Background
Anthony the Great also called the Abbot, or the Hermit, the father of Christian monasticism and the founder of religious community life. Born in Middle Egypt about 251, he was descended from ancient Egyptian stock and spoke only the Coptic language. He spent his whole life in his native country and died there about 356.
Anthony was not yet twenty when his parents died and left him a considerable fortune as well as the care of a younger sister. About six months later he heard read in church the words of Christ to the rich young man: "Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven." These words made such a deep impression on him that eventually he gave up all his possessions, placed his sister in a home for Christian virgins, and adopted the mode of life of the ascetics or hermits who dwelt in huts outside the towns. It was only at this time that Anthony was baptized.
After some time, he retired into complete solitude, living in an empty tomb at a considerable distance from the settled areas. A friend brought him the necessary food. When he was thirty-five years old he crossed the Nile and took up his abode in an old fort at Pispir. His garment consisted of white sheepskin, under which he wore sackcloth; a friend supplied him with food by throwing it over the wall. After living alone in this fashion for twenty years, Anthony finally yielded to the requests of other hermits who had come to Pispir and came out to instruct them. Thus the first religious community of hermits was established in 305.
Anthony devoted himself to the instruction and guidance of his disciples for about six years and in 311 went with some of them to Alexandria to strengthen the captive and condemned Christians during the persecution of the Emperor Maximin. To regain the solitude he loved so much, he then went to an oasis at the foot of a mountain near the Gulf of ‘Aqaba.#Aqaba. This mountain is still called DêrDer Mar Antonios. Here he began to cultivate the soil to obtain the food he needed for himself and the guests who came to visit him at times. Towards the end of his life he appeared in Alexandria a second time about 350 to preach against the Arians and other heretics.
Although Anthony by word and example thus became the acknowledged leader of the monastic life, it was only after his death that the rule for the hermit-monks of St. Anthony was written by St. Athanasius in 362. A contemporary of St. Anthony, St. Pachomius, founded in Egypt about 320 the first community of monks who were not hermits.
The relics of St. Anthony were taken to Alexandria about 529, to Constantinople around 653, and to Mothe-Saint Didier near Vienne, France, in 980. At the latter place, the veneration of St. Anthony was greatly increased about 1090, when his intercession was first invoked against a pestilence called "sacred fire" or "St. Anthony's fire," prevalent in Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. St. Anthony is also regarded as a patron saint against other diseases, and by butchers, brush makers, and grave diggers; also as a protector of hogs and other domestic animals. His feast is celebrated on January 17.
