§ 107. Образованность и сочинения его.

The school for Great Anthony was St. Scripture and nature, and the teacher was the grace of Christ, which illuminated him more and more as he mortified himself with his exploits. How can you live here without the consolation of books? A philosopher once asked him. “My book, my friend, is nature, which is always with me, as soon as I want to read the words of God in it,” answered Anthony 88. “He had no scientific education,” says the blessed one. Augustine, but St. He knew the Scriptures by heart, and understood them very well by reflection." 89 He loved to listen and read Scripture both then, when he lived in his father’s house, and then, when he lived in the desert 90. He did not know Greek, the language of general education at that time; instructions in Arsinoe, as St. Athanasius writes, he taught in Egyptian (τῆ ἀιγιπτοικη φωνῆ); but his instructions show an extraordinary knowledge of the Bible 91; These were also his conversations with the Thebaid hermits, conveyed by the same biography 92; when he was still at home, he listened to the Gospel in a language he understood, not knowing Greek, and the words of the Gospel aroused in him the determination to leave the world 93 . All this, on the one hand, shows that already in the middle of the 3rd century Scripture, the source of spiritual enlightenment, was read in Egyptian; on the other hand, it fully explains and justifies the tradition that the Great Anthony wrote messages to Egyptian monasteries in Egyptian; they were subsequently translated into other languages. Jerome writes about Great Anthony: “He wrote seven letters to various monasteries in Egyptian - the Apostolic spirit and style, they were translated into Greek, the best of them to the Arsinoites 94. In the ancient narrative “On the Acts and Sayings of the Fathers,” which Photius had already read, the words of the Great Anthony are given, which are read in the first of the now known epistles of Anthony the Great. 95; the second of these retains the inscription: to the Arsinoites, with whom Jerome read and approved this letter; Not only the ancient Latin translation of the seven letters has survived to our time, but also the original of the entire fourth letter, the end of the third and the beginning of the fifth letter 96; thus the authenticity of these letters is beyond doubt. 20 letters of the Great Anthony are known in Arabic translation; seven of them are the same as those read in the ancient Latin translation, only arranged in a different order; so the second Latin corresponds to the sixth Arabic. An ancient list of 20 Arabic letters of Anthony, written, as it is said at the end of it, by the Egyptian monk Abraham in 800; and therefore in itself vouches for the authenticity of all letters. To these undoubted letters it is necessary to add that short letter to St. Anthony to Abba Theodore of Tabennisiot, which Ammon preserved in copy in a letter to Theophilus, Bishop of Alexandria. 97. In the Arabic translation, another 80 rules, 20 words, exhortations and an exposition of the thoughts of St. Anthony have been preserved. The first (rules) are the same ones that Benedict of Anian placed in Latin in his collection of monastic rules back in the 8th century; 20 brief words about faith in the Lord, about the fear of God, etc., not differing in spirit from the letters, are justified in their authenticity by the general Eastern tradition; other instructions are of the same spirit - simple, Gospel and partly contain those thoughts and answers of St. Anthony, which have long been known from ancient Greek monuments 99. To this we must add that extensive word to the monks, which St. preserved. Afanasy 100. Evagrius in Socrates N. E. 4. 23. Augustine - Christ. Instructed § 4. Afanasy in the life of his r. 97, 195. Afanasy Vita S. Antonii p. 16, 45. Afanasy Vita S. Anton. E. 2. ἀναγινοσκεσθαι καὶ ηκουσε του Κυριου λεγοντος τω πλουσιω Η. τ. α. With. 3. ως δε παλιν εισελθων ἐις το κηριακὸν, ἤκουσε εν Τ. Ευαγγελιω. κ. τ. α. In conversations with those who knew only Greek, he used a translator; one of these was Eulogius, who says in Palladius: μακαρίου Ἀντωνίου ἑλληνιστὶ μὴ εἰδότος. Another translator is Isaac; Jerome on Hilarion: repertis ibi duobus monachis Isaac et Pellisiano, quorum Isaac interpres Antonii fuerat (Vita Hilarionis p. 30). De viris illustr. c. 88 de Antonio. Photii Bibl. cod. 148. The story is now known in ancient times. Latin translation of Pelagius; It says here: “Abba Anthony said: “I think that the body has natural movement in itself.” See § 4 of the 1st Latin. letters. These parts of the original have recently become known. See Zoega Catal. Cod. M. SS. Borgian. Cod. Sahid. 181. p. 363. Romae 1810. Fragments of other letters are shown by Mingarelli Catal. Cod. Nanian. Fascic. 4. p. 198. Bonon. 1785. Act. Sanct. Maii T. 3. b. 70. in Chr. Thurs. 1827. part 26. Ed. Lucas Holstenius – Codex regularum quos SS. Patres monachis et virginibus praescrip. Romae. 1661. 4. 170. Ch. Anthony in Slav. The Philokalia were known to Peter of Damascus. All the works that have been preserved in Arabic translation were published for the first time by Abraham of Yeshel. S. Antonii Opuscula arab. lat., ed. ab Abrahamo Echel. Paris. 1646. 8. The ancient Latin text of the 7 epistles, as well as the Latin translation of all Arabic works, was published by Galland in 4 t. Bibl. Patrum; Min Patr. gr. T. 40. Russian translation of letters and words is placed in Chr. Thurs. 1826–1829 In Vatik. RKP. VIII century The Syrian letter of the Great Anthony to the brothers is preserved (Maii Collect. (et. Pat. T. 5. pp. 45–46. T. 4. pp. 499. Vita S. Antonii. § 16–45. You might be interested in: