The biography of Anthony's life byAthanasius of Alexandria helped to spread the concept of Christianmonasticism, particularly in Western Europe via itsLatin translations. He is often erroneously considered the first Christian monk, but as his biography and other sources make clear, there were many ascetics before him. Anthony was, however, among the first known to go into the wilderness (about AD 270), which seems to have contributed to his renown.[6] Accounts of Anthony enduring supernatural temptation during his sojourn in theEastern Desert of Egypt inspired the depiction ofhis temptations in visual art and literature.
Anthony isinvoked against infectious diseases, particularly skin diseases. In the past, many such afflictions, includingergotism,erysipelas, andshingles, were referred to asSaint Anthony's fire.
Most of what is known about Anthony comes from theLife of Anthony. Written in Greekc. 360 byAthanasius of Alexandria, it depicts Anthony as an illiterate and holy man who, through his existence in a primordial landscape, has an absolute connection to the divine truth, which is always in harmony with that of Athanasius as the biographer.[6]
A continuation of the genre of secularGreek biography,[7] it became his most widely read work.[8] Sometime before 374 it was translated into Latin byEvagrius of Antioch. The Latin translation helped theLife become one of the best-known works of literature in the Christian world, a status it would hold through theMiddle Ages.[9]
Translated into several languages, it became something of a "best seller" in its day and played an important role in the spreading of theascetic ideal in Eastern and Western Christianity. It later served as an inspiration to Christianmonastics in both the East and the West,[10] and helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism, particularly in Western Europe via its Latin translations.
Anthony probably spoke only his native language,Coptic, but his sayings were spread in aGreek translation. He himself dictated letters in Coptic, seven of which are extant.[11]
Anthony was born inKoma inLower Egypt to wealthy landowner parents. When he was about 20 years old, his parents died and left him with the care of his unmarried sister. Shortly thereafter, he decided to follow the gospel exhortation inMatthew 19: 21, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven." Anthony gave away some of his family's lands to his neighbors, sold the remaining property, and donated the funds to the poor.[12] He then left to live anascetic life,[12] placing his sister with a group ofChristian virgins.[13]
For the next fifteen years, Anthony remained in the area,[14] spending the first years as the disciple of another localhermit.[4] There are various legends that he worked as aswineherd during this period.[15]
According to theTemptation of Saint Anthony (1878) byFélicien Rops:
Anthony is sometimes considered the first monk,[14] and the first to initiate solitary desertification,[16] but there were others before him. There were alreadyascetichermits (theTherapeutae), and loosely organizedcenobitic communities were described by theJewish philosopherPhilo of Alexandria in the 1st century AD as long established in the harsh environment ofLake Mareotis and in other less accessible regions. Philo opined that "this class of persons may be met with in many places, for both Greece and barbarian countries want to enjoy whatever is perfectly good."[17] Christian ascetics such asThecla had likewise retreated to isolated locations at the outskirts of cities. Anthony is notable for having decided to surpass this tradition and headed out into the desert proper. He left for the alkalineNitrian Desert (later the location of the noted monasteries ofNitria,Kellia, andScetis) on the edge of theWestern Desert about 95 km (59 mi) west ofAlexandria. He remained there for 13 years.[4]
Anthony maintained a very strict ascetic diet. He ate only bread, salt and water and never meat or wine.[18] He ate at most only once a day and sometimesfasted through two or four days.[19][20]
According toAthanasius, the devil fought Anthony by afflicting him with boredom, laziness, and the phantoms of women, which he overcame by the power of prayer, providing a theme forChristian art. After that, he moved to one of the tombs near his native village. There it was that theLife records those strange conflicts with demons in the shape of wild beasts, who inflicted blows upon him, and sometimes left him nearly dead.[21]
After fifteen years of this life, at the age of thirty-five, Anthony determined to withdraw from the habitations of men and retire in absolute solitude. He went into the desert to a mountain by theNile calledPispir (now Der-el-Memun), oppositeArsinoë.[14] There he lived strictly enclosed in an old abandonedRoman fort for some 20 years.[4] Food was thrown to him over the wall. He was at times visited by pilgrims, whom he refused to see; but gradually a number of would-be disciples established themselves in caves and in huts around the mountain. Thus, a colony of ascetics was formed, who begged Anthony to come forth and be their guide in the spiritual life. Eventually, he yielded to their importunities and, about the year 305, emerged from his retreat. To the surprise of all, he appeared to be not emaciated, but healthy in mind and body.[21]
Painting of Saint Anthony, a part ofThe Visitation withSaint Nicholas and Saint Anthony Abbot byPiero di Cosimo,c. 1480
For five or six years 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 (Mount Colzim) where still stands the monastery that bears his name,Deir 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. Amid theDiocletianic Persecutions, around 311 Anthony went toAlexandria and was conspicuous visiting those who were imprisoned.[21]
Anthony was not the first ascetic or hermit, but he may properly be called the "Father of Monasticism" in Christianity,[12][22][23] as he organized his disciples into a community and later, following the spread of Athanasius's hagiography, was the inspiration for similar communities throughout Egypt and elsewhere.Macarius the Great was a disciple of Anthony. Visitors traveled great distances to see the celebrated holy man. Anthony is said to have spoken to those of a spiritual disposition, leaving the task of addressing the more worldly visitors to Macarius. Macarius later founded a monastic community in the Scetic desert.[24]
The fame of Anthony spread and reachedEmperor Constantine, who wrote to him requesting his prayers. The brethren were pleased with the Emperor's letter, but Anthony was not overawed and wrote back exhorting the Emperor and his sons not to esteem this world but remember the next.[11]
The stories of the meeting of Anthony andPaul of Thebes, theraven who brought them bread, Anthony being sent to fetch the cloak given him by "Athanasius the bishop" to bury Paul's body in, and Paul's death before he returned, are among the familiar legends of theLife. However, belief in the existence of Paul seems to have existed quite independently of theLife.[25]
In 338, he left the desert temporarily to visit Alexandria to help refute the teachings ofArius.[4]
When Anthony sensed his death approaching, he commanded his disciples to give his staff toMacarius of Egypt, and to give onesheepskin cloak toAthanasius of Alexandria and the other sheepskin cloak toSerapion of Thmuis, his disciple.[26] Anthony was interred, according to his instructions, in a grave next to his cell.[11]
Accounts of Anthony enduring preternatural temptation during his sojourn in the Eastern Desert of Egypt inspired the often-repeated subject of the temptation of St. Anthony in Western art and literature.[27]
Anthony is said to have faced a series of preternaturaltemptations during his pilgrimage to the desert. The first to report on the temptation was his contemporaryAthanasius of Alexandria. It is possible these events, like the paintings, are full of rich metaphor or in the case of the animals of the desert, perhaps a vision or dream. Emphasis on these stories, however, did not really begin until theMiddle Ages when the psychology of the individual became of greater interest.[4]
The Meeting of Saint Anthony and Saint Paul of Thebes,Master of the Osservanza, 15th century, with the centaur at the background
Anthony was on a journey in the desert to findPaul of Thebes, who according to his dream was a better hermit than he.[29] Anthony had been under the impression that he was the first person to ever dwell in the desert; however, due to the dream, Anthony was called into the desert to find his "better", Paul. On his way there, he ran into two creatures in the forms of acentaur and asatyr. Although chroniclers sometimes postulated that they might have been living beings, Western theology considers them to have beendemons.[29]
While traveling through the desert, Anthony first found the centaur, a "creature of mingled shape, half horse half-man", whom he asked about directions. The creature tried to speak in an unintelligible language, but ultimately pointed with his hand the way desired, and then ran away and vanished from sight.[29] It was interpreted as a demon trying to terrify him, or alternately a creature engendered by the desert.[30]
Anthony found next the satyr, "a manikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like goats' feet." This creature was peaceful and offered him fruits, and when Anthony asked who he was, the satyr replied, "I'm a mortal being and one of those inhabitants of the desert whom the Gentiles, deluded by various forms of error, worship under the names ofFauns,Satyrs, andIncubi. I am sent to represent my tribe. We pray you on our behalf to entreat the favor of your Lord, who, we have learnt, came once to save the world, and 'whose sound has gone forth into all the earth.'" Upon hearing this, Anthony was overjoyed and rejoiced over the glory of Christ. He condemned the city ofAlexandria for worshipping monsters instead of God while beasts like the satyr spoke about Christ.[29]
Another time Anthony was travelling and found a plate of silver coins in his path. Since he was in the middle of the desert, where it didn't make any sense for anyone to be there, he declared that the silver was a temptation from the devil. Immediately after Anthony's declaration, the silver vanished.[31] Soon, after walking some more in that desert, he found a pile of gold coins that was also a temptation from the devil. Anthony cast the gold into a fire, and the gold coins immediately disappeared just like the silver ones.
Cretan Icon of Saint Anthony the Great with Scenes byEmmanuel Tzanes (1645)
After these two events, he had a vision where the whole world was covered with snares and traps. Anthony prayed saying, "Oh good Lord, who may escape from these snares?” He was responded to by a voice that said, "Humility shall escape them without more."[32]
Being an ascetic, Anthony went out to live in the tombs away from the village. There were so many demons in the cave though, that Anthony's servant had to carry him out because they had beaten him to death. When the hermits were gathered to Anthony's corpse to mourn his death, Anthony was revived. He demanded that his servants take him back to that cave where the demons had beaten him. When he got there he called out to the demons, and they came back as wild beasts to rip him to shreds. Suddenly a bright light flashed, and the demons ran away. Anthony knew that the light must have come from God, and he asked God where he was before when the demons attacked him. God replied, "I was here but I would see and abide to see thy battle, and because thou hast mainly fought and well maintained thy battle, I shall make thy name to be spread through all the world."[33]
Anthony had been secretly buried on the mountaintop where he had chosen to live. His remains were reportedly discovered in 361 and transferred toAlexandria. Some time later, they were taken from Alexandria toConstantinople, so that they might escape the destruction being perpetrated by invadingSaracens. In the eleventh century, theByzantine emperor gave them to the FrenchCount Jocelin. Jocelin had them transferred to La-Motte-Saint-Didier, later renamed.[4] There, Jocelin undertook to build a church to house the remains, but died before the church was even started. The building was finally erected in 1297 and became a centre of veneration and pilgrimage, known asSaint-Antoine-l'Abbaye.
Anthony is credited with assisting in a number of miraculous healings, primarily fromergotism, which became known as "St. Anthony's Fire". Two local noblemen credited his assistance in their recovery from the disease. They then founded theHospital Brothers of St. Anthony in honor of him, who specialized in nursing the victims of skin diseases.[4]
He is venerated especially by theOrder of Saint Paul the First Hermit for his close association withPaul of Thebes, after whom they take their name. In theLife of St. Paul the First Hermit, byJerome, it is recorded that it was Anthony who found Paul towards the end of Paul's life and without whom it is doubtful Paul would be known.[34]
Veneration of Anthony in the East is more restrained. There are comparatively few icons and paintings of him. He is, however, regarded as the "first master of the desert and the pinnacle of holy monks", and there are monastic communities of theMaronite,Chaldean, and Orthodox churches which state that they follow his monastic rule.[4] During theMiddle Ages, Anthony, along withQuirinus of Neuss,Cornelius andHubertus, was venerated as one of theFour Holy Marshals in theRhineland.[35]
Though Anthony himself did not organize or create a monastery, a community grew around him based on his example of living anascetic and isolated life. Athanasius' biography helped propagate Anthony's ideals. Athanasius writes, "For monks, the life of Anthony is a sufficient example of asceticism.[4]His story influenced the conversion ofAugustine of Hippo[39][40] andJohn Chrysostom.[41]
The main centre of veneration of this saint in theCanary Islands (Spain) is located in the town ofLa Matanza de Acentejo, on the island ofTenerife. Thesanctuary of San Antonio Abad is one of the oldest temples in the Canary Islands, founded shortly after the completion of the conquest of the archipelago.
Examples of purelyCoptic literature are the works of Anthony andPachomius, who spoke onlyCoptic, and the sermons and preaching ofShenouda the Archmandrite, who chose to write only in Coptic. The earliest original writings in theCoptic language were the letters of Anthony. During the 3rd and 4th centuries, many ecclesiastics and monks wrote in Coptic.[42]
Chariton the Confessor (mid-3rd century – c. 350), contemporary monk in the Judaean desert
Desert Fathers andDesert Mothers, early Christian hermits, ascetics, and monks who lived mainly in the Scetes desert of Egypt beginning around the third century AD
^Watterson, Barbara. (1989).Coptic Egypt. Scottish Academic Press. p. 57.ISBN978-0707305561 "His food consisted of bread, salt and water: meat and wine he never touched at all. He slept upon a mat, and sometimes upon the bare ground; and never washed or cleansed his body with oil and strigil."
^Smedley, Edward; Rose, Hugh James; Rose, Henry John. (1845).Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. Volume 20. London. p. 228. "He never tasted food till sunset, and sometimes fasted through two or even four days; his diet was of the simplest kind, bread, salt and water, his bed was straw, or frequently bare ground."
^Harmless, William. (2004).Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism. Oxford University Press. pp. 61–62.ISBN0-19-516222-6
^abc One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Butler, Cuthbert (1907). "St. Anthony". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Bacchus, Francis Joseph (1911). "St. Paul the Hermit". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
^Cross, F. L., ed. (1957)The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford U.P., p. 1242
^Alan Shestack;Fifteenth century Engravings of Northern Europe; no. 37, 1967, National Gallery of Art, Washington (Catalogue),LCCN67-29080
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