Житие преподобного отца нашего Антония Великого

The Monk Anthony was from Egypt 633. His parents were noble people and known for their Christian piety; They raised their son so that he would not know anyone else except them and his home. Having reached adolescence, he was in no hurry to either take up science or get close to other youths, but, remaining in his home, maintained purity of heart and strove to excel in piety. Not indulging in the amusements of his adolescence, Anthony loved to go with his parents to the church of God and, listening there to readings from Divine books, tried to derive all possible benefit from it and live exactly as they taught. He did not ask his elders for sweet food, as is typical for children, and generally did not pay much attention to food, always being content with what was given to him. Saint Anthony's parents died when he was about twenty years old. Left after them with his young sister, he initially took care of the house and the proper upbringing of his sister. Often, as was his custom, visiting the church, he heard from the Divine books read there how the apostles, leaving everything, followed the Savior, and how, according to the book of the Acts of the Apostles, many Christians sold their property and laid the price of what was sold at the feet of the apostles for distribution to the needy (Acts 4:34). Anthony thought about how strong the faith of these people was and what a great reward was in store for them in heaven. With such thoughts, he comes one day to the church and here suddenly again hears the words of Christ spoken to the rich young man: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your property and give it to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). Anthony took this as a reminder from above - as if Christ had spoken these words to him personally - and immediately upon leaving the church he sold his property, and distributed the large money proceeds from the sale to the poor, leaving only a small part of it for his weak and young sister. He had three hundred very good date palms, rich in fruit, and he gave them to his neighbors in order to free himself and his sister from any worries about them. When soon after this he again came to the church and heard the words of the Lord in the Gospel: “Do not worry about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34), he immediately went out and distributed the rest of the property to those in need. Not wanting to live in his house any longer, he entrusted his sister to the faithful virgins known to him 634, who dedicated themselves to the service of the Bridegroom - Christ, so that she would be raised among them by the example of their life, while he himself began to lead a harsh and strict ascetic life. At that time there were still few monasteries in Egypt and desert living was not yet widespread; but everyone who wanted to serve Christ and be saved, practiced virtue, secluded somewhere near his village. At that time, not far from the village of Anthony, there lived an old man who, from a young age, indulged in monastic deeds in solitude. Having met him and received benefit from this for his soul, Anthony began to imitate him and also seek solitude in various places near his village. If even after this he happened to hear about any hermit, he, like a prudent bee, went to look for him and did not return until he found the person he was looking for and through a meeting and conversation with him extracted, just as a bee extracts honey, some benefit for himself. These were the first exploits of the blessed one, succeeding in which, he more and more strengthened his thoughts in a good direction. At the same time, he earned his livelihood by the labor of his hands, remembering the words of Scripture: “If anyone does not want to work, neither should he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). With the proceeds from the sale of his products, he bought bread and fed the hungry; his soul was in constant prayerful communication with God, since he knew from Scripture that one must pray unceasingly (1 Thess. 5:17). He listened to the reading of the Holy Scriptures with such deep attention that he did not forget absolutely nothing of what he read, and, with strict observance of all the commandments of the Lord, his memory began to replace the most sacred books for him. This is how Anthony lived, and all the brothers to whom he came loved him in order to receive spiritual benefit from them and, being in subordination to them, to learn from them virtue, in which each one was predominantly distinguished: he tried to imitate one in abstinence, another in vigor, one in meekness, another in vigilance, another in attentiveness to what he read; From one he learned the feats of fasting, from another he marveled at lying on the bare ground, glorified the humility of one, the patience of another. Having acquired the common love of all of them and having benefited from all of them, he returned to his cell and there, reflecting on everything he had seen, he tried to assimilate and combine in himself the virtues of all, directing his efforts to ensure that he would not be the last in any of the mentioned virtues. By doing this, although he began to surpass everyone in glory, he nevertheless continued to enjoy general love: the neighbors and monks whom he often visited, seeing such a life of Anthony, called him God-loving and some loved him like a son, others like a brother. When Anthony was so successful and strengthened in goodness, the enemy of the Christian name - the devil, being unable to see such virtues in the young man, rebelled against him with his ancient cunning and began to try to divert him through seduction from good intentions and seduce him from the right path. He brought to his mind the thought of property sold and distributed, about the insecurity of his sister, about the greatness of the family, about vain worldly glory, about the pleasure that can be obtained from various foods and other delights of worldly life. At the same time, he mentally represented to Anthony the difficult path and the difficult end of virtue, and the weakness of the body and the length of time of the feat; With these and many other thoughts the tempter tried to darken his mind and corrupt his heart. When the devil saw himself defeated by Anthony through his prayers to God, patience and faith, he turned to the usual temptations of adolescence: he began to confuse him with night dreams, fear and ghosts, noise, voices and screams in the middle of the night, and during the day - and open attacks. Anthony firmly opposed the devil: he gave him unclean thoughts, but Anthony drove them away with continuous prayer; he sought to bring his feelings into delight by natural irritation and excitement of lust, and this one protected his body with faith, vigilance and fasting; the devil took on the image of a beautiful woman at night and tried in every possible way to arouse passion in Anthony, but he extinguished it with the thought of the unquenchable fire of Gehenna and the undying worm; the devil persuaded young Anthony to take a slippery path and close to a fall, and he, bringing to himself the thought of eternal torment after the Last Judgment, inviolably maintained the purity of his soul amid temptations. All this served only to shame the devil: the damned one, who dreamed of being like God, was now shamed by the young man; He who rebelled against flesh and blood was overcome by a man who had flesh, because the Lord helped His servant, who for our sake took on flesh and through this gave to the flesh the power to overcome the enemy, so that all who were thus tempted one after another could, each repeat the words of the apostle: “Nevertheless, not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). The evil serpent finally became convinced that he was unable to defeat Anthony with such insidious temptations of his, and, seeing himself always only being driven away, he powerlessly gnashed his teeth. Then he apparently appeared to him - in the form of a black and terrible youth, who, crying, spoke like this in a human voice: “I led many into temptation, I deceived many, but now I have been defeated both by other saints and by you through your exploits.” In fact, the insidious tempter said this, hoping to lead the humble young man to a high opinion of himself. - Who are you to talk about yourself like that? - Blessed Anthony asked him. “I am a seducer into fornication,” answered the devil, “with many different tricks I try to persuade all young men to commit this sin, which is why I am called the spirit of fornication.” How many people who have taken a vow of chastity have I already persuaded to commit such a sin! How many, who had already begun to live abstinently, have I managed to return to their former unclean life! I am the one for whom the prophet Hosea reproaches the fallen, saying: “for the spirit of fornication led them astray” (Hosea 4:12), and indeed, they were deceived by me; I often tempted you myself, but every time I was driven away by you. When Anthony heard this, he thanked the Lord and, with even greater fearlessness than before, said to the enemy: “In many ways you are disgraced, in many ways you are ashamed, which is why both your blackness and the image of a youth you have adopted are nothing more than signs of your powerlessness.” Now I no longer fear you: “The Lord is my helper: I will look upon my enemies” (Ps. 118:7). At these words from Anthony, the ghost immediately disappeared without a trace. This was Anthony’s first victory over the devil, won with the help of the gracious power of Christ. However, neither Anthony became negligent about himself after this one victory, nor did the devil’s strength weaken after one defeat, because he “walks around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). Anthony, remembering from Scripture that there are many wiles of the devil, relentlessly practiced difficult feats, reasoning that if Satan was defeated when he tempted with carnal lust, then he could subject him to some even more difficult and dangerous temptations. Therefore, Anthony exhausted and enslaved his body more and more, so that, having won in one thing, he would not allow victory over himself in another. Gradually accustoming himself to an even more severe life, he made many extraordinary feats of serving God habitual to himself, and turned his habits, as it were, into nature: every day he fasted until sunset and spent all nights in prayer; sometimes he ate food only after two days, and only on the fourth night did he somewhat fall asleep. His food consisted of bread and salt, with a small amount of water; matting or hair shirt, and sometimes bare earth, served as his bed. He did not eat oil at all, and there is no need to talk about meat and wine, since even less zealous monks do not consume them. The blessed one said that it is impossible for a youthful body to defeat the enemy if it is softened by the sweetness of the oil, and that it is necessary to impose on the body the most difficult feats, so that with its weakening the spirit becomes stronger, according to the words of the Apostle: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). Taking upon himself every day more and more new exploits, he remembered the prophet Elijah, who said: “As the Lord lives (today), before whom I stand” (1 Kings 18:15). 635 And he reasoned with himself like this: – It is not in vain that this word “today” was added here in Scripture, for Elijah did not count the exploits of the past, but as if every day he took up the exploits again, trying with all his might to appear before the eyes of God as, in his opinion, a person worthy of the sight of God should be, that is, with a pure heart and ready to do the will of God. He also thought that every ascetic should imitate the great Elijah and, having his image before him, study his life from it, as in front of a mirror. Therefore, he went to the tombs located not far from the village, first asking one of his acquaintances to bring him food on certain days. He locked him in one of these tombs and there, in solitude, the blessed one indulged in silence. Seeing this, the devil began to fear that Anthony would eventually arm himself against him with desert asceticism: having gathered demons, he, by God’s permission, subjected him to such terrible beatings that the blessed one lay motionless and silent afterwards, which he himself later spoke about many times; The torment inflicted on him exceeded all human suffering. But, by the mercy of the Lord God, who never abandons those who hope in Him, Anthony did not die. A few days later, his previously mentioned acquaintance came to Anthony, bringing ordinary food. Opening the doors and seeing him lying dead on the ground, he picked him up and brought him to his village. When rumors about this spread, Antony's neighbors and relatives gathered and with great sorrow began to perform a funeral service over him, as over someone who had already died. But at midnight, when everyone was fast asleep from exhaustion, Anthony began to gradually come to his senses; sighing and raising his head, he noticed that only the one who brought him here was awake. Calling him to him, he began to ask him, without waking anyone, to take him to his previous place, which was done, and Anthony again began to live in solitude. Not having the strength to stand on his feet due to his wounds, he prayed while lying prostrate and after the prayer he loudly exclaimed: - Demons! Here I am, Anthony, here. I do not avoid fighting with you; know that if you do anything more than before, nothing can separate me from my love for Christ. - “If an army takes up arms against me, my heart will not fear” (Ps. 27:3). Then the hater of good - the devil, surprised that Anthony dared to return here after such beatings, calls his demons and furiously says to them: “You see,” we were unable to defeat him either with the spirit of fornication or with bodily wounds, “after both, he only mocks us with even greater boldness; Arm yourself, each one, for an even stronger and more stubborn fight against him, so that he feels who he is challenging. And immediately after this, the whole multitude of demons went into a frantic movement, because the devil has many ways of fighting people. Suddenly such thunder was heard that the place shook at its very foundation, and the walls fell apart; and immediately a multitude of demons rushed in and filled Anthony’s dwelling, appearing in the form of ghosts of lions, wolves, asps 636, snakes, scorpions 637, lynxes and bears, and each of these ghosts revealed its rage in a manner appropriate to its type: the lion roared, preparing to devour Anthony, the buffalo terrified with its roar and horns, wriggled with a hiss the snake, the wolves rushed swiftly, the lynx in its own way contrived to attack; all these ghosts were extremely terrible in appearance, and the noise made by their roar was downright terrible. Anthony, struck and tormented by them, endured the most excruciating suffering, but did not fall into fear and retained vigor and clarity of mind. Although his bodily wounds caused him pain, he, remaining unshakable in his soul, seemed to mock his enemies and say: “If you had any strength, then one of you would be enough to fight me, but since the Lord took away your strength, you are trying to intimidate with your numbers; This alone is an obvious sign of your weakness, that you have taken upon yourself the images of unreasonable animals. And again he courageously continued to tell them: “If, by God’s permission, you have the power to attack and devour me, then here I am—why are you delaying?” And if you have not been given such power over me, then why work in vain? The sign of the cross and faith in God serve as an insurmountable wall of reflection for us. So the demons, after many attempts and vain efforts to frighten Blessed Anthony, only gnashed their teeth, because not only did not one of them have any success, but, on the contrary, they themselves were defeated and put to shame by him. The merciful Lord Jesus, protecting His servant, did not abandon him during such a difficult struggle with demons. Raising his gaze upward, Anthony saw that the vault of the tomb had opened above him and a light ray was descending towards him, dispelling the darkness. With the appearance of the light, not a single demon remained, the bodily pain instantly subsided, and the tomb, which disintegrated when the demons appeared, again turned out to be unharmed. Understanding this as the visitation of the Lord and sighing deeply from the heart, the blessed one exclaimed with his face turned to the light that illuminated him: – Where have you been, merciful Jesus? Where were You and why didn’t You come to heal my wounds from the very beginning? - Anthony! I was here, but I waited, wanting to see your courage; now, after you have stood firm in the struggle, I will always help you and glorify you throughout the world. Hearing this, Anthony stood up and felt so strong that, as it seemed to him, he regained much more strength than he had spent in the fight. Blessed Anthony was then thirty-five years old. After this, Anthony went to the aforementioned elder, from whom he sought guidance at the very beginning, and began to beg him to go and settle with him in the desert in some inaccessible place. When the elder refused - both because of old age and because of the novelty of this type of asceticism 638, Anthony fearlessly set off alone on a long journey to a mountain unknown among the monks in the desert. But the enemy, without ceasing to tempt him and wanting to prevent the fulfillment of his intentions, threw a silver dish on his way - to tempt him with the love of money. Seeing the dish, Anthony understood the cunning of the enemy and paused somewhat in thought. Looking to the side - at the dish, he began to expose the seducer hiding in the ghost of silver and said to himself: – Where does this dish come from in the desert? “This is only a path for animals and birds, there is not even a single human trace here; Moreover, if it fell from the bag, then, due to its large size, it could not go unnoticed by the person who dropped it, and he, in any case, would return and, having searched along the path traveled, would find the lost thing, since the place here is deserted. This is your trick, devil, but you will not hinder my intention with this: “let your silver perish with you” (Acts 8:20). And as soon as he said this, the dish instantly disappeared, like smoke from a fire dissipating. Another time after this, he saw gold lying in large quantities on his road. He quickly jumped over it, as if over some kind of fire, and hurried into the desert. Having crossed the river there, he found some empty fenced-in place in the mountain, which, due to long-standing desolation, was full of all sorts of poisonous reptiles and snakes. Anthony settled here 639, and the whole multitude of scorpions, as if driven by someone, immediately fled. He blocked the entrance with stones; bringing with him bread for six months - since it was the custom of the Thebans to store it, for whom it often did not spoil for a whole year - and, having a little water inside the fence, he began to live there in complete solitude, a hermit, never going out himself and not receiving anyone to himself. Only twice a year did he accept bread through the roof, brought to him by a friend whom he had previously asked for it; but he did not speak a word to the person who brought it. When many, wanting to see Anthony in order to receive spiritual benefit from him, came to the doors of his home, they heard various voices of unclean spirits turned against Anthony, shouting: -Why did you come to our domain? What do you care about this desert? Go away from foreign borders, you are not able to live here and endure our attacks! In such a continuous struggle with demons and in such solitude, far from people, the Monk Anthony lived for twenty whole years. When the time came to work not only for their own salvation, but also for the benefit of others, many people gathered at Anthony’s home who wanted to imitate his ascetic life, and they forcibly broke down the entrance to his home. Seeing that his face was bright and his body healthy, they were surprised how, after such fasts and exploits and after such a struggle with demons, he had not changed either in face or in body. From that time on, the monk became a mentor, shepherd, teacher of ascetic life and leader for others on the path to heaven. God helped him to such an extent that subsequently he had countless disciples, whom he persuaded to renounce the world and themselves. Within a short time, many monasteries were formed, in which he lovingly led monks new and old in the ascetic life - both in age and in the time of such life. One day, the brethren gathered and began to ask him to give them a charter for monastic life. Raising his voice, he answered: – For teaching the fulfillment of God’s commandments, the Divine Scriptures are completely sufficient; however, one cannot help but consider it a very good and good deed if the brethren mutually console each other with words. Therefore, reveal to me, as children do to their father, what you know; I, as children, will tell you what I have learned from long experience. First of all, let it be a common rule for all of you - so that no one weakens in the feat that he has undertaken, but let everyone always strive, like a beginner, to multiply and increase what he has begun. Continuing his speech, Anthony told them many useful instructions, as can be seen from his conversation, set out in detail in the life of Anthony compiled by Athanasius the Great. From this conversation only the most important will be given here. Saint Anthony spoke about eternal life: - In this real life, the price of the thing being bought is equal to what it is worth, and the seller receives no more. But the promise of eternal life is purchased at too little a price: it is given to us for a short life, about which it is written: “The days of our years are seventy years, and with greater strength, eighty years; and their best time is labor and sickness” (Ps. 89:10). Even if we lived, working in the service of God, for eighty or a hundred years, still in the future life we ​​will have to reign not for some limited time, but in the above-mentioned number of years we will reign forever and ever, moreover, we will not receive possession of the earth, but heaven, having laid off corruptible flesh, we will receive it again in incorruptibility. So, my children, do not indulge in sorrow, because “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). About those who leave the world and are inclined to exaggerate the significance of their feat, he said: – Let no one who has renounced the world think of himself that he has left something great, because, in comparison with heavenly blessings, the whole earth is insignificant and small. If the whole world as a whole is not worth the heavenly abodes, then let everyone think and understand that, having renounced several vineyards, or fields and houses, or an insignificant amount of gold, he cannot say that he has left a great thing, nor grieve that he will receive an insignificant reward. Just like someone who renounces a small copper coin to acquire a hundred gold coins, he who renounces the whole world, if it were all in his power, still in the Heavenly Kingdom, would receive a hundredfold greater reward. The monk said the following about the illusory nature of earthly goods and the great benefits of virtues: – We must especially firmly remember that even if someone did not want to part with his wealth, death would still forcibly separate him from it. If so, then why don’t we ourselves do the same for virtue? Why not, for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, voluntarily give up our property, which we will still lose at the end of this life? Let Christians not worry about what they cannot take with them when they die. Let us, better, strive with all the strength of our souls to acquire that which, after death, elevates us to heaven, such as: wisdom, chastity, justice, a virtuous life, prudence, love of poverty, firm faith in Christ, gentleness, and hospitality. Striving for this, we will lead a carefree life on earth 640. Saint Anthony spoke about zealous and unceasing service to Christ God: – We should not forget that we are slaves of Christ and must serve Him, our Creator. A slave cannot refuse to carry out orders relating to the present or future time, under the pretext that he has already worked in the past, and will not dare to say that, having become tired of his previous work, he should now be free; on the contrary, every day he performs the same work with the same diligence, so as to please his master and not be subjected to beatings and punishment for laziness. In the same way, we must always zealously fulfill the commandments of God, firmly remembering that the Lord is a righteous rewarder and that in whatever sin death overtakes a person, for that he will be condemned. He clearly testifies to this through the words of the prophet Ezekiel: “he will die from his iniquity that he has committed” (Ezek.33:13). That is why the damned Judas, in one night for the crime he committed, lost the fruits of his labors throughout the previous time. Therefore, we must always try with the same diligence to fulfill the commandments of the Lord, and God Himself will help us in doing so, as it is written: “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). And in order not to indulge in laziness, Anthony urged to always remember about death and quoted the words of the apostle, who said that he dies every day: “We are subjected to disasters every hour. I die every day" (1 Cor. 15:30). “Therefore,” continued Anthony, “we, people, will try to live righteously and, reflecting on the hour of death, not sin.” Rising from sleep, let us not hope to live until the evening, and, going to bed, let us remember that perhaps we will not live until the morning; Let us not forget that the measure of our life is unknown to us, and that we are entirely in the power of God. And spending every day like this, we will neither sin, nor be seduced by any harmful desires, nor be angry with each other, nor accumulate earthly riches for ourselves, but, as those who are every minute expecting death, we will neglect everything perishable: female love will lose all meaning for us, the fire of lust will go out, we will then forgive each other’s sins, always keeping before our mental eyes the day of the Last Judgment; fear of this Judgment and trembling at the thought of eternal hellish torment will in advance eliminate the pleasantness of bodily pleasure and keep the soul from falling into the sinful abyss. Anthony also spoke about the Kingdom of God: - Greeks, seeking wisdom, travel overseas and ask foreign teachers about empty teachings; we do not at all need to move from one foreign country to another or swim across the sea, looking for the Kingdom of Heaven, since our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said in the Gospel: “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21), and to achieve it we need only our good will. Regarding the fight against demons, Anthony gave the following instructions: – God Himself has instructed us to always monitor with unflagging attention what is happening in our souls, because we have very cunning enemies in the fight, I mean demons, and we, according to the words of the Apostle (Eph. 6:11-12), face a constant struggle with them. Countless numbers of them are flying in the air, whole hordes of enemies surround us on all sides. I couldn't explain to you all the differences between them; I will only briefly describe the ways I know of in which they try to seduce us. First of all, we must firmly remember that God is not the author of evil, and that the demons did not become evil by His will: such a change in them did not occur by nature, but depended on their own will. As created by a good God, they were originally good spirits, but for self-exaltation they were cast down from heaven to earth, where, stagnant in evil, they deceived the people with false dreams and taught them idolatry; They envy us Christians immensely and constantly stir up all sorts of evil against us, fearing that we will inherit their former glory in heaven. The degrees of their immersion in evil are different and varied: some of them have reached an extreme descent into the abyss of wickedness, others seem less evil, but all of them, to the best of their ability, fight in different ways against all virtue. Therefore, we need intense prayers and feats of abstinence in order to receive from God the gift of reasoning - in order to comprehend the differences between evil spirits, in order to recognize in each individual case their various kinds of cunning and seduction and to reflect everything with the same Christian sign - the Cross of the Lord. Having received this gift, the holy Apostle Paul inspired: “so that Satan does not harm us, for we are not unaware of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11). It is necessary that we imitate the apostle and warn others about what we ourselves have suffered, and in general, mutually instruct each other. For my part, I have seen many insidious seductions from demons and I am telling you about this as children, so that, having a warning, you can preserve yourself among the same temptations. Great is the malice of demons against all Christians, especially against the monks and virgins of Christ: they place temptations in their lives everywhere, trying to corrupt their hearts with ungodly and unclean thoughts. But let none of you be afraid of this, since demons are immediately driven away by fervent prayers to God and fasting. However, if they stop attacking for a while, do not think that you have already completely won, for after defeat the demons usually attack with even greater force. Cunningly changing their methods of struggle, if they cannot seduce a person with their thoughts, then they try to seduce or intimidate him with ghosts, taking the form of a woman, a scorpion, or turning into some kind of giant, as tall as a church, into entire regiments of warriors, or into some other ghosts, which all disappear after the first sign of the cross. If their deception is recognized in this, then they are soothsayers and try, like prophets, to predict future events. If in this case they suffer shame, then they call upon their prince himself, the root and focus of all evil, to help them in the struggle. Many times our venerable father Anthony the Great spoke about the same devilish image that appeared to him, which was presented to the gaze of Job, enlightened by God: “His eyes are like the eyelashes of the dawn; flames come out of its mouth, fiery sparks jump out; smoke comes out of his nostrils, like from a boiling pot or cauldron. His breath heats the coals, and flames come out of his mouth” (Job 41:9-10). The prince of demons appeared in such a terrible form. He would like to instantly destroy the whole world, but in reality he has no power: the omnipotence of God tames him, just as an animal is controlled by a bridle, or as the freedom of a captive is destroyed by his shackles. He is afraid of both the sign of the cross and the virtuous life of the righteous, and Saint Anthony says this about it: “A pure life and an immaculate faith in God have great power against the devil, beloved brothers.” Believe me, what is terrible for Satan is the vigilance of people living according to the will of God, their prayers and fasting, meekness, voluntary poverty, modesty, humility, love, restraint, and most of all, their sincere love for Christ. The highly exalted serpent himself knows well that he is condemned to be trampled under the feet of the righteous, according to the word of God: “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). The Monk Anthony told for the spiritual benefit of his listeners, and here’s what else: – How many times have demons attacked me in the guise of armed warriors and, taking the forms of scorpions, horses, animals and various snakes, surrounded me and filled the room in which I was. When I began to sing against them: “Some in chariots, some in horses, but we glory in the name of the Lord our God” (Ps. 19:8), then, driven away by the gracious help of God, they ran away. One day they even appeared in a very bright appearance and began to say: “We have come, Anthony, to give you light.” But I closed my eyes so as not to see the devil’s light, I began to pray to God in my soul, and their ungodly light went out. After a little time, they appeared again and began to sing in front of me and argue with each other from the Scriptures, but I was like a deaf person and did not listen to them. It happened that they shook my very monastery, but I prayed to the Lord with a fearless heart. Often shouts, dancing and ringing were heard around me; but when I began to sing, their cries turned into lamentable cries, and I glorified the Lord, who destroyed their strength and put an end to their fury. “Believe, my children,” continued Anthony, “what I tell you: I once saw the devil in the form of an extraordinary giant who dared to say about himself: “I am God’s power and wisdom,” and he addressed me with these words: “Ask me, Anthony, what you want, and I will give it to you.” In response, I spat in his mouth and, armed with the name of Christ, completely rushed at him, and this giant in appearance immediately melted and disappeared in my hands. When I was fasting, he again appeared to me in the guise of a monk, who brought bread and persuaded me to eat. “You,” he said, “are a man and are not free from human weakness; make some allowances for your body, otherwise you may get sick.” But I realized that this was the insidious deception of the crafty serpent, and when I turned to my usual weapon - the sign of the Cross of Christ - it immediately turned into a stream of smoke, which, reaching out to the window, disappeared through it. Demons often tried to seduce me in the desert with a ghost of gold suddenly appearing, hoping to seduce me either by the sight of it or by touching it. I will not hide the fact that the demons began to beat me many times. But I patiently endured the beatings and only exclaimed: - No one can separate me from the love of Christ! From these words they flew into mutual rage against each other and, finally, were driven out not by my command, but by God’s command, according to the words of Christ: “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning” (Luke 10:18). One day a demon knocked on the gate of the monastery. Coming out, I saw in front of me a huge giant, whose head seemed to reach to heaven. And when I asked: “In vain,” he answered, “all the monks accuse me, and why do all the Christians curse me?” “And they act justly,” I said in response, “because they are often deceived by you.” “I don’t do anything to them,” he answered, “but they themselves confuse each other.” After all, I am cursed and cast down - haven’t you heard from Scripture that “the enemy has no weapons at all, and You have destroyed cities” (Ps. 9:7). And indeed, now I am already deprived of any place in the world, not a single city remains under my rule, and I have no weapons, all peoples in all countries profess the name of Christ, the deserts are filled with monks. Let them look after themselves, and don’t curse me in vain. Marveling at the grace of God then, I answered him: “I attribute this recognition, so new and unheard of from you, not to your truthfulness, which you do not have at all, but only to God’s power; you, being the father of lies, had to admit what really is, and this time, against your will, you told the truth, because Christ, by His coming, completely overthrew your power, and, deprived of Angelic glory, you are now dragging out a miserable and shameful life in all kinds of uncleanness. “And as soon as I said this, the demon immediately disappeared. So the monk convinced the brethren not to be afraid of the power of demons, tamed and overthrown by Christ, but to fight them courageously, with God’s help, strengthening their hearts with faith in Christ. Hearing this, the brethren rejoiced and remembered the instructions of their father for their benefit. In some, the desire for virtue intensified, in others, previously weak faith was strengthened, some were cleansed from false seductions by thoughts, the hearts of others were freed from the influence of terrible ghosts on them, yet at the same time they were filled with a cheerful readiness to despise demonic seduction and marveled at the great grace of understanding and discernment of spirits given to Anthony by God. On the mountain where the Monk Anthony lived, many monasteries arose, which, covering it like tents, were overflowing with Divine hosts of psalmists, readers of Scripture, prayer books, fasters, people joyfully hoping for future benefits and working only to give alms. Mutual love and harmony reigned between them, and their dwellings were like a city, alien to the excitement of this world, filled only with piety and righteousness. There was not among them any profane person, no scolder, no hater, no slanderer, no complainer; there were only many ascetics unanimously serving God, so that everyone who had the opportunity to see these monasteries and their way of life could not, exclaiming, not repeat the words of Scripture: “How beautiful are your tents, Jacob, your dwellings, Israel! Like gardens by the river, like aloe trees planted by the Lord” (Num. 24:5-6). Time passed, and Anthony continued to work more and more zealously. Meanwhile, a cruel persecution arose against the Church of Christ by the wicked king Maximian 641. And when the holy martyrs were led to Alexandria, the Monk Anthony also followed the sacrifices of Christ, leaving his monastery for this. “Let us go,” he said, “to the bright feast of our brothers, so that we ourselves may be rewarded with the same, or we may see others struggling.” Out of his love and good will, the saint truly became a martyr. But although he wanted to suffer for the name of Christ, martyrdom, however, was not destined for him, since the Lord, for the benefit of His flock, preserved the teacher and mentor Anthony. He openly revealed his devotion to the holy martyrs: united with them by bonds of unbreakable love, he served them when they were in chains, accompanied them to trial, appeared before the tormentors and, without hiding the fact that he was a Christian, in this way he directly sought to suffer for Christ. However, no one dared to raise a hand against him, because it pleased God, who preserved Anthony’s life, which was more useful for people than his martyrdom. After the martyrdom of Most Holy Peter, Archbishop of Alexandria, and the persecution ceased, Blessed Anthony returned to his former monastery and, imitating the holy martyrs in faith and hope throughout his subsequent life, exhausted his body with especially strict labors and constant vigil. His underwear was a hair shirt, his outer clothing was a leather cloak. He never washed his body, except perhaps in those cases when it was necessary to cross water, and until his death no one ever saw his nakedness. One day, when he was in solitude and, having shut himself up in his cell, did not receive anyone, the military commander Martinian came to him with his demon-possessed daughter. He began to knock and beg the monk to come out and pray and help his suffering daughter. Anthony, without unlocking the door, looked out from above and said: – Why are you asking for my help? I am mortal, like you, we are both equally weak by nature. If you believe in Christ, Whom I serve, then go, pray to God according to your faith, and your daughter will recover. Martinian believed, called on the name of Christ and went home with his daughter, who was immediately healed. The Lord performed many other miracles through His servant Anthony. In the Gospel He promised: “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7), and according to this, having found a person worthy of his grace, he did not deny him miraculous power: many demoniacs lay in front of the entrance to his cell - since its doors were locked - and they all received healing through his godly prayers. Anthony saw that this large number of visitors prevented him from remaining in his favorite silence; on the other hand, he feared that his own mind would begin to be exalted by the abundance of signs performed through him, and so he decided to go to the upper Thebaid, where he would not be known to anyone. Taking bread, he sat down on the bank of the river and began to wait for the ship to sail to the other side. Suddenly he heard a voice from above asking: - Anthony! Where and why are you going? Without being embarrassed, since this was not the first time he had heard such a voice, Anthony answered fearlessly: “Since people do not give me peace here, I decided to go to Upper Thebaid so that they would not encourage me to do what exceeds my strength and so that my silence would not be disturbed. “If you go to Thebaid,” the voice continued, “you will have to endure the same difficulties to an even greater extent.” If you really want to strive in strict solitude, then go now to the inner desert. - Who will show me the way there, because this place is unfamiliar to me? – asked Anthony. In response to this, a voice pointed him to the Saracens, who usually went along this road to Egypt to trade. Now they were returning back, and Anthony, approaching, began to ask them to take him with them and bring him to the desert. They readily agreed, seeing in Anthony a companion sent by God Himself. Having spent three days and three nights on the road with the Saracens, Blessed Anthony came across a very high mountain, from under which flowed a source of good water; the mountain was surrounded by a small plain on which grew several wild date palms. Anthony liked this place - as if it had been indicated to him by God Himself - and the One who invisibly talked with him on the bank of the river really inspired him to choose this mountain for his residence. Taking bread from his companions, he began to live on this mountain alone, and no one lived with him. The Saracens, seeing his ascetic life, began to bring him bread, and sometimes he had some meager consolation in the dates of wild palm trees. Subsequently, when the brothers learned about his whereabouts, they began to send him food with love, like children to their father. But Anthony, seeing that he was giving his brothers trouble and wanting to save them from such labor, begged one of those who came to bring him a spade, a hoe and a small amount of seeds. When he had done this, Anthony walked around the mountain and chose a small place suitable for digging and sowing, because water could be brought from above to irrigate it. Having loosened the earth here, he sowed grain, and from that time on he had his own grain every year; While working, he rejoiced that, without burdening anyone, he fed in the desert with the labor of his own hands. But since many people began to come to him there, he sowed a few more vegetables to treat the visitors: beans, peas and other things. Initially, animals began to come here to drink, trampling and devouring vegetables. One day, when they had gathered here as usual, the monk took one of them and, hitting him lightly with a rod, said to all of them: - Why do you harm me, not seeing any oppression from me? In the name of the Lord I command you: get away from me and do not come here. And from that time on, the animals, obedient to the prohibition, no longer came. Thus the monk lived in solitude, dwelling in prayer and incessant deeds. However, driven by love for the elder, the brethren came to him and tried to serve him in some way. Each of them brought olives and oil or lentils and other vegetables, begging them to strengthen their body, decrepit from old age. How many attacks the blessed one had to endure while living there, as we know about this from those who came to him! Truly, the words of the apostle came true on him: “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spirits of wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). How many terrible screams were heard there, like the screams of a crowd and the sounds of weapons - the whole mountain seemed to be full of demons! But the Monk Anthony was like a fortress and alone defeated everyone, repelling all the hordes of demons with kneeling prayer. And it is truly amazing how one person could live in an uninhabited desert, without fear of constant attacks by demons, or so many four-legged animals and poisonous reptiles. David rightly sang: “He who trusts in the Lord, like Mount Zion, will not be moved; he abides forever” (Ps. 124:1). One night, when Anthony was praying and staying awake in the service of the Lord, he suddenly saw that his entire monastery and even the surrounding desert were full of animals, which were terribly opening their mouths and gnashing their teeth. But the monk, immediately realizing in this the deceit of the enemy - the devil, said: “If the Lord has given you power over me, then I am ready to be devoured by you; if you came by satanic delusion, then run away, because I am a servant of Christ. And, according to the word of the monk, all the animals took to a hasty flight, driven by the power of God. A few days later there was a new fight with the same enemy. The saint was in the habit of giving some gift as a souvenir to everyone who came to him with an offering, and for this purpose he wove a basket. Pulling the strip from which he was weaving the basket, he suddenly felt that someone was holding it. The monk stood up and saw the beast, which had the image of a man up to the waist, while the other half of its body had the appearance of a donkey. Anthony, crossing himself, said: – I am Christ’s servant; if you are sent against me, then here I am - I don’t run. And immediately the ghost, along with many other demons, took flight and disappeared. After some time, the brethren begged the monk to visit them. Moved by fatherly love for them, Anthony, putting bread and water on the camel with them - since they had to walk through waterless terrain - set off on the road. On the way, the water he took was all gone, and due to the intense heat, the travelers were in danger of dying from thirst. In vain they walked around the surrounding area, looking for remnants of rainwater somewhere in the depressions; The camel was already dying of thirst and the heat of the sun. In such a plight, the elder, as usual, turned to prayer for help. Moving a short distance away from his companions, he knelt, raised his hands to the sky and began to pray. And immediately a source of water appeared in this place. Having quenched their thirst and taking a supply of water with them, the travelers safely arrived to the brothers who were waiting for them. Those, having gathered together, came out to meet the elder and, kissing him with respect, received his blessing, and he, as if bringing from the mountain a law or some gift dear to them, offered them spiritual food - he approved of the exploits of the elders and gave instructions to the younger ones. Having stayed here for some time, he soon went back to his mountain. Having power over unclean spirits, the monk healed many demoniacs, casting out demons from them. Athanasius the Great talks about this in detail in his life of Anthony. The monk healed with his prayer various other illnesses; he was not without the prophetic gift - he saw the future and saw what was in the distance as if it were before his eyes. One day two brothers came to the monk from afar; Along the way, all the water ran out, and one of them, by the will of God, had already died, and the other was lying exhausted on the ground and awaiting death. Anthony, who was on the mountain at that time, hastily called two monks to him and ordered them, taking with them a vessel of water, to quickly walk along the road leading to Egypt, and said: “One brother who was coming here has already reposed in the Lord; The other one will die too if you don’t come to the rescue. The monks, hastily setting off on the road according to his instructions, found everything as the elder had said. They gave the man who was exhausted from thirst some drink and brought him with them, and buried the dead man. At another time, it happened that he was sitting on a mountain and, raising his eyes to heaven, saw some soul ascending to heaven, accompanied by Angels rejoicing over her. Marveling at this, the monk prayed that it would be revealed to him what this vision meant. And a voice came to him: – This is the soul of the monk Ammonius, who lived in Nitria. Ammonius was an old man who, from early youth until his death, led a strict ascetic life, as can be seen from his life (on the fourth day of the month of October); and the distance from the mountain on which Anthony lived to Nitria was thirteen days' journey. Anthony's disciples, seeing their elder rejoicing and marveling, began to ask him to explain to them the reason for his joy and surprise. “Ammonius died today,” the elder answered them. Ammonius was known to them, as he often came here. Having remembered this day, Anthony’s disciples began to question the brothers who came thirty days later and learned from them that Ammonius actually died on the very day and hour at which the elder saw his soul ascend to heaven 642. Both of them marveled greatly at the purity of Anthony’s soul, by which he could so quickly learn about an event that happened very far away. One day, around nine o'clock, the monk, having stood up to pray before eating food, was delighted with his mind and saw himself rushing through the air. At the same time, the air demons tried to block the path and prevent his ascent. But the Angels resisted them and demanded to know the reasons for the detention. They began to remember Anthony’s sins from his very birth. But the Angels stopped them and said: – What was from birth, the Lord blotted out; but if you know anything about any of his sins from the time he became a monk and made a vow to God, then you can talk about it. Then the demons, out of their malice, began to slander Anthony, accusing him of sins that he had not committed; and when this came to nothing, a clear path opened for Anthony. Having come to his senses, Anthony saw that he was standing in the same place. Shocked by the vision, he forgot about food and spent the whole night in fiery prayer, sighing and thinking about how many enemies a person has and how difficult the air path of the soul to heaven is. One night he heard a voice from above who said to him: - Get up, Anthony, come out and look! Anthony went out and, raising his gaze, saw someone terrible and so tall that his head touched the clouds; He also saw some other creatures, as if inspired, striving to rise to the sky, but the terrible giant stretches out his hands and tries to block their path, and he actually grabs some and throws them down, while others, bypassing him, boldly fly up, and about these he only grinds his teeth in impotent rage. And again Anthony heard the voice: – Try to understand what you see! Then his mind opened, and he began to understand that human souls were ascending to heaven, but the devil was preventing them, and he managed to hold sinners and leave them in his power, but his power did not extend to the saints, and he could not detain them. The monk told his brothers about such revelations not out of vanity, but for their benefit. In addition, they themselves, seeing him surprised by something, begged him to tell them about the vision he had. His face was always illuminated with some special grace and shone, so that, even if someone had never seen him before, they immediately recognized him among many others: the spiritual purity of the saint was reflected in the joy of his face, and, illuminated internally by the vision of God, he was always joyful, as it is written: “A merry heart makes a cheerful face” (Proverbs 15:13). As friendly as he was in appearance, he was just as pure and wonderfully unshakable in faith, he never took the side of apostates, seeing their unauthorized distortion of the faith, he never had a friendly conversation with Manichaeans 643 and other heretics, except in those cases when they showed a readiness to renounce their previous error; The monk directly said that friendship and conversations with heretics cause harm to the soul. Most of all, he avoided the Arians, forbidding all Orthodox Christians to have contact with them. When some of the Arians came to him and he saw their evil faith from a conversation with them, he immediately ran from them from the mountain, saying: “Their words are more poisonous than the snakes themselves.” When one day the Arians spread a false rumor that Anthony was thinking at the same time as them, the monk was surprised at their audacity and, inflamed with just anger, came to Alexandria; there, before the archbishop and all the people, he cursed the Arians, calling them the forerunners of the Antichrist, and confessed the Son of God not to be a creature, but consubstantial with the Father, the Creator of the world 644; and all Orthodox Christians were filled with great joy that the anti-Christ heresy was cursed by such a pillar of the Church. Then all people, without distinction of gender and age, not only Christians, but also heretics, even the pagans themselves, gathered to the monk, saying: “We want to see the man of God.” This is what everyone called Anthony, and his name enjoyed such extraordinary fame that they tried to touch at least the hem of his clothes, hoping to receive great benefit for themselves through this. It is impossible to retell how many demoniacs and those suffering from various diseases received healings then, how many idol temples were closed, how many pagans joined the flock of Christ - through Anthony’s stay in the city, his words and miracles 645. Some, thinking that the large crowd of people was embarrassing the saint, began to drive the people away from him; but he said meekly: “The number of people who come to me is no more than the hordes of demons with whom we are constantly fighting on the mountain. The compiler of this life, Saint Athanasius the Great, says: When Anthony was returning to his place, and we went to accompany him, one woman shouted from behind: - Wait, man of God, I beg you, wait! My daughter is severely tormented by a demon. I beg you, wait, so that I, running after you, will not suffer misfortune! Touched by these words and our requests, the wondrous old man stopped and did not go further. When the woman approached, and her daughter was thrown to the ground by the unclean spirit, Anthony prayed in his soul to the Lord Jesus Christ, and immediately the unclean spirit left the sick woman. Her mother and all the people thanked God; Anthony himself was glad that he was returning to his beloved desert. What was also surprising about the monk was that, without learning to read and write, he was wise and very prudent. One day, two pagan philosophers, Greeks by origin, came to Anthony to test and, if possible, defeat him in wisdom. He was on the top of the mountain and when he saw them, realizing at first glance who they were, he himself met those who had come and asked through an interpreter: - Why do you, wise men, take the trouble to go from afar to the unreasonable and want to argue with the unreasonable? “We do not consider you stupid, but, on the contrary, very wise,” they answered. “If you have come to something unreasonable,” the saint again boldly addressed them, “then your work is in vain.” If, as you say, I am a wise man, then we should follow the one whom you call a wise man, because we should imitate the wise and pious. If I came to you, I would need to imitate you; but since you came to me as a sage, then be Christians like me. And the philosophers left, amazed at the insight of his mind, and at his casting out of demons, which they saw with their own eyes. Other scientists like these philosophers also came to him, wanting to laugh at him as an unlearned and illiterate person. But he shamed them into silence with this reasoning: “Answer me,” he said, “which came first—the mind or the writing, and which of these gave rise to the other: did the writing create the mind or did the mind create the writing?” “The mind invented and transmitted writing,” they answered. - So, therefore, those who have a healthy mind may not need writing. Also, for the third time, people came to him who had studied all worldly wisdom and surpassed all their contemporaries in their learning. With skillful questions they began to probe him for the basis of our faith in Christ, with the obvious goal of mocking the Cross of Christ. After being silent for a while and grieving over their error, the elder began to speak to them like this through an interpreter who knew Greek well: -What is better and more decent: to honor the Cross of Christ, or to extol the adultery, infanticide and incest of your gods? Should you glorify the contempt for death and the greatest virtue revealed in the Cross of Christ, or praise the obscenities that your corrupt faith teaches? What could be better than to say and believe that the Word of God took on human flesh in order to, through union with our mortal nature, lead us to heaven and introduce us to the heavenly, the Divine? How dare you laugh at the Christian faith - that Christ the Son of God, without any damage to His nature, began to be what he was not 646 and remains what he began to be 647 - if you yourself, bringing the soul down from heaven, settle it not only in human bodies, but also in snakes and animals and move it here and there and claim that it moves sometimes into a person, sometimes into an animal, sometimes into a bird or some other living creature? The Christian faith, confessing the omnipotence and mercy of God, for this very reason considers the incarnation possible for God, and, however, honor does not exclude honor 648. You talk idle talk that the soul, flowing from the purest source of divinity, then falls low, and you dare to assert that, diminishing, it suffers changes and transformations. However, we need to talk here about the Cross of Christ our God. Is it not better to suffer the cross or some other death than, trusting your absurd inventions, to worship the Egyptian goddess Isis, mourning Osiris, her brother and husband? Be ashamed, I ask for faith in the evil Typhon, brother of your god Osiris 649. Let you be ashamed for the flight of Saturn 650, for his unnatural absorption of children. Be ashamed of the bloodthirstiness and depravity of Zeus, his lust, as your ancient legends speak about. This is what you believe, this is what your gods are like, this is the decoration of your churches! You laugh at the Cross and the suffering of the Lord. But why are you silent about His resurrection? Why do you not pay attention to His miracles: returning sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, healing the lame, cleansing lepers, walking on the sea, casting out demons, raising the dead and many others, from which His Divine power and glory were clearly revealed? And if you were to abandon the prejudice with which you are filled, you would immediately be convinced that Jesus Christ is the true God, made human for the sake of our salvation. With these and many other arguments, the monk shamed his co-questionnaires, the philosophers, to such an extent that they were unable to say a word to him in response. Anyone can learn about all this in detail from the life of Anthony, compiled by Athanasius the Great, in whom this conversation is presented in full. We, in view of the vastness of the narrative, leaving the speech of the monk to the Greeks, will now briefly speak about the deeds of the monk himself, which had outstanding significance in his life and were most useful for us. What was also surprising about the Monk Anthony was that, although he lived on the very outskirts of the then world, Tsar Constantine and his sons Constance and Constantius 651 fell in love with him passionately in absentia and in letters to their sons asked him to come and see them. - Should I go to the kings or not? – he asked his students. “If you go,” they answered, “you will be Anthony, but if you don’t go, you will be Abba Anthony 652.” “Since,” said the monk, “if I go, I won’t be an Abba, then it’s better for me not to go,” and he didn’t go. After this, the kings began to ask him, so that he, although in his letters, would give them blessing and consolation. In response, the monk actually sent them a letter in which, praising them for confessing the faith of Christ, he inspired them not to be proud of power in this life, but so that, although they sit on royal thrones, they should not forget that they are people, and most of all, to remember the future Last Judgment, at which they will have to give an account of how they used power. The monk convinced them to be merciful to people, to observe justice, to be fathers for the poor and unfortunate orphans. One day, sitting among the brethren at work, he seemed to be in a state of admiration and, carefully looking up at the sky, sighed, then, kneeling in prayer, he wept bitterly for a long time. Those present were in fear and began to relentlessly beg him to tell him what he was seeing. “It would be better, my children, to die before the approaching disaster comes,” the elder answered with great sorrow. Since they again began to beg him about the same thing, the Monk Anthony, bursting into tears, said: – An inexplicable disaster is approaching the Church of Christ, and it will be betrayed to people like dumb cattle. I saw the altar of the Church of the Lord and in it many mules, who, having surrounded the holy throne, violently overthrew everything that stood on it and, scattering it on the floor, trampled underfoot; and I heard a voice saying: “My altar will be desecrated!” This is the reason for my sighs and tears. This vision of the monk came true two years later, when the cruel Arian persecution opened: the churches of God were plundered, sacred vessels were desecrated, and the Holy Mysteries were touched by the unclean hands of the pagans. Entire crowds of the wicked then rushed against Christ and forced the Orthodox to go to church with tree branches in their hands. The latter is explained by the fact that the pagans in Alexandria had the custom of entering their temples with palm branches in their hands, and the Arians, wanting to attract them to help them against the Orthodox, out of imitation of them, also began to walk with branches into their temples; having agreed to act together against the Orthodox Christian faith, they began to imitate each other in customs - Arians to pagans and pagans to Arians. The Orthodox were also forced into this wicked custom so that they would be at one with the Arians. Oh horror! O lawlessness! Women and girls were desecrated, the blood of Orthodox Christians was shed in churches and sprinkled on altars, baptismal fonts were desecrated by the lust of the pagans. Everyone then saw in this the fulfillment of Anthony’s vision - that the hinnies were trampling the altar of God. And then many weak people, out of fear of the Arians, went over to the side of their heresy. Speaking about the impending disaster, Saint Anthony at the same time consoled the brethren and said: - Don’t be discouraged, children: just as the Lord was angry, so He will be merciful later, and the Church will again be restored to its radiant beauty and strength, and those who have preserved the faith of Christ unshakably amidst persecution will shine with the light of grace. The snakes will then return to their holes, and piety will increase even more. Just watch yourself so as not to have disastrous communication with the Arians, because their teaching is not apostolic, but devilish and that of their father Satan; for this very reason they were designated in the vision under the image of irrational animals. At that time, there lived in Egypt a military leader named Balacius, who, prompted by the evil Arians, mercilessly persecuted Christians. He was so cruel that he publicly stripped and beat even girls and monks in the square. The Monk Anthony sent him a letter with the following content: “I see the wrath of God coming towards you.” Stop persecuting Christians, and then the destruction approaching you will be removed. The wicked man, having read the letter, only laughed at him; Having spat on the letter, he threw it to the ground, subjected those sent by Anthony to shameful punishment and, reviling the monk, uttered various evil threats against him. But soon, according to the prophecy of the monk, the next execution of God broke out over the wicked. On the fifth day after this, he went with the Egyptian commander Nestorius to a place called Chaereum, which is in Alexandria; They rode on the most peaceful and calm horses. Suddenly the horses began to play under them, rushing towards each other, and the horse on which Nestorius was sitting suddenly grabbed Valacius with its teeth, throwing him to the ground and began to gnaw the soft parts of his body. After this they brought him dead to the city, where on the third day he gave up his wicked soul. And everyone saw in this the fulfillment of Anthony’s prediction, which rightly befell the persecutor. But it’s time to talk about the death of the saint. He used to go down from the top of the mountain, where he himself was, to his brothers who lived at the foot of the mountain and visit them. On one of these ordinary visits, he told them about the approach of his death, which was revealed to him by God. “I came to you for the last time, my children,” he said, “I no longer hope to see you in this life, and it’s time for me to leave this life and rest, since I have already lived one hundred and five years.” At these words, the brethren gave themselves over to deep sorrow, they cried and kissed the elder, as if he was already leaving the world. And he urged them to work with unflagging zeal, not to lose heart amid the feats of abstinence, but to live - as if daily preparing for death, to successfully protect the soul from unclean thoughts, to follow the examples of the saints, not to get close to the schismatics - the Meletians, not to enter into communication with the wicked Arians; on the contrary, he urged them to adhere to the traditions of their fathers and to preserve in all purity the pious faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, which they learned from Scripture and from his repeated instructions. After this, the brethren persistently began to beg him to stay with them, since everyone wanted to have the honor of being present at his death. But he did not agree to this, because he knew about their desire to honor his body, after death, with a solemn burial. Avoiding even the posthumous reward of honor and glory to him from people, the monk hastened to leave them and hide in solitude: having said goodbye to the brethren, he went to the top of the mountain to his favorite home, the place of his exploits. A few months later he fell seriously ill. Then calling to him two monks, who had labored with him for the last fifteen years and served the monk because of his old age, he said to them: - My children! As it is written (1 Kings 2:2, cf. Joshua 23:14), “I am going on the journey of all the earth,” the Lord is calling me to Himself, and I hope to taste heavenly blessings. But I beg you, my dear children, do not lose the fruits of your many years of abstinence, but zealously and successfully continue the exploits you have begun. You know how many different obstacles demons pose for us, but do not be afraid of their insignificant power. Trust in Jesus Christ, firmly believe in Him with all your heart, and all demons will flee from you. Remember everything I taught you, try to lead a godly life, and you will undoubtedly receive a reward in heaven. Avoid all communication with schismatics, heretics and Arians; you know that I have never had a friendly conversation with them because of their evil plans and anti-Christ heresy. Most of all, try to fulfill the commandments of the Lord, so that the saints will accept you after your death into eternal abodes, as relatives and friends. Remember, reflect and always reason about it. And if you really care about me, love me like a father, and are ready to fulfill my will, then do not allow anyone to transfer my remains to Egypt, so that they do not give my body a magnificent burial, since for this reason, mainly, I retired to this mountain. Bury me yourselves, my children, in the ground and fulfill the following commandment of your elder: let no one except you know the grave where my body will be buried, which, according to my faith in the Lord, will rise incorruptible at the general resurrection of the dead. Divide my clothes like this: give the mantle 653 and the worn-out undergarment on which I am lying to Bishop Athanasius 654 , give the other mantle to Bishop Serapion 655 , and take the hair shirt for yourself. Farewell, my dear children! Anthony leaves, and he will no longer be with you in this life. When, after these words, the disciples, saying goodbye, kissed him, Anthony stretched out his legs and with quiet joy on his face, looking at the Angels who came for his soul, as if they were his friends, he died and venerated the holy fathers 656. The saint's disciples, according to his will, clothed his body and gave it over to the earth, and besides them, no one until now knows about the place of burial of the Monk Anthony. Athanasius, having received from his disciples the worn-out clothes and mantle of the saint, accepted in these gifts as if Anthony himself. As if blessed with a rich inheritance, he always looked at these clothes with reverent joy, bringing his holy image to mind. Such is the life and death of St. Anthony, whose love and glory spread throughout all countries. And he became famous not for skillfully composed works 657, not for worldly wisdom, not for the nobility of his family, not for his enormous wealth, but for his pious life. And the word of the Savior was fulfilled on him: “I will glorify him who glorifies Me” (1 Samuel 2:30). He did not live in any famous place that everyone knew; on the contrary, he retreated almost to the very edge of the world into an impassable desert. However, from there he became famous in Spain, and in Africa, and in Italy, and in Illyria, and even in Ancient Rome itself. Anthony, who deliberately hid from everyone in grief, did not want and did not seek such glory. But the Lord Himself opened and showed this lamp of faith and piety to everyone, so that, looking at it, they would learn virtue and, marveling at such a life of the saint, glorify the Heavenly Father, to whom, with his only begotten Son and the All-Holy Spirit, be honor, glory, thanksgiving and worship forever, amen. Imitating the zealot Elijah's morals, following the Baptist in the right paths, Father Anthony, you were a desert dweller, and you established the universe with your prayers. Likewise, pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls. Having rejected the rumors of everyday life, you silently passed away from life, imitating the Baptist in every way, most reverend, with him we honor you, chief of the fathers, Anthony. The native village of the Monk Anthony was the village of Koma, located on the northern border of Thebaid (the southern region of Egypt), in the Heracleopolis region. – Anthony was born in 251. His parents were Coptic Christians. In the ancient Church, before the appearance of women's monastic monasteries and in the early days after their appearance, there was a special class of virgins who devoted themselves entirely to serving God and took a vow of virginity. Such persons were called virgins, and they enjoyed great respect in the Church and were considered its adornment. They gathered for feats of silence, contemplation of God and prayer in private homes under the guidance of elder women-mentors experienced in spiritual life. Quite often the Church entrusted their leadership and supervision to the most respected of the deaconesses. The above words of Scripture belong to St. Prophet of God Elijah the Tishbite Asp is a genus of poisonous snake. A poisonous animal from the family of crustaceans and arachnids with a sting at the end of the tail; found in hot countries and lives in damp places, between stones in cracks in walls, in basements, etc. Before Rev. Anthony the Great and his contemporary, Venerable. Paul of Thebes was unknown to this type of asceticism - hermitage. In the complete biography of Anthony the Great, compiled by St. Athanasius of Alexandria, this last expression is conveyed more in accordance with the general train of thought, exactly like this: “These acquisitions will prepare for us a refuge in the land of the meek (i.e., in heaven) before we arrive there.” Maximin Daza - Eastern Roman Emperor; he ruled Syria and Egypt and reigned from 306–313. The cruel persecution he instituted against Christians took place in 311. The Monk Ammonius, otherwise Ammon, lived in the desert in the Nitrian desert for 22 years; died around 350. His memory is October 4 Manichaeism is a heresy that was formed under the influence of an attempt to unite Christianity with the principles of the Persian religion of Zoroaster, which preached dualism, that is, the existence from time to time of two independent principles or kingdoms. According to the teachings of the Manichaeans, Christ is only a bright aeon (spirit) that came from the Father of light through an outflow. One half of it was supposedly absorbed by matter and constituted the soul of the visible world, the so-called. the suffering Jesus, the second, with the help of another eon, the Life-giving Spirit, was freed from matter and placed in the sun; this is the so-called impassive Jesus. The Incarnation of Christ, according to the teachings of the Manichaeans, is the descent from the sun of the impassive Jesus for the liberation of the suffering Jesus, the bright particles of which Satan allegedly collected and, for greater convenience of possessing them, concluded in the face of a person. According to this teaching, the incarnation of Christ was only illusory (Docetism). In moral terms, Manichaeism preached the struggle with matter in order to free oneself from it, through the gradual mortification of the flesh within oneself. The Manichean heresy was especially widespread in the 4th and 5th centuries. “The Son of God,” said Anthony, “is not a creature and not one of the non-existent, but the ever-present Word and Wisdom of the being of the Father. Have no fellowship with the Arians, for what fellowship is between light and darkness (2 Cor. 6:14). If you observe piety, then you are Christians, and those who call the Son of God and the Word who is from the Father a creature are no different from the pagans, because they serve the creature more than the Creator God. Believe me,” continued Anthony, “the very elements of the world are indignant, and all creation sighs for Arian madness, seeing their Lord, through whom everything was created, compared with themselves. – At this time, the Monk Anthony was already 104 years old. Even earlier, when the heresy of Arius was revealed, Anthony appeared as a defender of the truth: in 335 he wrote accusatory letters to the Arian bishop Gregory and the civil ruler of Alexandria - also a heretic; at the same time, he interceded by letter with Emperor Constantine for Athanasius of Alexandria, then expelled from the throne. According to the testimony of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, in the few days of the saint’s stay in Alexandria, the number of pagans converted to Christianity exceeded the number of converts during the whole year. That is, a God-man, which the Son of God was not before the incarnation. That is, the Son of God made human, for Christ ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father with His glorified humanity. That is, neither the Divinity is limited to this and does not suffer damage in its glory, nor does human nature lose its essential properties, does not change in the sense of deification. Osiris, the Egyptian god, who, along with Isis, was revered throughout the country, was, according to the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the spouse and at the same time the brother of Isis. But his brother Typhon treacherously put him in a box, nailed it, filled it with lead and threw it into the Nile; Isis found the coffin and hid it, but at night Typhon opened it and tore the body into 14 pieces, which he scattered in all directions; Isis gathered them and buried them, and Typhon, after a long struggle, was completely defeated. While Isis denotes the Nile land, Osiris is the fertilizing god of the Nile; in a more general sense, under the image of Isis, the earth was deified as a mother who gives birth to everything, and Osiris, on the contrary, represented the productive force of the sun, embodied in the earth; he was revered as both the god of the Nile and the sun. Typhon's struggle depicted a struggle against the productive power of the sun inherent in the earth. In the person of Typhon, the pagans idolized some terrible monster, explained as a destructive whirlwind and scorching wind, or as steam emerging with destructive force from the earth, from fire-breathing mountains. Saturn, or Kronos, is a Greco-Roman god, revered as the son of Uranus (heaven) and Gaia (earth); after the overthrow of his father from the throne, he, according to the belief of the ancient pagans, assumed power over the world; he married his sister Rhea, but since it was predicted to him that he would be overthrown from the throne by his children, he swallowed them immediately after birth; subsequently he was overthrown by his son Zeus. Constantius and Constance are the sons and successors of Constantine the Great. Constance ruled the western half of the Roman Empire from 337–350; Constantius reigned in the east from 337–361, and in the west from 363. Abba is the father, the head of the monastery, enjoying the filial reverence of the brethren. The disciples' response expresses the desire that Anthony not leave, but remain as before their deeply revered spiritual father and leader. Milt - outerwear, cloak, mantle. That is, St. Athanasius the Great, Patriarch of Alexandria. Here, of course, St. Serapion, Bishop of Tmunt (in Egypt). His memory is May 24. The Monk Anthony the Great died on January 17, 356 at the age of 105. – The relics of St. Anthony were discovered and transferred to Alexandria in 561 under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527–565), then, after the capture of Egypt by the Saracens, to Constantinople around 635, from there around 980 to the diocese of Vienina (in Gaul, present-day France), in 1491 – to Arles (the main city of Provence, in southeastern France), to the Church of St. Julian, where they rest to this day. Although the Monk Anthony the Great did not receive an education, for him the school was the Holy Scripture and nature, and the teacher was the grace of Christ, which illuminated him more and more as he mortified himself with his exploits. From the works of St. Anthony the following have come down to us: 1) his speeches, numbering 20; they talk about monastic virtues, faith in Christ, simplicity and innocence, humility, purity, patience, piety, virginity, etc.; all speeches are short, but full of Divine teaching. 2) Messages - seven to various monasteries and their leaders about the desire for moral perfection and about spiritual struggle were written at the very old age of the monk and breathe apostolic edification; 13 other letters with the same content and character. 3) Rules of life and other admonitions and sayings to monks. You might be interested in: