this is a part of the Ancient Christian Writers series...the works of the (church) fathers in translation.
this is translated into english by robert t. meyer, ph. D. quoted here is the introduction.
'the present volume contains the most important document of early monasticism,
'the Life of St. Antony', whose author is no less a man than the great st. athanasius himself.
antony, generally considered the father of christian monachism or monasticism,
was born about the year 250 of well to do parents in middle egypt.
if sozomen's information is not confused, his home town was coma.
his parents were christians.
Ath stresses that the boy was attached to them and to home life,
finding school and companionship with other children distasteful.
he was 18 or 20 years of age when his parents died,
leaving him guardian of his younger and only sister.
one day, about six months later, he happened to enter the church
when he was struck by the reading of the gospel in which the Lord speaks to the rich young man:
'if thou wilt be perfect, GO SELL ALL that thou hast and GIVE it TO THE POOR;
and COME, FOLLOW ME
and THOU SHALT HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN.
applying this to himself, he went home and distributed his land
-a fertile farm of more than 200 acres-
among the townspeople.
he sold all his other belongings.
he did not wish the goods of the world to hamper himself or his sister,
and so he also disposed of the money received, giving it to the poor.
only a small sum was retained for his sister.
but once again as he went to church, he was moved by a lesson of the gospel:
BE NOT *SOLICITOUS FOR THE MORROW.
(*anxious, concerned about)
taking this as another gesture from on high,
he distributed the remaining fund to the poor.
placing his sister in the care of a community of pious women,
he began to practice the ascetic life near his old home.
at this time such life was not yet practiced in common,
but one who desired to lead the perfect life went apart from the rest
and apart from any organization practiced it by himself.
near An's native village there lived an old man who had given himself to a life of asceticism from his youth.
drawn by his EXAMPLE, An left his home surroundings
and observed carefully the ascetic practices of this SOLITARY and of other men like him.
he endeavored to IMITATE the special VIRTUE of each,
not in a spirit of pride or contention,
but with purpose of becoming a model ASCETIC in the eyes of God.
PRAYER was combined with FASTING and MANUAL LABOR,
for his teachers in the ascetic life agreed with the apostle who said that
he that is lazy, neither let him eat. (II thessalonians 3.10)
later he departed to some tombs that lay at a considerable distance from the village.
and obliging friend locked him in an empty vault and brought him bread from time to time.
Ath reports (10) that An remained here until he was approximately 35 years of age,
in his solitude fighting off the temptations of the flesh and the attacks of demons.
because of his constancy the Lord promised him in a vision that he would be ever at his side in time of trial
and make him renowned throughout the world.
he left this retreat to move to the right side of the nile to the outer mountain at pospir,
where he occupied a deserted fort.
after living in his new solitude for a long time-st. ath states (14) that this period lasted 20 years
-he was visited by friends who wished to copy his holy life.
they broke down the door of his retreat
and An emerged, fresh and unchanged and performing miracles and preaching the love of Christ.
many gathered around him to follow the ascetic life.
he became their leader, teaching them constantly by word and example,
fostering their zeal, and attracting still others to the ascetic life.
from this period we have a long discourse (16-43) delivered by An on the vocation of the monk,
the temptations of satan and his powerlessness in the presence of recourse to prayer against him,
and the gift, coming from the Holy Spirit, of discerning good and evil spirits.
at about this time we also find An at the head of a group of monks
going to alexandria during the persecution of maximin daja.
his purpose was to offer himself for MARTYRDOM, if the lord willed it.
he spent his time 'ministering to the confessors in the mines and in the prisons'.
but to his grief it did not please God that he should die a martyr
and when the persecution had ended, he returned to his cell,
to be a daily martyr to his conscience, ever fighting the battles of the faith'. (47)
while An was the recognized superior of the monks who had subjected themselves to him,
he remained ever true to his eremitic vocation.
he needed to be alone;
and to be alone, he left pispir and travelled for some days through the desert towards the red sea.
when he had found a spring and some date palms,
he settled there at the foot of a mountain.
this was the 'inner mountain', still known as der mar antonios,
where he cultivated a small garden and spent his time in prayer and meditation.
charles kingsley has this to say of An's new retreat:
'the eastward view from An's old home must be one of the most glorious in the world,
save for the want of verdure and of life.
for An, as he looked across the gulf of akaba, across which, far above,
the israilites had passed in old times, could see the sacred peaks of sinai,
flaming against the blue sky with that intensity of hue which is scarcely exaggerated, it is said,
by the bright scarlet color in which sinai is always painted in medieval illuminations.
from this retreat he was to make quite regular trips to visit and counsel his spiritual subjects.
and other recorded facts, too, show that An must not be thought of
as one who immersed himself in his ascetic practices and the eremitical life to the exclusion of all else.
Ath pictures him as going to alexandria and publicly denouncing the arian heretics and 'Christ-fighters' (60-78
he did not refuse to enter discussion with the 'greeks', the followers of neo platonic thought ( 72-80).
the world beat a path to his cell in the heart of the desert, seeking cures of body and mind and soul;
and, as they had done at pispir, monks came to him for his sympathy and practical advice.
when he felt his end approaching, he wished to die alone on his mountain
-the 'Inner Mountain'-where he had spent so many decades of 'daily martyrdom'.
after a brief farewell to the brethren on the 'outer mountain',
he went back to his retreat in the company of two monks, macarius and amatas,
who lived with him because of his advanced age.
he then made his last will and testament:
his place of burial was never to be revealed by the two monks;
further, to bishop Ath he left a sheepskin and a cloak, gifts which he had once received from him;
bishop serapion was to receive his other sheepskin,
but they were to keep the hair shirt for themselves (91).
witgh a final blessing for them, he gave up his spirit.
when An died in the year 356 at the age of 105 years,
he was recognized founder and father of monasticism.
his original settlement at pispir of monks who looked to him as their superior,
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