St. Anthony the Great (251-356)
Anthony was born to wealthy Christian
parents in Coma, lower Egypt. One day on
his way to church, he was meditating on Jesus saying, “sell of you have, follow
me and you will have riches in heaven (Mathew 19:21), At church, the same
scripture was used, and as a result, Anthony at the age of 34 looked to the
needs of his sister and sold the rest.
The land he owned was given to the tenants who worked it. The money he made was given to the poor and
he left to live in the desert.
He stayed in the desert for thirteen years,
during which time he was faced with temptations by boredom, laziness and images
of women. He then moved into a tomb and sealed it. Beaten in the body by the devil, he was found
unconscious and taken to a church. After
recovering there, he went out to the desert again but to an even more isolated
place. Visions of various animals
appeared to him to scare him, but he just laughed at them and told them they
had no power over Christ. During this
time he was locked in an abandoned fort and his only communication was through
a crack in the wall. Eventually he
emerged, peaceful and enlightened. He
went to Alexandria
to seek martyrdom and witnessed to many, but was not martyred. He returned to his fort for a while, but so
many people came to see him that it interfered with his prayer life, so he
moved yet again, deeper into the desert.
He found a pool and palm trees
and settled there. There he grew a
garden and wove mats made of reeds. Many
would come to visit him, but actually conversed with members of the community
which gathered around him. A vision of
an angel inspired his form of dress from here on, and he was never bored
again. He prophesied the persecution of
the church at this time. In 338 he was
called by Athanasius to help him refute Aryanism.
Knowing his time was near, he divided his
few possessions and charged the monks to bury him secretly so that his body
would not be divided up. They obeyed and
to this day the site of his burial is unknown.
While not the founder of monastism, or anchorites, his life was an
inspiration to both. He was well known
for establishing monasteries in Egypt.
Collect:
Dear Lord, you raised up
Anthony to be a shining light in the desert, encouraging those suffering
persecution, and strengthening those tempted by Aryanism, so raise up in this
and every generation encouragers to strengthen us in true doctrine. This we ask in the name of Yeshua haMoshiach,
who lives and reigns with you and Ruach haKodesh, one God in glory
everlasting. Amen. (white)
Lessons: (omitted if no celebration of the
Eucharist)
Psalm 91:9-16 or 1
1 Peter 5:6-10
Mark 10:17-21
My apologies, somehow we missed the Holy Name, the Epiphany and St. Hilary.
1 Peter 5:6-10
Mark 10:17-21
My apologies, somehow we missed the Holy Name, the Epiphany and St. Hilary.
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