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The Life and Well-known Sayings of Saint Anthony the Great

Saint Anthony the Great: A Desert Father's Life Wisdom

30 January marks the day we remember Saint Anthony the Great (356).

From those very first days, Christians have stood out for their devotion to ascetic living. At first, this meant martyrs and virgins serving in the temples, and later, ascetics, fired by zeal for God, who would withdraw into wild and empty places and spend decades in silence and prayer. “Every Christian, striving to fulfil God’s will to the fullest, should, to some degree, come closer to the holiness of incorruptible purity,” wrote the holy martyr Methodius of Patara.

But it was Saint Anthony, the father of monks living as hermits, that the Church called “the Great.” He was the first one who, through his spiritual struggles and his achievement of spiritual perfection, both took on and guided such a large group of disciples that once desolate places became like cities, and his spiritual wisdom became the inheritance of thousands seeking salvation through the ascetic life. As the blessed Jerome said, “Anthony was not so much the first of the desert dwellers, but the one who stirred the general desire for this way of life.”

The flower of the desert — St. Anthony the Great

The flower of the desert — St. Anthony the Great

Those who followed Saint Anthony said that he was not one to speak much. They learned not only from his few words, but far more from the example of his life. Many of Saint Anthony’s disciples later shone in monastic life, though not all are known to us now. During their time, these quiet ascetics kept themselves hidden from the prying eyes of the world. Today, we know some of the pillars of desert asceticism and monasticism who were Anthony’s disciples: Saints Macarius the Great and Macarius of Alexandria, Ammon of Nitria, Paul the Simple, Hilarion the Great, Athanasius the Great, and Saints Paphnutius, Pitirion, and Pamvo of Egypt. St. Anthony also met with Rufinus of Aquileia and Palladius, the Bishop of Helenopolis, who left behind works like “The Life of the Desert Fathers” (Rufinus) and “Lausiac History” (Palladius).

St. Anthony the Great and his disciples

St. Anthony the Great and his disciples

Anthony spent his early ascetic years near what was called the outer mountain, close to the Nile delta. Later, a colony of hermits sprang up around the saint. In time, he began visiting them often. In the last years of his life, he lived on the so-called inner mountain, by the Red Sea, where the well-known Monastery of Saint Anthony the Great now stands. Some forty kilometres from Alexandria lies Nitria; not far from there (18 kilometres) is Kellia. By travelling during the cooler hours of darkness (since daytime travel risked both heat and becoming lost in the trackless sands), one could reach Sketis, a place where huts rose from the barren lands, forming a scattered settlement of those who sought God’s presence far from the world’s turmoil.

The Egyptian desert

The Egyptian desert, cradle of monasticism

The name of that region, Sketis, later came to describe a way of life — the Scetic way. Small monastic communities, or hermit settlements, became known as sketes, as they sought to imitate those ascetics who once lived in the ancient Sketis.

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The spiritual teachings Anthony shared with his disciples have come down to us thanks to his spiritual children, who carefully recorded his words and then spread them to even the most remote monasteries of the Egyptian desert and beyond. These include his “Spiritual Instructions,” “Rules for Spiritual Children, the Monks,” and his “Discourse on the Vanity of the World and the Resurrection of the Dead.” These lessons from the saint found their place in the first volume of the “Philokalia,” and the letters that the father of the hermits wrote from his isolation at the request of his spiritual children. These disciples persevered in the many scattered communities: Kellia, Sketis, Nitria, and the monasteries of Arsinoe, among others. According to Blessed Jerome of Stridon, all of these writings carry a spirit that recalls the apostles themselves. St. Anthony’s instructions for quiet monks are brief. Yet, behind that surface simplicity lie hidden depths, whose meaning does not show itself immediately. Saint Theophan the Recluse, when translating the sayings of Saint Anthony the Great and arranging them into a set of rules for monks, wrote that some days he managed only ten lines of the great ascetic’s text.

Contemporary editions of the teachings and discourses of St. Anthony the Great

Contemporary editions of the teachings and discourses of St. Anthony the Great

Among the treasures of monastic wisdom, these well-known sayings of Anthony have endured:

“If you could not get on with people in the world, then afterwards you will not be able to cope with solitude.”

“I saw all the traps that the enemy had laid on the earth, and with a sigh, I asked: ‘Who can get around them?’ Then, I heard a voice say: ‘'The humble.’”

“Just as fish die if they are on dry land for too long, so monks lose the attraction of the peace that silence brings, if they spend too much time away from their cell, socialising with worldly people.”

“Like a fish should return to the water, so should we strive to return to our cell, so that, when we are away from it, we do not lose the watchman in our minds.”

“No one who has not been tempted can enter paradise. Take away temptation, and no one will be saved.”

“Die daily, that you may live forever; for he that fears God will live eternally.”

“If you see that a brother has fallen into sin, do not be tempted by him, do not despise him or judge him, or else you will fall into the hands of your enemies.”

“My son, do not use too many words. A multitude of words will drive you far from the Spirit of God.”

“Do not offer to anyone, nor teach anyone, anything that you have not first put into practice yourself.”

A five-striped Mabuya lizard in the Egyptian desert

A five-striped Mabuya lizard in the Egyptian desert

Of all the great virtues that Saint Anthony taught, and showed by his own life, was the virtue of humility. His gentleness, courage, trust in God, and his strong faith — all his other virtues came from this one. During his life, Saint Anthony did not choose his students nor did he appoint any successors. His connection with his followers was, rather, one of encouragement, advice, and friendly conversation. During his life, the saint did not appoint superiors from among his spiritual children, nor were there any formally designated stewards or abbots. Therefore, it may be said that his fatherhood towards those who followed in his footsteps was exclusively spiritual.

A photo taken roughly from the site of St. Anthony’s cell

A photo taken roughly from the site of St. Anthony’s cell, from the middle of the mountain where he lived. In the distance, a small oasis is visible, near which St. Anthony’s monastery is located. The source of water was not far from where the saint undertook his ascetic practices, but the desert all around was completely devoid of life, as it still is today.

Despite the fact that Anthony the Great had not studied the Holy Scriptures in any school, the thoughts of God’s Law were always at the heart of his meditations: “…A camel needs little food. It keeps it inside itself until it goes back to its stall. It brings it up again and chews it until it becomes part of its bone and flesh. But a horse needs a lot of food. It eats constantly and immediately loses what it has eaten. Therefore, let us not be like a horse — always reading God’s words and yet doing none of them, but let us take on the likeness of the camel, rereading every single word of the Holy Scriptures and keeping it within ourselves until we put it into practice. For those who did these words were people just like us, but they overcame their passions.”

According to Saint Anthony, we should read Scripture in such a way that we remember as much of it by heart as possible, so that the memory of the words of Scripture may then become prayer. This, according to his hagiography, is exactly what Saint Anthony himself did: “He prayed often, knowing that one should pray constantly in private” — echoing the words of the Apostle Paul (see: 1 Thess. 5:17). “And so attentive was he to what he was reading, that not one word of Scripture fell to the ground (cf.: 1 Samuel 3:19; 2 Kings 10:10), but he kept everything inside himself, until, in the end, his memory replaced his books.” In time, he learned the entire Holy Scripture by heart. In his old age, when travellers would come to him with questions, he would often quote from the Holy Scriptures. They were all amazed at how he knew the Holy Scriptures so well, when he had never attended school.

St. Anthony praying in the desert with arms raised

St. Anthony praying in the desert with arms raised

Saint Anthony the Great would often pray with his hands raised up high towards heaven. One time, his brethren came to the saint and asked him: “Abba, explain to us the meaning of the Book of Leviticus.” He replied: “Fathers, wait a moment, I’ll come back and tell you.” He then ran off from them, towards a mountain top. One of his students followed him and saw Abba Anthony lifting his hands up to heaven, and, as he turned to God, he cried out: “Lord, send me Moses so that he may explain to me what his Book of Leviticus means.” After this, the student heard Abba Anthony speaking with someone. However, he could not hear what they were saying.

Saint Anthony the Great reposed at the age of 105, in the year 356. But his prayers have been strengthening those who seek the path of the highest calling.

“By imitating the ways of Elijah, and following the righteous path of the Baptist, you, O Father Anthony, were a dweller of the desert, and established the universe by your prayers. Therefore, pray to Christ God, to save our souls.” (Troparion, Tone 4)

Material prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru

Photos from the internet.

Sources used:

1. Sidorov A.I. Early Christian Asceticism and the Beginning of Monasticism. — Moscow: Orthodox Pilgrim, 1998.
2. St. Athanasius of Alexandria. The Life of Saint Anthony (357 AD).
3. The First Monks and Monasteries of Egypt / Monastic Herald (monasterium.ru)

January 17, 2025
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