Venerable Anthony the Great

Among the sources for the life and work of St. Anthony, the first place is taken by the archbishop written by Athanasius. Alexandrian biography of St. Anthony entitled: “βίος καἱ πολιτεία τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὁς ήμῶν Ἀντονίου συηηραφεἱ ΄ ς καἱ ἁ ποσταλεἱς πρὁς τοὑς ὲν ρη ξένη μονάχους "1, usually called "vitas. Antonii". Regarding that, at what time this work was written by St. Athanasius, there are different opinions, such as Baronius 2, Rosweid 3, based on the fact that the biography does not say anything about St. Anthony’s meeting with Paul of Thebes, as well as on the testimony of Blessed Jerome about the Roman woman Marcellus, “who studied the life of Anthony and Pachomius through Athanasius. Anthony” 4, it is believed that this biography was compiled before the death of Anthony and before his meeting with Paul of Thebes and the death of the latter (about 341), but that the biography was compiled by Athanasius not at this time, but after the death of Anthony, this is revealed from the very preface to the “life of Anthony”. This preface says: “you asked me for information about Anthony’s life and wanted to know how he began his ascetic life, what he was like before entering it, and what the end of his life was like” 5 . This shows that the biography was composed after the death of Anthony. Regarding the author’s silence about Anthony’s meeting with Paul, one must remember, on the one hand, that the life of St. Anthony is not presented in very detail, as can be seen from the preface to it 6, and on the other hand, this silence of the author of the “life of Anthony” suspects the very fact - the meetings of ascetics among themselves, conveyed by Jerome 7. As for Jerome’s testimony about Marcellus, from which it is concluded that she read the written life of Anthony, the following is noted regarding this: 8 Jerome does not say that Marcellus studied the life of Anthony in written form, but only indicates that she became acquainted with the life of Anthony and Pachomius through Athanasius, who was then in Rome and also during the life of Anthony. And that the exploits of Anthony were known in Rome even during the life of this hermit, Athanasius himself testifies to this, saying: “as in Spain, Gaul, in Rome and in Africa, a rumor would have reached about a man who was hiding and living in the mountain” 9. Thus, it must be recognized that the “life of Anthony” was written by St. Athanasius after the death of the hermit; but at what time it is difficult to pinpoint with precision. Some place its appearance at 355 or 356 10, i.e. That is, they believe that it was compiled following the death of Anthony, others think that it was published later, namely, after the death of the emperor. Jovian, approximately around 365, when the apostolic zealot for the faith, St. Athanasius, having freed himself from persecution, finally took advantage of the peace, arrived in Alexandria and here he composed his work 11. The latter opinion seems more correct in view of the fact that monastic life, as can be seen from the preface to “vita Antonii,” is already very widespread not only in Egypt, but also in overseas countries 12. The request of these overseas monks, who most likely lived in the west within Italy 13, was the impetus for the compilation of St. Athanasius "Life of Anthony". His work, written in Greek, was soon translated into Latin by Evagrius, as can be seen from the testimony of Jerome, who in the work “de scrip toribus ecclesiaslicis” ch. 125, writes: “Evagrius, Bishop of Antioch, a witty man, when he was still a presbyter, read me a treatise on various subjects, which he had not yet published. And in it he made a translation into our language from the Greek of the life of Blessed Anthony, written by Athanasius. The Latin translation of this biography in all codices is placed with the name Evagrius, and since in all codes Evagrius is called presbyter (as noted by Jerome), we must assume that this translation was made around 368, when Evagrius was not yet bishop of Antioch 14. Thus, even during the life of Athanasius, the “life of Anthony” was already translated into Latin. As for the news reported in the “vita Antonii,” there are doubts both about the truth of this news and about its very affiliation with St. Afanasy. Some, coming out of the situation that the church. the historian Eusebius, a contemporary of Anthony, says nothing about him - about his stay in Alexandria twice, about the letters of Constantine to Anthony, etc., they think that the monastic way of life was not known to both Constantine and Athanasius himself, and that the “life of Anthony” appeared later and was compiled by some monk who wanted to depict the ideal of monastic life in this work 15. To prove that this work does not describe actual events, but tendentious fictions, they point to the very content of “vita Antonii”. The extraordinary physical exhaustion to which Anthony exposes himself, his constant struggle with demons, his conversations with philosophers - sophists, his knowledge of Greek mythology and dialectics, his reasoning about faith as direct knowledge of the soul, about the difference between philosophy and dialectics from direct knowledge and other reasonings of a nature that would have been in the time of only Athanasius himself 16 - all this shows that in the “vita Antonii” the author I tried not to present a real story, but to draw an ideal image of a monk. In confirmation of this, a review of Gregory of Nazianzen is given about it, who said that in it the author “presented the ideals of monasticism in the form of a historical story” 17. Others speak even more harshly about this work, calling its author a stupid man, the creator of the greatest lies and immorality 18 and therefore do not allow that it was written by Athanasius. But regarding this, the publishers of “vita Antonii” rightly noted that it is easier to accuse and fight with curses than with evidence 19 . In particular, regarding the author’s bias, the inconsistency of the content of the work with reality, etc., the following can be noted. Athanasius in the “life of Anthony” really represents a model, an example for others to follow, as he himself notes about this 20. But this example would not have been convincing to his contemporaries if it had not been borrowed from reality. And that the news conveyed by Athanasius is not fiction, but real events (one way or another understood and interpreted - such as his temptations, visions, etc.), this is clear from the fact that they were known to everyone at that time and many of them were recorded by Athanasius from the stories of others about Anthony 21. As for Anthony’s temptations, his struggle with demons, various visions, etc., these are subjects that everyone can explain in their own way, but because of this, it is impossible to reject the authenticity of the work or consider it a tendentious work. True, St. Athanasius could give his own meaning to certain phenomena from Anthony’s life, to some of his speeches (for example. conversations with philosophers) have their own coloring, but this is the lot of almost every biography. The best proof that the author did not invent stories, but only conveyed facts as he himself heard them from Anthony and his disciples, and presented them in accordance with the spirit of the views and popular beliefs of that time, are various stories preserved about Anthony in the ascetic writings (in memorable tales, in Lavzaik, etc.), as well as various instructions and letters of Anthony himself, mentioning the same temptations, visions, miracles that were recorded by Athanasius in the “life of Anthony”. In refutation of the opinion that the “vita Antonii” was written by one of the later monks, and not by St. Athanasius, it is enough to point to the evidence of ancient church writers, which, apparently, is forgotten by the defenders of this opinion. So, about her belonging to St. Athanasius says Evagrius of Antioch, as can be seen from the words of Jerome: “Evagrius, Bishop of Antioch, a witty man, read me a treatise... in it he translated into our language from the Greek the life of the blessed one. Anthony, written by Athanasius" 22. In other places of the same work (de script, ecclesiast.) Jerome notes: “the history of Athanasius is offered, containing the life of the monk Anthony” 23 and “the monk Anthony, whose life was described in a wonderful book (insigni volumine) by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandra” 24. Gregory of Nazianzus, expressing in his laudatory speech to Athanasius his desire to adequately depict his exploits, noted that he would speak about him in the same way, “just as he (Athanasius) himself described the life of Anthony and presented examples of monastic life in the form of history” 25. Ephraim the Syrian says about Anthony: “he was such as the image of him and St. Athanasius Bishop in the biography compiled by him" 26. John Chrysostom also mentions a book containing the biography of Anthony, although he does not directly name its author 27 . Rufinus says that “about Antony’s virtues, his instructions, his sobriety of mind... was written by Athanasius and translated into Latin 28. Palladius in the history of “Lavzaik” says about Ammun: “Athanasius the bishop, who wrote “The Life of Anthony,” says something worthy of surprise about him. Socrates 30, Sozomen 31 and other church writers of the 5th and subsequent centuries 32 also name St. as the author of “vita S. Antonii”. Afanasy and none of them express doubts about the authenticity of this work. Therefore, it must be recognized that it was written by Athanasius. This work serves as the main source for Anthony's life. Another source that conveys some information from the life of Anthony is the “life of Paul, the first desert dweller,” written by Jerome 33. For some researchers, this biography seems so implausible that they compare it with the works of Apuleius, with the travels of Robinson, etc. 34. Indeed, there is a lot of fantasy in Jerome’s work, but still, it must be based on a real event in view of the fact that, in addition to Jerome’s, there is another edition of this biography, devoid of Jerome’s embellishment. This last biography of Paul could have been written down by some disciple of Anthony from the latter’s words; its author writes among other things: “when did Anthony come up with the idea, as he himself told me.” It is placed in the “vitae sanctorum” (T. I, under January 10) and translated into Latin from an ancient Greek manuscript 35. Life of St. Hilarion, written by Jerome, also contains some information about Anthony (about the places of his settlements and activities in the last years of his life). It is located at Rossweid 36. Anthony's life was subsequently supplemented by Egyptian monks; stories about him, along with news about other ascetics, were included in the Great Limonar. An abbreviation from this lemonade, known under the name “αποφθέγματα τῶν άγίων γερόντων” and translated into Russian under the title “Memorable tales about the asceticism of the blessed one. Fathers”, contains stories characterizing the personality of St. Anthony, contains some of his sayings and answers to his disciples. These memorable tales about eastern ascetics were known in a special collection and patr. Photius under the title “άνδρῶν άγίων βίβλος” and were translated into Latin in the 6th century. 37. Collected and written down gradually, on the basis of oral traditions and stories of the elders, they are not completely reliable, sometimes mixing up different sayings and attributing to one ascetic what was said or done by another. In the “History of the Monks” (historia monachoruin), attributed to Rufinus 38, there is also some information about Anthony (about his vision of the soul of Ammon, about Paul the simple, etc.), which is repeated, however, in other news about Anthony (in Lavzaik, in Sozomen). More information about Anthony in Lavzaik (ίστόρια προς Λαύσον) Palladia bishop. Elenopolsky, who traveled around Egypt, as can be seen from book 39, between 388–404, therefore, not very long after the death of Anthony. The church historian Socrates already mentions this book 40 . Palladius borrowed his information about Anthony from the stories of Egyptian monks. Socrates the scholastic (in the 1st half of the 5th century) in his church history reports, and mainly on the basis of “vita S. Antonii”, several information about him. Socrates has news about Antony's conversations with philosophers, about his struggle with demons and about some other visions 41. More information about Anthony is contained in the church history of Sozomen (written between 443–446). Brought up in strict moral rules under the guidance of pious ascetics, Sozomen looks at all even external events from a moral point of view 42 and therefore, naturally, treats monasticism with deep sympathy. The life and work of Anthony 43 (the reference is arbitrary, p. 9), depicted by him, is a complete, although condensed, story, beautifully depicting the character of Antony and his relationship to his neighbors. Sozomen, repeating the news of Athanasius, also reports new facts not recorded by Athanasius (talks about Anthony’s written request to Emperor Constantine for Athanasius, about the king’s response to this, about Anthony’s students). In church history, Blessed. Theodoret, written around 450, and setting out events that are described by both Socrates and Sozomen, also has information about Anthony and his disciples 44. In addition to all these sources, from which information is mainly drawn about the external side of Anthony’s life and activities, for depicting the internal character of Anthony, his religious concepts and general way of thinking, the letters that have reached us and various instructions bearing the name of Anthony 45 are of great importance. In them, along with the rules of piety and various practical advice to monks, some dogmatic reasoning is set out (about the fall of man, about redemption, grace, etc.), thoughts are expressed about the essence of virtue, about the means to save man, etc. For all this, they are very important for compiling a complete concept of Anthony 46. In addition to these main sources for the life and work of Anthony, the news about him preserved in various martyrologies, patericon and chetymenaion are of some importance. The most important of these types of works are the eastern martyrologies - Egyptian and Maronite. In the Egyptian martyrology, the life of Anthony is placed under the 22nd day of the month Tube (corresponding to January) 47 and is told similarly to his story in Athanasius, but some facts are given a later coloring. In the Maronite martyrology, as in our collections of lives, news about Anthony is placed under January 17, 48. Biographies and stories about Anthony are included in our Russian edifying works - prologues, patericon and Chet-menaion. Some of these works contain brief reports about Anthony 49, others contain his sayings and some facts from his life, taken from the life of Athanasius, from Lavzaik, Memorable Tales 50, etc., while the Chet-menaion contains entire lives of Anthony, constituting or a complete translation of “vila Antonii” - Athanasius (as in Chet-Minei Macarius), or its abbreviation 51 with some changes and with stories that are not found in Athanasius 52 and other ancient eastern writers. Of the scholarly manuals on the subject under consideration, Rosweid’s collection on primitive monasticism, entitled “Vitae Patrum,” is of particular importance. Here, between many biographies of eastern ascetics, there are the lives of Paul of Thebes, St. Anthony 53, Hilarion (written by Jerome) with explanations and learned notes. Then the historical information about Anthony is presented in all church histories when it talks about the beginning of monasticism. Of the previous church histories for the life of Anthony, the meaning is “annales ecelesiastici” Baronius 54. Here, due to the special plan of the essay, the life of Anthony is presented in different places according to the years. Therefore, the news contained about Antony in Baronius has chronological significance. From other newer Western works we had church histories: Neander, whose venerable. the lives of Anthony 55, Schaff 56, Niel 57, Kurtz 58, Gaze and others are described in detail. In our newest Russian literature there are also several works relating to the subject under consideration. The best of the studies, which, among other things, examine the life of St. Anthony, this is without a doubt “the history of Orthodox monasticism in the East” by prof. M. D. A. Kazansky. In this work, after pointing out the beginnings of monastic life before Anthony, the author begins an account of the life and work of this ascetic, and often cites significant excerpts from his letters and speeches, without however touching on the question in what sense they should be considered the works of Anthony. We can also mention op. archim. Agapit "The Life of Our Father Anthony the Great" ed. 1866. Here, it is true, there are many stories about Anthony, which are brought into some connection, but this work, which has primarily an edifying purpose in mind, refers to the news about Anthony without any criticism, and on the issue of writings bearing the name of Anthony, it is limited to a simple statement of their authenticity, a statement of the contents of some letters 59 (the link is placed arbitrarily, p. 12), or simply listing their titles. Finally, it should be noted that in some of our spiritual journals translations of some of Anthony’s “letters” and “spiritual instructions” were made. So in “Khritansk. Readings" from 1821 to 1837 were translated from Latin. language "letters", "speeches", "rules" and some "spiritual instructions" of Anthony. The “Soulful Reading” for 1839 included “Antony’s instructions on how to look at the manifestations of evil spirits,” “Anthony’s conversations with learned pagans,” and some other excerpts from “Vita Antonii” and “Memorable Tales.” Based on the above data, as well as some other 60, we will first review the life and activities of Anthony in the first years of his youth - among the Misky society, in various places of the desert, we will describe the struggle and various obstacles encountered by Anthony on the path to his spiritual improvement, we will characterize the mental, moral and religious concepts and qualities of Anthony in their gradual development, and we will also point out the influence that Anthony had on his contemporaries, thanks to both the external way of his life, and mainly inner qualities of your character. Then we will describe the last years of Anthony’s life, the emergence under his leadership of monastic settlements (laurels) in the desert, we will note the internal life and relationships of Anthony’s disciples to each other and to their leader, and we will also point out the circumstances that preceded and followed Anthony’s death. Finally, we will look at the works bearing the name of Anthony and make comments about the nature of their composition and the degree of Anthony’s participation in this. Already in the 4th century. there was doubt 61 as to who should be considered the founder of monastic life. This is why Jerome in the preface to Vita s. Pavli" to say: "Paul of Thebes was the founder (in time) of this way of life." Regarding Anthony, Jerome notes: “although he was not a monk first, yet on his initiative the exploits of all appeared” 62. In fact, if Paul was the first Christian hermit, then his life, unknown to the world, as can be seen from his conversation with Anthony 63 and from the silence of modern writers about him, did not and could not have any influence on the development of monasticism. The one “from whom this new institution received glory and life” 64 was, by all accounts, St. Anthony the Great. The Monk Anthony was born in the village of Koma near the city of Heracleopolis 65, which was located in Egypt on the borders of the Thebaid Desert 66. The time of his birth is attributed to the Decius persecution of Christians and is considered the year of his birth, either 251, 67 or 252 AD. Anthony's parents were simple people, but quite wealthy. They raised Anthony in the spirit of Christian piety and developed in him a love for pious activities. They themselves were zealous Christians, strict performers of church rites and sacraments, they took care of Anthony’s observance of pious customs and rituals that were in use among Coptic Christians. And Anthony, even as a child, often went to Christian meetings, participated in prayers with them and listened to the reading of the word of God. When he reached adolescence, his parents made sure that he received St. baptism 68. But living far from Alexandra, the then center of Greek education, Anthony’s parents could not give him a literary education, although they intended to send him to a local school; Anthony, however, did not want to stay in school for a long time, 69 as a result of which he did not have time to study either Coptic or, especially, Greek, thus remaining all his life knowing only the spoken Coptic language. On it, he subsequently explained to those who came and gave them instructions 70. That Anthony did not have time to study the letters is quite clearly evidenced by St. Athanasius, speaking about Anthony, that he “did not want to learn to read and write” 71 and did not know it 72. Getting to know St. He acquired the Scriptures “by listening carefully to what was read in the church” 73 . From this testimony about Anthony it should be concluded that he did not know how to write and read not only in Greek, but also in Coptic. His illiteracy is also evidenced by bl. Augustine, saying that “Antony studied the Scriptures without reading through simple listening,” however, adds: “if this seems incredible to anyone, I do not argue against him” 74 . Indeed, taking into account Anthony’s very thorough acquaintance with the Bible, texts from which he so often cited in his teachings and letters, in discussions with philosophers and other persons, it becomes incomprehensible how Anthony, who could not read, could know the Holy Spirit. Scripture by heart and not only the New, but also the Old Testament. To explain this, some believe 75 that Anthony read the Bible in Coptic as a child and studied it so well in his parents’ house that later, having retired to the desert, he could do without books when he indulged in prayer and singing psalms. But such an assumption strongly contradicts the direct meaning of the news reported by Athanasius and others. In the “life of Anthony” comments are repeatedly made about his unfamiliarity with literacy. In addition to the remark at the beginning of the work that Anthony “did not want to learn to read and write” (§1), but only through attentive listening he studied the word of God and that memory replaced books for him (§§1, 3), Athanasius in other places in his life story mentions Anthony’s lack of learning, his lack of books 76 . Other church writers, speaking about Anthony, also point to this feature of his, which aroused bewilderment among some of the educated persons who came to Anthony 77 . All this forces us to admit that Anthony, both in childhood alienated from book wisdom and subsequently having no books, was an illiterate person to whom the art of writing was alien. As for Anthony's acquaintance with the Bible, this circumstance was sufficiently explained by St. Athanasius already made a well-known remark about Anthony’s attentiveness to church readings and about the firmness of his memory, which for Anthony replaced books 78. In the East, and especially among the Arabs and Copts, among whom the art of writing, both now and especially in former times, was very little widespread, the sacred works of antiquity - religious, legislative monuments, etc., many memorized by heart and then passed on to their children in words what they themselves learned in the same way. And the extent to which this method of acquaintance with sacred monuments was developed in former times in the East is shown by the remarkable phenomenon that, for example. Among the Arabs there were individuals who knew more than 20,000 verses from various works and, moreover, could name the author of each verse 79. Therefore, one should not be particularly surprised by the fact that Rev. Anthony, not knowing the art of writing, subsequently discovered significant knowledge of the Holy Scriptures and the ability to use them. Refusing to learn to read and write, Anthony, already a fairly mature youth, 80 lived inseparably in the house of his parents and relatives. Here he, born in an area known for the ascetic exploits of Jews 81 and some Christians 82, brought up under the influence of the pious society and family surrounding him, already in childhood began to exhibit such properties of his natural character, which, under the influence of this external environment and with the one-sided development of Anthony, promised to make him a strict hermit and ascetic. Quiet, thoughtful, prone to solitary reflection, disliking noise, averse to the company of even his former schoolmates and participation in their childhood fun and games, Anthony found great consolation and tranquility for himself by being alone and immersed in reflection on the subjects that occupied him, as well as by attending church meetings and services, to which he attended very often and at which he listened so attentively to the divine Scriptures. The thoughts that entered his head, stimulated by excerpts from church readings, attuned and strengthened in him, as a young man, a strong religious feeling, which, under the influence of the surrounding environment, was expressed primarily in the external severity of life - in frequent prayers, in strict fasts, etc. During this period of life, when 18-year-old Anthony enthusiastically indulged in the religious mood that had taken possession of him, one after the other, Anthony’s parents died. Now, unrestrained on the one hand by their supervision, and on the other hand, weighed down by the worries of managing the household and raising his young sister, which were very incongruous with his spiritual mood, Anthony was greatly carried away by the desire to implement what he had so often heard in church meetings about abstinence, about prayer, about alms to the poor, about the expectations and rewards that are prepared for people in heaven 84 . This religious mood of Anthony led him to the fact that he, leaving all worldly worries, abandoned the world and soon retired into the desert. The closest reason for this were the words he once heard in church, in which he found complete resolution of the doubts and hesitations that troubled him, complete approval and justification for his religious aspirations and inclinations. “Not even 6 months had passed after the death of his parents,” says Athanasius, when one day, going to the church of the Lord, he began to reflect on the way how the apostles, leaving everything, followed the Savior, how the believers mentioned in the Acts, selling their property, brought money and laid it at the feet of the apostles for distribution to the needy,” and when with such thoughts Anthony entered the church, then in the Gospel read then he heard the following words about the rich young man: “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and follow Me and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matt. XIX, 21). Hearing these words, Anthony took them for a suggestion from above, for the voice of heaven addressed to him himself. Wanting to actually implement the Gospel instruction to the rich young man, Anthony, immediately upon leaving the church, donates his rather significant land property 85, the inheritance of his ancestors, to the residents of his village, so that they would not disturb him or his sister in any way, and distributes the money received from the sale of most of his movable property to the poor, however, leaving a little with himself for his young sister. But when another time, while in church, he heard the words from the Gospel: “Do not worry about morning” (Matthew VI, 33), then the little that he left for his sister, he now distributed to the poor; he gave his sister to be raised by virgins known to him by the severity of life (γνωρίμοις καί πισταῖς παρθένοις) 86. Having literally fulfilled the Gospel instructions regarding property, Anthony saw the best way to achieve “treasures in heaven” in asceticism, away from the surrounding society, and for this purpose he began to lead a solitary life, first near his village, and then in places more distant from it 87 . Having heard about one old man who lived not far from his village and seeing his exploits, Anthony, out of competition for him, intensified his exploits; Having later learned about other ascetics, he went to them too 88. Surprised by their ascetic deeds, he began to imitate their life, praying unceasingly, constantly being awake, indulging in fasting and reclining on the bare ground 89 . Thus, the mortification of the flesh through strict labors was the main subject of concern for Anthony, who saw in them in the first time of his hermit life the very essence of piety and Christian perfection. Subsequently, when Anthony achieved high Christian development, although he continued to lead a harsh life, he completely changed his view of the meaning of external exploits, considering them to be a matter of chance, not useful for everyone and even sometimes harmful 90 when achieving perfection. Now, at the beginning of his asceticism, he considered it impossible to achieve salvation in any other way - to receive treasure in heaven, except by strict mortification of his body and removal from society. Leaving his parents' home and laboring under the leadership of an ascetic elder, Anthony passionately devoted himself to strict deeds of piety; wanting to imitate other ascetics and surpass them as far as possible 91, he began to eat only bread and salt; The only drink he could drink was water. At the same time, Anthony tried to be very moderate in food, refusing it sometimes for two, and sometimes for three days; His clothing became one coarse hair shirt, his bed was dry reeds, and sometimes bare earth 92 . Not content with this, “he came up with methods of asceticism more and more strictly, every day he became abstinent 93 and was so carried away by the thought of achieving perfection through strict external exploits that for the first time he completely forgot about the world, did not remember the abandoned property, relatives, friends, etc. But soon, however, this strong passion gave way to disappointment; natural inclinations, inclinations and attachments came into conflict with the thoughts that animated him. And this period of Anthony’s struggle with his passions was especially difficult and painful for him during the first time of his hermitage. “The hater of good, the envious devil, says the biography of Anthony, seeing the good disposition in Anton, did not tolerate this, but as he was accustomed to acting, he intended to do the same with him” 94. This is the reason for all subsequent temptations of Anthony... When the first passion for exploits passed, the harsh life based on the mortification of the body and the suppression of natural inclinations began to seem difficult, then the direction of Anthony’s thoughts changed somewhat. “The memory of abandoned property, of his sister, of his acquaintances, the idea of ​​good food and drink, the awareness of the difficulty of the chosen path given his own weakness of body and the length of time necessary for salvation,” as Anthony thought 95 - all this began to confuse Anthony’s mind and develop the difficult internal struggle that he was now waging with himself. Little by little, this direction of Anthony’s thoughts intensified to the point that from their frequent and prolonged reference to the same objects, the latter began to be depicted in his imagination so clearly and vividly that Anthony, as if in reality, began to see them before him both night and day, to counteract these pictures of his imagination, fighting them off as from real objects, so that this struggle of his with ghosts finally became noticeable to outsiders 96. Anthony's youth, his health and strength were the reason that unclean carnal thoughts often arose in his mind and his fantasy, strongly played out in solitude, painted seductive pictures for him. “Often,” it says in his life, the accursed devil took on a female image and imitated a woman in everything, just to seduce Anthony; Anthony, thinking about Christ and highly appreciating the nobility (εύγένειαν) and rationality of the soul, quenched the coal (τὁν ἂ νθρακα) of his deception” 97. Attributing all the thoughts and pictures of the imagination that appeared in himself to the temptations and intrigues of the devil, focusing all his attention on the struggle and victory over him, Anthony became so carried away by the thought of persecution and intrigues on the part of the devil against himself that everywhere he began to see temptations from this “hater of virtue” and what concept he managed to form for himself on the basis of stories at home and descriptions in books, so he began to see him in his visions 98 , who at this time were strongly pursuing him. The devil, to whom Anthony attributed all his temptations, began to appear to him either in the form of a black youth, declaring himself the spirit of fornication, 99 or in the form of a formidable giant, gnashing his teeth and trying to seduce Anthony, arousing sinful thoughts and desires in him. But Anthony did not succumb to temptation and more and more mortified his body, “so that having won victory in one, he would not lose it in another” 100. Constantly remembering the saying of the Apostle Paul: forgetting what is behind, but reaching out to what is ahead 101 (Phil. III, 3), Anthony began each new day with great and severe feats. Not content with his previous place of solitude near the settlements, he decided to go deeper into the desert. For this purpose, having found a cemetery away from the villages, he settled in one of the tombs (μνήμτα), which had the shape of an underground grotto, since here it was more convenient for him to avoid human society; food was brought here by an acquaintance and, at the request of Anthony himself, he brought it rarely. Such intensification by Anthony of his exploits, with which he thought to overcome the growing temptations, finally led him into severe mental and physical disorder. Confined in a tomb devoid of light, without taking food for several days in a row, indulging here in constant meditation, either about God, or against his will about worldly, sinful objects, vividly depicted to him in a solitary tomb, Anthony little by little reached the point that he began to consider his images as objects of the outside world, as living beings, entered into conversation with them, or, mistaking them for various manifestations of evil spirits, tried to drive away their prayer and singing of psalms 102. He often experienced such phenomena in the tomb. It is said, for example, that one day, when he was praying in a cave, he suddenly felt a strong vibration around him, from which the walls of his cave seemed to disintegrate; through these chasms Anthony sees animals and reptiles invading him; the whole place is filled with the ghosts of lions, bears, leopards, oxen, snakes, etc., ready to rush at Anthony and harm him in the way that is characteristic of each of these animals; then one of the ghosts begins to bite and the other to butt Anthony. But Anthony, feeling terrible pain, does not lose heart. Reproaching them and laughing at their vain efforts, he confesses to them his faith in the Lord, turns to Him in prayer, after which the terrible visions stop and Anthony, having calmed down through prayer, returns to his normal state 103. Anthony's illness, which accompanied these visions, finally reached the point where he, feeling the cruel suffering that he attributed to the demons tormenting him, finally fell into unconsciousness. An acquaintance who brought him food found Anthony in this position. Recognizing Anthony as dead, he takes him to the church of the nearest village and remains with him for the night. But Anthony comes to his senses in the middle of the night and, despite his extremely painful state, asks his friend to again transfer him to the tomb, which he does. At this time in his life, Anthony had many other visions, consistent with the mood of his thoughts that at a certain time took possession of him. When e.g. he was greatly carried away by the thought of the property that he voluntarily left, about the money that he distributed to the poor, he imagined piles of silver, gold, etc. 104 Such ghosts always brought to Anthony’s mind the danger of being tempted and fallen, and he usually drove them away from himself with prayer to God and pious reflections. These pious thoughts about God and firm confidence in His intercession greatly relieved Anthony. Despite the strong temptations and temptations, the various mental and physical sufferings to which Anthony was subjected, he, however, living in solitude, overcame all these obstacles and firmly believed in the help of God, accustomed to self-observation 105 and reflecting on the various instructions of the Holy One. Scripture 106, from which he knew much by heart, little by little he began to get used to the ascetic life. His way of thinking in general and in particular religious concepts, under the influence of introspection and solitary reflection, began to expand and clarify more and more. Thinking for example about the saying of the apostle. Paul: idle below and eat (2 Sol. III, 10), Anthony came to the idea that it was possible to combine ordinary activities with a hermit’s life - needlework, to which he began to devote some time. This handicraft, which consisted of weaving mats and baskets 107, also made Anthony a lot easier, dispelling the despondency that sometimes attacked him 108. Having lived for about 15 years near the village and in the tomb and having become significantly stronger in his monastic exploits, Anthony, probably due to the rumors that began to spread about him, decided to retire into the depths of the desert; He first offered to go with him and that old ascetic who had previously been his leader. But when he abandoned this idea due to his old age and weakness, then Anthony, having about 35 years 109, in 285 left his former place of residence, crossed the river. Nile and on its eastern bank in a deserted fortification 110, he chose a place to live. The area where Anthony settled is described by travelers as follows: “Approaching the picturesque Mount Jebel Teir along the Nile, we landed on low-lying rocks. Having reached the height of the mountain (Jebel Tair), we saw picturesque and extensive quarries. After half an hour's drive from the quarries, along lifeless rocks, we finally reached the monastery. We went down several steps deep into the cave in which, as they say, Anthony lived and here an underground church is now built, with about 20 arshins of underground space. What a view opens from the coastal cliffs to the edges of the abyss! Between two ribbons of bright green meadows and palm groves, the Nile flows over an immeasurable space in both directions. From the west, the horizon disappears into the vast desert of the Libyan sands, and from the east of the monastery itself, the ridges of lifeless mountains with sand mounds stretch to the shores of the Red Sea. All around the monastery there is an indescribable deadness - there is not a single plant, not a single source, the monks get water by taking a long detour from the Nile, or by descending with great danger from steep cliffs" 111. This wild and at the same time majestic area - the mountains and the plains and steppes stretching out in front of them could not have been more consistent with the desire of the hermit, disposing him from contemplating the beauty of nature to thoughts about God, about His greatness, the insignificance of man, etc. Here, far from people, without any leader or comrade, Anthony lived for about 20 years 112, almost invisible to anyone. Enclosed in the interior of the fence, Anthony, through the only remaining hole, communicated with people who brought him food twice a year - dry bread 113. But people he knew soon found him here too; Arriving at the place of his imprisonment, they asked Anthony to come out to them and talk with them. Anthony, however, did not come out to them from his fortress and begged them not to visit him. Left completely alone, he began to spend time in contemplation, prayer and singing psalms 114. The temptations that had previously troubled him so much now rarely bothered him. Constantly turning his thoughts to heaven, Anthony was now subject to visions, if at all, but only to those that brought him great joy and consolation in his harsh life. “The increase in the frequency of his heavenly visions (τῶν γινομέμωμ άυτῶ τῶν ἂ νω θεωρημάτων) and the weakness of his enemies now give him great relief in his labors” 115, says St. Afanasy. The area where Anthony settled posed a danger to humans from reptiles 116 and wild animals, but he, having become dispassionate towards everything around him, did not pay attention to this kind of danger. For him, all external dangers, seductions and temptations are now gradually losing their formidable power. The struggle that he sometimes still waged with himself was predominantly spiritual, in the area of ​​thoughts - a struggle with doubts, hesitations, etc. that arose in him. Due to frequent reflections on the ways of God's Providence in relation to man, on the uneven distribution of gifts between people, and also sometimes due to a misunderstanding of one or another saying of Holy Scripture, Anthony falls into painful doubt, despondency, and melancholy. When experiencing such mental states, he usually turned to prayer and found consolation in it; not understanding e.g. why on earth among people it is arranged in such a way that some, and sometimes the wicked, enjoy wealth and live apparently happily, while others, and often pious and good people, experience misfortune, Anthony, after much thought and doubt, during prayer finally comes to the following conclusion: not everything in this world is clear to man, much is a mystery to him, hidden by God 117; after that he calms down. When Anthony fell into despondency due to loneliness 118, into melancholy from not understanding the meaning of some sayings from the book of Leviticus 119, he usually found consolation and tranquility in prayer, and it gave him the strength, through attentive and concentrated reflection, to free himself from the doubts that tormented him and settle on a definite decision. After about 20 liters. 120 after his imprisonment in an abandoned fortification, Anthony began to feel so free from the harmful influences of society that he ceased to be alienated from people whom he had previously so avoided. Now, imbued with love for them, caring for their enlightenment by faith 121, Anthony temporarily emerges from his imprisonment, being a mentor and pacifier for those who visited him. Describing his appearance for the first time before those gathered to him, St. Athanasius also depicts the impression that Anthony made on those present. “Seeing Anthony, those present are filled with surprise that his body has retained its former appearance, has not become fat from lack of movement, has not withered from fasting and from fighting demons. Antoshi was the same as they knew him before his hermitage. There was the same moral purity in his soul; He was not depressed by grief, nor was he delighted with pleasure, he did not indulge in laughter or sadness, he was not embarrassed when he saw a crowd of people, but he remained indifferent and nothing could bring him out of his ordinary natural state” 122. From this description it is clear how much Antony, living in the desert, taught himself to restrain his feelings and natural impulses; the harsh life he spent so much time became normal for him, without producing a noticeable effect on his body. Anthony's mind also developed during this time; the religious and moral concepts that he now instills in those who come to him reveal Anton as a man who has developed significantly in his spiritual life. Talking with those who come, he first of all inspires them to love God, to keep in mind the future blessings promised to the righteous 123. Anthony reconciled those who came to him who were in a quarrel or hostility, pointing out to them that without love for one’s neighbors it is impossible to please God; He consoled the sad and mourning, showing them the need to endure disasters in this world and reassuring them with God’s help. Many, having come to him sick and upset, returned under the influence of his gentle speeches, imbued with love for their neighbors and breathing peace, calm, with renewed strength for life among worldly worries. Some of those who came were so carried away by his simple but touching words, his very appearance and way of life that they even decided to become his imitators. “Antony, says his biographer, convinced many to choose the monastic life and thus monasteries appeared in the mountains (μοναστήρια), the desert was filled with monks (ύπο μοναχῶν), who left their property and entered into the number of those living in heaven” 124. The external circumstance that prompted many to rush into the desert was the persecution erected under Maximin against Egyptian Christians 125. Many, fearing persecution by the pagans, withdrew into the desert and, attracted by the extraordinary external exploits of Anthony, in which they saw the most perfect example of Christian life, began to imitate Anthony. He becomes their leader and mentor 126. In his conversations with those who came, Anthony, at this time in his life, still looked at virtue as a human asset that can only be achieved away from the world 127, zealously urged them to leave the world with its temptations, to leave houses, fields, gold 128. “Heaven should be preferred to everything in the world,” he says; with the bliss that awaits the righteous in heaven, nothing on earth can be compared. “If the whole earth is not equal to the heavens, then he who leaves small fields seems to leave nothing” 129. Anthony advises leaving all this for the sake of virtue. “If we do not leave the world for the sake of virtue, then,” says Anthony, we will leave later when we die, and we will leave, as often happens, to whom we would not like. So, why don’t we leave everything for the sake of virtue, in order to inherit the kingdom of heaven” 130. Anthony forbids grieving over abandoned property, “because the promise of eternal life is bought at a small price; for the 70, 80 years in which we will strive, we will reign forever and, moreover, not on earth and not in a corruptible body, but in heaven and having received an incorruptible body” 131. Encouraging his listeners to abandon all worldly affairs and responsibilities, Anthony advises them to lead a life only for God. It is possible to live for God only when they “hate the world and everything that is in it; they will hate all carnal pleasure, renounce life in the world, and begin to despise the flesh in order to save their souls” 132. Instilling with these first instructions contempt for the world and encouraging his listeners to an ascetic life, Anthony also describes to them the obstacles - various temptations and enticements that haunt the hermit and to which he himself was exposed, points to various visions that came to him from the devil, depicts the treachery of the enemy and the means to defeat him. Attributing many of his visions to the influence of evil spirits, he tells his listeners how demons seduced him with evil thoughts (πονηροί λογισμοί), ghosts (φαντασίοις); sometimes they took the form of women, animals, warriors, turned into soothsayers, appeared tall, fat 133, often sang psalms, recalled sayings from the Scriptures to Anthony, appeared in the form of hermits, reverently talking with him; at other times they made noise, screaming, crying, etc., even prompted Anthony to prayer and strict fasting, and predicted to him about the flooding of the Nile, running from the land of Ethiopia 134. The appearance of demons, says Anthony, happens with noise, instills fear in a person, while the appearance of saints is calm and quiet 135. One day, according to Anthony, a demon appeared to him at a large gathering of others and said to him: “I am God’s power, I am providence; whatever you want, I will give you everything” 136. Another time, Anthony saw a huge giant. “When I asked who you are, he answered: I am Satan.” When Anthony asked why he came, the demon replied that he could not find a place for himself anywhere from the Christians who filled both the cities and the desert. When Anthony announced to him that Christ had cast down the demons, then, hearing the name of Christ, the giant disappeared 137. Against such visions, for which lovers of the hermit’s life must prepare in advance, Anthony urges to have firm faith in God and a pious life. “Evil spirits,” he says, are afraid of ascetic fasting, vigil, prayer, meekness, silence, lack of money, humility, love of poverty, almsgiving, lack of anger, and especially of pious faith in Christ. They know what grace the Savior gave to the believers against them, who said: Behold, I give you power to tread on the serpent and on the scorpion and on all the power of the enemy 138 (Luke X, 19). Many, following the admonitions of Anthony, leave the world and settle in the desert. The number of those who wanted to imitate Anthony especially increased after his visit to Alexandra during the persecution under Maximin (about 311). By this time, Anthony had already achieved such perfection that he preferred love for his neighbors who suffered for the faith to all his desert exploits. This love and compassion for his neighbors led Anthony to Alexandria itself. His stay here made a strong impression on the people. In Alexandria, he ministered to confessors of faith imprisoned in prisons and mines, accompanied Christians summoned to trial and supported their courage. And when the order was given not to allow hermits to stay in the city, Anthony, not paying attention to this order, continued to appear in the city in front of the very eyes of the ruler of the city. While so zealous for the faith, Anthony did not show that foolishness and fanaticism, under the influence of which some Christians themselves sought martyrdom 139. True, he also had a desire to “accept martyrdom” if necessary, but “he did not want to betray himself,” 140 says his biography. The firmness that Anthony aroused in the martyrs was amazing. Anthony himself later recalled this, marveling at the strength and courage with which not only men, but also weak women endured terrible suffering 141. This behavior of Anthony in Alexandria attracted many to him. “Many, looking only at his way of life, tried to imitate him” 142. Upon Anthony’s return from Alexandria, when his fame had already spread to many places and when many began to interfere with Anthony’s solitary life with their visits to him in the desert, he decided (also avoiding pride and vanity, which he feared to be exposed to as a result of the fame that was spreading about him) 143 to leave his former home in a deserted fortress, around which settlements of other hermits now appeared - imitators of Anthony. Leaving his former home, Anthony decided to first go to the upper Thebaid, or to Bucolia 144. But a heavenly voice, says Athanasius, forbade him to go both to the upper Thebaid and down to Bucolia, where Anthony could not find complete solitude for himself 145. Then he went into the inner desert. This was the name of the desert 146 lying further to the East towards the Red Sea, where Anthony retired. After a three-day journey, he found a wild, high mountain almost a thousand steps away. “At the base of the mountain a spring flowed out, part of it disappeared into the sandy desert, the other formed a small stream, near which palm trees grew on both sides, adding a lot of beauty to this place. From the top of the mountain itself there was an expansive view. In the east, the mountains Sinai and Horeb rose, the desert stretched to the Red Sea; in the south one could see the ridges of the Thebaid mountains, in the north there were barren plains, in the west beyond the sandy strip was the fertile plain of Egypt” 147. Here Anthony settled, receiving food from the Saracens, who willingly delivered it to Anthony, passing by his mountain 148. Having retired here, Anthony did not forget his former place of residence, where his disciples remained and there were settlements of monks. There, to the monastery of Pisper (as Anthony’s former place of residence was called) 149 he often came from his new place of residence and talked with the students who lived here and with outside visitors 150. Arriving at his new place of residence already at an advanced age (about 55 years old), Anthony, living here the rest of the time (about 50 years old), developed high spiritual qualities in himself. In this last half of his life, Anthony's deeds and words were the subject of high respect from his contemporaries and descendants, who saw in him an example of Christian and, in particular, monastic life 151. Anthony's moral concepts and qualities are best revealed in his instructions, which he gave to his disciples and which he himself first of all tried to implement in life. Various actions of Anthony, outlining his moral character, many of his instructions concerning various aspects of Christian behavior, stem from the view of virtue that Anthony formed for himself about it. “Virtue,” says Anthony, is not far from us. Greeks, in order to learn verbal sciences, undertake long journeys and cross seas; Christians do not need to go far to receive the kingdom of heaven, there is no need to cross the sea in search of virtue. Virtue develops in us and from us. It is formed in the soul, in which rational forces act in accordance with its nature. The soul achieves this when it remains as it was created; She was created good and completely right. In order for the soul to be right, its rational power needs to be in such harmony with its nature in which it was created” 152. The deviation of the soul from this natural state produces vice. Convincing his disciples not to pervert the natural powers of the soul, Anthony asked them to “preserve the soul for the Lord, so that He recognizes His creation in it, if it remains exactly as God created it.” Thus believing virtue to be a natural and necessary property of human nature, Anthony actually demands the fulfillment of all the gospel rules and instructions regarding virtue. He teaches his followers to love God, to have fear of Him, expelling all sin and deceit from the soul, 153 instills in them long-suffering, pointing to the example of the Savior himself, 154 - kindness, “which gives a person glory and honor in this and the future life,” asks them to avoid deceit; “The insidious one,” says Anthony, laughs at the gentle, but his heart is filled with criminal thoughts generated by the devil, which disturb his mind and put him in conflict with himself, producing hatred, envy and other passions” 155. Anthony instructs us to avoid pride, vanity, bilingualism, condemns insolence and shamelessness and other vices, showing their harm both for ourselves and for the well-being of our neighbors. Regarding pride, he says: “All sins are hateful to God, but the most hateful of all is the pride of the heart. It is safer to live with a hydra or a dragon than with a proud man. If a dragon sees a naked man, with his head bowed, he moves away, but the proud one does not feel any shame because of his pride. The devil was cast out of heaven for his pride" 156. He makes the same strong denunciation against vanity. “Vanity,” says Anthony, prompts a person to undertake various works, fasts, prayers, night vigils, forces him to give alms in front of people, and for all this in the future life he rewards only with shame and dishonor” 157. Anthony advises to avoid cunning, bilingual people in every possible way, not to have them as your friends: “beware even of talking to them, so as not to be participants in their sins. A bilingual person destroys the souls of others, causes quarrels between friends, destroys societies and always plots treachery against his neighbor; alms, fasts of such a person are unpleasant for God” 158. From these simple instructions of Anthony, it is clear that he judged the moral significance of certain actions not by their external manifestations alone, but mainly by the internal dispositions of a person, by the extent to which these actions stem from love for God and neighbors. Paying attention to the seemingly most insignificant aspects of human actions and dispositions, Anthony here, too, notices and condemns everything that comes from unclean motives and leads to sin. By exposing for example shameless people and praising modesty, Antony finds sides in the latter, both worthy of praise and harmful. “Shame that is born after a sin has been committed,” he says, is true, useful shame,” testifying to a person’s awareness of his guilt, but “that shame from which sin is born interferes with the fulfillment of God’s commandments” 159. By such shame, Anthony means false shame, “which sometimes forces a person to take part in the vicious deeds of others” and turns him away from useful and good deeds. Therefore, Anthony advises “not to be ashamed to provide assistance to elderly widows and to accept the poor,” but “to withdraw only from such widows who are known for their shameless and inglorious life” 160. These instructions of Anthony show that in the last years of his life he did not consider hermitage, removal from human society, to be a feat that is virtuous in itself, believing, on the contrary, that anyone and everywhere can be virtuous, doing good deeds out of pure motives. Anthony, in his moralizing conversations, also inspired his listeners to have justice, to care for the oppressed, the weak, he warns against association with oppressors of the innocent, with people looking for gifts, giving money at interest, 161, etc. All these moral rules and duties of a person in relation to their neighbors must be fulfilled by everyone. Only those who fulfill them can enjoy the world and live in harmony with their neighbors. But by peace, Anthony does not mean a carefree existence, not negligence and licentiousness in life, but a quiet life based on good deeds and filled with love for others. “Let us be wary,” says Anthony, lest it be said to us that our world is a world of our sins, but let us make every effort to maintain the peace given to us by Jesus Christ. The man who loves the world is in fellowship with Jesus Christ and His angels; no misfortunes bother him; on the contrary, the enemies of the world are tormented by envy and various passions” 162. But giving due value to people living in silence and peace, Anthony, who highly valued human dignity, does not approve of those who, out of a desire to preserve peace, expose themselves to humiliation - flatter, please others in everything, indulging their hobbies and vices; “But we, says Anthony, must serve God and not prefer His service to serving people, because it is better to hope in the Lord than to hope in man” 163. This is one of the reasons why Anthony preferred the desert to worldly society in the last half of his life. In worldly life, where the very relationships of various members of society have already developed in such a way that complete equality between people is impossible, where it is difficult, on the one hand, for rich people, those in authority to avoid arrogance, pride or negligence towards poor and subordinate people, and on the other hand, it is also difficult for humble and subordinate people to save themselves from servility, servility, flattery before people strong and rich - among this kind of worldly relations, Anthony saw a strong obstacle to preserving his human dignity and independence, why he lived in world and preferred the desert. Anthony, who so highly valued the dignity of the human person, did not tolerate flattery and servility, however, just as he himself was distinguished by great humility, he taught others the same, seeing in humility the high dignity and glory of every Christian. Some of his students, valuing their external exploits too highly, fell into pride and self-praise. “Some monks, having become famous in one society, moved to another in order to gain fame there too,” 164 says Anthony. He strongly condemns such motives of ascetics, teaching them true humility. Pointing out the need for humility, Anthony demonstrates its good fruits both by comparing humility with the opposite state of pride, “because of which everything was indignant and in disorder in the world,” and by references to history, proving the importance of humility and its pleasing to God. As an example of humility, Anthony gives the disciples the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, points to Moses, Deborah and Barak, David, Elijah, speaks of the humility of the apostles and especially Peter, but points to the highest example of humility in the person of the Savior 165. But while glorifying humility, Anthony teaches us to distinguish between false humility and true humility. Humility is often hypocritical and false, as Anthony noticed in some ascetics. “Such humility,” Anthony tells them, is worse than pride; the glory of true humility cannot be acquired either by gold or by respect for kings and military leaders 166 - it comes from an internal source, from a person’s consciousness of his sinfulness before God and people and should not be identified with servility and servility. Instructing his disciples in humility in his conversations with them, Anthony further encouraged them to do the same by his own behavior. He, who had achieved extraordinary virtues, nevertheless considered himself lower than people who apparently did not differ in any special virtues 167; “having a humble heart, I was ready to give preference to everyone” 168; fearing the fame that is being spread about him as an extraordinary person, he retires to a new place of residence; He himself inspires those who believed in him as a seer and miracle worker to change such exaggerated concepts about him. How highly Anthony valued humility is shown by some of his surviving sayings. So he once said regarding humility: “I saw all the enemy’s snares spread across the earth and with a sigh I said: who can escape them? But I heard a voice saying to me: “humble” 169. Regarding some ascetics who had false views on external exploits, he said that they were exposed to madness because they did not have humility, relying on their deeds 170. Instilling in everyone who sought his advice such high moral concepts and rules of life and caring first of all about their exact implementation in his life, Anthony, convinced from experience how weak human nature is and prone to sin, was extremely lenient and merciful to his weak and sinning brothers. His surviving conversations with his disciples and stories about him show his great condescension, love and care for imperfect and unsteady hermits and laymen on the path of virtue. Often the misdeed of one or another monk is split, condemned for it by others, but receiving forgiveness from Anthony; often one or another ascetic, expelled from the company of his brethren, is again returned by Anthony to his former place and, through his intercession, receives forgiveness from his comrades. For example, monks Having expelled one monk from the monastery of Abba Elijah for some offense, he made the following suggestion: “a storm overtook the ship at sea, it lost its cargo and with difficulty saved itself. And you want to drown what was saved near the shore” 171. After such a suggestion, the brethren immediately reconciled with the exiled one. In another monastery, one brother was slandered (for fornication); Having come to Anthony along with others, he was accused here by them of his offense. But Anthony, condescending to the weaknesses of his neighbors, told the accusers that their behavior towards the accused reminded him of a man stuck knee-deep in mud, but whom others plunged into it up to his neck 172. This condescension and love of Anthony for his neighbors comes out especially strongly in the story of Eulogia and the crippled man. When Eulogius 173, who had been caring for the crippled man for a long time, wanted to leave him as a result of the enmity and abuse he suffered from the crippled man, Antony, out of compassion for the sick man, forgetting about his injustice to his patron, reconciled them both and restored friendship 174 between them. Anthony's sympathy for his neighbors oppressed by oppression, insults, etc. It was so strong that he, leaving his solitude and appearing several times in cities, “interceded for the offended with such force that one might think that he himself was suffering the insult, and not someone else,” 175, his biography says about him. This attitude towards his neighbors stemmed from Anthony’s high concept of the dignity of man, his calling and purpose. Therefore, for Anthony, both the temporary well-being of his neighbors and especially their eternal salvation were very dear. “Our life and death depend on our neighbor,” he said. If we gain a brother, then we gain God, and if we seduce a brother, then we sin against Christ” 176. Concerned about the salvation of his neighbors, Anthony, due to his leniency towards sinners, quickly forgave even significant moral offenses (as indicated above) to the monks and forbade them to stop communicating even with important sinners 177. In this respect he is far superior to many of his contemporaries. The strict penitential discipline that existed in some churches at that time and developed under the influence of Montanian views required prolonged excommunication of sinners from the church, forcing them to undergo various degrees of penitents and sometimes depriving them of communion with the church for life. Anthony, who deeply studied human nature and knew its inclination to sin, was more humane in this regard than many Christians of that time. He even taught his followers not to pay too much attention to the sin they had committed, so that by indulging in reflection and lamentation about it, they would not fall into the mire of sin, not completely wallow in sin, but, forgetting about it, continue the deeds of virtue and constantly keep in mind that we are just beginning to live virtuously 179. Gradually strengthening himself in spiritual life, Anthony little by little changed his former too high concepts about asceticism and the importance of external exploits, as well as his previous views on worldly life. For those living in the desert, Anthony now recommends bodily labor, activities to obtain food for themselves. “A monk,” he says, who, having rested after labors, does not take up work again, will not receive the reward of those who labored in patience” 180. Anthony, as can be seen from some news about him, by the way, preferred solitude to life in society because those who live in society are often, due to their family and social status, deprived of rewards for their work. “Your parents,” he said to one young man, while providing you with everything you need, deprive you of the reward for your work and the good fruits of your bodily labor. That’s why we, preferring poverty to all riches, prefer to work by the sweat of our brow to produce what we need for food, rather than depend on the help of our neighbors.” 181 Anthony also advised solitude for ascetics as the best remedy against the temptation of tempting objects. “Just as fish die when they remain on dry land for a long time, so too do monks, when they stay outside their cells for a long time, or stay with lay people, lose their love of silence. Solitude frees you from three temptations - from the temptation of hearing, tongue and sight" 182 ; fasting, prayer, vigil and other labors were also recommended by Anthony as means leading to the achievement of perfection. But by offering such advice, Anthony, who previously exhausted himself and encouraged others to do the same in the form of achieving perfection, now changes his view of external exploits. Above the mortification of his body, he now considers internal virtues - love for neighbors, mercy, kindness, humility, etc. He directly says that external exploits: “prayer, alms, fasting of an evil, treacherous person - are unpleasant for God” 183. And he himself now restrains the desire of some of his disciples to achieve perfection through external feats of fasting, vigil, etc., advising them not to get carried away right away and not to strive indiscriminately for any virtue. “Just as a blacksmith, having taken a piece of iron, looks ahead to what he should do - a scythe, a sword or an ax, so we, Anthony tells his disciples, must think in advance which virtue we should adhere to, so as not to work in vain” 184. He shows the monks by example that strict asceticism can harm a person, frustrating his strength. To one trapper, tempted by the fact that Anthony was joking with some of the students, the latter remarked: “Put the arrow on the bow and draw it. He did so. But the elder said: pull it still. If I draw a bow through the world, the hunter answered, it will break. So, said Anthony, in the work of God, if we strain the strength of the brethren beyond the world, then he will soon be upset” 185. Now, Anthony himself looks at the ascetic and hermit life, in which many of Anthony’s followers only considered it possible to achieve salvation, as a means that has nothing virtuous in itself and, moreover, is not convenient for everyone. So he shows his disciples that even without feats in the desert - killing the body and reclining on bare ground, etc., one can achieve such moral perfection that none of the hermits possesses. Here is a characteristic story expressing this view of Anthony: “Once upon a time it was revealed to Anthony in the desert: there is in the city someone like you, a doctor of skill, who gives his excess to the needy and daily sings the trisagion with the angels” 186. Another time it was pointed out to him that he had not achieved the perfection of a tanner in Alexandra, who, while performing the duties of a Christian, considered himself worse than everyone else 187. These stories show that Anthony, who imposed on himself the feat of withdrawing from the world, did not think that salvation was impossible in the world. As can be seen from these stories, he places those who live piously in the world even higher than those living in the desert. Although he recognized the exploits of hermits as external means of purity and holiness as useful, “because through them sensual desires are weakened and extinguished, because this weakening improves the virtue of chastity in us,” 188 he did not consider them necessary and obligatory for other people. Reasoning for example about virginity and calling this state “the seal of perfection,” “the likeness of angels,” he leaves it to the will of those who wish, “because not everyone can bear the heavy burden of virginity.” For worldly persons, he placed above various ascetic deeds the exact fulfillment of the duties assigned to them - observance of truth and mercy in court, caring for subordinates, the poor, 189 and so on. As a result of this view of hermitage and worldly life, Anthony provided his disciples with complete freedom to choose one or another type of life, without constraining them with rules obligatory for everyone. Instead of any rules that appeared between hermits later or, if in his time, then between cenobitic monasteries (founded by Pachomius the Great, his contemporary), Anthony invited his disciples to live in accordance with Scripture, from which, he said, one can learn all the rules of life 190. Revealing the rules of morality in his conversations with his students, Anthony at the same time instructed them in the dogmas of the Christian religion. In his teachings to the monks, he talks about how one must believe in God, sets out the history of the economy of human salvation, mentions law and grace, reveals the meaning of the redemptive merits of Christ the Savior, teaches about the resurrection of the dead, future rewards and punishments. He expresses simple, correct concepts about all this, thanks to his acquaintance with St. Scripture and thought through it in his solitude. Instructing faith in God, Anthony first of all says that one must believe “in one God and do His will at every time and moment,” instills in the disciples that “one should not liken Him to any creature, whether it be in heaven above or on earth below,” talk about the eternity of God: “through God everything was created, and He himself exists eternally first of all, will exist forever and will never have an end.” Inspiring people to believe in God “in order to be and reign with Him forever and enjoy His blessings,” Anthony says that faith in Him alone is not enough, but one must also fulfill His commandments, “because faith without works is dead” 191. But in order to become virtuous, a person needs to make efforts on his part, “he needs to acquire spiritual courage and learn patience, so that he can stand firmly against the enemy and repel his attacks” 192. But since fallen man is more prone to evil and “his desires are always aimed at weakening the soul and subjecting it to the power of the spirit of evil,” then God grants him divine grace to help man on the path of virtue. “The Holy Spirit, says Anthony, sends down his help to a person in proportion to his zeal for piety, to the extent that he feels the need for assistance. When Divine grace does not find obstacles to its actions in a person’s heart, then it gradually eradicates all passions in his heart” 193. With the help of God's grace, fulfilling the law becomes easy for man and he learns to serve the Creator rather than creatures 194 . Revealing the history of the economy of human salvation, Anthony shows together the need for atonement and the significance of the redemptive merits of Christ the Savior. “Since, he says, the human soul, clothed with a rough and earthly body, for its sins lost its original perfection and began to serve creatures more than the Creator, the Creator of all creatures gave man saving and life-giving laws through Moses and thereby laid the foundation of his house - the church of the elect” 195; the prophets continued the work of Moses, but due to the depravity of people, they could not finish the work begun by Moses. Seeing that they could not eradicate moral corruption in people, the prophets were convinced that “only the Only Begotten Son of God can heal the human race, and in Him alone they saw the future doctor and savior of men. Therefore, each of them said in amazement: either there is no balm (theviaca) in Gilead, or there is no doctor there? 196 (Jer. viii. 22). Due to the insufficiency and powerlessness of the prophets to heal the human race, “God the Word, out of his ineffable love, came to us; He humbled himself for us, healed us with his wounds, with the word of his power he gathered us to himself from all the ends of the earth, resurrected us and saved us from our sins” 197. This is for us, says Anthony, a great good deed of God, about which we must reflect and learn those ways and means to salvation that the Savior revealed to us. To learn the means given by God for the salvation of man, Anthony asks his disciples to diligently study the Scriptures and cleanse their hearts from all impurity. With the coming of the Son of God to earth, “we, says Anthony, have no need for the appearance of another Savior in the flesh,” because Christ “by the violence of His preaching made us wise, enriched us with His poverty and strengthened us with His weaknesses” 198. Pointing to his disciples the benefits shown to humanity by the coming of the Savior to earth, Anthony encourages his followers to love God and fulfill His commandments. But by fulfilling the commandments of God, acting in everything according to the law, does not this result in a person becoming a slave of the law, and is he not thereby deprived of his freedom? Anthony solves this question in his doctrine of the free slavery of the sons of God. “Whoever, he says, fears the Lord and fulfills His commandments, is a true servant of God. But slavery is the justification of a person before God. It is the freedom of the sons of God. The law of God subjects us to slavery that saves us. He teaches us to curb passions and fulfill what virtue requires. The virtues that God requires of us are not far from you. It is in you. You will find them in yourself when you are not carried away by the objects of this fleeting world, but will listen and follow the voice of grace in your heart” 199. “Virtue,” Antony says in another place, is formed in the soul, in which the rational forces act in accordance with its nature” 200. Thus pointing to man's innate desire for virtue, Anthony shows that those who fulfill the law do so not due to any external compulsion, but according to their internal, natural attraction to goodness, which finds satisfaction in fulfilling the commandments of God; Therefore, the fulfillment of the law does not make a person a slave - it is free. In these simple instructions of Anthony, his great acquaintance with the Holy Spirit is revealed. Scripture, especially with the epistles of St. Paul, in places from which he often confirms his instructions 201. In addition, Anthony in his teachings speaks about the prayer of the saints for us 202, teaches about the immortality of the soul and the future life. The idea of ​​the future judgment of God is wonderful. All who have achieved perfection will in due time be judges in heaven of those people who lived in their time. “For such,” says Anthony, seats have been prepared on which they will sit to judge on the last day of judgment. I know some who in our time have reached such a degree of adoption to God. Not a single past century has had a shortage of such people who have achieved this perfection, and future centuries will also have such people, not only among husbands, but also among wives. When they sit on their seats on the last day of judgment, each of them will judge the people of his age. This right will be given to them because they have overcome all obstacles to be perfect; because those who are perfect will be judged by the world" 203 . Anthony convinced his disciples that they should achieve high perfection and through this subsequently become judges of the people of their time in heaven. Anthony was also sometimes occupied with the question of the state of souls after their separation from the body. His view on this subject can be deduced from the story of the visions he had on this occasion. According to one of these visions, the devils, before allowing a human soul to the throne of the Most High, demand an account of all its affairs from the very birth of man 204; according to another vision, the souls of wicked people after their death are not allowed by the spirits of evil to the throne of God and are thrown down by them; pious souls, on the contrary, escape from the devils and ascend upward to heaven 205. In the story of his visions, Anthony imagines the soul as “some kind of winged creature” 206 and says that he saw souls flying like birds 207 . The souls of righteous people are transferred to heaven, where they are protected by angels, while the souls of the wicked are in hell for their sins 208. Such are the instructions which Anthony gave to his disciples concerning the various truths of religion; These simple, unartificial instructions from Anthony differ significantly from his conversations with pagan philosophers and Arians, in discussions with whom he fully revealed the full height of his theological development. Antony's conversations with philosophers, testifying to the remarkable subtlety and insight of his mind, are a matter of surprise for Antony's biographer 209. Anthony's discussions with the philosophers, as they are presented by St. Athanasius, they reveal in him not only a deep knowledge of Christianity, but also a significant knowledge of Egyptian and Greek religion with its mythology about gods and heroes, familiarity with Neoplatonic philosophy and dialectics and the ability to use the latter in his reasoning with scientists. All this is all the more surprising since Anthony spent almost his entire life in solitude and was not familiar with book education 210. And yet, despite this, he often amazed philosophers with his intelligence and resourcefulness; More than once they, who thought to see Anthony as an uneducated ignorant, left him with different concepts about him. One day, says Athanasius, two pagan philosophers came to Anthony, thinking of ridiculing him. Without waiting for their answers, Anthony asked them: “Why did they, the sages, come to him - an ignoramus?” When the philosophers answered that, on the contrary, they considered Anthony an intelligent man, Anthony continued: “If you went to an unreasonable man, then your work was in vain. And if you consider me reasonable, then be the same as I am, because good things must be imitated; I am a Christian, therefore you too be Christians” 211. The philosophers, who themselves gave the basis for Anthony’s such conclusion, were not found to object to him and, says Athanasius, withdrew in amazement. Another time, a philosopher came to Anthony, intending to ridicule him for not learning to read and write and not having books. The scientist said to Anthony: how can he live without books, how can he become better by retiring into the desert? To this bewilderment of the philosopher, Anthony also responded with a question: tell me what happened first - reason, thought or letters, writing. The scientist replied that reason appeared earlier, since he invented writing 212. Then Anthony showed him that there was nothing worthy of ridicule if a person who had received reason from nature could continue his education without books, observing and studying nature. “My book,” said Anthony, is all nature; it always lies open before me and I find out about everything as soon as I want to read the word of God” 213. For the third time, several philosophers came to Anthony, people respected by everyone for their knowledge. Questioning Anthony about the foundations of the Christian faith and arming himself with sophisms against his sincere words, they among other things began to ridicule the Christian teaching about the cross. Then Anthony, expressing regret about their bitterness, showed them the superiority of Christian teaching over pagan teaching through a comparison of both. “What we preach is a proof of courage and a sign of contempt for death (the doctrine of the cross), Anthony tells them, but what you teach is infected with obscenity (ἁ σελγεία). Moreover, what is better: is it better to say that the Word of God has not changed and, remaining the same, for the benefit of people and for their salvation, took upon itself the human body in order to make people partakers of the divine and spiritual nature, or to liken the Divinity to the dumb and therefore to honor four-legged animals, reptiles and human images” 214. It is indecent for them, philosophers, Anthony continued, to laugh at the incarnation of Christ simply because they themselves teach about the descent of souls into human bodies and their transmigration into animals. At the same time, Anthony showed that the faith in the coming of Christ among Christians is based on the omnipotence and love of mankind of the Provider and therefore the incarnation is not at all humiliating for the Divine. The Neoplatonists, who call the soul the image of the Mind, attributing to it falls and inconstancy, really humiliate the Divine: if the soul - the image of the Mind - is perverse, then it must be assumed that the Mind, of which it is the image, is also perverted. And admitting this, one must accept that the Supreme Principle itself, the Father of everything, including the divine Mind, must also be changeable and impermanent 215. As for the ridicule of pagans regarding the crucifixion and death on the cross of Jesus Christ, Anthony shows the injustice of these ridicule to philosophers again by comparing Christian teaching with pagan myths about the gods, as well as by reminding them of other deeds of the Savior. Philosophers, Anthony says to them, “by blaspheming the cross of Christ, forget about the resurrection; when mentioning death on the cross, they do not talk about the sight of the blind, the healing of the demoniac, the cleansing of lepers, the resurrection of the dead and other miracles that prove the Divinity of Jesus Christ. Those who spoke about the cross wrote about all this” 216. And if the pagans, having carefully read the writings of Christians, compared these writings with the pagan myths about Osiris and Isis, about the flight of Kronos, about the machinations of Typhon, about the absorption of children and parricides between the gods, they would be convinced of the superiority of the teachings of Christians over the fables of the pagans. The works of Christ, says Anthony, prove that He is God, who came to save people. But what can these pagans say to justify their teaching? Their gods are idols. If the pagans say that their myths serve as an allegorical personification of the forces of nature, as for example. the abduction of the virgin 217 is an allegory about the earth, the lame Hephaestus - about fire, Ira - about the air, Apollo - about the sun, Artemis - about the moon, Poseidon - about the sea, then in this case they bow to the forces of nature, and not to God himself, who created all this. But the forces of nature should not be the subject of reverence, and if the pagans composed various myths because they wanted to glorify the creations of God, the beauty of the world, then these creations only needed to be amazed, and not idolize them, so as not to give the honor that belongs to the Creator to His creatures. To do the opposite, Anthony notes, “is the same as giving the honor that belongs to an architect to the house he built, or the honor that belongs to a general to giving to a simple warrior” 218 . When the philosophers then noticed Anthony that the Christian teaching is all based on faith alone, while philosophy is affirmed on the evidence of reason, imparting certainty to its positions, and that a person should not be guided by faith alone, then Anthony asked them: “tell me, the knowledge of things and mainly the knowledge of God is better achieved, by inference or by the power of faith (ὲνεργείας πίστεως ). And what comes first: faith or rational conviction” 219? When the philosophers agreed that solid knowledge is unthinkable without faith in the reality of what is affirmed, Anthony told them: “so you say - faith comes from the spiritual disposition (απὁ σιαθέσεως ψυχῆς), and dialectics from the art of its compilers. Therefore, whoever has the power of faith, your evidence is not necessary, even completely unnecessary” 220. Thus, the advantage of religion over philosophy is that Anthony points out that faith, which forms the basis of any religion, is “prior to reasonable proof”; Without it, philosophy itself and experimental observations are impossible, because all primary sensations and observations, as a result of which ideas are formed in a person, are necessarily based on faith in their truth and reality. Having removed the reproach of philosophers against Christianity and shown that knowledge itself is impossible without faith, Anthony proves the advantages of the Christian faith over paganism to philosophers on the basis of the rapid spread of Christianity and the transition of many pagans to it, while he sees the powerlessness of paganism in its decrease. “Tell me,” Anthony addresses them, where are your soothsayers, where are the Egyptian sorceries, where are the inventions of the priests? When did all this stop and lose its power? Was it not from that time that all this weakened and disappeared when the cross of Christ appeared? Therefore, is he worthy of ridicule, or what is trampled and overthrown by him” 221? Despite the persecution of Christians and the support of paganism from the government, Christians multiplied more and more, and paganism perished, which, says Anthony, clearly indicates the superiority of Christian teaching. Then Anthony points out to the philosophers the virtues of Christians - their chastity, virginity, firmness in faith, contempt for dangers and other qualities that testify to the superiority of Christians and their religion over the pagan one. Philosophers, who are trying to base their faith on reason, have not yet found sufficient grounds for it. This defense of Christianity through a comparison of the way of life and behavior of Christians with the behavior of pagans, through a comparison of the conditions under which Christianity developed and paganism fell, was often used before 222 and always had value, as based on facts to which the pagans for the most part could not object. Antony now uses the same method of proof in his discussions with philosophers, and his proofs, based on the facts of modern life, have silenced the philosophers. As they departed, they confessed to Anthony that they had found quite a bit of good for themselves in his words. Anthony's religious and mental development was revealed with no less force in his reasoning regarding the emergence of Arianism. When the Arian error in Alexandria (about 351) developed especially strongly during the reign of Constantius (about 351), it was important for both the Orthodox and the Arians to have St. Anthony as the defender of their faith. And Anthony, “filled with love for the Lord, trying to build his whole life on His divine teaching and in his faith placing all his present and future hopes on His divine merits,” 223 condemned the Arians who humiliated the dignity of the Son of God. “In our time,” Anthony told his disciples, Arius appeared in Alexandria and invented an impious doctrine about the Only Begotten. He laid the foundation for the Beginningless, He made the Infinite and Unlimited finite and limited... Arius committed great lawlessness, his sin is unforgivable and condemnation is inevitable” 224. In another letter from Anthony regarding the Arians, it is said: “The Arians say: The Creator of creatures was created; They do not know that God created everything by His Word, as John says: in the beginning was the word... After this, is it not impudent to say that the Word, having united with flesh, became a creature, because the body with which It was united was created” 225. Condemning the Aryan teaching, Anthony instilled in his disciples to beware of communication with the Arians; He called conversations with the Arians destructive for the soul, their words more destructive than the poison of the serpent 226. When the Arians spread a rumor that Anthony also agreed with their way of thinking, thinking by the name of Anthony alone to entice the common people into Arianism, then Anthony, despite his old age (he was then about 100 years old), at the request of St. Athanasius appeared in Alexandria and here openly exposed the errors of the Arians, calling them the forerunners of the Antichrist. “The Son of God,” Anthony said here among other things, is not a creature and not one of the non-existent, but the ever-present Word and Wisdom of the being of the Father. Do not have any fellowship with the Arians, for what fellowship is there between light and darkness (2 Corinth. VI, 14). Just as you, who observe piety, are called Christians, so they, who call creation from the Father, the Son of God, are no different from the pagans, serving more to the creature than to the one who created it” 227. Thus, Anthony refuted Arianism, deducing from their position: “there was a time when there was no Son” - a complete denial of the Divinity of Christ by the Arians and their reduction of Christianity to the level of paganism. With this open confession of Orthodoxy and denunciation of the Arians, Anthony greatly influenced the common people, who rejoiced that Arianism was condemned by such a great man 228 . Dissatisfied with merely denouncing Arianism, Anthony tried to ensure that the Orthodox “in this difficult time” 229 were protected by reliable leaders. For this purpose, he intercedes for St. Athanasius before Emperor Constantine 230, sends letters to Valacius 231, one military leader who strongly persecuted the Orthodox, to Gregory, the Arian bishop of Alexandria, with the aim of admonishing them. In his letter to Gregory, Anthony wrote: “I see the wrath of God coming upon you, stop persecuting Christians, so that the wrath that threatens your imminent death does not overtake you.” But Anthony’s letter was torn 232 and the bishop did not change his behavior towards the Orthodox. Anthony probably also addressed the emperor. Constantius with a request for the Orthodox. At least the news has been preserved that Anthony received a written invitation from the emperor to appear in Constantinople. Anthony was allegedly indecisive about this and did not know what to do, but his disciple Paul brought him out of his indecision, saying: “if you go to Constantinople, you will be Anthony, and if you do not go, you will be Abba Anthony” 233. However, having learned the content and nature of the Arian unrest, Anthony foresaw in advance their fragility, as well as the harm that Arianism would cause to the church. This insight of a deeply experienced elder regarding the fate of the Orthodox and Arians is depicted in the “Life of Anthony” under the image of a vision that happened to him. When Anthony’s disciples one day found him sighing and crying heavily and wanted to know the reason, Anthony told them: “It is better to die, children, before what I have seen is fulfilled... wrath will befall the church, which will be given over to people like beasts, because I saw the Lord’s table and around it standing mules (ἡμιόνους), who beat it with their feet, and I heard a voice saying, “My altar will be defiled” 234. When, two years after the vision, persecution from the Arians began, their plundering of churches, then, says the biographer, everyone understood what the kicking of the mules meant. But Anthony, who predicted the disasters of the church to his disciples, consoled them with the promise that “the church will again receive its former splendor; pious faith will be proclaimed freely everywhere, and the Arian teaching will lose its former strength" 235. A firm zealot for Orthodoxy, Anthony took care of the conversion of other heretics and schismatics. “Knowing the long-standing deceit and apostasy of the Meletians,” he tried to reconcile them with the church and subordinate them to legitimate church authority. However, he tried to avoid stubborn representatives of this schism both himself and advised his students not to have contact with them” 236 . With those who were less stubborn in their errors, Anthony entered into discussions, trying to instill in them obedience to the church. He also cared about converting the Manichaeans and other heretics who came to him and wanted to listen to his instructions to the true faith 237. Instructing and exposing those who were in error, Anthony was not ashamed to learn from smart people and accept instructions if they were useful. Considering himself a simple layman, obliged to obey church authority, Anthony was ready to give preference to any Orthodox clergyman; “I was not ashamed,” Athanasius said, “to bow my head before the bishops and presbyters. When a deacon came to him for his edification, he offered him a word for his benefit, but left the prayers to the deacon, not being ashamed to learn himself.”238 This is how Anthony treated the church authorities. He treated representatives of secular authorities with no less respect and exerted his beneficial influence on them. But having developed in his solitude the character of an independent person, Anthony saw in people, no matter what high levels of power they were, no matter what rights and powers they were endowed with, - first of all, Christians, equally equal to each other and obligated before God and people to honestly carry out the tasks assigned to them. Therefore, he was not afraid to speak the truth to representatives of power - judges, military leaders and even the emperors themselves, reminding them all to fulfill their duties in the spirit of Gospel love for their neighbors. So, when rumors about Anthony reached the imp. Constantine the Great and his sons Constantius and Constance, they sent messages to him, asking for his prayers and blessings for themselves. “But for Anthony the royal letters did not mean much; he did not admire these messages, but remained the same as he was before the kings wrote to him” 239. When the royal letters were brought to him, Anthony called his disciples and said to them: “Do not be surprised at the fact that the king is writing to us, because he is also a man; but marvel more at this, that God wrote a law to men and spoke to them through His own Son” 240 . Anthony even considered not accepting the emperor’s letters at all, saying: “I don’t know how to respond to such messages.” But the disciples showed him that the Christian Augustans, pious people, might be sad if their letters were rejected. Then Anthony allowed the letters to be read and answered them to the emperor and his sons. In his answer, Anthony praised the kings for their piety, but at the same time gave them prudent advice “not to value the present highly, to remember the future judgment and to know that Christ is the one, true and eternal King; He also asked the kings to be philanthropic, to take care of the truth and the poor” 241. Anthony's message was favorably received at the emperor's court. Anthony gave similar instructions to other persons in authority. Knowing that poor, insignificant people are subject to insults and oppression by various officials at trial, while serving various duties, etc., Antoshi interceded for the offended before the city authorities and judges 242 and denounced the cruel bosses. Thus, he instilled in the judges to prefer the truth to everything, to fear God and to know that by what court they themselves judge, that is how they will be judged 243. And Anthony's instructions, imbued with sincerity, had a beneficial effect on the way of thinking and behavior of many. Such was the moral and theological development that Anthony achieved little by little, without any outside guidance, with the help only of the Holy Father. Scriptures and observations of yourself and the world around you. His uniquely developed system of concepts and his activities based on them aroused respect for him and did not remain without beneficial consequences for individuals, even scientists and those occupying a high position in society. But Anthony’s educational activities had much more influence and significance among the common people. Anthony's educational activities were concentrated and had particular success among simple people, both Christians and pagans, although educated people often came to him and, submitting to his influence, even became hermits 244. Describing the influence that Anthony had on the people, Athanasius makes the following enthusiastic review of him: “who, if he came to him sad, did not return from him rejoicing? Who, coming to him shedding tears for the dead, did not stop crying? Who, if he came angry, did not change his anger to affection? What poor person, who came to him in despondency and, after listening to him and looking at him, did not begin to despise wealth, and was not comforted in his poverty? What monk, who gave himself up to negligence, did not become much more firm as soon as he came to him? What young man, having come to the mountain and seen Anthony, did not immediately renounce pleasures and begin to love chastity? Who came to him tempted by the demon and found no peace? This review shows how strong Anthony's influence was on the common people. And many, having heard a lot about Anthony, “came to him just to see him, others because of illness, and others because they suffered from demons. And no one considered the difficulty of the journey a burden, because everyone returned feeling the benefits.”245 Even the pagans themselves submitted to his influence, visiting him and listening to his instructions. So the nomadic Arabs, having learned about his virtues, with the intention of going a different way - past Mount Antonia, just to see him, listen to his conversations and receive a blessing from him 246. When Anthony came to Alexandria due to the Arian troubles (in 351), in the few days of his stay here he had such a beneficial influence on the pagan simple mob that “during these days, as many people turned to Christianity as in other times they converted for a whole year” 247 . Many of the pagans in Alexandria were so filled with reverence at this time that they did not call him otherwise than “God’s man”; some even of the pagan priests wanted to see Anthony and listened to his speeches. When Anthony returned to his desert, many who sought his advice and were carried away by stories about his extraordinary lifestyle, holiness and miracles, found him in solitude. And “Antony,” says Athanasius, was so able to speak for the benefit of everyone that many even among military men abandoned everyday concerns and finally became hermits.” This extraordinary influence that Anthony had on those who came to him, changing their beliefs, lifestyle and habits, stemmed from the very nature of St. Anthony’s conversations, from his touching sympathy for ordinary people, the consolation and attention that he showed them; on the other hand, it is calmer, Anthony’s dispassion and indifference to all external, worldly temptations, benefits and troubles, to which those who came to him were subjected and from which they often suffered, also did not remain without influence on them. Here with him, alien to all these worldly worries and vanities, they felt relief for themselves and learned that there were other, higher interests, promising a greater reward in heaven, which Anthony served. In part, the very appearance of the ascetic, his way of life, so sharply different from the lives of other people, could contribute to the charm that Anthony produced on ordinary people. When among those who came to Anthony there were people who were in a quarrel with each other, in enmity, or for some reason were giving in to despondency, despair, irritated by something, then Anthony always knew how to reconcile them, calm them down and ease them with his conversations. Depicting the nature of Anthony’s conversations with those who came, Sozomen notes that “Antony was pleasant to his interlocutors and gentle in conversation, even if the conversation was controversial; for somehow, with the turns and skill characteristic of him alone, he tamed the growing love of argument, gave a moderate tone to the conversation, and, turning his interlocutors away from irritability, knew how to bring them into a peaceful state” 248. This peaceful, quiet mood of those around him was partly facilitated by Anthony’s very appearance. “His face, says St. Afanasy, it was very attractive. If he was surrounded by many hermits and someone who did not know him before wanted to see him, then the person who wanted to, bypassing the others, directly approached Anthony, as if attracted by his gaze. Anthony differed from others not in height and width (τῷ πλάτει), but in good character and purity of soul. Since his soul was serene, his external feelings remained undisturbed” 249. In his conversations with people who were dissatisfied with their situation, who suffered from various illnesses, mental and physical, etc., Anthony expressed sympathy for the suffering, sympathized with them, inspired them to be patient, not to grumble at God and not to despair of his help, and to know that only God gives healing to whom and how he wants. For the sick, of whom especially many came to him, Anthony prayed to God in front of them, inspiring them with God’s quick help and hope for recovery. And “sick people accepted the elder’s instructions as medicine” 250. Under the influence of such sympathy and caring of Anthony for the sick and mourning, under the influence of his meek speeches, which instilled confidence in many obsessed with illnesses, making them forget about worldly troubles and worries, under the influence, finally, of that universal confidence that spread about Anthony as a great miracle worker, many of those who came to him returned back in a completely different mood. People, depressed by fate, suffering from mental disorder as a result of various shocks and upheavals in life, calmed by Anthony, reconciled with their situation, attributed to the miracle such a beneficial change in themselves and, if they did not become hermits, then upon returning home they gratefully remembered the name of Anthony, glorified him, and thus the name of Anthony became known everywhere. Many stories have been preserved about visits to Anthony by people suffering from mental illness, suffering from epilepsy, etc. Then one day the courtier Fronton comes to Anthony, who, probably, as a result of various intrigues and machinations of his comrades, has fallen out of favor at the royal court; greatly shocked by this event, he fell into such a frenzy that he began to bite his tongue and was even going to deprive himself of his sight. But having come to Anthony, he was so reassured by the latter’s gentle conversations, so reassured by God’s help and the prayers of the great ascetic for him, that, glorifying God, he returned to Egypt healthy 251. Especially a lot of news has been preserved about Anthony’s visit to those possessed by demons. From this news it is clear how strong Anthony’s love for his neighbors was, how great was his sympathy for the poor sufferers and his desire to help these unfortunates in any way possible. So, one day they bring to Anthony a young man subject to terrible seizures and ask the hermit to pray for the demoniac. Out of compassion for the young man, Anthony spends the whole night with him, praying to God for him and talking with him about pious subjects. When the young man, having suffered a fit, rushes at Anthony, beats him, throws him to the ground, the latter meekly convinces those present not to be angry with the demon-possessed young man: “It is not he who is to blame, says Anthony, but the demon living in him.”252 After the seizure, the young man, having come to his senses and seeing who he was in front of, began to greet the elder, thank him and, calmed and relieved by Anthony, returned home completely healthy. The faith that was aroused among the people by those who received healings from Anthony grew so strong in him that many considered it sufficient only to see Anthony or touch his clothes 253 in order to receive healing. Even the pagans (as indicated above), having heard a lot about this extraordinary man, were confident in his miraculous power and turned to him in the hope of receiving healing 254. The beneficial influence that Anthony had on people possessed by mental illness instilled in the common people the conviction that the most reliable means for healing the possessed and expelling demons from them was Anthony’s prayer. How strong was the belief in Anthony’s extraordinary power to cast out demons and his power over them is shown by some of the stories that have been preserved about this. One day, it is told in Hon. It is said that Anthony, together with other monks, went to pray on a ship standing off the bank of the Nile. Walking onto the ship, Anthony suddenly felt a strong and disgusting stench. Those on the ship said that there is fish and salted meat here and that’s why the smell. But Anthony said that this was a different kind of stench. Before Anthony had time to say this, a young man possessed by a demon suddenly screamed. The devil, having learned about Anthony's approach, immediately left the sick man and the man after that became healthy. And then, the narrator adds, “everyone realized that the stench was from a demon” 255. Such power was attributed to Anthony over evil spirits: one approach of Anthony to the place where the possessed were located forced the evil spirits to leave people; the mere presence of sick demoniacs in Anthony’s vicinity, even if they were hiding from him, showed Anthony that evil spirits were here. According to some stories, the demons were so afraid of Anthony that, wanting to make him more lenient towards themselves, they revealed to him about various events that took place far from him. So one day Anthony learns from the demons that the brothers who are coming to him have lost a donkey on the road 256. There are even stories, really later, not found in ancient. legends that the demons, recognizing the great holiness of Anthony, his inaccessibility to any temptations, themselves almost turn to the path of truth by Anthony and through him learn about the possibility of forgiveness from God if they repented 257. Such were the stories among the people about the holiness and miraculous power of Anthony. Therefore, “everyone considered it a great honor to see him, listen to his speeches and obey his words” 258. But the fame that his visitors spread about Anthony did not arouse any conceit or pride in him. He was also far from the idea of ​​ascribing to himself the name of a miracle worker. Giving healing to the sick and sometimes performing miracles with the power of his prayer, Anthony at the same time inspired those who came that it was not he who gave healing, but God. He himself, as well as those who come to him, can only pray and ask God for help. So to the relatives of one sick girl, who asked Anthony to heal her, he said: “This is not my business and there is no reason for her to come to me, a poor man; healing comes from the Savior, who in every place shows mercy to those who call on Him” 259. Anthony said to one hermit who asked to pray for him: “neither I nor God will take pity on you if you don’t take care of yourself and pray to God” 260. To the military commander Martinian, who asked to heal his daughter, Anthony replied: “Why are you crying out to me? And I'm the same person as you. If you believe in Christ, whom I serve, then go and, as you believe, pray to God” 261. If Anthony’s prayers were heard by God and through his prayer the sick received healing, then, says Athanasius, he did not boast about this and, when he was not heard, did not grumble 262. In another place, Athanasius notes that “Antony healed not with a commanding word, but with prayer and invocation of the name of Christ, wanting to make it clear to everyone that it was not he who was doing this, but that the Lord, through Anthony, was showing his love for mankind and healing the afflicted; Anthony’s only concern was prayer and deeds” 263. Far from the idea of ​​attributing miracles to himself, Anthony instilled in his disciples to take care not to perform signs and wonders, but to live piously 264 . “The names in the book of the belly are written for virtues, and the expulsion of demons is a gift of God; Therefore, to those who boast of miracles and will say: Was it not in your name that they cast out demons and performed miracles, the Lord will say: Amen, I say to you: I do not know you; depart from Me, you who practice iniquity.”265 The great fame that spread about Anthony as an extraordinary man and miracle worker, and thanks to which he became known not only in Egypt, but also in Rome and in the African Church 266, was unpleasant for Anthony. “He, says Athanasius, grieved that many were bothering him,” having heard about his extraordinary deeds, but out of his love for his neighbors he was forced to show himself before them, to give instructions and consolation. Out of a desire to maintain as much privacy as possible, Anthony retired to the inner mountain (called Kolzin), where he lived almost alone in his last years, from time to time only visiting the monastic settlements he left behind in the Pisper monastery 267 . In the last years of his life, Anthony had his residence on Mount Kholzin, and only at the request of his disciples did he sometimes leave this place to visit monasteries scattered in different places of the desert. In these last years, no visions bothered him. True, sometimes “the devil gnashed his teeth at him, but Anthony, consoled by the Savior, remained unharmed from the deceit and intrigues of the devil” 268. It is said, for example, that Anthony, upon seeing a beast that once appeared to him, in which there were demons, sealed himself with the sign of the cross and said: “I am a servant of Christ; if you are sent against me, then here I am before you.” The beast with the demons in it ran so fast that it fell from the speed and ended its life right there. “The death of the beast,” says the biography, meant the fall of the demons, who made every effort to remove Anthony from the desert, and were unable to do so” 269. When, in the first years of his life on Mount Kholzin, Anthony, at the request of the monks, visited the monasteries he left behind, at the same time he had the opportunity to see his sister, whom he had not seen for many years and who was now old and was the abbess of the women's monasteries 270. Upon returning to his mountain, Anthony began to lead his former life, weaving baskets, and spending the rest of his time in thought and contemplation. Since it was difficult for his students to bring him food from their previous place of residence, Anthony asked them to bring several seeds and agricultural tools, and he himself began to grow vegetables and other plants on a small piece of land 271. 15 years before his death, Anthony, who was already about 90 years old, accepted two disciples to serve his old age 272. Sometimes his disciples visited him in solitude, coming from different monasteries to Anthony on the mountain. According to the moral state of each of them, Anthony gave them edifications. He advises one of them to curb his tongue, the other to remember about temptations that are possible in old age. And his disciples, who themselves had already achieved fame and glory, such as for example. Macarius of Egypt, Ammon and others treated Anthony's words with reverence. He was also visited by Hilarion, the founder of monasticism in Palestine and who was also a student of Anthony. In the last years of his life, the famous Bishop Paphnutius 273, a former confessor during times of persecution and then a defender of Orthodoxy at the Councils of Nicaea and Tire, also visited him. Anthony was not personally acquainted with the founder of cenobitic monasticism, Pachomius. “About your father,” he said to Pachomius’s disciple Zacchaeus, he heard many times that he lived according to the scriptures and wanted to see him in the flesh, but he must not have been worthy of it. In the kingdom of heaven, by the grace of God, we will see each other” 274. Under the influence and leadership of Anthony, his disciples in different places of the desert gathered monks around them and founded monasteries or laurels, which were a series of cells built at a distance from one another and forming some semblance of streets 275. Of these monasteries, in addition to the monastery of Pisper, located on the site of Anthony's former settlement on the banks of the Nile 276, the monasteries on Mount Nitria 277 are known, founded on the initiative of Anthony by his disciple Ammon. The hermits of Mount Nitria used the instructions of St. Anthony. In the desert of Cells, 10 thousand steps away from Natria to the southeast, there were also scattered cells of hermits, founded here with the blessing of Anthony by the same Ammon. The monks who lived in the Skete desert were not beyond Anthony’s influence. At least the founder of monasticism in this desert, Macarius of Egypt, was a student of Anthony and used his instructions 278. In general, the disciples of Anthony the Great and the laurels or monasteries they founded filled many places in the deserts of Egypt. Even in Palestine, the beginning of monasticism was laid by Anthony’s disciple Hilarion. Regarding the number and location of settlements of the Antonievs’ disciples, Sozomen notes: “they were everywhere, but it was not easy to find them; because throughout their lives they tried more zealously to hide than many of the people of the present time, excited by ambition, seek fame” 279. Barely 50 years had passed after Anthony allowed monks to settle around him when “almost as many monks appeared in the desert as there were people living in the cities” 280 . This is what the visitors to these areas said at that time. Even under Anthony himself, the number of his disciples was already so significant that St. Athanasius represented them as “a whole region of piety and truth” and said that “in all these numerous monasteries, Anthony was the father and leader” 281. As for the internal life of these monastic settlements founded by Anthony, at first during Anthony’s life no specific charters and rules were introduced in them. This depended on the fact that Anthony’s disciples lived mostly separately from each other, just as Anthony himself hid for the most part in a secluded cave. Among Anthony’s disciples during his lifetime there were, of course, neither abbots nor simple monks in the later sense, but were all equal to each other. If Anthony was recognized by the disciples as the head and leader, then in his relations with them there was nothing similar to those relations that were established later and even during Anthony’s lifetime in the cenobitic monasteries, where, according to the rule of Pachomius, which he received, as his life says, from an angel 282, a very strict fulfillment of certain rules and order in life was required. Antony's views regarding external rules and regulations are clearly expressed in his instructions to his disciples. When Anthony’s disciples began to ask him to establish certain rules, he told them the following: “to know all the rules of life, the sacred. Scriptures. But great benefit will also come if the brethren enjoy mutual teachings. Therefore, you, as a father, tell me what you know, and I, as children, will reveal many years of experience” 283. Thus, Anthony gave his students freedom and all his supervision over them was limited to the instructions that he gave to those who wanted to listen to him; each of his disciples could imitate his life exactly, or lead a different kind of life in the desert, or, in case of difficulty, completely leave the desert and settle in the world again 284. In this society of hermits there was also no definite order and places for worship; there is almost no indication of the performance of various church rites and sacraments. Since Anthony’s students, like himself, were mostly people with little knowledge of book learning, and sometimes even without literacy (an example of which is especially Paul, whom everyone called “simple” because of his narrow-mindedness in education 285), living in the desert, they necessarily limited all their religious needs to prayer, the singing of psalms, which they managed to learn, and some also read holy books. Send Divine service, as it then existed in the church, they could not perform sacraments and rituals, or gather in certain places of worship, both because they lived mostly alone and, moreover, often far from each other, and because, coming from a simple rank and not having church hierarchical degrees, they could not perform services and naturally had to be content with prayers and the singing of psalms. And with that view of external exploits that many of Anthony’s disciples formed for themselves (and which in the first time of his hermitage Anthony himself was not alien to) and according to which strict mortification of the body was considered the greatest virtue and merit of a person before God, these first hermits may not have been aware of the need for church sacraments and divine services. However, regarding Anthony himself, it is known that he respected church rules and sometimes allowed deacons and bishops who came to him to perform prayers 286. There are also hints that in the society of the first Christian monks, according to the custom of that time, public repentance was performed; the brother who sinned confessed his offense to others and was sometimes expelled from the society of monks for his sin 287 . And in one letter from Anthony there is an indication of confessing sins to a priest 288. Instructions for performing other sacred services and St. There are no actions in the news about Anthony. How in the time of Anthony those who wished to become monks and whether there were any external rituals and obligations on the part of those preparing to become monks is shown by some news about Anthony and his disciple Paul the Simple. Pavel Simple, a villager, having left his wife as a result of her infidelity, decided to retire into the desert. Having visited 8 monasteries, he finally comes to Anthony, telling him: “I want to be a monk.” “You can’t,” Anthony tells him, you’re already 60 years old; Better go again to your village, work and glorify God” 289. When Paul insisted strongly, Antony, wanting to dissuade him from his intention, described to him the difficulty of life in the desert. But Paul did not stop asking him to be accepted as one of his disciples. Then Anthony, wanting to test his patience, began to subject Paul to difficult and varied labors: he forced him to pray for several days in a row, put him in an open place during the heat of the sun, forced him to weave ropes and unravel them again; offered bread and then took it away again; once forced Paul to break a vessel in which there was honey, and then pick up honey from the ground and cleanse it of debris; even forced him to draw water for whole days, etc. Paul, as a very simple and meek man, endured all this unquestioningly and Anthony, seeing his patience, said to him: “in the name of the Lord you have already become a monk” 290. Then Anthony arranged for him a cell three or four miles from his place of residence, where Paul settled. This story shows how those who wished to become monks. The trials that Paul suffered from Anthony indicate, however, that Anthony demanded preliminary reflection from his disciples, pointed out the difficulties of life as a hermit, but Anthony and his disciples did not know about any formal vows for life, about external differences in clothing and food. They ate, no doubt, very meager food, but the quality of the food was not determined. Anthony himself ate only vegetables, fruits and dry bread 291; Some of his disciples, like him, were strict in their choice of food, others ate meat, fish, etc. Even long after Anthony, the distinction in food had not yet been established 292. The clothing of Anthony and his disciples was no different from the ordinary clothing of the laity, except for its dilapidation. Speaking about the burial of Anthony and the division of his clothes among the disciples, Athanasius mentions only the hair shirt and mantle 293, which did not constitute the distinctive clothing of the hermits from the laity. Kukul, leviton, analav, leather belt, etc. with their symbolic interpretations appeared later 294. Thus, the internal life of Anthony’s disciples differed greatly from the life of the cenobitic monks, and in general, Anthony’s monasteries represented a significant difference from the Cenobite monasteries. The monasteries founded by Anthony were the subject of his attention and care. Being old and unable to visit them himself, Anthony sent disciples who lived with him to the monks with various instructions and requests to lead a virtuous life and avoid temptations. Many of these instructions from Anthony have been preserved and are known as Anthony's letters, exhortations, speeches, etc. Not much information remains from the last years of Anthony’s life. His solitary life in the desert flowed peacefully and monotonously. The most outstanding event from the last years of his life was his meeting with the hermit Paul of Thebes. The story of this meeting, published by Jerome in Vita s. Pavli" 295, is as follows. One day Anthony, sitting in his cave, thought that besides him there was no other hermit in this desert, but that same night he received a revelation that at the end of the desert there was another hermit and a more perfect one 296. Then Anthony went in search of him and after wandering for two days, on the third day, under the guidance of a hyena, he reached a cave, inside which he saw a light. The knock made by Anthony forced the man who lived in the cave to lock the door to it. But after Anthony’s long prayer, the door to the cave opened and he saw a very old man standing before him. Both of them, who did not know each other, immediately called each other by name. After mutual greetings, Paul asked Anthony: “What is now happening to the human race? Are new buildings going up in old cities? How is the world governed, is there still idolatry left?” During their conversation, a voroni flies up to them and places bread in front of them. Then Paul says to Anthony: “It has been seventy-four years since I have received half a loaf of bread, and now, for the sake of your arrival, Christ has doubled the supply to us, his soldiers.” From a further conversation with Paul, Anthony learned that he was born in Egypt, in the lower Thebaid, from Christians; after the death of his parents in the 16th year of his life, fearing that his son-in-law would betray him to the government as a Christian (then there was the Decius Persecution around 250), he abandoned all his inheritance, fled into the desert and here, wandering from place to place, he accidentally found a cave and settled in it, since the place was convenient - a stream flowed and date palms grew nearby. “Having settled in the desert, St. the ascetic lived in it for about 91 years, says Jerome, invisible and unknown to anyone.” Having finished the story about his life, Paul said to Anthony: “since the time of my dormition has come, you have been sent from God to bury my body in the earth.” And then he ordered Anthony to go to the monastery and bring clothes, so that after Paul’s death he could cover his body with it. Anthony, approaching the monastery, was met by two of his disciples and when they asked where he was, he exclaimed: “Woe to me, a sinner! I am a monk in name only, I saw Elijah, I saw John in the desert; Truly I saw Paul in paradise! And immediately taking his clothes, he went back. On the way back, Anthony sees a host of angels, prophets, apostles, and among them Paul ascending to heaven. Having learned through this about his death, Anthony hurries to his cave. Finding him already dead, Anthony buries Paul with weeping, psalms and songs; The grave for the latter is dug out by two lions who appear. After Paul's funeral, Anthony retired to his monastery, taking with him Paul's palm robe, which he later put on himself on the most solemn days - Easter and Pentecost. This is the content of the story of Paul's meeting with Anthony, as related by Jerome. In the “vita Antonii”, written by Athanasius, not a word is said about this circumstance from the life of Anthony, although the author of this work brings the biography of Anthony to the end, describing his death and the circumstances surrounding it. Anthony's eyewitness, who talked with him many times and hid for some time in his desert 297, St. Athanasius could have known this fact from Anthony's life and written it down. But on the other hand, it is also known that Athanasius wrote, as he himself says, only a little of what he remembered about Anthony 298, without having time to take advantage of all the news that he hoped to collect from others - therefore, he could have omitted some events from the life of Anthony. As for other writers who spoke about Anthony and who lived later than even Jerome himself, they do not talk about this event recorded by Jerome. Jerome himself, the writer of this life, in his other work “Vita Hilarionis” testifies in part that in his time there was already doubt about the veracity of this story 299. This story can be based on a real fact - Anthony’s meeting in the last years of his life with another hermit, Paul. This must be allowed especially because, in addition to the life of Paul, written by Jerome, another edition of this life has been preserved, more abbreviated and alien to some of Jerome’s embellishments, which, as some think 300, was written by one of Anthony’s closest students. In view of this, it must be admitted that Jerome’s narrative is based on actual fact. Neander, Schaff and others, although they doubt, do not completely reject Jerome’s story, considering only its details to be fiction 301. Shortly before his death, Anthony walked around the nearest settlements of his students for the last time. Arriving at the Pisper monastery, he gave his last instructions to the disciples. “Listen,” he said to them, to your father’s last instruction. I will not see you again in this life; I am already one hundred and five years old; nature itself lets my body know about the period of resolution” 302. Then Anthony urged them to keep themselves pure, not to associate with heretics, and to firmly adhere to the right faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the traditions of the saints. Then, having retired from the monastery to the mountain, contrary to the wishes of his disciples to remain in the monastery until his death, Anthony soon fell ill. Having called two disciples who were constantly with him in the last years of his life, Anthony taught them how they should live when left alone; asked them to remember what he had told them before; Among other things, he gave orders regarding his property: “Bishop Athanasius,” he said, “give me one mantle and the clothes sent under me, they gave them to me new and they are worn out; and give the other mantle to Bishop Serapion; take the hair shirt for yourself" 303. Before his death, Anthony also made a will regarding his burial. Knowing that among many Egyptian Christians the former custom of the pagans was still maintained - not to bury the dead in the ground, but to place them in coffins and keep them at home in specially prepared places, Anthony, as before, armed himself against this custom, convincing the laity and even the bishops themselves to leave it, and before his death he bequeathed himself to be buried in the ground, in a place unknown to others 304. The reason for Anthony's last order was the fear that the common people, having learned about the place of his burial, would make his grave an object of superstitious veneration. Having made these orders, Anthony died calmly at a ripe old age, about 105 years old, in 355 or 356 AD 305. According to the will, Anthony’s disciples buried his body and “except for the two of them, says Athanasius, so far no one knows where it is buried” 306. Anthony remained vigorous and in good health until his death. “His eyes,” says the biographer, were healthy and he saw well; Not a single tooth fell out, but they were only weakened by the old man’s advanced years. He was healthy in arms and legs. In a word, he seemed more cheerful and stronger than anyone who used a variety of food, ablutions and various clothes” 307. During his life and especially after his death, everyone talked about him, everyone was surprised at him, even those who had not seen him loved him, the author further notes. The strength of his influence is evidenced by the fact that he - a simple, unlearned man - nevertheless became known everywhere. “The name of a man hiding in unknown and impenetrable deserts was glorified by God in Africa, Spain and Gaul, Italy and in Rome itself.” While in Rome, Athanasius, even during Anthony’s life, with stories about his exploits aroused attention to Anthony’s way of life, and some, under the influence of these stories, began to establish something like monastic hostels in their own country. One rich patrician named Marcellus, under the influence of these stories, was the first to found a monastic hostel 308. Subsequently, the name of Anthony enjoyed even greater fame both among representatives of the church and the laity, and especially among monks. John Chrysostom, speaking about the life of the hermits of Egypt, among other things said about Anthony: “If anyone did not enter those tabernacles (the dwellings of the Egyptian monks), let him remember that Egypt produced the most glorious man, the blessed and great Anthony, about whom everyone speaks incessantly to this day. He was honored with divine contemplation and led the kind of life required by Christ’s laws. Anyone who carefully reads the book containing the narrative of his life will be convinced of this, in which (the book) he will find many prophecies” 309. For other church writers and fathers, Anthony was also the subject of reverence and praise 310. And Synesius, while still a pagan, was amazed at the greatness of Anthony's spirit, his high development in addition to school education, his wit and resourcefulness in addition to any acquaintance with dialectics, and compared Anthony with the great sages and founders of religions like Zoroaster and others 311. But the memory and respect for Anthony were especially strong among the Egyptian monks, who saw in him a high ideal of monastic life. Athanasius himself, the writer of the “life of Anthony,” had already inspired the monks to imitate Anthony 312. And indeed, in the first time after Anthony, many of his students were worthy imitators of him. Macarius of Egypt, Ammun, Pamvo and others tried to apply Anthony’s instructions to life and were so imbued with respect for their teacher that they placed him immeasurably higher than other ascetics; many of them considered themselves so much lower than Anthony that they considered themselves happy if they remembered at least some of his instructions 313 and observed at least some of the virtues recommended by him. Thanks to their high piety, firmness in faith and other virtues, many of Anthony's students had an important influence on the people during the Arian era. Seeing high zealots of piety in the monks, Athanasius tried to attract them to the episcopal sees. And it is known that soon after the death of Athanasius, many of Anthony’s disciples, having become bishops, firmly defended Orthodoxy and were persecuted for this 314. How large the number of bishops who were formerly hermits was is evident from Athanasius’ letter to Dracontius, to whom Athanasius says among other things: “You are not the only one appointed from among the monks (to be a bishop); you know that Serapion is a monk 315; It is not unknown to you how many monks Apollo was the father of; Do you remember Ammonius, who traveled with Serapion; You can inquire about Paul and others. When they were appointed, they did not argue. How many they turned away from idols, how many they convinced to abandon this demonic custom 316. All these bishops, like Dracontius himself, who came out of the Antony desert, exerted a beneficial influence during the struggle between Orthodoxy and Arianism. But since, on the other hand, among Anthony’s disciples there were many simple, uneducated people who, having not assimilated Anthony’s view of external exploits, believed the entire essence of Christian piety in the external severity of life, this trend among some hermits already at the end of Anthony’s life became quite noticeable. Some of Anthony's disciples are concerned mainly with the mortification of the body, invent new feats, but at the same time they do not have internal virtues, falling into self-delusion from their strict exploits, treating with contempt those who are less perfect, and, as some stories show, they often fall into various temptations 317. As a result of this, the spirit with which the first hermits, Anthony’s closest students, were imbued began to weaken little by little; monks, despite their outwardly harsh environment, often do not lead an impeccable life, and the lack of education among them becomes the reason for their narrow understanding of the truths of religion; many of them become anthropomorphists and, due to their underdevelopment, under religious fanaticism, sometimes cause social unrest 318. This was the direction that characterized the life of Egyptian monks in the subsequent period (from the 5th century until the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs). Having spread from Egypt to other countries and somewhat changing its original character, monasticism subsequently was important for various aspects of life and enlightenment. As for Anthony’s closest and more enlightened students, who fully assimilated the spirit of piety of their teacher, even after Anthony’s death they were distinguished by high morality and a correct understanding of the spirit of the Gospel teaching. When, 16 years later, after Anthony, Rufinus saw Anthony’s disciples, he spoke of them as men “glorious for their simplicity of life, apostolic purity of heart and the gift of miracles” 319. They kept the memory of Anthony very vivid. When, three years after the death of Anthony, his disciple Hilarion of Palestine came to Mount Anthony, he found two of his disciples there - Isaac and Pelusian. Their memory of Antony was still so fresh that they pointed out to Illariou all of Antony’s favorite places and objects. “Here,” they said, “he sang psalms, here he prayed, here he worked, here he rested from his labors; He planted these trees himself, he made this fence himself, he dug this pond for irrigating the garden, he dug the ground with this spade for many years” 320. The love and respect that his students felt for Anthony forced everything that Anthony ever said for their edification to be firmly kept in memory or written down 321; Various actions, instructions and sayings of Anthony were preserved by literate students through records for the next generation, laying the foundation with these records for those collections and tales about monks, which over time grew to wide proportions and constituted the so-called memorials, memorable tales (ἁ ποφθέγματα τῶν ἁ γίων γερόντων), patericon (βιβλιον γεροντικὁν), etc. In addition, various letters of Anthony addressed to monasteries, rules, exhortations in the form of letters, etc. have been preserved. All these works of Anthony, preserved in various codes, are some that undoubtedly belong to Anthony, others, although they contain his thoughts and speeches, at the same time bear the stamp of later additions and changes; Finally, there are also works that are falsely attributed to Anthony. Analysis of all works bearing the name of Anthony, compose the next chapter. Between the various works of Anthony, in the foreground is a speech about the destruction of the world and the resurrection of the dead, borrowed by Gerard Vossius from the ancient codex of Alda Minucius and placed by him in 1664 in a mixture of the works of St. fathers 322. This speech is placed first in Gallandi (in Vol. IV) and in Min (in XL S. Gr.). It is usually followed by XX speeches (Sancti Antonii sermones XX) about virtues and vices. These speeches, borrowed from the Arabic codex, were translated into Latin and, together with other monuments of Christian piety, published in 1646 by the Maronite scholar Abraham of Enhellen. They are followed by VII letters translated from Arabic into Greek and Latin. These letters were translated into Latin (in which they are now available) by Sarasius, whose translation was published in Paris in 1515 by Symphorian Camperius. In 1536, Dion of Carthusia placed them between his commentaries on the book of the Areopagite. Then they are published in other publications and, among other things, in Gallandi and Minh. After VII letters there are XX more letters (epistо1ae) of Anthony, translated into Latin. from Arabic by the same Abraham of Enhellen and published by him in 1641. The title of the Arabic list of them formerly contained the name of Abraham, probably one of the Egyptian monks, who lived around 800 and recognized these letters as the works of Anthony 323. Finally, there are several more rules (regulae sive canones), spiritual instructions (spiritualia documenta) and admonitions (admonitiones) of Anthony to his children - the monks. All of them are translated from Arabic into Latin and are placed together with the “letters” and “speeches” of Anthony. Some also attribute to Anthony instructions for human morality and good living in 170 chapters, published in 1782 in Greek by John Mavrocordato and translated into Russian 324. Turning to the analysis of works with the name of Anthony, let us dwell first of all on his XX letters and XX speeches (sermones). About their origin from St. Anthony is evidenced by both external data and the internal character of these works. Letters of Anthony, back in the 4th century. translated into Greek from Arabic, were already known to some for the works of Anthony. Thus, regarding the VII letters of Anthony, Jerome already testifies († 420). “Monk Anthony,” he says, whose life was described by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, left 7 letters in Egyptian, which are imbued with a pure apostolic spirit; they are also translated into Greek. But the best of them is the one written to the Arsenoites” 325. Pope Honorius, probably repeating Jerome, says: “Antony the monk, whose life was depicted by St. Athanasius, in an excellent book, left 7 letters imbued with apostolic understanding" 326. Patriarch Photius in his library (cod. 198) cites the testimony of a Greek writer who attributes them to Anthony. The remaining XIII letters, similar in content and form to the previous 7, are already placed together with them in ancient codes, as evidenced by Abraham of Enhellen, who translated them from Arabic and published them together with other letters of Anthony (in the order in which they stood in the Arabic codex) 327. The fact that the XX speeches belong to Anthony is proved by the general tradition of the Eastern monks. Even between monks belonging to different faiths - Maronites, Melchites, Copts, Jacobites, Nestorians, etc., they are designated by the name of St. Anthony 328. Therefore, both letters and speeches of Anthony are everywhere placed in first place in publications and are considered to be works that undoubtedly belong to him 329. Considering the contents of these letters and speeches of Anthony, we see that they are in many ways similar to those instructions that are placed in the biography of St. Anthony in Athanasius, and also contain indications of events that were contemporary with Anthony. So in the VI and XVIII letters, speaking about evil spirits and their actions towards man, he describes the machinations of the devils and their appearance in the same way as this is said in his speeches recorded by St. Afanasy 330. In the instructions to the disciples recorded by St. Athanasius, Anthony repeatedly warns his students against communicating with Arians and condemns the Aryan teaching 331. In his letters, Anthony also often mentions the Arians, asks his disciples to protect themselves “in these dangerous times” 332 from errors, and, denouncing the false teaching of Arius, almost literally repeats the words contained in “vita S. Antonii” 333. Pointing to Arius and exposing his false teaching is a feature indicating that Antony's letters are consistent with the circumstances of his life and the then state of society. Then the contents of these letters do not contradict the news about Anthony preserved in the “Dear Legends”. Thus, in his letters, Anthony often denounces careless monks and wives, warns against the negligence of some monks, and denounces the pride of others who consider themselves perfect 334. The same instructions from Anthony to monks are often found in “Ven. tales" about Anthony 335. Athanasius, speaking about Anthony's teachings, notes that he gave short instructions to his listeners 336. In the same place, Anthony himself makes comments about the nature of his instructions in letter VI, saying: “my instructions are brief, because a heart that wants to be cleansed of sin does not need many words” 337. In addition to this similarity between Anthony’s letters and his instructions recorded by Athanasius, as well as those found in other news about him, there are direct indications in the letters themselves that they are the works of Anthony and were compiled at the end of his life. Regarding the fact that these letters were written by Anthony in old age, many places in the letters themselves show. So in letter VI it says: “I would like to see you here on earth in my mortal body, but I am waiting for relocation to those blessed abodes where there is no sorrow or lamentation” 338. This remark shows that the letter was written in the last years of Anthony's life. Letter VII says: “I, a sinner, reveal to you about myself that when God awakened my mind from the sleep of death, from that time my entire past rather long life was nothing more than an incessant cry about sins” 339. In the 19th letter, Anthony says: “having said goodbye to you, I, with the help of God, reached my home and remained in my solitude, so as to be completely free from worldly worries.” In the XX letter, Anthony says that “he worked hard on the mountains, in the deserts, and day and night he asked God to reveal His will to him” 340. These remarks, scattered in various letters of Anthony, show that the time of their appearance must be attributed to the last years of Anthony’s life, when he, having become old, could not often visit the homes of his disciples, scattered in different places of the desert, and therefore had to talk with them through his closest disciples who lived with him, whom he sent with his orders, instructions and reproofs to various monasteries 341. Based on these indications, it is fair to recognize that the letters bearing the name of Anthony are his own works and relate to the last years of his life. Especially there is no doubt about the authenticity of the VII letters of Anthony, known already in antiquity and recognized as the writings of Anthony, imbued with the apostolic spirit. But recognizing them as the works of Anthony, they contain his thoughts and words, one cannot, however, think that Anthony wrote them with his own hand and that they have come to us intact and undamaged. True, in various places in Anthony’s letters there are indications that they were written by himself. Thus, in the conclusion of Letter III it is said: “I have already written to you” 342; in letter VII: “I ask God that He will give you wisdom to understand what I have written” 343; in letter VIII: “my children! I am writing to you out of the strong love of my heart for you”; in letter IX he notes: “out of my love for you, I intended to write to you a lot, but now I find this short letter sufficient” 344; in letter XX he says: “beloved! obey your father and do what he wrote to you" 345. These kinds of remarks, found in other letters, apparently indicate that Anthony himself wrote his letters and sent them to his students. But this assumption cannot be considered fair in view of the other kind of information that is available about Anthony. It is known that Anthony did not know how to read and write. He himself spoke about himself: μἡ μαθόντες ήμεῖς γηάμματα, πιστεύομεν εἱς τὁν Θεὁν 346. Others also say the same about Anthony’s acquaintance with literacy 347. This means that Anthony himself could not write letters to his students. Now the question arises, who were the recorders of Anthony’s work, how these works were preserved and in what form they came down to us. Turning to the content of Anthony's works and, above all, to his XX letters, we see that even in these undoubted works of his there are later insertions and changes. So in letter II, encouraging the monks to take care of their salvation, the author warns them “so that they do not be condemned, despite the fact that they have put on the clothes of repentance” 348; Letter III says: “many have put on the garment of repentance and are trying with all their hearts to please God” 349. Letter VII says: “We are clothed in the robe with which we boast before the unbelievers, but we are not adorned with good works.” These indications of monastic clothing, by which monks differ from other laymen, indicate a later time, when certain rules and customs were established in the way of life of monks, which did not yet exist under Anthony. Athanasius and others, speaking about the way of life of Anthony and his disciples, do not mention that in his time, in the company of his disciples, a distinction was introduced between monks in clothing from other people. On the contrary, speaking about Anthony’s clothes, Athanasius not only does not mention the symbolic meaning of these clothes (as clothes of repentance), but does not even distinguish them from the clothes of other laymen, noting only that Anthony never changed both the outer clothes made of leather and the lower ones made of wool 350. These indications of the “letters” on monastic clothing give reason to believe that the editors of these letters lived later than Anthony and precisely at the time when certain customs and external rituals appeared among the monks; Living among other conditions of monastic life, when they wrote down the works of Anthony, they could naturally leave the stamp of their time on them. As simple, poorly educated people, when they felt the need to put into writing various conversations of Anthony, mostly preserved by his students from memory, they gave these oral conversations of Anthony a certain form. But collecting them from oral traditions, they did not differentiate them by content; from this it happened that Antony’s conversations, contained in one letter or another, have no sequence and are filled with repetitions. Often one letter contains several teachings, probably spoken at more than one time. By determining the size and content of letters not by some internal conditions, but by purely external circumstances, for example. Anthony's conversations, stored in the memory of the monks of one monastery, were combined into one letter, and the instructions that were preserved by the monks of other monasteries, arranged according to other letters, even if these conversations were completely different in their subject - these collectors, thanks to such methods, not only deprived Anthony's “letters” of internal unity, but also took away almost the opportunity to indicate the difference between entire letters. Considering first of all the order of presentation of individual letters, we see that often the same thoughts and words are repeated in the same letter, or what is said in one letter is repeated in different places in others. Some of the letters are significantly long and can form several independent sections, which are however connected together without any visible connection 351. Some of Antony's letters are almost literally repeated in others. This especially needs to be said regarding VII letters, placed separately from XX. Their similarity with other letters of Anthony (from number XX) is so significant in thoughts and language that these VII letters could be considered the same as the other 7, if there were not significant omissions in them, sometimes additions and rearrangements compared to those that correspond to them 352. This similarity not only in thoughts, but also in expressions and even in the very order of presentation is also found when comparing other letters. So the first of the VII, placed separately, corresponds to the first of the XX, the second is similar to the VI, the third with the VII, the IV letter with the second. And despite such significant similarities, in the Arabic codes from which they were extracted, these letters were placed separately from one another. Based on the significant similarity in the various letters, the diversity in their content and some allusions to later monastic customs (regarding clothing), it must be assumed that these letters were collected and written down later than Anthony and, moreover, not by one, but by several of his disciples and in different places. Initially, all of Anthony’s instructions and conversations were preserved orally by his disciples. That such a method of preserving Anthony’s works is possible and was not an exception is clear if we pay attention to how the works of authors were preserved in ancient times in the east, and in particular to the environment in which Anthony lived in his last years, to the mental development of his students, who were undoubtedly collectors of everything said and written down with the name of Anthony. In the east, between Jews, Arabs, Copts and others, literary monuments often remained unwritten for a long time after the death of their authors, being passed on only orally from one generation to another. “To compose a book and to write it are understood to be identical; in the ancient East, on the contrary, these were completely different things, for which the Semites used various expressions” 353. There were quite a few authors who did not know the great art of writing at all; There were quite a few who felt a kind of aversion to writing, a fear of written books 354. With such oral transmission of literary monuments, their original texts did not remain unchanged. Writings handed down from ancestors, which contradicted the latest views, were adapted to modern requirements. They were introduced with later coloring, later ideas about certain aspects of life and customs. Often ignorant editors, writing down this or that work that previously existed according to legend, in memory, did not pay attention to the connection of the speech in content, did not care about chronology. The most obvious example of this is the Koran, the suras (chapters) of which were measured, so to speak, by arshin and were arranged according to their greater or lesser length 355. Among the Jews, Arabs, Copts, etc., among whom writing was not widespread and many of the authors’ works were preserved orally for a long time, there were often individuals whose memory was amazing. It is known about the Brahmins that many of them knew the Vedas by heart; Jewish scholars of the first centuries of Christianity knew the entire Talmud; among the Arabs there were individuals who knew by heart more than 20,000 articles. 356. When, over time, they felt the need for book recording, the collection of oral monuments often took place without sufficient verification and criticism. Different, often contradictory, thoughts were written down together: contradictions and opposites were not noticed. It happened that the author of the original, who lived much earlier, said, for example. about themselves and their time in the first person, subsequent collectors either retained this expression, or spoke from themselves, often materials collected and recorded by someone were collected and recorded by others and in other places. These collectors often arranged the same materials in different orders; such collections were often stitched together, and no one paid attention to the fact that in one of the collections stitched in this way there was the same thing as in the other, sometimes in a modified form, sometimes in the same form. It happened that many, forgetting that famous works belonged to a famous author, attributed them to another more famous man, caring little about the difference in their language, the contradictions in their works and other inconsistencies 357. This is how collections of works sometimes arose in the east - in Western Asia, between Arabs, Copts, etc. As for the society of Egyptian monks and in particular the students of Anthony, the majority of them were simple people, poorly educated and unfamiliar with the art of writing. Therefore, various works of famous ascetics - their teachings, conversations, etc. were preserved by hermits from memory 358, passed on from one to another. The works of Anthony could have been preserved in the same way at first. His disciples such as Pavel the Simple, Pamvo, Pimen and others - people “very simple and unlearned” 359 - undoubtedly retained orally those instructions and conversations that they heard from Anthony. But among Anthony’s many students there were also people who knew not only Arabic, but even Greek. Persons such as Macarius, Cronius 360 and others, who were translators of Anthony’s conversations for people who communicated with him in Greek, were more educated than other monks, having some knowledge of grammar and even rhetoric 361. They, or other disciples of Anthony like them, could subsequently collect everything that survived in the memory of the monks from his conversations and various instructions. In particular, as for Anthony’s “letters”, they were probably compiled from those oral instructions and instructions of Anthony, which in the last years of his life he sent with his disciples to various monasteries and to various persons; This is revealed, among other things, from Anthony’s very “letters.” So one of them says: “Hoping that God would favor me to see you while still in the body and bring you joy, I sent my beloved son to you” 362. Anthony's disciples firmly remembered and preserved those conversations and instructions that he sent through them to various monasteries. On the other hand, the brethren of those monasteries that Anthony either himself visited or where he sent oral suggestions through his closest students also firmly remembered the instructions of their teacher and tried to preserve everything that Anthony said for their edification. So, Anthony’s instructions were first preserved orally, and later some of his literate followers, wanting to put his instructions into writing, gave the form of letters to those of his instructions that in his last years he sent orally with his students to the monasteries. The collection and recording of these instructions of Anthony, carried out from the words of his various disciples and, moreover, without sufficient verification and criticism, taking place not in one place, but in various monasteries, not through the labors of one particular student of Anthony, but by several of them living separately from each other, was the reason that the same instructions of Anthony could appear in a double edition, or literally similar to each other, or with various changes and additions. When they subsequently wanted to place everything written down with the name of Anthony in one collection, without noticing these repetitions, they placed side by side different editions of essentially the same letters. Thus it happened that VII letters of Anthony, published separately in various editions, are almost literally repeated in the following XX letters of the same author. As for some indications of later customs in Anthony’s letters (regarding clothing), poorly educated collectors of Anthony’s works could easily give his speeches a later coloring, introduce into them later views on the ritual and appearance of monastic life, which had not yet been developed under Anthony, but which the notetakers of his works might not have known about, thinking about the former on the basis of what appeared later. Despite this collection and recording of Antony's works, it must be said regarding his letters that in their thoughts and language they fully express the nature of Antony's conversations, which were distinguished by simplicity and artlessness 363. As for the VII letters of Anthony, they are collected and written down almost literally from the words of the author himself, since, despite their double edition, they are similar to each other not only in thoughts and the order of their presentation, but even in language. With the same origin from Anthony, it was already recognized in antiquity; even then they were considered to be the works of Anthony, imbued with a high apostolic understanding 364. In addition to these XX letters, XX speeches of Antony also bear the stamp of origin from Antony. The publishers of Anthony’s works speak of them as follows: “these speeches, although brief, are filled with heavenly teaching; their St. father wrote to his friends - the monks" 365. Although Anthony himself could not write these instructions, although Jerome and others, speaking about the letters of Anthony, do not mention these speeches, yet they are recognized by the general tradition of Eastern monks as the works of Anthony. Abraham of Enhellen, who published the works of Anthony in Latin. language, already considered these speeches to be recorded subsequently; originally it was preserved according to legend. The consideration that XX speeches of Anthony could not be kept in the memory of eastern monks who belonged to different religions is of little significance, since respect for Anthony was preserved among monks of different confessions - Maronites, Melchites, etc., as can be seen from various martyrologies containing a brief description of the life of Anthony 366. The long-term oral preservation of these speeches by Anthony suggests that they changed over time and were mixed with similar works of other famous ascetics and that the XX speeches that have come down to us are not alien to these changes and confusion with the instructions of other ascetics. This is all the more likely because ascetic instructions of this kind, common to many ascetics, are mostly similar in content. Considering the content of these speeches by Anthony, it is not difficult to notice their similarity with similar works by Macarius of Egypt, Pachomius the Great, Abba Isaiah and others. Thus, Anthony’s speeches about faith in the Lord (1st), about humility (Vth), about silence (VIIIth), about distance from sins, about curbing the tongue (Xth), about vanity (XIIIth), about glory and patience (XIVth), about the paths of virtue and vice, are similar to the instructions of Macarius of Egypt 367 about faith in God (conversation 48), about patience and reasoning (word 4), about spiritual perfection (word 2), - with the spiritual instructions of Abba Isaiah 368 about humility 369 (word 20), about repentance 370 (word 20). 22nd), about perfection 371 (fn. 24), about renunciation of the world 372 (fn. 15), recorded by Isaiah’s disciple Peter and containing essentially the same instructions as are found in the speeches of Anthony. Since the instructions of these ascetics were also sometimes written down after their death by students (the instructions of Isaiah were recorded by the student Peter) and since these ascetics themselves - Macarius, Isaiah and other famous followers of Anthony revered him and preserved his instructions, they themselves, when giving instructions to their students, could instill in them the same thing that they heard from their teachers, or their students, writing down their works after their death, could mix up these oral conversations of theirs. with conversations of the same nature belonging to other famous ascetics. This may explain the similarity of the ascetic instructions of Anthony in his XX speeches with the same kind of instructions of other ascetics. For all that, Anthony’s XX speeches do not contain any indications of later monastic customs; therefore, although it is possible to consider them to have undergone some changes and admixtures, there are no positive grounds for this. These speeches, as well as Antony's letters, have been preserved in the greatest purity, compared with other works attributed to Antony. Anthony also attributes rules or canons to the spiritual children of his monks 373 (regulae sive canones ad filios suos spirituales monachos). These rules were translated by Abraham of Enhellen from an Arabic manuscript and published in 1646 in Paris along with other works of Anthony. The same rules, in a slightly modified version, are also found in the ancient code of Benedict of Anian. Both are placed parallel to each other by Gallandi and Minh. The full title of these rules (according to the code of Abraham Enhellensk.) is: “to those who want to wear the yoke of monasticism, I prescribe the following rules, which the Lord speaks through my mouth. Every monk must fulfill them, and whoever breaks one of these commandments will be called lesser in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew V, 19) 374. Thus, their title shows their unconditional obligation for monks. From the contents of these rules it is revealed that many of them are of later origin and do not correspond to the spirit of Anthony’s instructions; many of them presuppose the order and way of life of monks that was established in cenobitic monasteries, and only some are similar in content to the instructions of St. Anthony. First of all, as for the very title of the rules, which prescribes their universal bindingness, it should be noted that this title directly contradicts the testimony in “vita S. Antonii”, which says that Anthony did not establish rules for the life of hermits, inspiring them to live only in accordance with Scripture 375. According to the same title, it turns out that Anthony considered non-compliance with even one of the rules supposedly recommended by him to be so important that the violator was recognized as unworthy of the kingdom of heaven. The title of these rules, compiled and written down later by Anthony, was made by some monk - the head of the monastery, who wanted to give more authority to these rules and consecrate them in the name of St. Anthony. Then, turning to the content of these rules, we see, on the one hand, a significant discrepancy between them and the way of life of Anthony and his first disciples, and on the other, a very significant similarity of many of these rules with the rules of other famous ascetics assigned to cenobitic monasteries. These rules determine the behavior of the monk in his cell, in the church, outside the monastery, his relationship with the initial abba, lay people, etc. 376. From the contents of these rules it can be seen that they were intended for monks living under the supervision of one superior; They imply monasteries that are already well-equipped and have churches; they talk about certain customs regarding monastic clothing (hood, cassock, etc.); indicate the symbolic meaning of this clothing (angel wings); they talk about monastic meetings on various matters, etc. - in a word, these rules indicate a way of life for the monks, which seems different from the way of life of Anthony and his disciples. The solitary life of Anthony and most of his disciples did not create a need for such rules and deprived them of the opportunity to fulfill these rules if they had them. The society of the first ascetics had neither specific prayer places, nor common meals in the monastery, nor initial abbots; all this arose along with the founding of cenobitic monasteries under Pachomius. Pachomius the Great, who founded such monasteries, also gave a charter that determined the life of the monks of these monasteries. Considering the content of this charter 377 (known as the charter of the angel) and other rules of Pachomius 378, it is not difficult to notice in them a significant similarity with the rules attributed to Anthony 379. But the fact that these rules have long been attributed to Anthony the Great, both in the Arabic codes, from where they were extracted by Abraham of Enhellen, and in the ancient code of Benedict of Anyan 380, may suggest that among these rules there are some instructions from Anthony, which he instilled in his disciples and which later, thanks to the development of cenobitic monasticism in Egypt, Anthony’s admirers could be mixed with the instructions and rules of other famous ascetics - Pachomius, Macarius of Egypt 381, Isaiah, etc. Such a mixture of works was all the more possible since the various instructions of famous ascetics were kept by their students for the most part in memory, and on the other hand, the very works of these ascetics were mostly similar to each other. So, considering for example. monastic rules of Abba Isaiah, we find in them very significant similarities with the rules attributed to Anthony and those belonging to Pachomius. And in the rules of Abba Isaiah there are the same instructions regarding the use of food (pr. 1), suggestions to pray often in cells and in church (pr. 3), instructions to obey the primary fathers (pr. 6), etc. 382. He even has rules literally almost similar to those attributed to Antony 383 . Such a remarkable similarity of the rules attributed to Anthony with the rules of other ascetics shows that poorly educated monks often learned much that did not belong to a famous person, however, they learned him, not paying attention to the circumstances of the time and living conditions, or to the character of this person; A clear proof of this is the considered rules attributed to Anthony. However, some of these rules in their content do not contradict those instructions of Anthony, which are also found in other news about him. So the 37th rule, which instills care and condescension towards converted sinners, the 44th and 45th, which prohibits offending your neighbors, laughing at them and being proud before them, the 56th, which prescribes leniency towards the fallen, the 57th, which forbids dwelling on a sin for a long time, so as not to indulge in it again, and some others, in agreement with the spirit of Anthony’s instructions, preserved in his biography 384, as well as with stories about him in legends” 385. These moral instructions of Anthony to his disciples, transmitted by the latter to other monks, subsequently, when various rules of other famous ascetics appeared, mixed with them in the minds of the monks and when they were collected together with the communal rules, then, in order to give them great authority, they were consecrated with the name of Anthony and the title: “every monk must fulfill them.” In view of all that has been said, it is unfair to recognize most of these rules as the works of Anthony, as the publishers of his works and our translators of them into Russian do, as well as others who wrote about Anthony 386. These rules are a collection of instructions from various Egyptian ascetic fathers and, in a very small amount, may belong to Anthony. His spiritual instructions (spirilualia documenta), placed in the publications after the rules and under a special title 387, are very close to the rules of Anthony, both in content and in presentation. In content, these instructions are similar to both the rules of Anthony and his twentieth speeches. Here it is instilled: to love your neighbors, not to prefer the will of God to the will of man (Inst. 1st), - arbitrary poverty, solitude, prudent choice of friends (Inst. 4), concern for truth, mercy, etc. - all these are instructions that could have been spoken by Anthony and which also have similarities with the instructions of other ascetics: Macarius of Egypt, Pachomius, Isaiah, as a result of which it is difficult to indicate with precision which of these instructions were spoken by Anthony himself and which were only attributed to him. And that here too there are later additions to Anthony’s instructions is confirmed by the content of some of the instructions. The IV instructions say: “Do not make everyone friends, and before you choose a friend, test his loyalty; because the whole world lies in evil" 388. This view of the world hardly belongs to Anthony. On the contrary, it is known about him that, having achieved high moral perfection, he recognized the possibility of salvation in the world, and recognized pious people living among worldly worries and temptations as even more pleasing to God than those laboring in the deserts 389. Then the sixth teaching says: “Do not move away from God because of corruptible earthly goods, but always remember and fulfill what you promised to do when moving away from the world and entering monastic life. Pay attention to your clothes and remember those tears of repentance with which you watered them when you put on them” 390. This remark already indicates that the person entering monasticism made certain promises, that a special initiation into the monastic order would take place and that the person being introduced would be put on special clothes; Meanwhile, those who came to Anthony and wanted to become his imitators did not yet know any of this. Accepting Paul the Simple as his disciple, Anthony limited himself to only a few instructions to him and testing the firmness of his intentions, and then, without any external rituals, announced to Paul that he had now become a monk 391. Athanasius, speaking about Anthony’s acceptance of the disciples, also says nothing about these external rituals. Therefore, it must be recognized that Anthony’s spiritual instructions contain later insertions and changes. Anthony's spiritual instructions are usually followed by admonitions to his children to the monks (admoniliones ad filios suos, monachos). These “exhortations” are in many ways similar to the rules attributed to Anthony and also to the instructions of Pachomius and Isaiah. These “admonitions” speak of the need for the monk to imitate the senior monks, it is required to correct the mistakes of the brethren without condescension, which is also spoken of by the rules of Anthony (48th) and the rules of Pachomius (III, IV, etc.). In these “exhortations” there are also such instructions: “when the bell is struck (pulsante campana), do not be lazy to go to church” 392; “Church affairs must be entrusted to a faithful person” - rules applicable to monasteries in subsequent times. Many passages of these “admonitions” are literally repeated in Anthony’s rules. In “exhortations” for example. it says: “Eat your bread silently and sit modestly at the table” 393; “Always keep your head tilted to the ground and when someone insults you, say: Lord have mercy” 394. In the rules of Anthony 61 and 75, in the 25th and 20 rules of Abba Isaiah, it is also repeated literally. The “Admonitions” forbid the monk to add a fourth to three measures of wine; literally the same is said in the rules of Isaiah (pr. 2). The “exhortations” say: “while in your cell, engage in reading the scriptures, prayers to God and the labors of your hands”; this same instruction, as already shown above, is literally given in the rules of Anthony (1st and 62nd) and in the rules of Isaiah (11th). Thus, these “admonitions” attributed to Anthony, partly contain a repetition of the same “rules of Anthony” mentioned above, partly represent a confusion of the rules of Isaiah, Pachomius, also similar to the “rules of Anthony”. At the end of these “admonitions” it is said: “I, Anthony, gave you true instructions; know that with these instructions I have entrusted you to God. If you fulfill them, you will never have time to enjoy joy along with all the Angels” 395. This remark is a paraphrase of what is placed in the title of “Antony’s rules” about the need to fulfill them. Thus, in these “admonitions,” as well as in the “pravidas of Antony,” similar to them, there are quite a few indications of later additions to them. Based on these admonitions, it would appear that Anthony, living in the desert with his disciples, already had churches, campans, and overseers of church property and things. But between these “admonitions,” as well as between the rules attributed to Anthony, there are probably also instructions that were actually spoken by Anthony. So among them there are high moral instructions about love for neighbors, about condescension towards the weak, etc., distinguished by the spirit of Anthony’s conversations. Probably some of his instructions are repeated so often between the rules of other ascetics, because these latter, trying to imitate Anthony and preserve his instructions, subsequently often instructed their students with his own words and thoughts, which were then, together with their own instructions, committed to writing. Finally, in the editions of Anthony’s works, some of his opinions (sententiae) and answers (responsiones) to some questions proposed to him by the brethren on various occasions are placed; they were also collected and written down subsequently by Anthony's disciples 396. To a question, for example: is it possible not to give anything to others and not accept anything from them, Anthony replies that such people are hard-hearted and have a brutal soul 397; to the question: is it possible to laugh, the answer is given that it is better to cry than to laugh at someone 398; to the question: the better way to please God, the answer is given: by fulfilling the law and deeds of love. To the question: what does joy mean for God, it is said that “a commandment that is actually fulfilled willingly and for the glory of God produces joy for God in our souls” 399 . One answer (7th) exposes false concepts of virtue, condemns the unreasonable desire for self-mortification and instills concern for enlightening oneself through the virtue of self-examination and observation of the purity of one’s thoughts 400. All such high instructions and answers from Anthony were preserved and passed on to other monks from memory. Subsequently, when other sayings similar to these appeared and the answers of subsequent monks, they could be mixed with the sayings of Anthony and other ascetics. And in collections of different sayings, the same answer is often attributed to different ascetics. Therefore, the various sayings and answers of Anthony also contain the sayings of later monks. So eg. to the question: what will be the subsequent position and fate of the monks, the answer attributed to Anthony depicts the sad moral state of subsequent monks - their lust, carnality, desire for wealth; it speaks of the huge buildings that the monks will build and in conclusion it is noted that “the monks will not be ashamed to adorn themselves with the false name of monks; they will differ only in their mantle and hood” 401. This answer, unless it is a prophecy, could not in this form belong to Anthony. Rather, this saying was introduced into Anthony’s answers by others and borrowed from the sayings of some subsequent Abba, who lived, moreover, in a communal monastery. Indeed, similar words are attributed to Pachomius the Great 402, for whom it was more natural to talk about monastery buildings, about their clothing, etc. These sayings of Anthony and others, preserved by the monks, subsequently formed entire collections of stories about ascetics, such as Ven. tale, Lavzaik, etc. (as mentioned above). Of all the works considered, attributed to Anthony, some, despite some (insignificant, however) later insertions and changes in them, have undoubted grounds for considering them to be the works of Anthony (XX letters and XX speeches), although collected and brought to their present form after his death - others, containing many indications of subsequent customs and lifestyle of the monks and representing in their content significant similarities not only in thoughts, but often even and in letter with the works of other ascetics, for the most part cannot belong to Anthony. Therefore, if the first kind of works by Anthony constitute important material for depicting his personality, then the latter are not of great importance in this regard. Even Anthony’s last works (rules, spiritual instructions and exhortations) cannot include instructions for human morality and good life, in chapter 170, which some also attribute to Anthony. They were published in 1782 by John Mavrocordato with the name Anthony and are also placed in the “Philokalia” in the Slavic language 403. Mavrocordato, who attributed them to Anthony the Great, based his opinion on their ancient manner of speech, as well as on the testimony of Peter Damascene. In "Christ. Readings" for 1821, part I (where they are placed in Russian) they are also recognized as the works of Anthony the Great. But they are not found either in the Arabic codices, from which Abraham of Enhellen translated the works of Antony into Latin, or in the edition of Antony’s letters made by Sarasius from Greek into Latin. They are not found in subsequent editions of Anthony’s works - in Dune of Carthus (1536); they also do not fit into “Biblioheca veter. patrum” by Gallandi and then by Minh (T. XL). Even in the last century, they were not recognized by the majority of Western critics as the works of Anthony the Great. Considering the content of these 170 chapters, one cannot help but notice that the thoughts expressed here, the objects of judgment, and the very form of presentation do not speak in favor of their attribution to Anthony the Great. First of all, the peculiarity of these chapters is that, contrary to all the works of Anthony, which almost always treat subjects relating to the life and moral improvement of hermits, they set forth the general rules of prudence and morality, clothed in a sophistical form. Then there are some peculiar theological and philosophical views that are alien to Anthony, as well as indications of later customs and other mores. So in the 6th Advent, the author, speaking about the human mind, distinguishes between the ordinary mind and the God-loving mind; in the 8th rule he attacks simple, unlearned people who consider teaching to be a superfluous matter only because it exposes their ignorance. Regarding Anthony, on the contrary, it is known that he was far from praising worldly scholars, and even more so from censure of simple and uneducated people 404. Instruction 11 calls those people enlighteners who arouse in simple and uneducated people a love for science and enlightenment; The 13th and 14th instructions only instruct us to call him a person who has intelligence; 24th say that scientists should not listen to many conversations. Anthony the Great did not think so highly of scientists, as can be seen from his conversation with them, and did not consider it unnecessary to listen to ordinary people and even accept instructions from them if they were beneficial 405. These teachings also contain the following ascetic instructions: “the first virtue in a person is contempt of the flesh” 406; “the soul, united with the body, is contained in the darkness of the body” 407; “evil is a property of matter, and therefore a body cannot be without evil” 408. Anthony did not preach such Gnostic-Manichaean views on matter as evil in itself. If he inspired his disciples to indulge in fasting, abstinence, etc., it was not in the form of contempt for the body as an evil principle, because he himself said that many, even without killing the body, can be more perfect than ascetics 409. This same idea of ​​contempt for the body is even more revealed and expanded into rights. 87th. Here contempt for all created things is preached. To prove that everything created is worthy of contempt, the following sophistic conclusion is made: “a true man tries to be pious; but he is pious who does not desire the things of others; what is foreign to man is everything created. And so he, being the image of God, despises everything” 410. This view of everything created differs significantly from Anthony’s lofty concepts about the world and all of nature, which Anthony not only did not despise, but on the contrary saw in it an “open book” that teaches man the knowledge of God and man himself 411 . In general, the subjects of all these 170 instructions are good and evil, smart and stupid people, rich and poor, the death of the body and the immortality of the soul; There are no special instructions for hermits here, which would be difficult to expect if these instructions belonged to Anthony. The artificial way of speech, cunning conclusions and sophisms reveal in the author a scientist, familiar with dialectics and an admirer of educated people. The author often resorts to inferences. Saying for example that not every human soul is saved, the author makes the following conclusion: “the mind appears in the soul, and nature in the body. The mind is the deification of the soul, and the nature of the body is entertainment. Every body has a nature, but not every soul has a mind; and therefore not every soul is saved” 412. Speaking about the means by which a person can know God, the author argues this way: “one who does not know how to recognize what is good and what is evil cannot recognize good and evil people. He who knows God is a good man. He who is not kind will not know anything; for the means to know God is to be good.” Proving various properties of God - goodness, immutability, dispassion, etc., the author also often resorts to complex sophisms. In the author’s instructions there are also unique views on the soul: “about every human soul,” he says, “it is known that it moves from one place to another” 413. Rejecting the existence of a soul in plants, the author admits its existence in animals. “There are four types of animals, he says: some are immortal - angels; others have mind, soul and breath, like people; some have breath and soul, such as animals, and some, such as plants, have only life and this life exists in plants without soul, without breath, without mind and immortality” 414. In addition, in the author’s reasoning there are references to objects that were hardly known to Anthony. Thus, the author compares everyone who seeks to receive a crown from God in heaven with competitors at the Olympic Games 415. Other instructions of the author are reminiscent of the rules of Domostroy: a God-loving person is encouraged to pay attention to all his external movements, and actions - to his gaze, step, body movements, speech, laughter, etc. In all this, it is advised to have sedateness, decency and modesty 416. All this, as well as the absence of these instructions between the works of Anthony the Great, placed in the Arabic codes, makes us consider these instructions attributed to Anthony to be forged. Their publisher Mavrocordato passed these chapters off as the works of Anthony, based on the testimony of Peter Damascene; but this evidence is rather late and therefore has no particular significance (II. Damascus, lived in the middle of the 8th century). Most scientists in the past century, such as: Kave, Udin, Fabricius (Fabr. Bibliot. t. IX. p. 262) and others recognized them as the works not of Anthony the Great, but of Anthony Molasses, who lived around the half of the 7th century, a famous collector of sayings and compiler of collections, who received his very nickname for this nature of his activity (μελίσσα - bee). It is impossible to attribute these 170 chapters to Anthony the Great due to their inconsistency with his other works 417. Thus, the works attributed to Anthony can be divided into three categories: writings that undoubtedly contain the thoughts and words of Anthony, collected by his subsequent imitators and disciples and already in ancient times recognized by some as the works of Anthony the Great. This category of works includes XX letters (of which VII have been preserved in various editions) and XX speeches of Anthony. The second category includes those works that, although in various and already quite ancient codes are placed with the name Anthony (rules, spiritual instructions, exhortations), contain undoubted signs of later insertions, changes and confusion with the works of other Egyptian ascetics, moreover, intended for cenobitic monasteries. Finally, the third category must include those works that are falsely attributed to Anthony the Great (“instructions for the morality of men” in 170 chapters). Migne Ser. Gr. T. XXVI, p. 835. The same title in other editions. (in Geshevius and in the Jesuit edition. The title indicated above; in the Paris edition. It differs somewhat). Baronius. Letop. under 343, r. 256, book I. Rosweid. Vitae partum. P. 33. Vita S. Antonii Prooemium Athanas. (Mign. T. XXVI, p.838). Athanasius says in the preface: “I will tell you only a few things that I remember about Anthony.” Vit. Ant. prooem. Mign. p. 838. Neander, Schaff, Weingart. They don't count the story. Hieron. Reliable. Histor. right monasticism. T. I, p. 3. Kazansky. Kazansky. Histor. right monk P. 3. T. I. In. Anton. Vitam monitum (Mign. T. XXVI, p.824). Vita Antonii. prooemium. Migne, p. 833. Some, based on the fact that the title to “Uita Antonii” contains the expression “πρὁς τοὑς ὲν τῆ ξένη μονάχους”, think that it was written to the monks of a certain monastery of Xenus, or - sent to the country of this name, located supposedly near Scythia; but neither a monastery with that name nor such a country near Scythia was known, either in earlier times or subsequently (Monitum in vitam Antonii Migne. T. XXVI, p. 823). In vitam Anton, monitum. Migne. T. XXVI, p. 826. Weingarten. Ursprung Möncht. (Zeitschrift für Kirch. Band. I. 1876. Heft 1). Weingarten. Ursprung Möncht. With. 12. "" Greg. Nasians.21. In vitamin Ant. monit. Migne, c. 824. Vita Antonii. prooemium. “Anthony’s life is a sufficient example of asceticism.” “I thought, says Athanasius, to call some of the monks who were with him (Antony) more often than others, so that, having received more information, I could tell you something more complete,” but since the time of the voyage was coming to an end, I decided to write about Anthony what I had time. Hieron. de scriptor. eccles. cap. 125. Greg. Nasians. orat. 21, haud longe ab initio. Serm. ascet. cap. 10 (about abstaining from laughter). In conversation 8 on Evan. from Matt. Rufinus. Hist. ecclesiast. cap. 8. Histor. Lausaica. de Ammune, p.8. Church history book I, chapter 21 says: “what was the monk Anthony like in those days... wrote Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria in one book about his life.” The evidence of these writers is collected in Ming (T. XXI, S. Gr., pp. 826–833) and in Rossweid (pp. 28–29 erstes Buch). Room at Rosweid. (erst. Buch, p. 19). Urspr. Möncht. Weingart. With. 5. Histor. right, monk. to the east Kazansk T. I, p. 88. Rosweid. Vitae Patr. Erst. V. S. 77. Histor. right, monk. T. I, p. 5 . She is placed in Patrol. Mign. T. XXI, p. 458. Loves. Art. 21, 55, 131, 132 and 244. Socrates. Church Histor. book 4, ch. 23. Church Histor. book 1, ch. 21; book 4, ch. 23. Church Histor. Sozomen. book 1, ch. 13. Introduction to the Church. East. Sozom. With. 1–2. Theodorite. Church history book 4, gg. 21, 27. They were published in their entirety for the first time by the Maronite Abraham of Enhellen in Paris in 1646. A detailed analysis of Anthony’s “letters, speeches, exhortations” will be presented later. They are included in Gallandi's Bibl. Patr. T. IV, p. 713–14, in Ming (T. XL) after the works of Antony. 1st day of the month Tube (or Tybi) respectively. December 27, and the 22nd - respectively. 17 Jan (Ideler. Handbuch. Der mathemat. und. Chronol. B. I, p. 143). Prologue T. II; under No. 140 bib. SPb.Dukh. Academician Chet-Minei Dmitry. Metropolitan Rosovsky Jan. months, 448. Eg. the story of “how the devil came to Anthony, although he repented (Chet-Min. Dm. Rost. month Jan., p. 463). "RosweldiVitae Patrum"? erstes Buch, c. 28. "Rosweldi Vitae Patrum", erstes Buch, c. 28. Volumes I and II have been translated into Slavonic. language Geschichte Allg. der Christ. Kirche Band. 3, S. 446 et al. Geschichte der alten Kirche (p. 579). In “History of Alexandriysk. Church" (S. 15 translation in Legal Review for October 1877). Kirchengeschichte. Band. I, Abt. 2. There is information about Anthony in Bömer (Alterhumswiessenschaft. B. I, c. 380), Binterim (Denkwürd. T. III, pp. 406–434), Weingarten “Ursprung Monchtums” published. In 1876, in the journal. “Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte Band. I. Heft" 1) considering the sources for the history of primitive monasticism and, among other things, "Vita Antonii". Of the individual biographies about Anthony, we had Böringer in “Kirchengeschichte in Biographien”. Band. I, Abt. II, pp. 122–151, as well as biographies about him included in the church lexicons in the Real-encyclopedie für Theologie und Kirche (T. I, S. 413), in the Kirchen-Lexikon by Wetzer and Welte et al. When analyzing the works bearing the name of Anthony, we had in mind the works of St. Pachomius (his rules - regula S. Pachomii, placed in Gallandi. T. IV, p. 718; praecepta S. Pachomii - ibid. p. 785 and epistolae S. Pach. p. 728), Abba Isaiah various. Dukhovno-pr. words (placed in the Spiritual Words (placed in. T. XL, they are also in the Russian translation), Macarius of Egypt. Conversations (translated from Greek) and some other ascetics. Some writers even today attribute the institution of monasticism to different times and persons. Binterim dates the beginning of monasticism to e.g. to the 2nd century, based on one remark of the English chronicle of Thomas Radburn that “King Lucius (who lived in the 2nd century) had his own church and monastery in Winchester, where many monks lived” (Binter. Denkwürd. B. III, p. 415). The same chronicle goes on to say that British monasticism got its start from the Evangelicals. Brand. But this connection is British. monasticism with evangelical Mark does not confirm any other historical documents and Radburn’s news about the British. the monastery there is a later invention, of which Thomas Radburn has quite a lot in the chronicle (Wilh. Böhmer. Die christ. - kirch. Alterthumswissensch. B. I, c. 382). Others, such as Gfrörer, they say that the first monks were the Ferapevts, and since Christ, monasticism came out of Egypt, then in the Ferapevts, they say, one should look for the beginning and example of monastic orders (Kritische Gesch. des Urchristenthums, Gfrörer. I Th. 2 Abt., S. 259); others finally see the beginning of monasticism in India, Tibet, China (Altsog). But all these opinions are based on the external similarities between the lives of various ascetics and Christians. monks, and not on the internal signs - the aspirations, means and goals of Christ. monks and various non-Christian ascetics. Hieron. Vit. S. Pavli. Rosw. Erst. Buch, p. 19. Pavel lived about 70 years. In the desert, I did not see a single person, and when I finally met Anthony, I asked him the following questions; “Are buildings still rising in cities? How is the world run? Is there still idolatry left?” (Hieron. Vit. S. Pavli. Rosw., p. 22). Ibid. Worred. Leb. h. Pavli, c. 19. Sozomen. Church, history book I, ch. 13. Heracleopolis (now Ahnas) is located in middle Egypt. In addition to this Heracleopolis, by which they mean Great. Heracleopolis, in contrast to other Egyptian cities of the same name (Rosweid, p. 69), some by Heraclea Sozomen mean Small Heracleopolis or Ptolomea, since Great. According to Ptolemy, Heracleopolis allegedly lay on the Nile Islands and therefore could not be located near the desert. But most researchers recognize Anthony’s homeland near Heracleopolis the Great and believe it is not far from the Thebaid Desert (Rosweid, p. 69). Baronius placed the year of Anthony’s death under 358 of his “chronicle”, therefore his year of birth is 252 (since Anthony died around 105). Others (Neander, Schaff, Kazansky) attribute the time of Anthony's birth to 251 because at the time of his meeting with Paul of Thebes, who was born in 228 (as can be seen from his life by Jerome), Anthony was already about 90 years old, while Paul at that time was 113 years old. Based on these data, Anthony’s birth time should be considered 251. Martyrol. Aegypt. Pom. at Galland. T.IV, p. 713. Vita Ant. §77; Lavzaik §23, p. 89. “Γραμματα μαθεῖν οὑκ ήνέσχετο,” says St. Athanasius (Vit. Ant. §1. Mig. T. XXVI, c. 841). “Μἡ μαθόντες ἡμεῖς γράμματα, πιστεύομεν εἱς τον Θεόν,” Anthony himself subsequently says to the learned pagans (Vita Ant. §78). These words directly show that Anthony did not know any writing at all. That he did not understand the Greek language - this is also evident from his explanations through the translator (Vita Ant. §78; Laws. §23) that he did not know how to read the Coptic dialect - it is clear from the fact that only “by listening to what was read in church”, he studied the word of God and, as a result, refined his memory. “she finally replaced books for him” (Vita Ant. §3). It is clear that he listened to readings in the Coptic language, since he did not know Greek. August. In prologo “De doctr. Christ." Neander T. III, p. 320, Filaret Chernig. (Historical scholar. On the Fathers of the Church, T. 2. p. 21). They try to confirm the assumption with the following words of Athanasius: διετήρει "(Vita Ant. §1) and - with other remarks: "καἱ γ ἁ ρ προσεῖχεν ο ὔ τως τη άναγνώσει "... (§2). But these words in connection with the speech speak of Anthony’s study of the word of God not through reading it himself, but through attentive listening to what others read in church. Vita Ant. §§72, 73, 78, 81, 93. νθρωπος "(§72). To a friend. place says: νομιζόντων (έλλήνων) χλευάζειν, ὄτι μἡ μεμάθηκε γράματα, λέγει πρὁς αύτοὑς ό Ἀντώνιος ... (§73). Anthony also says about himself: “μἡ μαθόντες ήμεῖς γραμματα, πιστεύομεν...” (§78). There are similar remarks in other places. Socrates (Cer. Ist. bk. 4, ch. 23) talks about a philosopher who asked Antony: “how can he live without books.” Synesius says about Antony: “ουκ έξεῦρεν, άλλ ’ ἔκρινε χρείαν γραμμάτων τοσοῦτον άυτῶ τοῦ νοῦ περιήν” (Neander, p. 335). Augustine was also inclined to believe that Anthony was illiterate, as can be seen from his above words about Anthony. D. A. Khvolson. “How books were written in the East” (Christ. Read. 1874, Part I, p. 535). What is the sect of Therapents in Egypt, about which Philo speaks (in the op. “de vita contemplativa”) and Eusebius (Church historical book II, chapter XVI), who mistakenly considered them to be Christian ascetics (Esei and Therapents, Lebedev, 1862 St. Petersburg). Before the time of Anthony’s departure into the desert, “everyone who intended to pay attention to himself did asceticism outside his own village” (Vita Ant. §3) and Anthony, without yet leaving his parental home, became acquainted with some of these ascetics (Vita Ant. §3 and 4). The external severity of life: “tireless prayers, fasting, reclining on bare ground,” etc. in the place where Anthony was born, there were already Dov. Known and enjoyed special respect among the residents (Vita Anton. §4). Regarding Anthony's land property, Athanasius noted: "ᾶ ρουραι δὲ ἤ σαν τριακόσιαι εῦφοροι καἱ πάνυ καλαἱ " (Vit. Ant. §2). Strabo has news that Egyptian nomes were divided into toparchies, and toparchies into arurs. Arura was the smallest share of the land, containing 100 squares. A detailed division of the fields was necessary because the flood of the Nile spoiled the boundaries and changed the appearance of the fields (Nile. East. Alexander, cer. Chapter XV). This shows that in Egypt in the 3rd century. not only among men, but also among women there were ascetics who spent their lives in small communities (είς παρθενῶνα την άδελφην δούς, Ἀντόνιος ... §3). Hon. said. §13, 24, 37. Sozomen. Church history book I, ch. 13. "" θοροβῶν, μεθ ʺ ήμέραν σε ὄυτως ὲνοχλῶν, ώς καἱ τοὑς ορῶντας "" (Vita Ant. §5). "Ὀ δράκων, τρζων τοὑς όδόντας, κατ ἁ τὁγεγραμμένον. καἱ ώστερ έξιστάμενα , ο ἶ ός έςι τόν νοῦν , τοιοῦτος ῦστερον καἱ τ ῇ φαντασί ᾳ άύτῶ φαίνεται "(Vita Anton. §6). "" ὲπεκτεινόμενος "(Vita Anton. §7). Vita Anton. §3. Hon. tale §2. Ibid. §7. Hon. tale §17. Sozom. Cer. ist. book 1, ch. 13; Martyrol. Aegipt. (Galland. T. IV, p. 713). To Martyr. Egyptian, as well as in Ven. The legends say (§1) that an angel once appeared to Anthony, weaving a basket, and thereby showed that Anthony should also do the work. To Martyr. In Egyptian, this angel is described as appearing in the form of a monk - with a monastic belt, a kukul on his head, etc. - an indication of a later edition of the story, which is also available in Venerables. legends. "" ? άυτῆ “(Vita Anton. §12). This fortification, located on the other side of the river, means in the east of the Nile (since the Heracleopolis district lay on the west side of the Nile), was intended to protect the region from attacks by nomadic Arabs; there were many such fortifications in Egypt along the banks of the Nile (Historical monastic Kazan. T. I, p. 50). "Journey through Egypt and Nubia." Norova. Part II, p. 3498. In “Journey to the Monasteries of St. Anthony" 1850 (chapter VIII) arch. Porfiry depicts the location of the Anthony Monastery in a similar way. The Thebans, says Athanasius, stored bread for 6 months or more and they kept it dry; Anthony also ate such bread, having water inside his fortress (Vita Ant. §12.). The hon. tale, about movement. fathers, s. 3, §1. Martyrol. Aegipt. (Galland. c.713. T. IV). The hon. tale, p. 3. The hon. tale, §26. s. 11. Vita Ant. §14; Lavzaik §3, p. 12. Libit. §17, 19, 20. Hon. tale §33, 13 pp. Bucolia (βουκολια) is a land of pastures. This name was used to call the seaside in the East of Alexandria at the confluence of the Nile into the sea. Crawling. Pall. He describes her situation as follows: “blessed (Antony) lived in a vast desert reaching the Black Sea, 30 miles from the river. Nila." §23, p.82. In the “Spiritual Meadow” of Moschus it is said that the Antonia desert was not far from Klysma (chap. 132). Vita Hilarionis cap. 26 (Rosweid.s. 86). The description of the mountain and its surroundings made by Jerome, as well as its distance from the Nile, is confirmed by contemporary travelers (Travels in Egypt by the arch. Porf. Uspensk. pp. 223–25). Prooemium Athanas. ad. vit. Ant. (Mign. T. XXVI. S. Gr. P. 838). Sermo II. De timore Dom. (Galland. T. IV, p. 653). De longanimitate. Serm. III, p. 653. De simplicitate Serm. IV, p. 653. De sapient. Serm. XI, p. 655. De vana glories Serm. XIII, p. 656. De continent. Linguae. Ser. XIX, p.658. De verecundia Ser. XII, p. 656. De pace. Serm. VII, p. 654. Epistol. ad. monach. XVI (Galland. T. IV, p. 685). Hon. tale §24, Rosweid. Lib. III, 130. Eulogius “was an Alexandrian monk” (Lavz. §23). Some Christians even thought that people who became serious sinners after baptism should be excommunicated from the church until their death. This explains the then custom of receiving baptism in later years of life (Kürtz. Kirchengesch. B. I. 1. Die Kirchliche Zucht, s. 301). Vitae Patr. (Rosweid) 1, VII, p. 26. Admonitionos §4, p. 703 (Gall.). Vit. Ant. §7. Interrog. Monach. (Galland. T. IV, p. 706); Ven. tale §4; Vit. Ant. §85. Epistola ad Monach. XVII (Galland. P. 687). Vitae Patr. Rosweid. 1. VII, p. 671. Epistola ad monach. XVII (Galland. T. IV, p. 685). Ven. tale §19, p. 8.Interrog. Monach. Galland. P.077; Vit. Anton. §17. Sermo I. De fide in Christ. Domino (Gall. p. 653). Epist.I. "De xitu" seculo ad mon. vit. (Gall. p. 669); Christ Thurs. 1826 part 22. Epist.I. (Gall. p. 669); Christ Thurs. 1826, part 22, p. 84. Epist. II. "De promulgatione legis" (Gall. P. 671). Christ. Thurs. 1826 Part 22, p. 53. Epist. ad monach. II. (Gall. P. 671). Christ. Thurs. 1826 Part 22, p. 55. Epist. III. (Gall. P. 672). Christ. Thurs. There, p. 59. Epist. IV (Galland. p. 672). Christ. Thurs. 1826 Ch. 22, p. 163. Epistol. V (Gall. P. 673); Chr. Thurs. Part 22, p. 166, Epist. ad monach. XIII (Gall. T. IV, c. 681). "έθεώρησε τίνας ὤ σπερ έπτερωμένους" (Vit. Ant. §66). These discussions of Anthony with philosophers, testifying to his significant knowledge of pagan religion, mythology and dialectics, are the reason that some suspect the reliability of the news reported in “vita S. Antonii” (Weingart. Ursp. Moncht. S. 11-14 Zeitschr. Kirchengesch.). It is not incredible that the simple speeches of Anthony, when presented by St. Afanasy lost somewhat in its artlessness and simplicity, having received a different coloring under the pen of the biographer. This is especially likely in view of the fact that the author did not hear these conversations of Anthony himself, but wrote them down on the basis of the stories of others about Anthony (Vit. Ant. Proöemium. Mign. T. XXVI. 838). Socrates. Church East. book IV, ch. 23; Vita Ant. §73. Socrates. Cer. ist. book IV, ch. 23. Synesius also cites this saying of Antony, but applies it to Ammun by mistake (Neand. Geschieht. Kirch. V. 3, p. 336). The myth of the abduction of Europa by Zeus, who took on the image of a bull. Athenagoras, Justin Martyr, Origen, Eusebius and others, denouncing the pagans, showed them that the piety of Christians and their behavior towards their neighbors speak of the superiority of Christianity and increase the number of its followers. The firmness of Christians during persecution and their contempt for death were also often pointed out by writers as evidence of the power of Christ. faith. Origen, Tertullian and others talk about this. Tertullan e.g. about persecution and its significance for Christianity, he said: never has our faith flourished as much as amidst persecution (Writing to Scapul. g. 5). Elsewhere he said: “the blood of Christians is the seed of new Christians” (History of the Church of I. V. Cheltsova, pp. 317–325). Histor. right monk Kazansky. T. I, p. 74. Epistol. ad monach. IV (Gall. p. 672). Epistol. XVII (Galla. ad. P. 687). Sozomen. Church ist. book 2, ch. 31. Vita Anton. §86; Historia arianorum ad monach. Athanas. (Mign. T. XXV, p. 707). Histor. arian. ad monach. Athanas. (Mign. T. XXV, p. 709). Vita Anton. §82. Sozomen. Church history book VI, ch. 5, p.386. Vita Anton. §82. Sozomen. Church history book 6, ch. 5. Vita Anton. §81; Sozomen. Church East. book I, ch. 5. Sozomen. Church East. book I, ch. 13, p. 50. Sozomen. Church East. book I, ch. 13. In the Chet-Minea there is one story about how two demons decided through Anthony to find out from God whether, after repentance, they could receive forgiveness of their sins. One of the demons, taking the form of a repentant sinner, appeared to Anthony and asked him to find out from God whether it was possible for a sinner, whose iniquities were equal to the iniquities of the devils themselves, to receive forgiveness from God. Anthony agreed to ask God about him and during his prayer he learned from the angel that this repentant was the devil himself. At the same time, the angel also revealed to Anthony for the edification of people that God’s mercy is so great that if the evil spirits themselves repented, then they too would receive forgiveness from God, but they cannot repent. Anthony conveyed this revelation of the angel to the devil who appeared to him in the form of a penitent. But Anthony, having learned from the angel that this repentant was the devil himself, decided to convert him to repentance and almost convinced him to leave his previous way of life. However, the evil spirit, remembering his duties, soon departed from Anthony, remaining with his former way of thinking (Chet-Min. Dimitr. Rostov. January. pp. 464–65). Sozom. Church ist. book I, ch. 13. Sozom. Church history book I, part 13, p. 49. Loves. Pallas. Ch. 23 p. 83. Vita S. Hilarionis cap. 26 (Rosweid. P. 86); Vit. Ant. §50. Vit. Ant. §91. Athanasius does not call these students by name. But Jerome, in the preface to the life of Paul of Thebes, mentions two of Anthony’s disciples who lived with him - Amatha and Macarius, of whom the first buried Anthony (Vita S. Pavli [Rosweid p. 19]). Individual dwellings of hermits were called σκηνη, καλυβιον, κελλα. A set of several such cells, located in a certain area and often at a fairly considerable distance from one another, was called ασκητηρια, μοναστηρια, μανδραι, λαυρα, etc. The last name is especially applicable to the settlements of Anthony’s disciples, which were located at a distance from each other and were not connected to each other by a fence, while the mandras and cenobias were usually surrounded by it. Pisper, in which during the life of Anthony there were his disciples Macarius and others, then and in later times, around 372, during the visit of Rufinus, was the place of residence of Anthony's students Pimen and Joseph. During Anthony's life, this monastery was the main place of residence of Anthony's closest disciples. Mount Niti, which Jerome calls the city of God (Epist. 27), bordered on the east with Libya, on the south it extended to the island of Mareota and was actually a desert (Pal. Lav. §7). Hist. Monach. Rufin cap. 7. (Mign. T. XXI p. 410). This charter of the Angel, inscribed by him on a copper plate (it is placed in Migne T. XXII pp. 62–80; news regarding it is also in Pallas. in Lavz. §34. pp. 115–117; in Sozomen in Tser. Ist. book. 3. ch. 14 and others), as stated in the life of Pachomius, is distinguished by severity and imposes for the most minor offenses (for forgetfulness, inability to sit, turning your head during a meal, etc.) punishments. Vit. Ant. §16. Ven. tale §3 and 19. True, in various codes between the instructions and letters of Actonius there are also rules (“regulae sive canones.” Galland. T. IV Mign. T. XL.), published from Arabic into Latin, but they cannot belong to Antony, as will be shown below. Loves. Pall. §25 p. 90; Sozom. Cer. East. book I, ch. 13. But among Anthony’s students there were also educated people who knew Greek, such as Cronius Macarius and others (Lavz. §23. p. 89). Sermo XI De verecund. It is said: “Do not be ashamed to reveal your sins to the priest.” This instruction of Anthony could have been spoken to the laity who came to him. Loves. §25 p.91. This story is contained in Sozomen (Book I, Ch. 13), Cassiodorus Histor. trip. I. 1. c.11), Nikephoros (book VIII, chapter 40). Vita Anton. §7, 12, 50, 92; Vita S. Hilarion. cap. 26. In Ven. Tale There is a hint that Anthony's disciples ate fish and meat (§12 p.5). At the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th century, as can be seen from the testimonies of St. Epiphany and from some stories in Ven. tale, the monks ate all kinds of food, some even refused vegetables, others did not neglect fish and even meat (General. Essay on the life of monks in Egypt. In the 4th and 5th centuries. Kazan). The first to introduce monastic clothing for monks was the hermit Patermufius. The original clothing of the monks was the ordinary clothing of that time. (Kazansky. Essay on the life of a monk in the 4th and 5th centuries, p. 10). Rosweid. Erst Buch. P. 19. Vita Pavli cap. 58 (Rosw. p. 21). Prooemium ad vit. Ant. Athanas (Mign p. 838). Jerome speaks about the skepticism of his contemporaries in the prologue to “vita s. Hilarionis": "qui olim detragentes Paulo meo, nunc forte detragent Hilarioni... ut qui semper latuit, non fuisse." Histor. Orthodox Monash. T. I. p.88. Kazansky. Neander says that this saga deserves little attention, although he does not reject it completely. Gesch/-Kirch. T.III. s. 330; Gchaff Gesch. alt Kirch. s. 579. Due to the inaccuracy of the year of birth, it is impossible to accurately indicate the year of Anthony’s death. The day of his death is considered January 17 in both Eastern and Western martyrologies. In the Egyptian martyrology, the day of his death is considered to be the 22nd of the month Tybi. Since the 1st day of Chibe corresponds to December 27, then 22 should correspond to January 17. Under which the life of Anthony is usually placed (Ideler. Handbuch der mathemat und chronol. B. 1, p. 143). Subsequently, Anthony’s body was allegedly transferred to Alexandria (in 561), and after the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs in 635, from Alexandria to Constantinople. At the end of the X or beginning of the XI century. it appeared in the diocese of Vienna - in Galia; it was in Vienna until 1491, when the relics of St. Anthony was transferred to Arles and was laid in the church of St. Julia. Due to the miracles that were performed before his relics, especially due to the healing of a severe headache and fever, this very disease was called the fire of St. Antonia. In 1096, in honor of St. Anthony was named after a monastic order - the Antonines, approved at the Council of Clermont by Pope Urban the 11th (Kirchenlexikon. Wetzer und Welte c. 300). But all this news about the transfer of Anthony’s body is little trustworthy in view of the testimony of Athanasius about the unknown location of Anthony’s burial. The Coptic monks of the monastery of St. Anthony still show the place where Anthony’s body lies and his tomb is located (Petsch. In Egypt and in the monastery of St. Anthony. Arch. Porphyry. p. 199). Chrysostom 8th conversations. On Evang. Matthew. Jerome, Ephraim the Syrian, Rufinus, Palladium, Socrates, Sozomen and others. Ursprung Moneht. s. 10 Weïngart; Neander. T.III. s. 335. Hon. Tale p.298. §8; Vitae Patrum lib. 15, n.44. Theodorite. Church ist. book Chapter IV 22. Serapion, to whom Anthony, dying, bequeathed his clothes (Vita Anton. §91). Epistola ad Dracontium §7. Athanas (Migne. T. XXV. S. Gr. p. 531). In his teachings to the monks, Anthony often denounces these vices of some ascetics (Epist. Anton. I, III, VI, XI, XVI, etc.). Egyptian monks, prone to anthropomorphism, irritated by Alexander's inclination. Archbishop. Theophilus to Origenism, one day (in 399) they burst into Alexandria en masse, created riots here, and only thanks to Theophilus’s resourcefulness, they calmed down and left the city. Rufinus, speaking about the disciples of Anthony, mentions the following of them: Macarius of Alexandria, Macarius the Great (Egyptian), Isidore, who lived in the monastery, Pambo, Moses, Benjamin, Elijah and Paul, who lived in Anemoth, and another Paul in Phoki (Histor. Ecclesiastic. Lib. II, cap. VIII; Mign. T. XXI. Ser. pr. lat. p. 517). Hieronym. Vita s. Hilarionis cap. 26. Sozomen about Anthony’s disciples says among other things that “they loved to talk about the exploits of their fathers and carefully preserved the memory of the virtues of the most ancient ascetics” (Church. Ist. Book I, Chapter 13). Patr. Migne. T.XL. S.G.p. 956. Patr. Migne. T.XL. 956.Prolegom. cap. VI (T. IV p. XVIII). They are placed in Slavic. Language in the Philokalia (at the beginning), and then translated into Christ. Read For 1821, part I. Hieronym. Catal. de viris illustr. cap. 88. Quoted from Rossweid (Vorred uber das heil. Antonii Erst. B. p. 28). Migne T. XL. S. G. 955. Galland. Proleg. p. XVIII. Migne T. XL. p. 955. Galland. T.IV. p. XVIII. Galland. p. XVII (T. IV). Christ. Read 1826–37 Vita Antonii §§68, 69, 82, 89. Epistola ad monach. XVI (Galland. T. IV p. 682). Epistol. IV, XVI, XVII (Galland. p. 685–689); Vit. Ant. §68, 69, 82, 89. Hon. tale §14, 37, etc. Epistola ad monach. VI (Gal. T. IV p. 674). Epistol. VI (Galland. p. 674). Epist. VII (Galland. p. 677). (Christ. Thur. 1828, part 31, p. 16). Epist. Filio suo Bebnudo (Gall. p. 694). Letter 15 says: “I have sent my beloved son to you” (Galland. p. 682). Epistol. III (Galland. p. 672). Epistol. VI (Galland. p. 677). Epistol. VIII (Galland. p. 677). Christ. Thurs. 1828 part 32 p. 35. Christ. Thurs. 1829, part 36 p. 152: Galland. r. 696. Sinesius, Socrates Scholasticus, Augustine and others (which is discussed in more detail at the beginning of Chapter 1). Epist. II (Galland. T. IV p. 671). Epist. III (Gall. p. 672). To judge the nature of these letters, let us imagine the arrangement and content of some of them. Letter II speaks about the economy of human salvation, about a godly life and good deeds. The third letter again sets out the history of God's economy, then speaks of serving God in spirit and truth. Letter IV speaks of obedience to the law, the need for self-knowledge, and denounces Arianism. In letter V, the same thing is first repeated as in letter IV - about submission to the law; then there is a discussion about angels, their purpose and names. Letter VI repeats what was said in Letters II and III about the economy of God; then follows a discussion about the need for grace for people, indicating the intrigues that a person can be subjected to from the evil spirit; the end of the letter repeats the discussion about angels and their names, placed in the V letter, speaks of self-knowledge and love for neighbors, repeating the same thing that was said in the IV letter. Letter IX has, as it were, four sections, beginning with the words: “dilectissimi mei” and representing several brief instructions from Anthony about the need for courage for the soul, about exhaustion of the body, about contempt for glory and dishonor, about love for God - denunciation of careless monks and virgins - instructions that are repeated in other letters. The rest of the letters also mostly consist of heterogeneous sections. Letter XVIII speaks first of the descent of Jesus Christ into hell, then of the divine fire that the pious have in their hearts, then of the machinations and visions of demons. These same machinations of demons are depicted at the beginning of the 19th letter, in which another independent section is the interpretation of the visions of St. Ezekiel. Thus, in many letters there is no unity, they are filled with repetitions. Regarding their order and plan, one can say the same thing as one of the publishers of these letters, Capteria, said to Hector Dallo, prothonotary of the Roman church: “I don’t know what to be surprised about in Anthony’s letters - whether they are thorough or pleasant; In them, Anthony is very decent, speaks so thoroughly, so opportunely, so well. What is better in Anthony’s speech, what is more perfect, what is his method of presentation, what is his plan? None, my Hector, and yet I admire it! (Migne. T. XL, p. 956. Notit. ad Epist. S. Ant.). For comparison, let us present several excerpts from these similar “letters” of Anthony. “How books were written in the East” by D.A. Khvolson (Christ. Read. 1874, part 1, p. 533). And Anthony among other things said to the philosophers: “ᾦ τοίνυν ό νοῦς ύγιαίνει, τόυτ ῳ ούκ ἁ ναγκαῖα τ ἁ γράμματα "(Vit. Ant. §73). Khvolson D.A. “How books were written in the East” (Christian Reader, 1874, part 1). D.A. Khvolson. Chr. Thurs. 1874, part 1, p. 539. Sozom. Church East. book I part 13. Cronius sometimes served as a translator into Greek. the language of Antony's words for those visitors to Antony who did not speak Coptic. language. Macarius of Egypt, as can be seen from his conversations, was familiar with grammar, rhetoric and other sciences (Spirit. Conversations of Macarius of Egypt. Moscow, 1852, art. 3. (Life of St. Macarius). Epistol. ad monach. XV (Galland. 682). They are in nature, as noted above, similar to those instructions of Anthony, which were recorded by St. Afanasy in “Vita S. Antonii” This is how Jerome, Pope Honorius and others spoke about them (see evidence of the ownership of these letters by Ptonius). Patrol. Migne. T.XL. Notit. P.955. In the Maronite martyrology (Galland. T. IV. p. 714), Egyptian (Galland. p. 713), etc. Macarius of Egypt. Spirits. Conversations and words. Moscow. 1852 Placed at Mign. T.XL. S.G.p. 1106; in Russian ed. entitled “Spiritual and morals. words." Moscow. 1860 “Spiritual morals. words" p.173. Placed in Gallandi vol. IV, p.697, y Mign. T.XL. Ser. Gr. p.1066; translation in Chr. Thurs. For 1830, part 37. “Has perscribo regulas, prout loquetur Dominus per os meum, illis qui gravi huic monachatus jugo se subjicere volunt. lstis igitur obedient oportet praeceptis, et qui unum solvet ex illis, minimns vocabitur in regno coelorum.” Thus, the first rule instructs us to constantly pray and thank God. The second rule says: “When you get up from sleep, find out about the condition of the sick who are in the same monastery with you.” The fourth commands to observe certain hours for prayer. The seventh rule prohibits having friendship with worldly people; ninth - to receive relatives to yourself. The tenth rule commands that alms be given to the poor who are in the monastery; the eleventh and 42nd rules, literally similar, instruct the monk to pray in his cell before going to church; The 13th rule prohibits hastily dressing a little-known stranger in monastic clothes; The 15th prohibits monks from sowing the land from which they are going to give tribute; The 22nd prohibits talking in church; The 23rd rule is to say: “in meetings that take place in the monastery to discuss something, do not sit down”; The 27th prohibits going to feasts and dinners for which you have to pay money; The 29th inspires to seek permission for any business from the head of the monastery; 34th forbids a monk to take off his hood, cassock and other clothes not only during the day, but even at night; The 39th rule prohibits a monk from remaining long at the harvest; The 48th rule says: “correct your children and do not forgive them their weaknesses”; The 51st inspires the monk to remember that the clothes he wears serve as the wings of angels for him. Rules 75 and 76 instill in the monk decorum at meals - not to reach out to food before others and not to offer food to others when they do not want to take it. This charter has not been fully preserved to us. Bl. has detailed extracts from it. Jerome; many rules from this charter, as well as the letters of Pachomius, are placed in Gallandi (T. IV. pp. 718–73); Palladius in Loves has an extract from the statute. (cap 37, in Sozom. (book III, chapter 14). Gallandi's rules (Articles 718 and 735). Thus, by the way, Anthony’s rule (34th) instructs the monk not to take off his hood and cassock either day or night. The Rule of Pachomius also requires that monks do not take off their linen levitons and belts even at night (Lavz. §34 p. 114; Sozom. Cer. Ist. book III, part 14, p. 194). Anthony's rule (13) does not allow newcomers to the monastery to enter monasticism without testing; the rules of Pachomius say the same thing: after 3 years, when the newcomer does hard work, then enter this field (Sozom. and Loves. Ibid.). The 22nd rule of Anthony prohibits talking in church - the rules of Pachomius also speak regarding this: “whoever laughs or talks is subject to penance (poenitentiam) before the altar - ante altare (Praecepta S. Pachom. 3 - (Galland. T. IV p. 735). The rules of Anthony (75 and 76) instill how to hold oneself meal; the instructions of Pachomius also touch on this subject: in the 8th and 15th instructions they also talk about sitting modestly at the table, it is forbidden to stretch out your hands to food before other older brothers (v. 8), it is forbidden to talk during a meal (right 11), etc. Rules of Anthony (right. 3rd) requires the monk to pray very often before meals, after meals, and even (every hour" they instill “not to let it pass without prayer” (right 4th; Pachomius’s charter instructs to pray “12 times a day, each prayer is preceded by the singing of a psalm” (Soz. Tser. Ist. book. 3, chapter 14; Lanz. §34. Art. 116). In Anthony's rules prohibit a monk from leaving the monastery alone into the city (pr. 14), to begin any business without the permission of the head of the monastery (pr. 29), in the instructions of Pachomius it is also strictly forbidden for a monk to leave the monastery anywhere without the permission of his father (pr. 3), 32), it is forbidden to take any thing without the permission of the initial abba (pr. 41), it is even forbidden to cut hair without the permission of the father. (Project 39) That such rules of behavior for monks at home, in church, outside the monastery could have an application is understandable, but it is absolutely impossible to admit that Anthony and his disciples could think and implement rules that were not caused by their way of life and were not applicable to them (for example, about behavior in church, at a common meal, about monastic meetings, etc.). In general, the rules discussed by Anthony, which are very decent for a cenobitic monastery, cannot be attributed to Anthony only because he did not want to give rules to the monks, as was noted above. The rules from the code of Benedict of Anyan are almost identical with the rules extracted from the Arabic code by Abraham of Enhellen; differ only in some expressions and numbers. But 48 - the number of rules of Benedict is reminiscent of the 80 rules of Abraham Enkh. So eg. The 46th Ave. Benedict corresponds to two rules of Abraham - the 72nd and 73rd; 47th Benedict - three avenues of Abraham: 74th, 75th and 76th, etc. In Russian. translation (in the Chronicle of Reading for 1830) the rules of Anthony were translated from the edition of Avr. Enhellensk. among the 77th with the omission of three rules – 4, 5 and 16th. Similar Instructions of Macarius of Egypt. In Hon. Tale (p. 104, §16, 19, 20, 26, 28, 35, etc.). Blazh. Abba Isaiah mon. rules p. 322 (Spiritual and moral words of Abba Isaiah. Moscow 1860); placed in Patr. Mign. T. XL p. 1206. So the 17th rule of Isaiah says: “When traveling with the brethren, then lag somewhat behind them so that you can remain silent; do not look here and there, but immerse your thoughts in the psalms and pray to God with your mind; no matter where you come, treat the inhabitants freely” (Monastic rights. 17 - Spiritual and moral words of Abba Isaiah. Moscow, 1860); The 73rd rule of Anthony almost literally repeats the same thing: “When you go somewhere, do not turn your face either to the right or to the left, but read the psalms and meditate on them; and no matter what place you are in, pray to God mentally and do not treat the inhabitants of that place proudly and impudently” (Christ. Read. 1830, part 37 p. 134). Also the 17th rule of Isaiah further says: “keep modest and have respect for everyone.” The 74th rule of Anthony says: “do not quickly stretch out your hand when food is offered to you,” and the end of the 17th rule of Isaiah repeats: “do not stretch out your hand without an invitation to what is offered to you.” Thus, rules 73, 74 and 75 of Anthony are literally repeated in one instruction of Abba Isaiah. Then the 11th rule of Isaiah says: “When you sit in your cell, be careful about three things, namely, frequent prayer, psalm singing and handicrafts” (Spiritual and moral words of Ab. Isaiah, p. 324); Rule 62 of Anthony says exactly the same thing: “while in your cell, try to fulfill the following three duties: work with your hands, read the psalms and pray.” The 10th rule of Abba Isaiah says: “love humility, train your tongue to pronounce such words: “forgive me” and humility will dwell in you”; in the 58th and 61st rules of Anthony this is repeated almost literally. The 25th rule of Isaiah is repeated in the 69th rule of Anthony, the 16th rule of Isaiah is the same as the 71st rule of Anthony. The same instructions of Anthony are also in “vita S. Anton” (see §7th, which contains the thought of the 57th rule). Rules 44, 45, 56 are similar in thoughts to his instructions in §16–17 vit. Ant. In Ven. Tale §21, 29 and others, speaking about Anthony’s condescension towards sinners, are similar in thought to §55, 44 and 45. In Christ. Thurs. for 1830 these rules are attributed to Anthony; Kazansky in "historical" Orthodox monk." considers them to be the works of Anthony (vol. 1 p. 96), Archimandrite. Agapit in his “life of Ant. Vel." - Same. See Galland. t. IV. p. 707. Rosweid. Lib. VII. P.671; Hon. tale.§24. Galland. T.IV. p. 703; Christ. Thurs. 1826 part 21. p.17.. Galland. admonit. Anton. p. 703. Galland. sancti Anton. admonitions p.704. They are placed near Gallandi r. 705–711; at Minya T. XL. r. 1095 et seq. and in “Hon. tale."; many of these sayings are placed in various prologues, patericon (pater. skete No. bib. D. A. 634 A under the “sign of az”). Interrogationis et repons. Mign. T.XL. p. 1096; Christ. Thurs. 1837 part 1 p. 262. Histor. right monk vol. I, p. 172, Kazansky. In the Philokalia these chapters with the name of Anthony are placed at the very beginning of the book. Christ. Read for 1821, part I (“instructions for moral people” by our Holy Father Ant.) p. 283. Ibid. present 117 (Article 278). Chr. Thurs. 1821, part 1, art. 255 (present 50). Ven. tale §24, 27; Rosw. lib. VII, S. 671. Epist. XI, XIII in others carry out the same thoughts. Chr. Thurs. 1821, part 1, art. 269. Socrates. Church Histor. book Chapter IV 23. Present 135 (Christ. Read. p. 284). Instructed 166. Christ. Read. 1821, part I, p. 295–296. Kazansky in “Histor. right Mon. in the East”, mentioning them, also does not consider them to be the works of Anthony the Great (T. I, p. 96).