My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 17th of January Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
Our Righteous and God-bearing Father
ANTHONY THE GREAT.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Fourth Tone
EMULATING the ways of Elias the zealot, and following the straight
paths of the Baptist, O Father Anthony, thou madest of the wilderness
a city, and didst support the world by thy prayers. Wherefore
intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.
Kontakion Hymn. Second Tone
THOU leftest behind all earthly cares and turbulence, and leddest
a life of stillness and tranquility, emulating John the Baptist in
every way, O most righteous one. Wherefore, we acclaim thee
with him, O first of the Fathers, Father Anthony.
Saint Anthony (Antonios), the Father of monks, was born in Egypt in A.D. 251 of pious parents who departed this life while he was yet young. On hearing the words of the Gospel: "If thou wilt be perfect go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor" (Matthew 19:21), he immediately put into action. Distributing to the poor all he had, and fleeing from all the turmoil of the world, he departed to the desert. The manifold temptations he endured continually for the space of twenty years are incredible. His ascetical struggles by day and by night, whereby he mortified the uprisings of the passions and attained to the height of dispassion, surpass the bounds of nature; and the report of his deeds of virtue drew such a multitude to follow him, that the desert was transformed into a city, while he became, so to speak, the governor, lawgiver, and master-trainer of all the citizens of this newly-formed city. But the cities of the world also enjoyed the fruit of his virtue. When the Christians were being persecuted and put to death under the pagan Roman Emperor Maximinus in A.D. 312, he hastened to their aid and consolation. When the Church was troubled by the Arian heretics, he went with zeal to Alexandria in A.D. 335 and struggled against them on behalf of Orthodoxy. During this time, by the grace of his words, he also turned many unbelievers to Christ.
He began his ASCETICAL LIFE outside his village of Coma in Upper Egypt, studying the ways of the ascetics and holy men there, and perfecting himself in the virtues of each until he surpassed them all. Desiring to increase his labors, he departed into the desert, and finding an abandoned fortress in the mountains, he made his dwelling in it, training himself in extreme fasting, unceasing prayer, and fierce conflicts with the demons. Here he remained, as mentioned above, about twenty years. Saint Athanasios the Great, who knew him personally and wrote about his life, says that he came forth from that fortress "initiated in the mysteries and filled with the Spirit of God." Afterwards, because of the press of the faithful, who deprived him of his solitude, he was enlightened by God to journey with certain Bedouins, until he came to a mountain in the desert near the Red Sea, where he passed the remaining part of his life. Saint Athanasios says of him that "his countenance had a great and wonderful grace. This gift also he had from the Savior. For if he were present in a great company of monks, and any one who did not know him previously wished to see him, immediately coming forward he passed by the rest, and hurried to Anthony, as though attracted by his appearance. Yet neither in height nor breadth was he conspicuous above others, but in the serenity of his manner and the purity of his soul."
THE DEVIL DECLARES WAR ON SAINT ANTHONY
The Devil, galled by every good deed or mankind, could not bear such ardour in so youn a man, and decided to go to war against him. First of all, he prompted the remembrance of the fortune he had given up, of the sister whom he had abandoned, and of all the pleasures of his former life. Then he set before him a picture of the appalling difficulties of the ascetic life, of his bodily weakness, and of the long-drawn-out contest that he would be engaged in through the years, and brought upon him a whole thick cloud of conflicting thoughts. Since Anthony resisted these assaults with FIRM FAITH, PATIENCE AND UNCEASING PRAYER, the Evil One passed to the attack on another front. He brought filthy thoughts to his mind and goaded his youthful senses by any number of lustful suggestions. Then, seeing that he stood steadfast, he assumed a woman’s shape by night and with shameless gestures invited him to sin. But the valiant soldier of Christ repulsed Satan by remembrance of the pains of hell. The Devil, recognizing with exasperation that he had been beaten, then revealed himself as the spirit of fornication in the form of a hideous, swarthy infant. Anthony repelled this absurd apparition with contempt, and chanted: "The Lord is my helper and I shall see my desire uon them that hate me" (Psalm 118:7). Indeed, he was convinced that this first victory was not owing to himself, but to the Grace of God that was with him (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:10). Accordingly, duly warned by the Holy Scripture of the various machinations of the demons, he did not allow himself to be lulled into a false sense of security but, ever on his guard, laboured with even greater care to bring his body into subjection lest, victorious in one contest, he should be worsted in another. Having strengthened his resolve by making it a godly habit, he no longer found difficulty in spending the whole night in prayer. He ate only a little bread and salt every two days, and denied himself all human consolation. Forgetting the time already spent in this way of life and "straining forward to what lay ahead" (Philippians 3:13), he regarded each day as the beginning of his ascesis and made his own the words of the Prophet Elias: "The Lord is alive and I must appear in His presence today" (1 Kings 18:15).
In order to pursue this campaign, he occupied an old hollowed-out pagan tomb, much to the anger of Satan, who came at night with a whole host of demons and rained blows upon him thick and fast, leaving him lying half-dead on the ground, covered in wounds. When the friend who brought his food found him in this state, he carried him to hte village church straight away. But, as soon as he had recovered consciousness, Anthony begged his friend to take him back to the tomb. Since he was unable to stand, he prayed there lying on the ground and bid defiance to the demons, who crowded into the grave taking the form of all kinds of wild animals and reptiles. Attached on all sides, the valiant warrior repulsed them with a loud shout: "If you had any power," he cried, "one of you would be enough to destroy me; but since the Lord has deprived you of your strength, you are trying to frighten me by your number. The fact that you can do no better than take the form of animals without reason shows how weak you are. If you have any power against me, come on, don’t lose your chance, attack! But, if you can’t do anything, then your commotion is futile. The sign of the Cross and the faith are my impregnable line of defence!" The enraged demons in their impotence could noly grind their teeth. At last, the Lord Jesus Christ, appearing from the highest heaven amid a dazzling light, came to his aid and put the spirits of darkness to flight. "Where were You, Lord? Anthony asked. "Why didn’t You bring this fight to an end sooner?" "I was there at your side," Christ answered. "But I was waiting to see your contest. Since you have withstood so valiantly, from now on I shall always be your Defender and I will make your name famous throughout the world."
So passing his life, and becoming an example of virtue and A RULE FOR MONASTICS, he reposed on the 17th of January in the year A.D. 356, having lived altogether 105 years. [Resources: The Great Horologion and The Synaxarion. The Lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church]
__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 