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Abba Anthony the Great
 Anthony the Great, called 'The Father of Monks' was born
in central Egypt about AD the son of peasant farmers who
were Christian. In c. 269 he heard the Gospel read in
church and applied to himself the words. 'Go, sell all that
you have and give to the poor and come...' He devoted
himself to a life of asceticism under the guidance of a recluse near his village. In c. 285 he went alone into the desert to live in complete solitude. His reputation attracted followers, who settled near him, and in c. 305 he came out of his hermitage in order to act as their spiritual father. Five years later he again retired into solitude. He visited Alexandria at least twice. Once during the persecution of Christians and again to support the Bishop Athanasius against heresy. He died at the age of one hundred and five. His life was written by Saint Athanasius and was very influential in spreading the ideals of monasticism
throughout the Christian World.
1. When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he
was beset by accidie, and attacked by many sinful thoughts.
He said to God, 'Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts
do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my affliction? How
can I be saved?' A short while afterwards, when he got up to
go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work,
getting up from his work to pray, then sitting down and
plaiting a rope, then getting up again to pray. It was an
angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard
the angel saying to him, 'Do this and you will be saved.' At
these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He
did this, and he was saved.
2. When the same Abba Anthony thought about the depth of the judgements of God, he asked, 'Lord, how is it that some die when they are young, while others drag on to extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and those who are rich? Why do wicked men prosper and why are the just in need?' He heard a voice answering him, 'Anthony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgement of God, and it is not to your advantage to know anything about them.'
3. Someone asked Abba Anthony, 'What must one do in order to please God?' The old man replied, 'Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes; whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.'
4. Abba Anthony said to Abba Poemen, 'this is the great
work of a man: always to take the blame for his own sins
before God and to expect temptation to his last breath.'
5. He also said, 'Whoever has not experienced
temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 'He
even added, 'Without temptations no-one can be saved.'
6. Abba Pambo asked Abba Anthony, 'What ought I to
do?' and the old man said to him 'Do not trust in your own
righteousness do not worry about the past, but control your
tongue and your stomach.'
7. Abba Anthony said, 'I saw the snares that the enemy
spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can
get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying
to me, "Humility."'
8. He also said, 'Some have afflicted their bodies by
asceticism, but they lack discernment, and so they are far
from God.'
9. He also said, 'Our life and our death is with our neighbour. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalise our brother, we have sinned against Christ.'
10. He said also, 'just as fish die if they stay too long out
of water, so the monks who loiter outside their cells or pass
their time with men of the world lose the intensity of inner
peace. So like a fish going towards the sea, we must hurry
to reach our cell, for fear that if we delay outside we will
lose our interior watchfulness.'
11. He said also, 'He who wishes to live in solitude in the
desert is delivered from three conflicts: hearing, speech, and
sight; there is only one conflict for him and that is with
fornication.'
12. Some brothers came to find Abba Anthony to tell him
about the visions they were having, and to find out from him
if they were true or if they came from the demons. They had
a donkey, which died on the way. When they reached the place where the old man was, he said to them before they could ask him anything, 'How was it that the little donkey died on the way here?' They said, 'How do you know about that, Father?' And he told them, 'The demons showed me what happened.' So they said, 'That was what we came to question you about, for fear we were being deceived, for we have visions which often turn out to be true.' Thus the old man convinced them, by the example of the donkey that their visions came from the demons.
13. A hunter in the desert saw Abba Anthony enjoying
himself with the brethren and he was shocked. Wanting to
show him that it was necessary sometimes to meet the needs
of the brethren, the old man said to him, 'Put an arrow in
your bow and shoot it.' So he did. The old man then said,
'Shoot another,' and he did so. Then the old man said, 'Shoot
yet again and the hunter replied 'If I bend my bow so much I
will break it.' Then the old man said to him, 'It is the same
with the work of God. If we stretch the brethren beyond
measure they will soon break. Sometimes it is necessary to
come down to meet their needs.' When he heard these words
"the hunter was pierced by compunction and, greatly edified
by the old man, he went away. As for the brethren, they went home strengthened.
14. Abba Anthony heard of a very young monk who had
performed a miracle on the road. Seeing the old men walking with difficulty along the road, he ordered the wild asses to come and carry them until they reached Abba Anthony. Those whom they had carried told Abba Anthony about it. He said to them, 'This monk seems to me to be a ship loaded with goods but I do not know if he will reach harbour.' After a while, Anthony suddenly began to weep, to tear his hair and lament. His disciples said to him, 'Why are you weeping, Father?' and the old man replied, 'A great pillar of the Church has just fallen (he meant the young monk) but go to him and see what has happened.' So the disciples went and found the monk sitting on a mat and weeping for the sin he had committed. Seeing the disciples of the old man he said, 'Tell the old man to pray that God will give me just ten days and I hope I will have made satisfaction.' But in the space of five days he died.
15. The brothers praised a monk before Abba Anthony.
When the monk came to see him, Anthony wanted to know
how he would bear insults; and seeing that he could not bear
them at all, he said to him, 'You are like a village magnificently decorated on the outside, but destroyed from
within by robbers.'
16. A brother said to Abba Anthony, 'Pray for me.' The old man said to him, 'I will have no mercy upon you, nor will
God have any, if you yourself do not make an effort and if
you do not pray to God.'
17. One day some old men came to see Abba Anthony.
In the midst of them was Abba Joseph. Wanting to test
them, the old man suggested a text from the Scriptures, and,
beginning with the youngest, he asked them what it meant.
Each gave his opinion as he was able. But to each one the
old man said, 'You have not understood it.' Last of all he said
to Abba Joseph, 'How would you explain this saying?' and he
replied, 'I do not know.' Then Abba Anthony 'Indeed Abba
Joseph has found the way, for he has said: "I do said, not
know."
18. Some brothers were coming from Scetis to see Abba
Anthony. When they were getting into a boat to go there,
they found an old man who also wanted to go there. The
brothers did not know him. They sat in the boat, occupied
by turns with the words of the Fathers, Scripture and their
manual work. As for the old man, he remained silent. When
they arrived on shore they found that the old man was going
to the cell of Abba Anthony too. When they reached the place, Anthony said to them, 'You found this old man a good
companion for the journey?' Then he said to the old man,
'You have brought many good brethren with you, father.'
The old man said, 'No doubt they are good, but they do not
have a door to their house and anyone who wishes can enter
the stable and loose the ass.' He meant that the brethren said
whatever came into their mouths.
19. The brethren came to the Abba Anthony and said to
him, 'Speak a word; how are we to be saved?' The old man
said to them, 'You have heard the Scriptures. That should
teach you how.' But they said, 'We want to hear from you
too, Father.' Then the old man said to them, 'The Gospel
says, "if anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the
other also." (Matt. 5.39) They said, 'We cannot do that.' The
old man said, 'If you cannot offer the other cheek, at least
allow one cheek to be struck.' 'We cannot do that either, '
they said. So he said, 'If you are not able to do that, do not
return evil for evil, ' and they said, 'we cannot do that either.'
Then the old man said to his disciple, 'Prepare a little brew of
corn for these invalids. If you cannot do this, or that, what
can I do for you? What you need is prayers.'
20. A brother renounced the world and gave his goods to the
poor, but he kept back a little for his personal expenses. He
went to see Abba Anthony. When he told him this, the old
man said to him, 'If you want to be a monk, go into the village, buy some meat, cover your naked body with it and come here like that.' The brother did so, and the dogs and birds tore at his flesh. When he came back the old man asked him whether he had followed his advice. He showed him his wounded body, and Saint Anthony said, 'Those who renounce the world but want to keep something for themselves are torn in this way by the demons who make war on them.'
21. It happened one day that one of the brethren in the
monastery of Abba Elias was tempted. Cast out of the
monastery, he went over the mountain to Abba Anthony.
The brother lived near him for a while and then Anthony sent
him back to the monastery from which he had been expelled.
When the brothers saw him they cast him out yet again, and
he went back to Abba Anthony saying, 'My Father, they will
not receive me.' Then the old man sent them a message saying, 'A boat was shipwrecked at sea and lost its cargo; with great difficulty it reached the shore; but you want to throw into the sea that which has found a safe harbour on the shore. 'When the brothers understood that it was Abba Anthony who had sent them this monk, they received him at once.
22. Abba Anthony said, 'I believe that the body possesses
a natural movement, to which it is adapted, but which it
cannot follow without the consent of the soul; it only signifies in the body a movement without passion. There is another movement, which comes from the nourishment and warming of the body by eating and drinking, and this causes the heat of the blood to stir up the body to work. That is why the apostle said, "Do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery." (Ephes. 5:18) And in the Gospel the Lord also recommends this to his disciples: "Take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness." (Luke 21:34) But there is yet another movement, which afflicts those who fight, and that comes from the wiles and jealousy of the demons. You must understand what these three bodily movements are: one is natural, one comes from too much to eat, the third is caused by the demons.'
23. He also said, 'God does not allow the same warfare
and temptations to this generation as he did formerly, for
men are weaker now and cannot bear so much.'
24. It was revealed to Abba Anthony in his desert that
there was one who was his equal in the city. He was a
doctor by profession and whatever he had beyond his needs
he gave to the poor, and every day he sang the Sanctus with
the angels.
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