§ 106. Жизнь великого Антония.

Anthony the Great, after Paul of Thebes, head of hermit-monastic life in Egypt 85. After his rich parents, according to the voice of the Gospel, he distributed his property to the poor and on the 19th year, on the advice of St. Paul, settled in a secluded cave, not far from his place of birth, (Koma in Heliopolis of central Egypt); here his food was bread and salt, his drink was water, never twice a day, but sometimes every other day or two; His sleep was short on the bare ground; Activities included prayer, psalmody and handicrafts. In 285, he retired for greater solitude to the shores of the Black Sea, where he spent 20 years in a dilapidated tower on a mountain, preparing food for six months twice a year; from 305 he began to accept zealots of piety; Hilarion, later the Great, the founder of monastic life in Palestine, was the first whom Anthony accepted to study the exploits of hermitage; From that time on, the Antoniev Desert began to be more and more populated. Through the protracted struggle against the enemies of salvation, a series of miracles followed in the life of the great man. The glory of extraordinary feats, miracles, and soul-saving instructions attracted many to Anthony’s desert, and he instructed some to live not far from Arsinoe (now Suez in lower Egypt), and others on the same mountain where he himself lived. During the severe persecution of Maximin in 311, He came to Alexandria in order to share the suffering of the cross with others, and strengthened some for exploits, and interceded for others before the judges; He spent about a year in these exploits. Upon returning to the desert, disturbed by the multitude of visitors, he withdrew to another mountain, Coltsim (to this day known with the name of Mount Anthony the Great) and lived alternately in its three caves. When the heresy of Arius was revealed, Anthony again appeared as a defender of the truth; in 335, he interceded in a letter with Emperor Constantine for the shepherd of Alexandria Athanasius, then exiled 86; the Arian bishop Gregory and the civil ruler of Alexandria, also an Arian, received accusatory letters from him; Anthony ran from the Arians from his mountain as from poisonous snakes, as from the forerunners of the Antichrist. Nevertheless, they were so shameless that they supported their thoughts with the name of Anthony. Upon the return of Athanasius to his see, Anthony appeared in Alexandria, and in St. At the meeting in front of everyone he exposed the shamelessness and wickedness of the Arians. This journey of 104-year-old Anthony was a triumph for both Orthodoxy and Anthony; crowds of people followed him as a great man of God, expecting blessings and miracles. At the beginning of 356, at the age of 105, the Great died, having commanded not to tell anyone about the place of his burial 87 . Life led. Antonia was described by Athanasius of Alexandria and her biography was published in t. 2. rub. 2. Op. S. Athanasii ea ed. Montfauconii. See about Athanasius. Sozomen N. E. 2, 31. Letter from Emperor Constantine, ed. Kotelier in t. 4. Monum. Eccl. Graec. r. 351 f. Memory of St. Anthony in both the Greek and Roman Churches on January 17th. You might be interested in: