The Story of Saint Anthony of Egypt (Whose Feast Day in 2016 Is Sunday, Jan 17)

[mdgspencer]

Like Saint Francis, he gave away all his possessions and lived a life of poverty–but in his case he went and lived in solitude in the desert. However, because of his holiness, people began gathering to him–and he became the founder of monasticism. No obscure figure, he is a saint famous for his holiness and for his place in monasticism. . He lived in Egypt before the Muslims, when Christianity was prevalent there.
see abbey.suscopts.org/index.php/MONASTIC-LIBRARY/st-anthony-a-saint-in-search-of-perfection.html

 

[NeedImprovement]

Just thought I’d better post something (anything) on this thread seeing that a quote from St. Anthony of the Desert is my siggy. Thanks for the reminder of the feast day.

The more complete quote follows :

**ST. Anthony The Great :
**
“When you close the doors to your dwelling and are alone you should know that there is present with you the angel whom God has appointed for each man…This angel, who is sleepless and cannot be deceived, is always present with you; he sees all things and is not hindered by darkness. You should know, too, that with him is God, who is in every place; for there is no place and nothing material in which God is not, since He is greater than all things and holds all men in His hand.”

St. Anthony also said,

“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, ‘You are mad, you are not like us.’”

Some additional interesting counsels by St. Anthony the Great are contained on the web page SPIRITUAL WORDS BY ST. ANTHOINY THE GREAT provided by St. Mary And St. Anthony’s Coptic Orthodox Monastery,(Queensland, Australia)