Eternal Wisdom from the Desert: Writings from the Desert Fathers 978-1557252838

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

Citation preview

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

www paracletepress com in

for

without the prior permission of the

publisher

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