy is to
love. They don’t follow false things but instead permanent and eternal ones
which give them real joy. This is why they scorn the false, carnal pleasures on
earth and instead follow whatever is spiritual and heavenly, even offering
their own lives.
WRESTLING
WITH SATAN
He walked on into the desert until he came
upon some ruins. It was an old abandoned fortress with a cool spring nearby.
The spring could provide him with water and he was pleased with the tranquility
of this location.
He entered the fortress and beseeched God
to bless the place. Many reptiles and wild animals were living there, but as
soon as Anthony entered the ruins, they fled like they were being chased by an
invisible force.
Saint Anthony lived in this place for
about 20 years, wrestling all alone with the dark powers of Satan.
Nobody can describe the countless satanic
assaults that our saint endured here or the heroic victories he won! Night and
day, he fought his enemies using his ceaseless, fiery prayer as a weapon!
The demons didn’t let up even for a
second. They moaned like wild animals, hissed like poisonous reptiles, always
ready to attack. They transformed themselves into beautiful women and sang
erotic songs to scandalize him. They used every trick in the book, in order to
push him off of the foundation of his great faith in God. But all in vain!
Anthony fought like a hero! He fasted,
went nights without sleep, prayed continuously and courageously resisted all
temptation. He mocked the demons and drove them out in the all-holy name of
Christ.
Nowhere in the spiritual trials of
humanity has anyone suffered and endured such satanic attacks and survived. Not
only did he survive this spiritual warfare, but he won!
Saint Anthony’s achievements are admired
by the entire Christian world. Tales of his victorious battles with Satan
became part of everyday conversation during this time.
They all saw him as a tremendous, bright
star of the church and called him, “Anthony the Great”!
They found out where he was living as a
hermit and began to visit him! Many of them witnessed his great ascetic
struggles for themselves.
Once, some pilgrims went to see him to
benefit from his wisdom, but when they arrived at the fortress where he was
living, they heard wild screams coming from within:
“Go away! The desert is ours. You won’t be
able to endure our snares and assaults!”
At first the visitors thought that the
voices were human, but shortly they realized that they were satanic.
Now they were frightened and sought
Anthony’s help and protection. The saint approached them affectionately and
told them:
“My dear friends don’t be afraid of these
voices. Leave the demon to be beaten. The only thing you need to do is make the
sign of the cross with deep faith and then walk without fear.”
The visitors happily returned home,
spreading the name of the holy ascetic, Anthony, everywhere, for they had
gotten a small taste of his superhuman struggle and benefited enormously from
his teachings.
AN
EXCELLENT TEACHER
With this admiration came many disciples,
who wanted to imitate his holy life.
Other hermits thought he was a shining
example, showing them with patience and love, the spiritual journey to draw
near to God.
Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, his words
became a valuable guide for those who longed to save their souls.
They sat close to him, attentive to his
marvellous teachings. His fatherly admonitions soothed their souls, like a
welcome breeze in the scorching heat.
He spoke to them of the true love of God
and the holy sufferings of Jesus Christ with such faith and excitement that his
listeners were deeply touched.
Those weighed down under the burden of
their many sins, found peace of mind near him. He advised them not to be
disheartened by their weaknesses, but to turn to their crucified Redeemer,
contemplating His holy wounds, the crown of thorns, the sharp nails in His
hands and feet, His side pierced with a spear; and to seek his mercy and
forgiveness.
These lost and wandering sheep would
return to their shepherd when confronted with our sinless Lord’s crucifixion.
His compassionate words made all the
sinners repent, with tears of confession shining like pearls on their faces.
He reminded them of all the sinful people
mentioned by Christ in the Holy Gospel: the prodigal son; Zacchaeus; the
prostitute; the Evangelist Mathew, a former tax-collector; the Great Apostle
Paul, a one-time persecutor of Christians; and so many others, who through
their repentance, God not only forgave but made saints!
He tried not only to help the sinners
repent but rekindle the flame of God’s love in their hearts.
When he talked about the love of God, his
entire body was on fire and his face shone so brightly that nobody could look
directly at him.
Like burning lava in the center of a
volcano, Anthony’s love for Christ flowed from deep within his soul.
Whenever he said the name of our Lord
aloud, his heart throbbed with emotion and his tender face was etched with
tears.
Years after Anthony’s death, a later saint
begged God to show him all the Christian saints. God answered his prayer and
showed him all the orders of the saints in paradise. But Saint Anthony was
nowhere to be found. Disappointed, he asked God to tell him where he was. Then
a heavenly voice answered that Saint Anthony never left the side of His
heavenly throne!
THE DESERT
FILLS WITH MONKS
Such an exceptional and unique teacher
couldn’t stay hidden. His fame spread everywhere and crowds came to see him and
receive his blessing.
Young men, eager to dedicate themselves to
Christ, abandoned worldly affairs and became monks. His hermitage soon became
surrounded by these new ascetic monks, turning the desert into a city of
newly-built monasteries.
Like the angels of heaven, Anthony’s
disciples in the tranquility of the desert, praised and glorified God with
hymns.
The demons fought them fiercely, but they
weren’t afraid of them because they had an experienced fighter to lead them.
They sought to acquire his tested
knowledge of fighting the demons.
Saint Anthony, with fatherly affection,
frequently gathered all his spiritual
children around him and advised them with examples from his own experiences.
“Be mindful, my dear children, of the
craftiness and lies of Satan. Don’t believe what he says to you. Once a demon
visited me and said: ‘Anthony, we came in here to bring you light, because we
regret that you live in darkness.’ At that moment I didn’t talk to them. I
closed my eyes and prayed, but when I opened my eyes, I couldn’t see any light.
There was only absolute darkness. The frightened demons had disappeared.”
A monk then said to him, “Once, a demon
was shaking my cell so strongly that for a moment I thought he was going to
destroy it.”
“Don’t be afraid of these tricks, my
brother. One time demons came to me too and shook my hermitage vigorously
because they wanted me to flee in fear. Then, a very tall demon with a dreadful
face, stood in front of me and said: ‘Anthony, I’m the power of God. What would
you like me to give you?’ I understood right away the demonic plot, so I blew
on him three times and shouted: ‘In the name of my Lord, Jesus Christ get out
of here!’ I didn’t finish my prayer before the demon disappeared, leaving
behind a terrible mess.”
Another disciple said to him, “Holy
elder, whenever we fast the devil creates very enticing meals in our
imagination and gives us such an appetite that we have neither the courage to
say our prayers, nor to continue our fast!”
“My dear children, the devil knows too
well that fasting is a very powerful weapon against him, and that’s why he
tries to discourage you from this great practice. Through fasting, vigilance
and prayer, God gives us substantial heavenly gifts. One day when I was fasting
for many days and nights, a shameless demon came dressed like a monk with
loaves of bread and said: ‘Anthony, don’t fast too much or you’ll become ill.
Eat this bread that I’ve brought you, for strength.’ But I stood up instead,
made the sign of the cross and prayed until the demon disappeared.”
The saint advised his spiritual children
to guard all the thoughts entering their minds and confess them to experienced
elders.
He said that thoughts were the easiest
door for the devil to enter a soul. The devil uses thoughts as a way to
disappoint us with our spiritual progress. He plants seeds of fear in us that
we can’t succeed in our struggle with him and that we’ll eventually be beaten
no matter what we do.
He fills our minds with proud thoughts;
like that we’re “great saints”. If we don’t rely on the unshakable rock of
humility, he would surely mislead us and we’d be lost; for selfishness alone is
enough to send a soul to hell!
Saint Anthony said to his disciples,
“Once the demons came to me and pretended to admire me greatly. They hoped to
throw me into the fire of hell by inciting the passion of selfishness. They
even knelt down in respect, because I’m supposedly a well-known saint, saying:
‘Anthony you’re a great saint and a fortunate man!’ I didn’t let them finish their
words. With deep humility I cried out: ‘My Lord, forgive your sinful servant,
for I’m the lowest of all the people on earth.’ Then I heard the demons moan
and howl, like they were being whipped mercilessly. They exclaimed: ‘You burn
us, Anthony, you burn us. You whip us with your great humility. We can’t endure
it any more!’ ”
With his wisdom and many personal
examples, Anthony the Great instructed not only his monks, but also all the
pious Christians who took refuge in his remote hermitage.
CLOSE TO
THE MARTYRS
While our saint was fighting ascetically
in the desert, the church of Christ was being persecuted. Around the year 311
A.D. Emperor Maximinos ordered a great persecution of all Christians.
The church went through one of its
bloodiest and most heroic periods. Innumerable Christians were arrested and
martyred for Christ.
These persecutions spread to Egypt. The
country of the Nile River was covered in the blood of martyrs. In the desert,
Anthony the Great learned about the cruel torture which they endured and
admired them greatly.
He abandoned the desert with some other
monks and went to the holy athletes. His heart burned with an eager desire to
suffer as a martyr himself for the love of Jesus.
He boldly entered the prisons and
bolstered the martyrs with his stirring words. He praised them for their
obvious long-suffering and filled their heart with courage and deep faith.
His presence increased their faith and
they tolerated the cruel tortures with fresh courage. They stared fearlessly at
the wild beasts racing towards them to tear them into pieces. They joyfully
chanted the hymn of victory, while being crucified and burned like candles at
the hands of the idolaters. They continued chanting doxologies to God and
refused to renounce Christ, as they were placed in enormous kettles of burning
tar.
Anthony the Great envied their torture. He
also wanted to suffer and even die as a martyr for Christ. But that wasn’t
God’s will. When the persecutions stopped, he returned to his beloved desert
and hermit’s life. His spiritual disciples and the numerous ascetics nearby
were waiting anxiously to see him again.
HE HEALS A
WOMAN POSSESSED BY AN EVIL SPIRIT
As the fame of his holiness grew, the
number of people who traveled to the remote desert increased because they
wanted to see the great ascetic and hear his divine words.
One of these was a top-ranking officer,
named Martinian, who beseeched Anthony:
“In the name of God, please help me. I
have a daughter who is terribly possessed by Satan. Pray so that the demon will
leave her.”
“My fellow man, what would you like me to
do since I’m as sinful as you are? But if you believe in Jesus Christ, return
to your house, pray with true faith to God, and your daughter will be healed.”
The officer simply believed Saint
Anthony’s words. He returned to his house, said his heartfelt prayer to God to
heal his beloved daughter.
Miraculously, the demon left and the child
was healed.
From then on, many sick people started
coming to the miraculous ascetic to be blessed, in the hope that they’d be
cured of their various diseases. Among them were many people possessed by evil
spirits, whom our saint liberated from the dark bonds of Satan.
HE LEAVES
FOR THE FAR DESERT
So long as the people kept flocking to him
in droves and his fame increased, our saint grew continuously more distressed.
In order to evade the demon of pride, he secretly decided to depart from there
and go far away to the Upper Thebaid. He took some dry bread and came down to
the river to cross to the opposite bank. As he was waiting for the boat, he
suddenly heard a voice say to him:
“Where are you going Anthony?”
“The people disturb me and ask me to work
miracles far above my power. That’s why I’m leaving for the Upper Thebaid.”
“Even if you go to Thebaid, they’ll come
to see you. If you want to have more tranquility, go to the inner desert.”
“Who’s going to show me the road, since I
don’t know the way?”
“In a little bit, some Saracens are going
to come. Follow them and they’ll guide you to a place of absolute serenity.”
Indeed, some Saracens arrived soon after
and graciously agreed to lead him to the place he wanted to go.
Three days later, they arrived at a high
mountain, known in those days as Kolzim, (but later called Saint’s Anthony
Mountain), about 50 km from the Red Sea.
The place was very beautiful. It was full
of date trees and bubbling springs. The Saracens left Saint Anthony here, after
giving him some of their bread.
Anthony the Great loved this place very
much. Here he would live all alone, with only his most beloved Lord as company.
He prayed earnestly day and night, isolated from the outside world in absolute
tranquility and severe asceticism. Here God revealed to him the mysteries of
life and creation. Saint Anthony lived like an earthly angel; only concerned
with the unceasing glorification of God.
After a short period of time his disciples
learned where their beloved spiritual father was and immediately ran to be
close to him. They were in need of his wise advice and miraculous blessing.
They also started taking care of his
physical sustenance, regularly bringing basic foodstuffs. Saint Anthony grew
very worried seeing how tired his monks were, after bringing these provisions
from so great a distance.
Thankfully, this place was very fertile,
so he asked them to bring tools for farming and some wheat to sow there. In
this way, he became self-supporting, since with a little sweat he could earn
his daily bread with his own hands.
He planted also some vegetables for his
visitors.
The wild animals of the desert though,
came to drink water, passing through his small garden and destroying both the
garden and seedlings.
St. Anthony waited until he found one of
the wild animals in the garden and approached it and spoke to it like a human:
“Why do you destroy my garden? I’ve never
harmed you! In the name of Christ, go away and never come back.”
From then on, the wild animals left his
garden in peace!
THE
ASSAULTS OF THE DEVIL
Saint Anthony’s holy asceticism highly
irritated the demons. They never stopped tormenting him, even for a second, and
they hoped the day would come when they’d eventually triumph over him.
Once they made the wild lions and hyenas
of the desert encircle him. They threatened to tear him into pieces. They were
growling and licking their lips. Saint Anthony bravely went outside his hut and
said to them:
“If God gave you the authority to eat me,
come and do it. But if the devil asked you to, go away, because I’m a humble
servant of Christ!”
As soon as he spoke, all the wild beasts
left in an uproar and the saint thanked God for His heavenly protection.
Another time while he was weaving a basket
in his hut, he saw the door opening by itself. He turned towards it and saw a
strange wild beast. From the waist up, he was human, but below the waist, a
donkey. He was Satan incarnate. Anthony made the sign of the cross and said to
him:
“I’m a servant of Christ, if God has
permitted you to harm me then do so, otherwise keep away from me.”
The wild beast turned on his heels with
fear and trembling. He was in such a hurry to flee that he tripped and fell and
died. His death was a symbol of Anthony’s triumph over all demons.
For 20 straight years, without any
results, the demons fought and tormented him. Finally, they began to admit
their shortcomings against the Christians.
* * *
The saint recalled, “One stormy winter
night, it was pouring down rain and blowing wind. I heard somebody knocking.
Thinking that it was just a visitor, I opened the door of my hut. In front of me stood a very tall demon who
said:
‘I’m the devil incarnate. Tell me why the
monks and other Christians blame me so unjustly? Why do they curse me? Why do
they attack me constantly?’
‘Because you accuse and scandalize them,’ I responded.
But the devil confessed, ‘I’ve been
weakened; I have no power anymore. They accuse and scandalize themselves.’
I told him, ‘You’ve always lied, but
now you speak the truth. Our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection has vanquished
you and taken your power.’
And with that, our dark enemy left in
shame.”
DIVINE
GIFTS AND MIRACULOUS ACTIONS
With his great ascetic struggles and
earnest prayer, he deadened any sexual urges and earthly desires and attained
an impassioned state.
God filled him with heavenly gifts. These
gifts and the miracles he was responsible for, with his prayer, were amazing.
The following are a few examples.
FRONTON’S HEALING
A nobleman from the palace of the king,
named Fronton, was suffering a terrible illness and slowly going blind. He came
to the hermitage of the saint and asked for his help. Saint Anthony said to
him:
“Go away quickly and you’ll be healed on your
return!”
But Fronton didn’t want to leave before
being healed.
The saint said to him again:
“As long as you stay here you won’t be
cured. Therefore, go away now and before you get to Egypt you’ll be cured!”
The sick nobleman was finally persuaded
and left. On his way back he was healed completely.
THE CURE OF A DISGUSTING ILLNESS
A girl, from Vusiri of Tripolis in Libya,
was suffering from a serious and disgusting illness.
Her tears and the liquid coming out of her
ears and mouth, turned into worms as they fell down to the ground. Her body was
paralyzed and she was blind.
Her parents despaired, because no doctor
could cure her. They heard about the miraculous Saint Anthony and decided to go
with their daughter to see him in the desert and ask him to cure her.
Before they arrived, Anthony the Great
said to his monks:
“Go to this sick girl; she’s already
healed. They don’t need to trouble themselves to come here to see a sinful man
like me. God has heard their prayer and had mercy on them.”
With just his word the miracle immediately
took place. To the surprise of the parents, the girl rose from the stretcher
she’d been carried on and began to walk by herself, without any trace of her
horrible illness.
THE THIRSTY MONKS
One day, he was teaching his disciples,
warning them about unclean thoughts, the start of carnal temptations, the base
of all sins and gateway to hell, selfishness. Suddenly, he stood up and shouted
at two monks:
“Quick, take a pitcher full of water and
run past the two big hills. You’ll find two monks who are trying to come here.
The first has already died of thirst. Run now to reach the other in time
because he’s also in danger.”
The monks ran as fast as they could to the
place the saint had described. After many hours they found the two monks. The
first one had indeed perished so they buried him there. They revived the other
one with food and water and carried him back to the monastery.
They all admired the great gift of
foresight, with which God had adorned His chosen servant, Anthony. This same
gift can be admired in the case of Eulogios.
THE LEPER AND EULOGIOS
Eulogios lived in Alexandria, in Egypt. He
was very much a compassionate Christian, who helped every poor person he could,
with joy and patience.
Once, he came upon an old abandoned leper,
desperately begging for help. He took pity on him and brought him to his small
house to care for him. He had to work all day in order to afford his care, and
at night, he nursed the contagious leper, risking his own life.
In the beginning, the old leper was very
happy that somebody was caring for him, but after a little while he became so
crabby and impudent that he started insulting and degrading poor Eulogios. He
soon became impossible for Eulogios to calm down.
For 17 long years the leper was so
demonically ungrateful, that Eulogios’s life became unbearable. Many times he
thought of throwing him out of the house but he pitied him and remained
patient. Still, he couldn’t rid himself of these thoughts of getting rid of the
leper, so he decided to seek Saint Anthony for his advice on the situation.
Thus, Eulogios followed other pilgrims going
to meet the ascetic. They found Saint Anthony talking to a great number of
visitors there. Suddenly, he stopped and went through the crowd towards
Eulogios, and said:
“Eulogios, what are you looking for here?
Return quickly to your task, so that you don’t lose your reward from God for
those 17 years!”
Eulogios was at a loss. Saint Anthony,
whom he had never met before, not only knew his name but also his problem. He
returned to his small house at once to continue his benevolent care for the
ungrateful leper. In three days the old leper died and Eulogios lived another
40 days before his own death.
HE FORCES OUT DEMONS
During his entire life, the demons never
stopped harassing him, but they also were terrified whenever he raised his
hands in prayer.
All the fires on earth, wouldn’t burn the
demons, as much as one of Anthony’s prayers. When he commanded them to leave
someone or somewhere, they had to obey.
One day, as he was going to visit some
monasteries, he went aboard a small boat to cross to the other side. As they
were crossing, an awful stench came to his nose and he wondered:
“What smells so bad around here?”
“Maybe some rotten fish?” someone suggested.
“No, I smell something much worse.”
At that moment, they were interrupted by
terrible screams coming from a young man in the boat’s storeroom. A demon had
entered him and was torturing him.
Saint Anthony said a prayer, made the sign
of the cross over the young man and the demon came out. The man was restored to
full health and serenity and he fell to his knees thanking the saint. Then
everyone on board realized that the offensive odor the saint had smelled came
from the dirty demon hiding in the body of the young man.
* * *
Another time, while the saint was in
Alexandria visiting Christians there, a woman approached him in tears and
begged him to heal her daughter, who was possessed by an evil spirit.
The demon was torturing the poor girl
horribly. Once, the demon threw her into the fire to burn her and another time
into a river, to drown her. Other times, the demon forced her to eat her own
flesh or waste. It was an endless martyrdom, which made the distraught mother
cry morning and night.
They brought the possessed daughter to the
saint and as soon as the demon saw him, it groaned in terror and immediately
fled, setting the girl free from her dark bonds.
HE SEES THE SOUL OF SAINT AMUN
His pure and unadulterated soul was full
of so much power and grace that God blessed him with heavenly revelations and
let him examine His mysteries thoroughly.
Once, he was discussing the joys of the
heavenly kingdom with his disciples, when he saw a white soul ascending
upwards. The soul was accompanied by the holy angels, chanting hymns of glory
and gladness. A great celebration was taking place in heaven.
He was dumbstruck at the sight of this
divine scene and silently begged God to reveal who this bright soul was.
A voice came down from heaven, saying:
“It is the soul of Amun.”
Amun was a holy monk, living as a hermit
in the mountain of Nitria, (about a 13-day journey from saint Anthony’s
hermitage). Amun was so holy that it was said that when he wanted to cross the
Nile, he would simply walk across the water!
Noticing the wonder on his face, the
disciples of Saint Anthony, asked him what he was looking at.
“Just now, Amun, a fellow ascetic and
friend of mine, died. I saw his soul ascending to heaven and the holy angels
celebrating joyfully!”
His disciples happened to note the time
that the saint had this vision.
After about thirty days, monks from Mount
Nitria visited the hermitage of Saint Anthony and mentioned the day and the
time of Amun’s death.
To their great surprise they ascertained
that it was exactly the same moment that Saint Anthony had seen the vision and
thereafter, they were even more awestruck at the desert ascetic’s heavenly
gifts.
HE IS
NAMED GREAT
During Saint Anthony’s life, many people
were curious why he was blessed with so many gifts and glorified so greatly,
compared to the rest of the ascetics.
There are only a handful of saints who
have earned the title ‘”Great” and Anthony is one of them.
What was the reason for this? What did he
have in his heart, this humble, good-natured, affectionate spiritual father,
which made him resemble our Lord, Jesus Christ, in word and deed?
If we could open and enter the heart of
Saint Anthony, we would see only one image and name deeply engraved in his
heart.
We would see the figure of his most
beloved Savior and Redeemer: Jesus Christ!
It was impossible for someone to visit
Saint Anthony and not feel his love for Christ, to kneel in front of him,
confessing their sins and not to feel God’s boundless compassion.
His venerable face shone with a heavenly,
divine light and his penetrating eyes made them believe that he loved them like
no one else on earth!
With his inherent grace he shed light into
the darkness of the soul and replaced pain with gladness, to turn away
disappointment and to give his visitors serenity and peace!
Not only Christians, but idolaters highly
respected him and often came to visit and hear his wise answers to their
religious questions.
He challenged the pagan philosophers to
prove the power of their idols, but they weren’t successful.
* * *
Once, they brought people possessed by an
evil spirit for him to cure. He said to pagans:
“Do you want to test the power of your
idols? Here are many sick people; cure them with the skill and power of your
gods, so all of us will be persuaded that they’re great and true gods. If you
can’t, leave them to me. Then you might recognize that the power of Christ,
whom you mock and deny, is the true God.”
The philosophers confessed publicly that
they were unable to do this.
The saint prayed, made the sign of the
cross over the bodies of the troubled people and to the shock of the pagan
philosophers, healed them.
He saw right into their souls, reading
their thoughts and saying:
“Don’t marvel at what has happened. I
haven’t worked this miracle by myself, Christ has!“
The philosophers went away afterwards,
very pleased and confessing everywhere that they had benefitted very much from
this encounter with the “man of God”.
THE KINGS
WRITE LETTERS TO HIM
The fame of his holiness spread throughout
the empire. Everyone wanted to see and hear the great ascetic of the desert.
The pious Emperor Constantine the Great and his children, princes Constantios
and Constance, wrote to him like a father.
He used to say to the monks, who admired
him for his contact with the kings:
“What do you admire so much; that the king
sends us letters? He is nothing but a man. You should admire the heavenly
letter much more: the Holy Bible, which the Heavenly King, our God, has sent to
all of us!”
He wrote to the king and the princes with
humility, giving them fatherly advice to be just rulers and care for their poor
and needy subjects.
The kings received his letters and happily
tried to apply the saint’s spiritual advice.
HE FIGHTS
THE HERESY OF ARIANISM
One day as Anthony the Great was sitting
and weaving a basket with palm leaves, he saw a horrible vision. He was very
upset and wept inconsolably with the things he had seen. He remained for a long
time bitterly kneeling in prayer. His disciples were frightened and asked him
what had happened and upset him. Then he told them:
“It is better for me to die, my children,
than live and see all these things that God has revealed to me. There’s going
to be a great heresy in the church. Men will seize and desecrate the church
like animals. I saw mules standing around the holy altar, kicking and stomping.
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying: ‘They will desecrate My sanctuary.’ ”
Two years later, the demonic heresy of
Arius appeared. This heresy preached that Christ is not the Son of God and divine,
but only a man!
This satanic heresy misled many people
away from the true faith. With hatred and violence, its supporters seized many
Orthodox Churches, which they desecrated, fulfilling the saint’s vision. Many
holy hierarchs were banished, including the pillar of Orthodoxy, Athanasius the
Great. Others suffered tortures for their faith.
The church lived through a period of
intense suffering. Satan, who failed to beat the church by the persecutions of
idolaters, now struck from within, questioning the divinity of Christ.
Anthony the Great fought back against
Satan and his diabolical heresy. He descended from his solitary mountain, and
like a divine tornado, rushed into the struggle against Arius.
In 338 A.D. he came to Alexandria and
proclaimed everywhere:
“This teaching of Arius isn’t what the
Apostles have taught. It’s demonic and a forerunner of the Antichrist!”
The pious Christians gathered their
courage. The heretics couldn’t resist Anthony the Great’s arguments for the
divinity of Christ. Many of them came back to the true faith.
The long suffering Patriarch of
Alexandria, Saint Athanasius, who had been exiled many times, was delighted by
Saint Anthony’s actions and remarked:
“One visit of Saint Anthony in Alexandria
is so beneficial that it equates to all the work we’ve done for a whole year.”
After Saint Anthony managed to cement and
strengthen the faith of the Orthodox people, he left Alexandria and returned to
his beloved solitude.
VISIONS OF ETERNAL LIFE
Saint Anthony was now a very old man, more
than a hundred years old. The great holiness, deep faith, magnificent humility,
fire of his love, and the heavenly grace with which God had endowed him, made
him a brilliant symbol of monasticism. About 20.000 disciples following his
brilliant example came to live near him and imitate his hallowed life. He was
aware that he had little remaining time before he’d go to meet his most beloved
Jesus and he prepared accordingly.
The saint had a great blessing: whenever he
had a question on any subject of the Holy Bible or on the visible or invisible
cosmos, God answered him.
He, therefore, asked God to reveal to him
the mysteries of eternal life and what really happens when someone dies.
He saw many important revelations and his
disciples sometimes caught him groaning and crying woefully.
At the insistent requests of his disciples
to tell them a few things from these heavenly revelations, he told them the
following for their spiritual benefit and the salvation of their souls.
“My children, it’s dreadful what happens
when the soul of a person is taken from the body. The demons bring many charges
against us from the sins we’ve committed during our lives. They try to grab our
demoralized soul from the hands of the angels. Woe to the man who has lived his
life with impiety and contempt of the divine will, following only the demon’s
advice. A dreadful ugly giant, so tall that he can reach up to the clouds,
stretches his hands and tries to catch those flying souls, ascending to heaven!
Some of them are caught and he immediately throws them to Hades, but others
evade him because they’re flying with the wings of faith, love and charity from
their life on earth. Then Satan trembles with such anger and rage that he loses
them. Thus, my children fight the good struggle of faith with deep humility and
repentance for your sins, for this literally burns and paralyzes the devil’s
power. This is how you’ll succeed in finding eternal life in paradise.”
HIS
FALLING ASLEEP
Saint Anthony foresaw the end of his
temporal life. He wanted to see all his spiritual children and bless them one
last time. He visited all the monasteries, founded with his blessing and gave
them some final words.
It was the custom of the Egyptians not to
bury the bodies of virtuous men and holy Martyrs, but instead to cover them in
special perfumes and keep them untouched in special beds within their tombs,
like the mummies.
Saint Anthony had struggled to eradicate
this erroneous custom. He taught them that the bodies of all the saints were
buried, even the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, who stayed in a tomb for three
days.
Fearful that they would try to do the same
thing to his own body, he refused to spend his final hours near them, but went
instead to his beloved desert.
After a few days, he became sick and
called two of his disciples, Makarios and Samatas, who had served him for
fifteen years. He requested that they wouldn’t give away any part of his
remains when he died, but bury his body in a secret place.
So from the top of the mountain, he
blessed all the people of the world and all his children and raised his eyes
prayerfully to heaven, where his most beloved God was waiting for him.
His heart was beating quickly from the
excitement of soon being joined with Christ. He was ready to fly into His
outstretched arms.
His face shone like the sun and he
breathed for the last time, the name of Jesus Christ. Then his soul flew high
to heaven, as the angels of God chanted hymns.
It was 17th of January of the year
356 A.D.
This was the marvelous life of the most
eminent ascetic of the desert, Anthony the Great. May God, with his mediations,
grant us sinners, to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Written in Greek by Fr. Elpidios Vagianakis
Translated by anonymous Christians 