St. Anthony the Abbot

Their story

Anthony was born around 251 in Egypt to Christian parents who owned good farmland. When he was about twenty his parents died, leaving him to care for his younger sister. Not long afterward he heard the Gospel read at Mass: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." Anthony took the words as meant for him. He gave away his land, provided for his sister by placing her with a community of consecrated women, and began a life of prayer and penance. Anthony went farther and farther into the desert to be alone with God. He lived for years in an abandoned fort, praying, working with his hands and fasting. He faced fierce temptations and struggles, which later artists loved to paint, but he overcame them by prayer and trust in Christ. After about twenty years he came out to find that many others had followed him into the desert. He guided them as a spiritual father, and he is remembered as the father of monks. Anthony left the desert twice to go to Alexandria: once during a persecution, to encourage Christians facing martyrdom, and later to support his friend St. Athanasius against the Arian heresy. He died around 356, more than one hundred years old. Athanasius wrote the story of his life, and it spread across the Christian world. Years later, St. Augustine was deeply moved by hearing it, and it helped lead to his conversion. Anthony is traditionally a patron of farmers and of animals, and his feast is often a day for blessing them.