The Twenty-Second Day of
the Blessed Month of Tubah
The Departure of St.
Anthony the Great (Antonius)
On this day, of the year
355 A.D., St. Anthony the Great, the star of the wilderness, and the father of
all monks, departed.
This
righteous man was born in the year 251 A.D. in the city of Qimn El-Arouse, to
rich parents who loved the church and the poor. They raised him up in fear of
the Lord. When he was twenty years old, his parents departed, and he had to
take care of his sister.
Once, he entered the
church and heard the words of the Lord Christ in the Gospel, "If you want
to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasures in heaven; and come, follow Me." (Matthew 19:21)
He
returned to his house, decided to fulfill this commandment and considered it
directed to him personally. He gave his wealth to the poor and needy, and he
took his sister and placed her with some virgins.
At
that time, monasticism had not yet been established. All those who wanted to
live a solitary life went and lived on the outskirts of the city. This was what
St. Anthony did as he dwelt alone, worshipping and living an ascetic life.
The
devil fought him there by afflicting him with boredom, laziness, and the
phantoms of women. He overcame the devil's snares by the power of the Lord
Christ. After that, he went to one of the tombs, and he resided therein and
closed the door on himself. Some of his friends used to bring him food. When
the devil perceived his ascetic life and his intense worship, he was envious of
him, and he beat him mercilessly, then left him unconscious. When his friends
came to visit him and found him in this condition, they carried him to the
church. After he somewhat recovered, he went back to the same place. The devil
again resumed his war against St. Antonius, only this time the
phantoms were in the
form of wild beasts, wolves, lions, snakes and scorpions. They appeared as if
they were about to attack him or cut him into pieces. But the saint would laugh
at them scornfully and say, "If any of you have any authority over me,
only one would have been sufficient to fight me." At his saying this, they
disappeared as though in smoke, for God gave him the victory over the devils. He
was always singing this psalm, "Let God arise, let His enemies be
scattered; let those also who hate Him flee before Him." (Psalm 68:1)
St.
Anthony used to prepare a quantity of bread that would sustain him for six
months. He did not allow anyone to enter his cell, and whoever came to him,
stood outside and listened to his advice. He continued in this condition of
solitary worship for 20 years. Then by God's command, he went to El-Fayyoum and
confirmed the brethren there in the faith, then returned to his monastery.
During the time of persecution, he longed to become a martyr. He left his
monastery and went to Alexandria. He visited those who were imprisoned for the
sake of Christ and comforted them. When the Governor saw that he was confessing
the Lord Christ publicly, not caring what might happen to him, he ordered him
not to show up in the city. However, the saint did not heed his threats. He
faced him and argued with him in order that he might arouse his anger so that
he might be tortured and martyred. But God preserved him all along, according
to His will, for the benefit of many, and so the Governor left him alone. Then
the saint went back to his monastery according to God's will, and many came to
visit him and to hear his teachings.
He
saw that these visits kept him away from his worship. As a result, he went far
away to the eastern desert. He travelled with some bedouins to the inner
wilderness for three days, until he found a spring of water and some palm
trees, and then he chose to settle there. On this spot now stands the monastery
of St. Anthony the Great. The bedouins came to him with bread, and the Lord
drove away all the wild beasts from this place, for his sake.
On
occasions, he would go to the monastery on the outskirts of the desert by the
Nile to visit the brethren, then return to his inner monastery.
His
fame spread abroad and it reached Emperor Constantine. The Emperor wrote to
him, offering him praise and asked him to pray for him. The brethren were
pleased with the Emperor's letter, but St. Anthony did not pay any attention to
it, and he said to them, "The books of God, the King of Kings and the Lord
of Lords, commands us everyday, but we do not heed what they tell us, and we
turn our backs on them." Under the persistence of the brethren who told
him, "Emperor Constantine loves the church," he accepted to write him
a letter blessing him, and praying for the peace and safety of the empire and
the church.
One
day, he was bored, and he heard a voice telling him, "Go out and
see." He went out and saw an angel who wore a girdle with a cross, one resembling
the holy Eskiem, and on his head was a head cover (Kolansowa). He was sitting
while braiding palm leaves, then he stood up to pray, and again he sat to
weave. A voice came to him saying, "Anthony, do this and you will
rest." Henceforth, he started to wear this tunic that he saw, and began to
weave palm leaves, and never got bored again.
St.
Anthony prophesied about the persecution that was about to happen to the church
and the control of the heretics over it, the church victory and its return to
its formal glory, and the end of the age.
When
St. Macarius visited St. Anthony, St. Anthony clothed him with the monk's garb,
and St. Anthony foretold him what would be of him.
When
the day of the departure of St. Paul, the first hermit in the desert, drew
near, St. Anthony went to him. St. Anthony buried St. Paul the hermit after he
had clothed him in a tunic which was a present from St. Athanasius the
Apostolic, 20th Pope of Alexandria.
When
St. Anthony felt that the day of his departure had approached, he commanded his
disciple to hide his body and to give his staff to St. Macarius, and to give
one sheepskin cloak to St. Athanasius and the other sheepskin cloak to Anba
Serapion, his disciple. He stretched himself on the ground and gave up his
spirit. The angels and the saints took his spirit and carried it to the place
of perpetual rest.
This
saint lived for 105 years, struggling in the way of holiness and purity.
His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God forever. Amen.
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