Abbey of New Clairvaux | Vina, CA

Abba Antonius - Father of all Monks

01/21/2012

2 Comments

 
Picture
Icon of Saint Anthony in our monastery library.
The feast of the great Abba Anthony of Egypt falls on January 17th.  He was a great lover of the desert wilderness where he preferred to spend solitary moments with God.  But the further he withdrew into the desert, the more people were drawn to him.  And he attracted many disciples and counted bishops and even the emperor Constantine as his followers as well as common village folks who heard of this desert ascetic and venerable abba.  Perhaps, he is indeed best known for establishing monasteries, or rather, monasteries simply sprung up around him due to the great number of followers who heard of his renown.  And so, we look to this great saint and abba who left everything in order to heed the voice of Christ who said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Matthew 19:21)._

Picture
Not exactly a desert ascetic, but our very own Abba Father Anthony.
 


Comments

Craig Brown, sfo
01/22/2012 6:29pm

One of our local pastors recently made the observation that St. Anthony's escape to the desert (along with others) coincides with the legalization of Christianity in the Roman Empire and the rise of "Sunday" Catholics who didn't need to be concerned with possible martyrdom and could "relax" about their spirituality. Sound familiar?

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Brother Blogger
01/24/2012 10:01am

What we know of Saint Antony comes from “The Life of Antony” written by Saint Athanasius who was bishop of Alexandria (298-373 A.D.). Cistercian Publications has a good translation of “The Life of Antony” in English from the Greek and Coptic texts. Athanasius recounts a story of Antony who follows the Christian martyrs being hauled to the city of Alexandria during the persecution under the reign of Maximin (308-313 A.D.). Antony ministers to the persecuted Christians; those imprisoned and confined to work in the mines were so encouraged by Antony that the judge ordered him to leave the city lest the Christians become further strengthened in their witness to their faith. Another source text from which we get a sense of Antony’s character is from the Apophthegmata, which is a collection of sayings of the Desert Fathers. In one particular saying, the Emperor Constantius writes a letter to Antony asking him to come to Constantinople. When Antony asks his disciple whether he should go, the disciple answers, “If you go, you will be called Anthony; but if you stay here, you will be called Abba Anthony.” I hope this helps.

Works Cited
"The Life of Antony: The Coptic Life and The Greek Life by Athanasius of Alexandria" Trans. Tim Vivian and Apostolos N. Athanassakis. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 2003. Print.

"The Sayings of the Desert Fathers." Trans. Benedicta Ward, SLG. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1975. Print.

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