Saint Anthony the Great 4C
Saint Anthony the Great was born about January 12, 251, and he died on January 17, 356. He was a Christian monk from Egypt and has been revered, especially in Egypt, since his death. Saint Anthony the Great is distinguished from other saints named Anthony, such as Anthony of Padua. He was a hermit and various monikers he been used to distinguish him from those with similar names. For his importance among the famed Desert Fathers and to all later Christian monasticism, he is also known as the Father of All Monks. He was important. Have you ever heard of Saint Anthony the Great?
Saint Anthony the Great Biography
Most of what is known about Saint Anthony the Great comes from the Life of Anthony. It was originally written in Greek in about 360 by Athanasius of Alexandria. Life of Anthony depicts Saint Anthony the Great as an illiterate and holy man who, through his existence in a primordial desert landscape, has an absolute connection to the divine truth.
Sometime before 374, Life of Anthony was translated into Latin by Evagrius of Antioch. The Latin translation helped the Life become one of the best-known works of literature in the Christian world, a status it held through the Middle Ages. Translated into several languages, it became something of a “best seller” in its day and played an important role in the spreading of the ascetic ideal in Christianity. It later served as an inspiration to Christian monastics worldwide and helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism.
Saint Anthony the Great has many famous sayings, also, which are also recorded in the book The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. He probably spoke Coptic, but his fame spread because his biography was written in accessible Greek. Saint Anthony the Great was probably born in Koma, Egypt. When he was about 20 years old, his parents died, and he decided to lead a religious life and move out into the desert to live as a hermit.
To the surprise of many, he emerged from isolation in the year 305. He emerged plump and healthy. For six years, he devoted himself to the instruction of the monks who had grown up around him. After this, 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, Der Mar Antonios. Here he spent the last forty-five years of his life in seclusion.
Saint Anthony the Great was not the first ascetic or hermit, but he may be called the “Father of Monasticism” in Christianity, 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. His fame spread and reached Emperor Constantine, who wrote to him requesting his prayers.
Conclusion
Saint Anthony the Great was famous mostly because the biography of him, Life of Anthony, was widely read throughout the Middle Ages. Because of this biography, we know a lot about him, and he has inspired many people. As a hermit, living in seclusion, he had many pilgrims come to see him and developed a large following. He influenced the conversions of both Saint Augustine and Saint John Chrysostom.
