St. Antony of Egypt
Today is the anniversary of the death of St. Antony of Egypt (AD 251-356), also known as Anthony the Great. While LSB does not include him in the list of Commemorations, he is still a man worth remembering, in my opinion (and that’s not just because I share his name).
The great church father St. Athanasius also considered his contemporary, Antony, to be worthy of remembrance and so wrote an account of the man’s life. Today, St. Antony is most famous as the “father of monasticism,” but he should be known for much more than that. Our own Apology of the Augsburg Confession references St. Antony twice in its teaching on justification, good works, and monastic vows:
Anthony, Bernard, Dominic, Francis, and other Holy Fathers selected a certain kind of life either for the sake of study or other useful exercises. In the meantime, they believed that by faith they were counted righteous for Christ’s sake and that God was gracious to them, not because of their own exercises. (Ap. V:90)
In the accounts of the hermits there are stories of Anthony and others that make the various stations in life equal. It is written that when Anthony asked God to show him how he was progressing in this kind of life, he was shown in a dream a certain shoemaker in the city of Alexandria for comparison. The next day Anthony came into the city and went to the shoemaker to determine his exercises and gifts, and he spoke with the man. He heard nothing except that early in the morning the shoemaker prayed a few words for the entire state and then worked his trade. Here Anthony learned that justification is not to be assigned to the kind of life that he had entered. (Ap. XXVII:38)
More than once did Antony leave his desert hermitage and return to Alexandria in service of his fellow Christians. One time, he deliberately went during a persecution in order to comfort and encourage the Christian martyrs in their faithful witness. Another time, he went to argue with the Arian heretics because they had tried to use Antony’s good name in support of their false teaching about Christ. Here is Antony’s response to the faithful concerning the Arian teaching:
“The Son of God is not a creature… but He is the eternal Word and Wisdom of the substance of the Father. Hence, too, it is impious to say, ‘there was a time when He was not,’ for the Word was always coexistent with the Father. Wherefore, do not have the least thing to do with the most godless Arians: there simply is no fellowship of light with darkness. You must remember that you are God-fearing Christians, but they by saying that the Son and Word of God the Father is a creature, are in no respect different from the pagans who worship the created in place of God the Creator. And you may be sure that all creation is incensed against them because they count among created things the Creator and Lord of all, to whom all things owe their existence.” (The Life of St. Antony, p.78-79)
At one time, Antony also received a letter from the Christian Roman Emperor Constantine and his sons, seeking his advice.
And he wrote back, commending them for worshipping Christ, and giving them salutary advice not to think highly of the things of this world, but rather to bear in mind the judgment to come; and to know that Christ alone is the true and eternal King. He begged them to show themselves humane and to have a regard for justice and for the poor. (p.87)
Finally, before his death, Antony had this to say to his followers:
“You know the demons and their designs, you know how fierce they are, yet how powerless. So, do not fear them; rather let Christ be your life’s breath, and place your confidence in Him. Live as if dying daily… Show your eagerness to give your allegiance, first to the Lord and then to His saints, that after your death they may receive you into everlasting dwellings as familiar friends.” (p.95)
He also requested that they bury his body, so that it would not be preserved in the pagan Egyptian custom. He said of his body:
“At the resurrection of the dead I shall receive it back from the Savior incorruptible.” (p.96)
Quotations from The Life of Saint Antony, by St. Athanasius. Translated by Robert T. Meyer. Newman Press, 1978.