In the fourth century, thousands of men and women fled into the Egyptian desert seeking to recapture the passion of the
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Table of contents :
Introduction
vii
*
The Life of Antony of Egypt
1
The Life of Paul of Thebes
69
Sayings of the Fathers
78
Antony the Great
78
Basil the Great
86
Gregory the Theologian
87
Gerontius
87
Ephrem
88
Amoun of Nitria
89
Anoub
89
Abraham
90
Apollo
91
Andrew
91
Dioscorus
91
Doulas
92
Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus
93
Evagrius
94
Theodora
95
John the Dwarf
98
Isidore the Priest
102
Isidore of Pelusia
103
Cassian
104
Macarius the Great
105
Arsenius
106
Agathon
106
Moses
I 1 1
Poemen
1 14
CHRISTIAN CLASSICS
ETERNAL WISDOM FROM THE DESERT WRITINGS FROM THE DESERT FATHERS
EDITED AND MILDLY MODERNIZED HENRY L. CARRIGAN JR.
BY
ETERNAL
WISDOM
FROM THE DESERT
ETERNAL
WISDOM FROM THE DESERT Writings from the Desert Fathers
AND MILDLY MODERNIZED HENRY L CARRIGAN, JR.
EDITED
IT PARACLETE PRESS BREWSTER. MASSACHUSETTS
BY
Unless otherwise designated, Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible,
©
Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ rights reserved.
Used by
New
1989 by the Division of Christian in
the U.S.A. All
permission.
Scripture quotations designated (KJV) are taken from the King James Version.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data Eternal
wisdom from
the desert
Henry
mildly modernized by p.
L.
writings from the desert fathers
:
Carrigan,
/
edited and
Jr.
cm.
ISBN 1-55725-283-1 1.
Desert Fathers.
church,
2. Spiritual life
30-600.
ca.
I.
Carrigan,
— Christianity— History
of doctrines
BR 195. C5 E74 2001 270.1— dc21
10
Early
2001003993
98765432
©2001 by
—
Henry L, 1954-
1
Paraclete Press
ISBN: 1-55725-283-1
All rights reserved. in a
No
portion of this book
may be
reproduced, stored
retrieved system, or transmitted in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or brief quotations in printed reviews,
Published by Paraclete Press Brewster Massachusetts
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Printed
means
—except
any other
the United States of America
Contents
Introduction vii
* The
Life of
Antony
of Egypt
1
The
Life of Paul of
Thebes
69
Sayings of the Fathers 78
Antony the Great 78 Basil
the Great
86
Gregory the Theologian 87 Gerontius
87
Ephrem 88
Amoun
of Nitria
89
Anoub 89
Abraham 90 Apollo 91
Andrew 91
Dioscorus 91
Doulas 92 Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus
93 Evagrius
94
Theodora 95
John the Dwarf 98 Isidore the Priest
102 Isidore of Pelusia
103
Cassian 104
Macarius the Great 105 Arsenius
106
Agathon 106
Moses I
1
1
Poemen 1
14
Introduction
Two
of the
spiritual
most enduring images used are the wilderness
life
to describe the Christian
and the
desert.
On
one
level,
Christians have used these images to describe spiritual experi-
ences
involving
feelings
God's absence or abandonment.
of
Christians often describe their feelings of spiritual loneliness and
times of separation from wilderness.
somehow
God
as periods of
wandering
testing
them
as
they experience devastating
compare
the
God
Often these same Christians, feeling that
physical pain, or spiritual forlornness,
in
is
losses,
their time of suf-
fering to Jesus' experience of being tested in the desert.
While these images often suggest an
aridity of spirit, however,
they also evoke powerful visions of renewal and redemption.
Exodus ing
16, as
them
the Israelites
1
into a
(Mark 1:12-13, Luke
their threats at
God
into such a situation,
them and guides them 4:1-1
murmur new
4.
1-1
Moses
In
for lead-
provides food and water for
land of promise. In 3),
Matthew
Jesus finds himself alone in
the wilderness with the great tempter, Satan. After forty days and forty nights of
emerges from his
what appear
his desert
to be exhausting struggles, Jesus
period prepared to face the challenges of
forthcoming ministry. The wilderness
stories of the Israelites
and of Jesus provide the foundational narratives of desert ality in the
Christian traditions.
spiritu-
Eternal
viii
The
Wisdom from
history of the earliest Christian communities after Jesus'
and ministry
life
the Desert Fathers
Very soon
is
indeed the story of
after Jesus' death,
several of his followers
were
coming new kingdom
of
a
wilderness experience.
according to the account
killed for preaching his
in Acts,
message of
a
God. One of the persecutors, Saul of
Tarsus, suddenly experienced conversion to the nascent Christian
changed
tradition (while in the desert),
soon became one of the
During
name
his
numerous
established
followers
Mediterranean region.
less,
ters
be ekklesia, or church?
to
Paul and his
throughout
churches
In his letters, Paul offered his
several churches about internal doctrinal matters
mean
—
and
most ardent supporters.
tradition's
period of roughly twenty years or
a
to Paul,
as well as
— how should the church or Christians
the
advice to
—what does
it
about external mat-
Roman
deal with the
government?
During the
four
first
centuries
of
Common
the
Era,
Christianity experienced tremendous persecution at the hands of
the
Roman
warned
Empire. Paul and the writers of the Gospels had already
their
communities that the coming of the new kingdom
would be fraught with 5:1-1
1,
Mark
13).
perils for the faithful
But as the early Jesus
urban areas and established churches, conflict with the to
its
in
Thessalonians 3:1-5,
movement migrated it
came
into
increasingly into
Empire, which required total obedience
laws of emperor worship.
new kingdom
many
Roman
( 1
which
their
With
their belief in the
own God would
coming
reign supreme,
Christians refused to submit to the Empire's insistence that
the true
God
a series o(
was the Roman emperor With such
persecutions of Christians under
refusals
a string of
began
emperors
from Nero to Diocletian.
When
the persecution was at
turies o( the
Irenaeus,
Common
Era,
its
height
in
the
first
church theologians such
two cenas Justin,
and Origcn encouraged faithfulness to the developing
Introduction
ix
doctrine of the church as well as to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
For Justin, persecution provided the opportunity to show true faithfulness to Christ
had died
by dying
for his followers.
for
him
in
the
manner
Thus, during these centuries of the
developing Christian community, martyrdom became expression of
faith.
and through
for their faith attracted
God
central
own
through their passionate defenses
their deaths.
many new
suddenly the community found
The
passion of the martyrs
converts to Christianity, and
itself
ments about baptism and the nature of Yet,
its
Early Christian martyrs enacted their
desires to be united with
of their faith
which he
in
engaged
in internal argu-
a true Christian.
these internal arguments did not halt the growth of
Christianity. In fact,
continued to grow
some have claimed recently
martyrdom because
in spite of
tendency of Christians
that Christianity of the frequent
to intermarry with non-Christians in the
Empire. Whatever the reasons, Christian communities experi-
enced slow but steady growth between the second and fourth
who
centuries. By the time of Constantine, toleration that
ended the persecution of
church had grown so large that Suddenly, the church found
it
itself
issued an edict of
Christians, the Christian
confronted new problems. not having to engage
in
a
process of self-definition.
When
the emperor Constantine
came
part of the fourth century, he ushered in a
to
power
new
in
the early
attitude
toward
the Christian religion. Constantine himself probably experienced
some kind
of conversion to Christianity in 312,
uted his victory over his
rival to
when he
attrib-
the deity he referred to as the
Unconquered Sun. While many Christians believed
that their
God had
given Constantine the victory, he did not differentiate
between
his
monotheism and
adopted the Christian cross
that of the Christians. Thus, he
as his battle
symbol, and he placed
the "Chi-Rho" symbol of Christ on his coins beginning
in
315.
x
Eternal
Wisdom from
the Desert Fathers
Moreover, the emperor thought of himself
was
and promote
establish
to
Roman
Christian
ruler,
a
as a ruler
whose duty
united church. As the
first
Constantine supported the growth of the
church. In order to repay Christians for the years of persecutions
by the Empire, he
made. For the
Bible
both
flourish as In
this
occurred
in
ample time
new churches and had new
built
time
first
a religious
the church began to
in its history,
and
a political institution.
time of relative peace, several the church.
First,
copies of the
new developments
the absence of persecution provided
for local bishops to begin debating the essentials of
the Christian faith.
Most
notably, a
number
of debates about the
person and nature of Christ took place. In earlier centuries, Christians did not have the leisure to argue about whether Jesus
was
fully divine
commingled,
if
or fully
or about
how
his
two natures
they indeed did, with one another.
church council convened tion,
human
at
Nicaea to attempt to
In
325
a
settle this ques-
and offered some tentative answers that could be accepted
by most churches
in
the East.
Such ecumenical councils led
second development
to a
in
early Christianity: the establishment of orthodoxy. In response to
both internal and external pressures, these councils sought to
develop belief-statements that would promote Christian
These creeds contained
definition.
a
number
of
self-
doctrinal
propositions to which believing Christians were required to assent as a proof of their right belief (orthodoxy).
could
not
"heretics,"
assent
to
the
creedal
formulations
Those who
were labeled
and were ousted from the church and sometimes
killed
because of their disagreement. Thus, the Christian community,
which had fought so long against the persecution of the Empire,
now began
to persecute
its
own members
to agree with the doctrines the councils
for their unwillingness
had established
as the
essentials that defined a Christian. For the outside world, the
Introduction
xi
creeds functioned as documents of self-identification,- for the
church, the creeds defined orthodoxy.
grew comfortable
Finally, as Christianity official religion of the less
and
less
Roman
Empire,
many
in its role as
Christians
the
became
comfortable with the church's too easy adopting of
the culture. In the eyes of these believers, the church's
on establishing doctrinal correctness, along with
its
new
focus
emphasis on
creating a clerical hierarchy to monitor such orthodoxy, neglected
the missionary impulse of the earliest Christian communities.
Moreover, the passionate commitment of the martyrs to their faith
was
lost in the
wrangling of the bishops and priests over fine
philosophical points of theological doctrine. In addition,
many
Christians expressed deep dissatisfaction that the role of bishop, originally a religious office as set out in the
New Testament, now
involved obeisance to the Empire that had once persecuted Christians. Since the bishop
many
now
functioned as
a political figure,
of his religious decisions favored the Empire rather than the
church. This comfortable relationship with the emperor also
meant
that
the
church received financial support from
the
Empire, and the Christian church suddenly expanded into an
whose too easy
institution
the eyes of
many
of
Many of these in
its
association with
Rome
corrupted
it
in
congregants.
dissatisfied Christians
began to
flee
the church
search of a purer form of Christianity untainted by collusion
with empire. Thinking that they could return to an earlier expression of Christianity, these individuals fled the church in order to live lives of solitude
passion
of
and prayer
as
they sought to recapture the
second-century Christians for their
monasticism, perhaps the greatest
movement
to
faith.
come out
Thus, of the
fourth-century church, developed and flourished. But the Eastern, eremitic monasticism of the later fourth
century
is
not the cenobitic (community) monasticism familiar to
Eternal
xii
so
Wisdom from
many Western
the Desert Fathers
Christians.
To be
ticed various forms of asceticism,
sure, these early
monks
prac-
and they saw themselves
as
returning to Christianity the kind of pure expression of faith that
they thought was missing
in
the fourth-century church. Yet, these
monks formed no communities with
rules of faith
governed their practice. They did not congregate
and meet pate
in
as later
Nor
to observe fixed hours of prayer.
and
in
monasteries
did they partici-
the transmission of biblical texts through copying them,
monks
did. Rather, these
monks were
individuals
who
to the caves in the Egyptian desert to seek ecstatic union with
One
fled
God.
scholar observes that this "ascetical theology was a theology
dominated by the this
that
life
ideal of the
martyr
world but sought for union with
individuals usually
renounced
who hoped
God
for
nothing
in his passion."
their material
1
in
These
possessions and
practiced a deep degree of self-sacrifice that recalled the spirit of Christians facing persecution in the earliest Christian communities.
As with
later
monastic communities, the foundational elements of
these monks' lives were chastity, abstinence,
and unceasing
prayer.
By the end of the fourth century, thousands of these hermits
had
settled along the length of the Nile River,
had established themselves Alexandria.
the desert on the outskirts of
in
While they formed no
these individuals later
even though
women
powerful was
f
came
to
and nearly 5,000
be
group or movement,
distinct
known
as the desert fathers,
also practiced this eremitic lifestyle.
So
he wisdom and purity of these desert monks that
Christians from urban congregations continually streamed to the
monks' caves seeking sagacious words of advice. Visitors to the monks'
cells,
or prayer chambers, addressed
mula: "Speak to
me
a
word, Father, that
answers were
gathered early on
or Apothegms of
the Fathers or, in
1
Henry Chadwick The
in
I
them with
may
live."
this for-
The monks'
the collection called Paradise
most modern
editions, The Sayings
Early Church (London: Penguin, 1967), 177
Introduction
monks used
Later generations of
oj the Desert Fathers.
xiii
these wise
sayings and stories, which were sometimes directed to specific situations in a particular city, congregation, or monastic setting,
own monastic
as the basis for their
For example,
life.
Basil of
Caesarea and later Benedict of Nursia and John Cassian incorpo-
many
rated
monastic
of the teachings of the desert fathers into their
rules.
Several of the fathers that
their acts
became
so famous for their
their contemporaries,
wisdom and
or near-contemporaries,
wrote biographies of these great hermits. Perhaps the most
famous of the desert fathers was Antony of Egypt (251-356), lived
be
to
105 years old.
Not long
after
who
Antony's death,
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, wrote an account of Antony's
became
that soon
life
raphies. Athanasius'
a
model
for
book appears
all
other early Christian biog-
to
have become an immediate
to
have remained one up through the Middle Ages.
In his Confessions,
Augustine remarks on the power of Athanasius'
bestseller
Life of
Antony-.
'They found there
of Antony.
life
on
set
and
way
of
One
them began
of
fire,
and during
life
and leaving
book
a
his reading
which was written the
in
to read
it.
He was amazed and
began to think of taking up
his secular post in the civil service to
servant." Indeed, Antony's conversion experience to
become
a
monk
description of his
and
this
be your
his decision
bear remarkable similarities to Augustine's later
own
conversion, though Athanasius' account
is
not nearly as theologically, or psychologically, freighted as
is
Augustine's.
When
he was eighteen, Antony's parents died, leaving him
their property
and
ing up his younger
sister.
Not long
after this event,
preacher reading Matthew 19.2 1—22: go,
sell
you
will
all
wealth, as well as the responsibility of bring-
"If
you wish
he heard
a
to be perfect,
your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and have treasure
in
heaven."
He went
immediately and sold
xiv
all
Eternal
Wisdom from
the Desert Fathers
his possessions, giving the
what he and
his sister
money
needed
keeping
to the poor, but
to live a frugal
life.
Antony soon heard another preacher reading Matthew "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow of
own. Today's trouble
its
is
enough
just
will
6:34:
bring worries
for today." Sorry that he
had
not obeyed God's direction fully from the beginning, Antony situated his sister in a convent, gave up the rest of his belongings,
and dedicated desert,
moving
farther
According filled
his life to
He
God's service.
where he ensconced himself
then set out for the
in a series of
and farther away from populated Athanasius' biography,
to
with unceasing prayer and
cells,
villages.
Antony's days were
self-sacrifice.
tormented by the harsh conditions of the
caves and
He
desert,
found himself
and he was often
confronted with wild animals, which sometimes were demons
in
disguise. In a mirror of Jesus' temptations during his forty days in
the wilderness, Satan and his minions tempted arduously. Satan and his
Antony often and
demons disguised themselves
as beauti-
ful
creatures and as terrifying animals to test Antony's faithfulness
to
God. These tempters
in
Antony's path
in
also placed enticing material possessions
hopes that the
monk would succumb
greedy desire to possess such goods.
Antony alone because the monk's
Eventually,
relationship to
to the
Satan
God
left
was so
strong that he could not be moved.
Although Antony preferred
to
remain
in solitude, his
fame
nevertheless soread far and wide, so that even Constantine wrote
him
a letter
man
of
ings
on chastity and the
God
seeking counsel. Pilgrims flooded to see this great
and
to solicit his
wisdom.
ascetic
life,
In
addition to his teach-
Antony reminded those who
sought his advice to love one another, to avoid gossip and
and to avoid heresies such
as the
the same substance as God.
Arian belief that Jesus
is
lies,
not of
xv
Introduction
There has been some question was the
first
desert hermit.
sought out an old
Whether
man
or not this
Antony himself mentioned
man was
that he
about an eremitic vocation.
for advice
Paul the
claimed that he had "seen Paul
famous
whether or not Antony
as to
Hermit
(d.
342),
Antony
paradise." St. Jerome,
in
for his Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate,
most
wrote
a
Many contend
that
Jerome's purpose was to show that Paul had really been the
first
brief
biography of Paul
in
the
century.
fifth
desert hermit.
Whatever Jerome's purpose, we do have one more raphy of
a
desert at a
Jerome's
famous desert
young age
Life oj
Paul
is
—
father. Like
Antony, Paul
the encounter between
where the two embrace warmly and discuss life.
In a
The
in Paul's case, sixteen.
the
left for
highlight of
Antony and
Paul,
briefly the eremitic
story reminiscent of the Old Testament
Elisha, at his death Paul passes his cloak to
brief biog-
tale of Elijah
Antony much
and
as Elijah
passes along his mantle of prophecy to Elisha.
The Sayings oj
the Desert Fathers
contain the collected wisdom of
these desert hermits. While none of
notoriety of Paul or Antony, each
them gained the fame
monk had
his
own
or
followers
who sought sagacious advice from him. Unfortunately, little is known about many of these figures, for no biographical material is recorded for most of them. One of the better known was John the Dwarf, who was born about 339. When John was eighteen, he traveled to Scetis to be trained by Father Ammoes.
In
order to
preserve his solitude, he dug himself an underground cave. Yet
another well-known hermit was Evagrius, a
disciple of Macarius of Alexandria
scholarship and rigorous asceticism. the ascetic not,
life,
Praktikos
and
who
spent ten years as
and was famous
He
for his
produced two works on
Chapters on Prayer.
Whether famous
or
each of the desert fathers passionately sought union with
xvi
Eternal
God and
Wisdom from
the Desert Fathers
who came
taught those
to
and
prayer, fasting, Scripture reading,
What do
them the values
of constant
love.
the desert fathers have to say to us today?
It's
most contemporary Christians cannot practice the severe
that
asceticism of the desert fathers, nor do they desire to do so.
cannot leave
home and
ticism developed, so did the divide
contemplatives
way
of
life
and lived day
life.
—
that
—and
is,
God.
In fact, as
those called to the monastic vocation as
those Christians
who remained
a part of society
their vocations in the midst of the messiness of every-
the latter often admired the former, the
was transformed into daily
into the fabric of daily
their sayings
and
in
commitment
rituals that
latter,
and
to ascetic
could be woven
life.
Thus, the desert fathers act
patience,
monas-
between the professional
While the former sometimes condemned the
practices
Many
family to strike off into remote wilderness
areas in order to seek ecstatic union with
a
clear
as guides to the interior
life.
In
their lives, they counsel humility, prayer,
and introspection. The desert fathers teach us that deep
contemplative practice provides eternal wisdom for our daily lives.
A Athanasius' Nicene Fathers,
For Jerome's
Word About
Life of
Second Life of
the Text
Antony can be found Series, Vol. 6
Paul of Thebes,
I
in
The Nicene and Post-
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans).
have also used the translation
available in The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4.
edition of Early Christian
Lives
The Penguin
(1998), edited by Carolinne White,
has proved enormously useful in providing background materials of
these
biographies.
Henry Chadwick's The
(London: Penguin, 1967) remains
a
Early
Church
superb introduction to the
Introduction
period
in
which the desert
used Helen Waddell's The 1936), supplemented Fathers
fathers lived
Desert Fathers
and worked.
I
XVII
have also
(London: Constable & Co.,
by Benedicta Ward's The
Sayings oj
the Desert
(Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian, 1975). The selection of
com-
the sayings of the desert fathers in this Paraclete edition
huge number
prises a very small portion of the able.
However,
and
have
I
lar issues I
left
I
of sayings avail-
have not included most of the longer apothegms,
out stories and sayings that are specific to particu-
concerning the monastic
have remained true to the
have mildly modernized
it.
I
spirit of
where
the text even
"cell,''
which
is
simply
monk's
a
dwelling place but which today has other connotations,
used "prayer chamber.'' structure of the sayings
and more appealing to
I
I
have
have altered the syntax and sentence
and the biographies a
I
have replaced archaic words where
word
necessary. Thus, for the
life.
to
make them
livelier
contemporary audience. Most often
simply means casting sentences
in
this
the active rather than the passive
voice. I
trust that the
today even
as
words of the desert
fathers will speak to
you
they spoke to Christians thousands of years ago.
Henry
L.
Carrigan,
Jr.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lent 2001
The
Antony
Life of
of Egypt
by Athanasius
Preface Athanasius addresses his
You have entered
through
tion
Antony
to
monks
in
Europe:
by seeking
into an admirable contest
monks
equal or outdo the
of
life
to
of Egypt in striving for moral perfec-
May God
strict self-discipline.
desire for
fulfill this
you.
You asked me about his early
life,
himself to God. life
and what
You want
to
his life
know
was
life.
like
You want
to
know
before he dedicated
also about the
end of Antony's
and whether or not the legends you've heard about him
true, so that
since
you may
Antony shows
Antony's his
to write about Antony's
life
imitate him.
I
are
write this biography joyously,
us the perfect path to virtue.
The memory
and work enriches me and encourages you
of
to follow
example.
You should believe everything you hear about Antony. He performed extraordinary works, and you have heard about the
least
until
remarkable ones. For even
everything about him, and
I
will
not be able to
everything about his exceptional character.
If
I
tell
only
do not know
you accurately
you want
to
know
you must ask questions of those you
more of Antony's
merits,
meet from Egypt,
for they will
and provide
account of Antony's remarkable
a full
now
tell
you
all
they
know about him life.
But since
2
Wisdom from
Eternal
the Desert Fathers
you may not have the chance written
down
him often
—and those
deal of time with him.
hope
I
If
myself
man
my
do not want
by Antony's
—
who
for
have
visited
you
merits, for
will learn
you might
things, to
I
I
spent a good
account you
you too many
also
I
are not justified
to think of this
know
that from
tell
I
be skeptical of his miracles.
you
I
learned from a person
I
the truth about Antony.
words that
to talk with these people,
for you those things
any
to hear
don't
I
want
incapable of performing a miracle
as
despite his great reputation.
Life of
1
.
Antony
Antony, then, came from Egypt, he was the son of well-born
He was
and devout parents. family that he
knew nothing
home. While he was and write or
still
brought up so carefully by
his
and
his
apart from his parents
a boy,
to join in the silly
he refused to learn to read
games of the other
dren. Instead, he burned with a desire for of simplicity at
home,
God and
as the Bible says of
little chil-
lived a
Jacob.
He
life
also
often went with his parents to church but did not fool around as little children
tend
young boys often
to,
do.
nor did he show
He
a lack of respect as
concentrated on what was being
read and out the useful precepts into practice life.
He
was never
a
in his
way
nuisance to his family, as children usually
are because of their desire for a variety of dainty foods.
did not long for the pleasures of
content with
just
of
more
delicate food, he
what he was given and asked
for
He was
nothing
more. 2
When own
he and
his little sister
after their parents died
were
left
completely on their
(Antony was around eighteen
The
good
years old), he took
Life of
An tony
of
3
Egyp t
care of his house and his
Before six months had passed, though, he was on his
sister.
way
to
church one day when he thought about rejected everything to follow the
how
how the apostles had Savior. He thought about
the early Christians had sold their possessions and laid
the proceeds at the apostles' feet to distribute to the needy.
What
hope was stored up
great
for those people in heaven!
As he was thinking about these things, Antony entered the church. As he went into the church, he heard this Gospel
being read: the
money
follow me
If you
wish
to
be perfect, go,
to the poor,
and you
(Matthew
19:21).
When
he heard
mandment
had
first
your
have treasure
possessions
in
Antony applied
this,
and give
heaven; then come,
the Lord's
com-
believing that because of divine
himself,
to
inspiration he
will
sell
remembered the
incident and that this
He immediately owned. He possessed
Scripture was being read aloud for his sake.
went home and sold the possessions he 300
fertile acres that
he shared
anyone from bearing
a
The
great profit he
neighbors to prevent his sister. All
which were movable goods, he
made from
He
he gave to the poor.
his
grudge against him or
the rest of his possessions, sold.
among
kept a
the sale of these goods
little
for his sister's sake,
because she seemed more vulnerable on account of her youth. 3.
On
another occasion when Antony had gone to church and
heard the Lord saying
in
the Gospel:
row, for tomorrow will bring worries of
shared
all
its
Do
not worry about tomor-
own (Matthew 6:34), he
the rest of his wealth with the poor.
content to stay
at
home, but he
faithful
worldly
he entered into
ties,
left his sister to
and good women.
up by some
a
He
Now
were not yet many monasteries
in
Egypt
be brought
free
harsh and severe
was not
from
life.
all
There
at the time,
and
4
Eternal
Wisdom from
the Desert Fathers
who was
there was no one
familiar with the
remote
desert.
who wanted to serve Christ settled at a distance from their own villages. On a neighboring estate there was an old man who had lived a solitary life since his youth. When People
Antony saw
old man,
this
Antony wanted more than any-
When
thing to imitate the man's goodness.
Antony
lived in places that
were not too
far
he started out, from
who was
though, whenever he heard about someone
Later,
engaged
disciplined
in this
search for him.
He would
life,
home.
his
Antony would go out and
home
not return
he had seen
until
the person he longed to see. After he began in this way, his
grew stronger every day
resolve
where he no longer thought atives.
He
until
he reached the point
of his family wealth or of his rel-
focused his desire and his attention on the task he
had undertaken, and worked with
his hands. For
the Bible teaches that anyone unwilling to
he knew that
work should not
money he
Apart from what he needed for bread, the
eat.
He
earned he gave to the poor.
prayed often,
for
learned that he should pray to the Lord constantly.
none of
listened intently to the Scriptures so that
would be ments 4.
He
in his
led his
with
a
on him.
lost
He
preserved
all
the Lord's
its
he had
He
lessons
command-
memory.
life in
such a
pure love.
way
that
all
the brothers loved him
He obeyed everyone whom
he
visited.
Eager to learn, he assimilated their various individual
He
also
gifts.
imitated the self-restraint of one, the cheerfulness of
another
He
emulated the gentleness of one, the nocturnal
devotions of another, and the dedication another.
He
admired one
who
fasted
in
reading of yet
and another who
slept
on the bare ground, praising the endurance of the former and the compassion of the all
showed one
latter.
He
kept
in
mind
the love they
another, and he returned to his
own
place
The
of Antony of Egypt
Life
refreshed by every aspect of their virtues. There he
ponder
he had learned and
all
He was
of each one. that
burned
deeds just mentioned.
When
his
He
did this
in
such
neighbors and those monks
saw him, they called him God's
him
friend.
see a
many
to
to love him, the devil,
First,
he visited often as a
all
these things that
who
could not bear to
began
virtues,
himself.
The
devil tried to stimulate in
and
this
a desire
world, the
and many other
pleasures of different kinds of food,
life
his family's
Antony
honors of
for material things, the short-lived
to
He made Antony
his wealth, his sisters protection,
social status.
in glory.
he tried to drag Antony away from the
which he had committed
remember
the
was
Some loved him
young man with such outstanding
attack him.
fire
in
as a brother.
While Antony was busy with doing caused so
whom
points
that he
even though he surpassed them
all,
son, others loved
way
a
would
The only
heart was his determination to excel
in his
dear to them
good
try to imitate the
never provoked to anger.
5
attrac-
He reminded Antony of the great difficulty in obtaining the life of virtue. He also reminded him of the body's weakness. He created great contions that
belong to an indulgent
fusion in Antony's thoughts, intentions. But
when,
life.
hoping
as result of
to call
him back from
Antony's prayers to God,
the devil realized that he had been driven out by faith in Christ's sufferings,
he normally attacks to disturb
means of
Antony.
all
his
Antonys
he seized the weapons with which
young people, using seductive dreams
First
hostile hordes
he tried to unsettle him
and
terrifying sounds,
at
night by
and then he
attacked him by day with weapons that were so obviously his that
no one could doubt that Antony was fighting against the
devil.
For the devil
tried
to
implant dirty thoughts, but
Antony pushed them away by means
of constant prayer.
The
6
Wisdom from
Eternal
the Desert Fathers
by means of
devil tried to titillate his senses
Antony defended
desires, but
praying
at night,
and by
whole body by
his
detail that
by
woman, omitting
might provoke lascivious thoughts, but Antony
mind the
called to
faith,
At night the devil would turn
fasting.
himself into the attractive form of a beautiful
no
natural carnal
punishment of
fiery
resisted the onslaught of lust.
The
hell. In this
way he
devil without hesitation set
before him the slippery path of youth that leads to disaster,
Antony concentrated on the
but
judgment and kept
future
everlasting torments of
his soul's purity untainted
through-
out these temptations. All these things confounded the devil.
A young man
was now tricking
he could become God's equal,
wretched creature.
who
At
A man made
if
who thought
the devil himself were a
of flesh defeated the devil,
The
Lord,
who became
our sake and thus granted the body victory over the
was helping Antony.
devil, 6.
as
defeat flesh and blood.
tries to
flesh for
this evil creature
the devil found he was unable to destroy
last
Antony and
were always driving him back. So,
that Antony's thoughts
crying and gnashing his teeth, he appeared to Antony
form appropriate to self
down
human
his nature.
Antony's
at
voice,
"I
feet,
have led
An
ugly dark boy threw him-
weeping loudly and saying
many
astray,
my When Antony
and
efforts, just as
people h
asked him
done."
the devil replied,
this,
many
How many I
the friend of
different kinds of shameful
people, and that
have
am
"1
is
why
of those
tricked!
I
am
weapons
other holy
who was sin.
I
saying
have used
to attack
young
called the spirit of sinfulness.
who were determined
How many times
in a
have deceived
I
many, but you have defeated .ve
in a
have
I
to live chastely
persuaded those starting
out hesitantly to return to their former foul ways.
one who caused the prophet to reproach the
I
am
the
fallen, saying,
The
The
spirit oj sinfulness
the one
has
led
you astray
who made them
fall.
(cf.
am
1
of An tony of
Life
Hosea
strengthened by greater confidence
he
said,
am
I
who has often me away." When
he gave thanks to
this,
and
4: 12),
7
t
the one
tempted you, and always you have driven the soldier of Christ heard
Egyp
in
God
and,
the face of the enemy,
"You are utterly despicable and contemptible, your
blackness and your age are signs of weakness. You do not
worry in
me any
longer. The Lord
triumph on those
who
is
on
my
(Psalm
hate me"
1
me
side to help
18:7).
;
I shall look
At the sound of
Antony's singing, the apparition immediately vanished.
This was Antony's
first
sign of the Savior's
power
in the flesh, so that the just
who walk
not according
Antony.
in
devil's
The
to the flesh
hut according
Antony
powers did not
fail
to the Spirit
numerous, Antony kept
in
Antony
commitment
the struggles of the flesh, he could use against him.
body more and more,
contests,
might
He
young man's
tireless dedication,
pline patiently because he
knew
were considered astonishing. in
firm
by
skillful
had been defeated
new
strategies
and
disciplined
who had won some more
Antony endured
rig-
at this
his disci-
that voluntary servitude to
transform habit into nature.
Antony so endured hunger and
night
pounce on
to
Even though everyone was amazed
life.
God would
(Romans
devil, like a
thus began to live a
orous rule of
in us,
devil's wiles are
Thus Antony
afraid that he,
lose others.
The
some way
realized that although Satan
more deadly weapons his
his
sin
a sense of security.
completely.
roaring lion, was always watching for
first
Savior condemned
Antony. Knowing from the Bible that the
effort.
was the
It
requirement oj the law might befuljilled
But this triumph did give
8:4).
The
victory over the devil.
sleeplessness that his powers
He
very often spent the entire
prayer and ate only once a day,
Sometimes he continued
fasting for
after
sunset.
two or three days
at a
8
Wisdom from
Eternal
the Desert Fathers
time and only ate and drank on the fourth day.
and
and drank
salt,
anything about
a little water.
hair.
he used
is
better not to say
it is
a
When
either one.
woven
lie
body with
his
he did allow himgoats'
on the bare ground, and
oil.
For he used to say that
hardly possible that the bodies of those
who
use such
and especially young men's bodies, should grow
things,
strong
most
for
mat covered with
rush
Sometimes he would simply
he refused to anoint it
ate bread
consumption of meat and wine,
his
monks do not consume self to rest,
think
I
He
they are softened by smooth
if
oil.
Instead they ought
to use rigorous exercises to control the flesh, as the Apostle
Paul said: Therefore persecutions,
am
then I
and
I
am
content with weaknesses, insults, hardships,
calamities for the sake oj Christ; for whenever I
strong (2
am
weak,
Corinthians 12:10). Antony also stated that
wearing down the body's energies person's mental powers.
That
in this
way could
revive a
the reason he did not meas-
is
ure the value of his tasks by the length of time spent, but with
the love and willing servitude characteristic of a novice.
continued to maintain
God. Wanting kept
in
forward
mind to
Paul's
what
heavenly call oj
words:
ahead,
lies
God
stand,
1
that every
obey God's
Then
in
what
lies
said:
he
behind and straining
on toward the goal jor the prize oj the
As
the
Lord of hosts him today
to
that "today" did not
day he was entering
himself worthy
9.
I press
show myself
uill surely
Antony explained
Forgetting
to the old ones,
Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13).
in
bered also what Elijah I
his desire to progress in the fear of
add new achievements
to
He
battle,
mean
lives,
(1
He remembefore
whom
Kings 18:15).
just past time but
and he wanted
to prove
God's sight, pure of heart, and ready to
will
the holy Antony, bearing
should organize his
moved away
to
life
in
mind
based on the
some tombs not
far
that a servant of
life
from
God
of the great Elijah, his
own
village.
He
The
An tony
Life oj
of
Egyp t
9
asked one of his friends to bring him food
at regular intervals.
When
one of the tombs,
this
brother had shut him up
Antony remained
gathered
his followers
The
over.
there alone. But the devil was afraid that
become inhabited because
the desert might
all
his injuries
of Antony, so he
and tortured Antony by beating him
intensity of the pain deprived
move and
ability to
in
speak. At a later time he
Antony would
of his
tell
how
had been so serious that they were worse than
all
the tortures devised by other men. However, God's provi-
dence saved him. The next day the brother arrived with food as
and found the tomb's door smashed down and
usual
Antony
lying half-dead on the ground.
He
lifted
shoulders and carried him back to his house
When
people heard about
came running and Antony.
When
this,
in their grief
drew
he saw that the
relatives
performed the funeral
rites for
10.
a
deep breath and
his spirit grad-
head.
When
there was
awake
lifted his
man who had brought him
the others were lying fast asleep, he beckoned to the
man and begged him one
the village.
in
the night was half over, a deep weariness
ually returning,
all
his
many neighbors and
overcame those keeping watch. Then Antony,
while
him on
at all, to the
to carry
him back, without waking any-
place where he had been living.
So Antony was carried back
and stayed there
to his tomb,
alone as he had before. Since he could not stand up because of his recent beatings, he prayed lying
Antony would run
away from
say
in a
down. After praying,
loud voice, "Look, here
fighting with you. Even
difficulties, you cannot separate
me
if
I
am.
don't
I
you bring me more
from Christ's
love."
And
he would then chant these words: Though an army encamp against me, this,
back.
my
heart shall not {ear
the devil was
The
devil
amazed
was
furious.
(Psalm 27:3).
that
When
Antony had dared
Gathering
his
he heard to
come
dogs together, he
10
Eternal
Wisdom from
the Desert Fathers
said to them, "See
challenges
his
in
weapons,-
we must
him
he must understand
feel,
When
is
overcome neither by the
nor by physical pain. To top
spirit of sinfulness
disrespectful
how Antony
to
us.
Take up
the devil spoke,
who
that he
it is
is
your
all
him
attack with greater force. Let
he
all off,
it
feel, let
provoking."
is
those listening to him agreed with
all
him, for the devil has immeasurable ways of doing harm.
Then
there was a sudden noise that caused the place to shake
Holes appeared
violently.
ent kinds of
swarm
the wall, and a
in
demons poured
out.
They took on
wild animals and snakes, and instantly they place with apparitions
the whole
filled
and
bears.
They each
noises according to their individual natures:
roared, eager for the
ing
the shape of
the form of lions, bulls, wolves,
in
vipers, serpents, scorpions, leopards,
made
movements with
kill,
of differ-
the bull bellowed and
The
wolves
his horns, the serpent hissed,- the
leaped forward to attack, the spotted leopard showed different wiles of the
one
that controlled him.
was
his
as
if
pains
mind was
made him
in his
mocking
alert.
his
Although the wounds of
enemies:
"If
his flesh
you had any power, one
for the fight, but since the
of your strength,
that
He
their voices
body, but he remained unafraid,
you
are
The proof
me, here
I
if
the Lord has granted
am: Eat
me
up. But
you
Lord has robbed
if
to
of your weakness
you have taken on the shapes of unreasoning
continued to speak with confidence:
any influence,
of
broken and so you attempt
use large numbers to terrify me. is
their
groan, he maintained the same attitude and spoke
would be enough you
the
Mauled and beaten, Antony experienced even
terrifying.
more atrocious and
all
Each of
and the sound of
faces bore a savage expression,
lion
made menac-
"If
you
beasts."
truly
have
you any power over
you cannot, why do you use
up so much energy? For the sign of the cross and
faith in the
1
The
Lord
is
for us a wall that
no
Life of
Antony
of Egypt
assault of yours can break
1
down."
Although they made numerous threats against the holy Antony, they did not succeed. They made fools of themselves, 1
1.
not of Antony.
Jesus did not
He came
to notice his servant's struggle.
fail
When Antony
protect Antony.
raised his eyes, he
to
saw the
roof opening above him. As the darkness dissipated, a ray of light all
poured
the
on him. As soon
in
demons vanished, and
The
denly stopped. restored.
as this bright light
the pain
in
appeared,
Antony's body sud-
building that had been destroyed was
Antony immediately understood
present. Sighing deeply from the
that the
bottom of
Lord was he
his heart,
spoke to the light that had appeared to him: "Where were you,
good
Jesus?
from the beginning to heal him: "Antony,
1
will
wounds?" And
and prayed, he
felt
When
12.
Antony was
the old
now
man
live
alone, having lost
fear of that
unknown tireless
in
Antony stood up
when
man
I
this
to
happened.
grow
mentioned
together
in
in spir-
earlier
the desert.
all
way
forth to the
of
life,
mountain
and attempted
path to the desert that had before
to the
own
than he had before he
Antony went
plan,
a
to
refused, giving as his excuse his old age
and the novelty of the
open up
this,
commitment caused him
and begged that they should
to
came
so greatly strengthened that he realized
goodness, he went to the old
When
voice
a
make you famous
will
thirty-five years old
Later, as his willing itual
I
he heard
he had received more strength it.
you here
was waiting to watch your
I
always help you and
throughout the world."
lost
weren't
now, since you have bravely held your
struggle. But this fight,
my
was here, but
I
Why
Where were you?
now been
monks. However, not even there did
his
adversary give up. Determined to obstruct Antony's
commitment
to this
way
of
life,
the devil threw
down
a silver
12
Eternal
Wisdom from
the Desert Fathers
When Antony
plate in his path.
cunning of that ingenious
saw
He
trickster.
he recognized the
it,
stood
still
and
fearless,
and, looking at the plate grimly, he rebuked the one trying to trick is
him with the
this plate
are
no
who
the person
found what had is
a
der
travelers.
could hardly have
it
lost
May
as
Antony
Next Antony saw
God
this piece of
mountain,
as
a piece of real
it
certainly have
so empty. This
to hell with you."
gold lying it
smoke
he found
Antony could not be
Antony marveled
settled in the fort as
its
new
all
a fire.
at the size of
the
way
animals.
tenant. Immediately
huge number of snakes
fled as
to the
After crossing
venomous
a deserted fort full of
He
in his path. It is
there to deceive him, or
he were escaping from
river,
a
go
shining metal and quickly ran if
is
too large.
but you will not hin-
devil,
to prove that
real riches.
the
arrival,
this place
it is
fire.
revealed
seduced even by
would
silver plate
not clear whether the devil put
whether
out of someone's
said this, the plate disappeared like
from the face of the 3.
your
remote and there
is
fallen
back, he
because
"Why
said to himself,
lain unnoticed, for
came
fallen out
intention.
As soon
1
it
had
If it
product of your cunning, you
my
He
the desert? This track
in
any
traces of
luggage, If
here
illusion of silver.
on
his
they had been
if
chased out. Antony then blocked up the entrance with stones
and stayed there
months
a