Saint Anthony the Great

Anthony or Antony the Great or Anthony of the Desert is known as the Father of All Monks. He was born on c January 12,  251 in Coma, a village near Heracleopolis Magna in Upper Egypt.

Painting of Saint Anthony by Piero di Cosimo, c. 1480

Anthony lost his parents at the age of about 20 leaving him with the care of his unmarried sister. Shortly thereafter, he decided to follow the exhortation of Jesus in Matthew 19: 21, which reads, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven."

His first action was to complete his sister's education, then Anthony sold the house, furniture, and hundred acres of land which he processed, giving the proceeds to the poor. Anthony then left to live an ascetic life.

Anthony lived for 13 years in the alkaline Nitrian Desert on the edge of the Western Desert about 95 km (59 mi) west of Alexandria. 

At the age of thirty-five, Anthony determined to withdraw from the habitations of men and retire in absolute solitude. He moved into an old abandoned Roman fort on a mountain by the Nile called Pispifor. Anthony barricaded the entrance and food was thrown to him over the wall.

San Antonio Abad, portrait by Francisco de Zurbarán in 1664

Admirers finally broke into the fort. Anthony then miraculously cured several sick people and consented to give spiritual counsel to some souls. His special recommendation to them was to base their rule of life on the Gospel. Little by little so many disciples came that he was able to found two monasteries, one on the right bank of the Nile at Pispir, the other on the left bank beside Arsinoe. For five or six years Anthony devoted himself to the instruction and organization of the great body of monks that had grown up around him; 

Anthony appeared for a few days at Alexandra in 311, to fight the Arian heresy and to comfort the victims of Maximinus' persecution. 

Anthony spent the last forty-five years of his life in the inner desert that lay between the Nile and the Red Sea, near the shore of which he fixed his abode on a mountain where still stands the monastery that bears his name, Der Mar Antonios. 

Before his death, Anthony had the great joy of seeing his sister once more. She also had grown old in a search for perfection and directed a community of dedicated virgins. 

Filled with serenity, St Anthony of the Desert ended his existence on January 17, 356, at the age of 105 in a cave on Mount Colzin. 

Most of what is known about Anthony comes from the Life of Anthony. Written in Greek around 360 by Athanasius of Alexandria, it became something of a best seller in its day and played an important role in the spreading of the ascetic ideal in Eastern and Western Christianity and had an immense influence both an art and hagiography.

His feast day is celebrated on January 17 among the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

Source The Lives of the Saints by Omer Englebert