17-го числа

St. Rev. Anthony the Great This great ascetic of the Church of Christ was born in 252 in Egypt, from pious Christian and noble parents, who raised him in the rules of faith and piety necessary for a true Christian. Even in his youth, the church of God, where Anthony could hear the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostles and other saints, was the only refuge for Anthony that brought pleasure to his soul. After the death of his parents, at the age of 18, having become the heir of a rich estate and the nurturer of his young sister, Anthony, called by Providence to the highest degree of piety, secured the position of his sister and, according to the teachings of the Gospel (Matthew 6:36, 19:21), having distributed books and most of the estate to neighbors and the poor, left his parents' home for pious solitude, being about 20 years old. “I heard before,” says Blessed Augustine, “that St. Anthony was called by the voice of the Gospel, during the reading of which he, as if by accident, recognized and turned to himself the following, then read, words: go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and have treasure in heaven (Matthew 19:21). Thus Thy revelation, O my God, turned him to Thee.” “Having heard the voice of Christ,” he says about St. Anthony is right. Church, - walked following His commandments and rejected all worries, the acquisition of property and the love of slaves and sisters. Alone in the desert, conversing with God in the purest way, he received the grace of reason.” Retiring from the world, Anthony first settled near the place of his birth and labored under the guidance of an old man, who had lived a solitary life from his youth. Burning with the desire for the highest spiritual perfection, Anthony, gradually succeeding in piety, hid from society further and more strictly, deep into the Thebaid desert; He applied all his diligence to his ascetic labors. Hearing that the idle must not eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10), the monk worked with his own hands, and spent some for his own bread, and some for the needy. He prayed often, knowing that he must pray in private without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17); He was attentive to what he read, so that not a single word of Scripture fell to the ground, but he kept everything within himself, which is why memory finally replaced books for him. He was so tireless in his vigil that he often spent the whole night without sleep. He ate food once a day after sunset, sometimes he took it after two days, and often after four. His food was bread and salt and his drink was only water. There is no need to even talk about meat and wine, because you will hardly find anything similar among other ascetics. During sleep, Anthony reclined on matting, and for the most part on bare ground. I never anointed myself with oil. The society of the pious, attracted by the glory of Anthony's desert exploits, flowed after him and inhabited the silent desert. Anthony became the founder of desert living. Before Paul of Thebes and Anthony, the monks labored in the world, in the places of their birth or near them, leading a more reclusive life. But Rev. Anthony, imitating the ancient prophets and desert dwellers Elijah and the Baptist, like Paul of Thebes, in his time became an ascetic and, as the Church says, “the first beautifier of the desert, the beginning of a virtuous life.” Anthony convinced many to choose monastic life, and thus monasteries appeared near the mountains of Egypt; the desert is inhabited by monks. Anthony, like a father, became the leader of many monks. For the monks, Anthony was an interpreter of monastic life not only through his behavior, but also through his writing. In the manual of monks, Anthony wrote rules for monks (LXXX); teachings or words to monks (XX); various regulations for monks; presentation of some thoughts and answers to various questions; the path of wisdom and many letters. “Above all,” Anthony commands the monks, “let everyone have a common concern that, having begun, they should not slacken in action, and not say: we have been struggling for a long time. Looking at the world, let us not think that we have renounced anything great. This whole earth is very small compared to the whole sky. If we were the owners of the whole earth and renounced the whole earth, then this would not be equivalent to the Kingdom of Heaven. Let none of us harbor any desire to acquire. What is the benefit of purchasing something that we won’t take with us? A monk must pray unceasingly, regardless of the time, place, or activity. Words: My Lord, Jesus Christ, send me help! and so on. He must constantly have it in his mind. In addition, he must go to Divine services without fail and, moreover, at the first call. As a repentant sinner, a monk is obliged to lament and grieve over his sins day and night, as if there were always a dead person in his cell. He needs to spend time in silence; walk with a sad face, with a bowed head, not turning your face to the sides; weaken the body, do not eat until you are full, sleep little. Just as fish, remaining on land for a long time, die, so monks, being outside their cells for a long time or staying with worldly people, lose their love of silence. Therefore, just as a fish rushes into the water, so we must rush to the cell, so that, while remaining outside it, we do not forget about inner vigil. He who lives in the desert and in silence is free from three temptations: from the temptation of hearing, tongue and sight; he has only one temptation—temptation in his heart.” “Do not be afraid when you hear about virtue. It is not far from us, it is not formed outside of us. The Greeks, in order to study verbal sciences, undertake long journeys, swim across seas, but we do not need to walk far for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, or swim across the sea for the sake of virtue. The Lord said even earlier: The Kingdom of Heaven is within you (Luke 17:21). Therefore, virtue has a need only for our will. Virtue is formed in a soul in which rational forces act in accordance with its nature.” One of the wise men asked Anthony: how do you live, father, deprived of the consolation of books? The monk answered: “My book is the nature of things; she is always ready as soon as I want to read the word of God.” Antony said to the pious and wise blind Didimus: “Do not be embarrassed, Didimus, that you have lost your sensory vision. You no longer have the eyes with which mosquitoes and midges look: better rejoice that you have eyes with which Angels look, God is contemplated and His light is perceived.” “We need,” says Anthony, “intense prayer and ascetic deeds, so that, having received from the Spirit the gift of spiritual reasoning (1 Cor. 12:10), we can learn about demons. They try to seduce every Christian, especially the hardworking monk, through evil thoughts, try to frighten him with dreamy ghosts and insidious grandiosity, and deceive him with the semblance of a reverent image. But we should not be afraid of them, because they are powerless and cannot do anything more than threaten. It is not difficult to recognize the presence of Angels from demons. The vision of saints is calm and accompanied with joy. Many times demons pleased me, and I conjured them in the name of the Lord.” Anthony loved solitude so much that during his 85-year exploits, he only left the desert twice and came to Alexandria, called by the duty of a zealot of faith and piety. For the first time he came to Alexandria during the last persecution of Christians, erected by Diocletian and Maximian in 303, for help, consolation and participation in the suffering of St. martyrs. But God preserved the lamp of faith and returned him to the desert path of his great deeds of faith. Another time in 335, Anthony came to Alexandria to justify himself in slander from the Arians, who said that he too followed their teaching, and to show that he had no communication with schismatics and false teachers. During his harsh and deserted life, St. Anthony was always kind and humane to others, prudent and firm, meek and pleasant in his behavior, patient in conversations, tireless in defending the offended, for whom he interceded with the city leaders; St. Athanasius of Alexandria, persecuted by the Arians, often visited and repeatedly wrote about him to Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine. Hiding from people, Anthony did not hide his glory from the world. The glory of his holy life was so great that when he came to Alexandria, especially the last time, all the inhabitants of the city came running to see Anthony. Even the pagans and their priests came to the temple of the Lord, saying: We want to see the man of God. Because that's what everyone called him. Many even among the pagans wanted to at least touch the elder, in the confidence that they would receive benefit from him. And indeed, in these few days as many converted to Christianity as at other times converted throughout the year. Emperor Constantine the Great and his children respected the great hermit as a father, asking him to come to them or send them a blessing. At the end of his exploits, his fame spread throughout all countries, in Africa, Spain, Gaul and Italy. The great Egyptian ascetic, after 85 years of desert exploits, died peacefully at the age of 105, in 358 A.D. Anthony's honorable body, according to his will, was buried by his disciples in the desert he had glorified - in a hidden place. Contemporary of Anthony St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, who was a friend of Anthony and to whom Anthony bequeathed his mantle and robe, wrote about his exemplary and edifying life. According to St. Athanasius, “Antony’s life is an example of asceticism; everyone who knew Anthony called him the God-loving, the man of God. Anthony was a true God-bearer, who had the grace-filled gifts of insight, healing, advice and discernment of spirits. He was given by God to Egypt as a doctor, father and leader. People talked about him everywhere, everyone was amazed at him, even those who had not seen him loved him - and this serves as proof of his virtue and God-loving soul. Anthony's face was the expression of his saint. souls - had a great and extraordinary pleasantness, so that those who did not know him directly approached him. Since his soul was serene, his external feelings remained undisturbed. He was very wonderful in faith and pious; never had contact with renegades and heretics; was ready to die for Christ. After Anthony’s blessed dormition, each of those who received his mantle and his worn-out clothes are kept as something great. For to look at this is as if to see Anthony himself.” St. John Chrysostom says about him: “Egypt produced the most glorious man after the Apostles, the blessed and great Anthony, about whom everyone to this day incessantly speaks, that he predicted about those who were afflicted by Aryan evil-doing and about the harm that would come from him.” He also mentions St. with special respect. Anthony Jerome, calling him blessed, whose fame spread throughout Egypt. Sozomen writes about Anthony: “everyone agrees that the monastic way of life was elevated to the height of rigor and perfection by his rights and decent exercises, the monk Anthony the Great.” Theodoret says: “there were many leaders of monastic life, but the most excellent leader in the fulfillment of ascetic statutes was the much-praised Anthony.” The name of the Great was adopted by Anthony during his lifetime. Memory of Rev. Anthony immediately after his death the monks of his monastery began to work. In the 5th century, Anatoly of Constantinople gave to the Church some hymns for the glorification of St. Anthony the Great. Cyril of Scythopolis, a 6th-century writer, mentions a holiday in honor of St. Anthony the Great, who was in the monastery of St. Euphemia. In 544, the relics of Anthony the Great were transferred from the desert to Alexandria. In the 9th century. Theophan and Studite increased the sacred hymns of the Church on St. Day. Antonia. In the initial letters of the canon, the Monk Theophan concluded the saying: “Praise the Divine Anthony lepo.” The Church, among other things, honors Anthony as the patron saint of the infirm, calling him “a most skillful and honest physician of the ailing.” During the Divine Service on the day of remembrance of St. Anthony the Great, the Church pronounces parimia (the first from Pres. 5:15–16; the second from Pres. 3:1–9; the third from Pres. 4:7, 16–20, 5:1–17) about the blessed fate of the saints both in this and in eternal life. The morning Gospel preaches the good and easy yoke of Christ, which the saints have laid upon themselves (Matthew 11:27-30); at the liturgy, the reading of the Apostle and the Gospel is the same as prescribed on the day of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of All Russia, February 12. For the Monk Anthony is a shepherd and a father. † Memory of St. Anthony of Dymsky St. Rev. Anthony Dymsky According to the life of Rev. Varlaam Khutynsky, close to the death of his reverend. Varlaam said to his disciples: “I appoint Abbot Anthony, who returned from Constantinople and St. places and at this very hour is no longer far from us.” Following this, he said that Anthony was already in the monastery, and the saint joyfully handed over his flock to Anthony who entered. This was in 1192 197. It is not known how long the visitor of St. remained the abbot of the Khutyn monastery. places; but in 1230, another abbot of Khutyn, Arseny, was transferred to the abbess at the Yuriev Monastery 198. The Monk Anthony, having abandoned the management of the Khutyn monastery, founded his monastery on the shore of Lake Dymskoye, 15 versts from the city of Tikhvin. For a long time, Rev. Anthony on the icons holds a charter with the words: “Behold, he fled and settled in the desert.” Even now his monastery is surrounded by forests. The square on which it stands is raised like a hill above the surrounding area; at its base there is a quiet, dark lake, and all around, into the vast distance, there are forests, now disappearing in places. Above the saint's shrine lies his iron hat. It weighs 15 pounds; its wide brim is nailed to the crown with thick nails; the heads of the nails, the scars of the outskirts, were supposed to cut into the scalp, stopping only on the hard cranial bones, and the weight of the hat intensified the pain of the ulcers. This is how the ascetic of God, Rev., acquired peace and the joys of eternal life. Anthony, in addition to the Dymskaya Hermitage, also founded the Vyrdom Hermitage. Having reached 67 years of labor and exploits, Blessed Anthony died peacefully on June 24, 1224 200. The relics of the saint were found incorrupt in 1330, and from that time those glorified by miracles stood openly in the monastery church. In 1409, following rumors of the approaching hordes of the ferocious Edigei, St. the relics were hidden in the ground; vessels, bells, teacher's hat. were lowered into Lake Dymskoye; the Tatars burned the monastery. The relics of the saint, since the time of Edigei, have remained hidden. In October and November 1585, when the Valaam monks, driven out of Valaam by the Lutheran Swedes, were taking refuge in the Anthony Monastery, the monk twice saved his monastery from fire, promptly awakening Abbot Simeon from sleep. In 1744 The St. Petersburg merchant Kalitin, who suffered for a long time from an illness that could not be healed by anything, received healing at the relics of St. Anthony. Grateful Kalitin arranged the saint's shrine and iconostasis for the church 201. The memory of the saint is honored on January 17, the day of remembrance of the great Anthony, and on June 24, the day of the saint’s death, there is a religious procession to the lake; in the monastery a church is dedicated to the venerable 202. † Memory of Rev. Anthony Krasnokholmsky St. Rev. Anthony Krasnokholmsky The Monk Anthony, being a hieromonk, in 1461 arrived from the Belozersk side to the desert on the left bank of the river. Thresh, and here, not far from the Red Hill and 30 versts from Bezhetsk, he decided to found a monastery. At that time there were no monasteries in this region. Rev. Anthony built a wooden church in honor of St. Nicholas. The brethren gathered to him, and he zealously taught them the ways of salvation, by the example of his life and instructions. The pious boyar Ivan Neledinsky, the owner of those places, generously provided funds for the monastery. At his expense, Rev. Anthony built a stone church for the saint and soon after its consecration, he died peacefully in 1481. His relics rest in secret 203. † Memory of Rev. Anthony Chernozersky St. Rev. Anthony on the Black Lakes In the former Monastery of the Mother of God, on the shores of Black Lake, Cherepovets district, the relics of the teacher rest in secret. Anthony of Chernozersky, founder of the desert. His exploits and their time are unknown, but they probably belonged to the 16th century. His local memory is honored on January 17, 204. RKP. life of the Rev. Varlaam. RKP. life of the reverend Anthony with miracles was compiled late, in the 17th century, and therefore with many errors; for example, it says that the church in its monastery is St. built according to the charter of Prince Alexander Nevsky and with the blessing of Novgorod Archbishop Isaiah. But there was no such archbishop in Novgorod, as is known from the chronicles (Collected fol. 3. 54–57. § 180–182). It is said that Anthony was sent from Khutyn to the blessed Patriarch Athanasius in Constantinople. But Athanasius was not among the patriarchs in Constantinople at that time. The patriarchs were: from 1186 - Nikita, from 1190 - Leontius, then Theoktist, Dositheus and George Xyphilinus, who died in 1198; after him John Kamater, under whom Constantinople was taken by the Latins in 1204; from that time the patriarchs began to live in Nicaea; but Patriarch Athanasius was not here either. This is how Anthony’s years and the day of his death in the RKP are shown. hagiography Because in 1192, when Rev. Varlaam appointed him as his successor, he was at least 35 years old, then the remaining 32 years of his 67 years of life end in 1224. According to the RCP. Saints "Ven. Anthony, abbot of Dymensky, disciple of Varlaam, reposed,” according to one list: “April on the 13th day,” according to another: “August on the 13th day.” Swedish about the monastery, pp. 387, 403. RKP. Life: Tikhvin Monasteries, pp. 101, 104–108. St. Petersburg 1854 Valaam monks lived in the Dymskaya monastery since 1561; in 1618 they were transferred to the Vasilievsky Monastery (Scribe book during the general history book 6, p. 86. A. e. 3, 131). East. Hier. 4, 71. Information. about the monastery 378. RKP. hagiography East. Hier. 4, 807–809. Swedish about the monastery 511. Dictionary is holy. St. Petersburg 1836. According to the 1662 census, the Anthony Monastery has 529 settler households. RKP. Saints; ist. Hier. 3, 103. 104. Information. about the monastery 405. Dictionary of Saints 39. The Chernoozersky monastery was burned, the abbot and brethren were killed by the Poles in 1585. Nevolin about Pyatina, p. 86.