Life of Antony

 He was content with what he found, and sought nothing more. After the death of his parents, he was left alone with one very young sister and he was a

 he signified love for one another and thus filled, he would return to his own place of the hermitage then he himself, gathering to himself the thing

 I undertook to tickle the young, and I have been called the spirit of fornication. How many who wished to be chaste have I deceived! How many who were

 to learn of the ascetic from the life of the great Elijah, as in a mirror his own life always. Thus, then, having strengthened himself, Antony departe

 he forgot the contest of Antony, but came to his aid. So, looking up, he saw the roof as if opening, and a certain ray of light coming down to him. An

 that these were at work, and they themselves, being afraid, called for Antony. But he listened more to these than he cared for those. And coming near

 the Scriptures are sufficient for teaching but it is good for us to exhort one another in the faith, and to anoint one another with words. And you, t

 In this the Lord is also a helper, as it is written: To everyone who chooses the good, God works with him for the good. And so that we may not be negl

 in the air about us, and they are not far from us and there is a great difference among them. And concerning their nature and their difference would

 enemy: Having pursued I will overtake and again by another: I will take the whole world in my hand, as a nest, and I will take it up as abandoned egg

 God said to the sinner: Why do you declare my 26.884 statutes, and take up my covenant in your mouth? For they do all things, and they speak, and make

 worlds from which they ought rather to be despised as weak. For the true angel, sent by the Lord against the Assyrians, had no need of crowds, nor of

 they themselves lied. So also concerning the river's water they sometimes babble for having seen many rains occurring in the parts of Ethiopia, and k

 God so granting. For the vision of the saints is not troubled. For he will not strive, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear their voice. But it hap

 is of our virtue and life but to cast out demons, this grace is of the Savior who gave it. Whence to those who boast not in virtue, but in signs, and

 long-nosed. Then as I was saying Why then are you here? he said Why do the monks, and all other Christians, blame me in vain? Why do they curse me e

 was cast out, and the conceit of others was stopped and all were persuaded to despise the demonic plotting, marveling at the grace given to Antony by

 zeal for he himself also prayed to be martyred, as I said before. He therefore seemed to be grieving, because he had not been martyred but the Lord

 and a few neglected palm trees. Antony, therefore, as if moved by God, loved the place for this was what he who had spoken to him by the banks of the

 you are hesitating, but depart 26.920 for I am a servant of Christ. As Antony said these things, they fled, as if pursued by the whip of his word. Th

 examine, and test yourselves. Therefore, let each one take account to himself day by day of his actions by day and by night and, if he has sinned, le

 and for them to enter, this indeed he did not permit, but said: Go, and you will find her, if she has not died, healed. For this is not my achievement

 Amoun had fallen asleep at the hour in which his old man saw his soul being carried up. And indeed both these and those marveled at the purity of Anto

 to hinder so that he might not pass through. But when his guides fought against them, they demanded an account, whether he was not subject to them. So

 he conversed for their benefit but he yielded to him in the matter of prayer, not being ashamed to learn himself. For he often inquired, and 26.940 a

 believing they were being helped. Indeed, so many became 26.944 Christians in those few days, as many as one might see become in a year. Then, when so

 that Christ was made manifest as a man whereas you, separating the soul from heaven, claim that it has wandered and fallen from the vault of the heav

 we understand by faith, this you attempt to construct through words and often you are not even able to express what we understand so that the operat

 but faith working through love for Christ which if you also should have, you will no longer seek proofs through words but you will consider faith in

 Arians act irrationally like beasts. And when he saw this vision, he exhorted those with him, saying: Do not be disheartened, children for just as th

 coming upon you Therefore cease persecuting Christians, lest at any time the wrath should seize you for it is already about to come upon you. But Ba

 we shall see one another again in this life. It is time for me at last to depart for I am nearly one hundred and five years old. So when they heard t

 Remember me as a father. Do not let anyone take my body to Egypt, lest they place it in their houses for it was for this reason that I went into the

 those who are hiding themselves, and are striving to withdraw, He makes manifest and renowned everywhere on account of both their own virtue and the b

He was content with what he found, and sought nothing more. After the death of his parents, he was left alone with one very young sister; and he was about eighteen or twenty years of age, and he took care of the house and his sister. Not six months had passed since the death of his parents, and as he was going to the Lord’s house according to his custom, and collecting his thoughts, he considered as he walked, how the apostles left all and followed the Savior; and how they in the Acts, selling their possessions, brought and laid them at the apostles’ feet for distribution to those in need, and what and how great a hope is laid up for them in heaven. Pondering these things, he entered the church, and it happened that the Gospel was being read then, and he heard the Lord saying to the rich man: If you would be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and come, follow me, and you will have treasure in heaven. And Antony, as if from God he had received the remembrance of the saints, and as if the reading had been for his sake, 26.844 going out immediately from the Lord's house, the possessions which he had from his ancestors (they were three hundred arouras, fertile and very beautiful), these he gave to the people of the village, so that they might not in any way trouble him and his sister. And all the other movable property they had, he sold, and having collected a considerable sum of money, he gave it to the poor, keeping a little for his sister. But when, entering the Lord’s house again, he heard in the Gospel the Lord saying, Take no thought for the morrow, he could not bear to remain any longer, but went out and distributed that also to the needy. And entrusting his sister to known and faithful virgins, and giving her to a convent to be brought up, he himself from then on devoted himself to the ascetic life before his house, giving heed to himself and training himself with perseverance. For there were not yet so many monasteries in Egypt, and no monk knew the distant desert at all, but each of those who wished to give heed to himself practiced asceticism in solitude not far from his own village. There was then in the neighboring village an old man, who from his youth had practiced the solitary life; Antony saw him, and was zealous for what was good; and at first he too began to stay in the places before the village. And from there if he heard of any zealous person anywhere, he would go and seek him out like the wise bee; and he would not return to his own place before he had seen him, and, as if having received from him some provision for the way to virtue, he would go back. So then, living there at the beginning, he disciplined his thought, not to turn back to his parents' possessions, nor to remember his relatives; but to have all his desire and all his zeal for the discipline of the ascetic life. So he worked with his hands, having heard, If any would not work, neither should he eat; and part of the proceeds 26.845 he spent on bread, and part on the needy. He prayed continually, having learned that one must pray in private without ceasing. For he was so attentive to the reading, that none of the things written fell from him to the ground, but he retained all things, and his memory served him for books. Thus conducting himself, Antony was beloved by all; and he genuinely submitted himself to the zealous men whom he went to see, and learned for himself each one's particular advantage in zeal and ascetic practice. He observed one’s graciousness, another’s earnestness in prayer; and he perceived one’s freedom from anger, and another’s love for humanity; and he paid attention to one who kept vigil, and to another who loved study; and he admired one for his endurance, and another for his fasts and sleeping on the ground; and he noted one's meekness, and another's long-suffering; and of all alike [he noted] their piety towards Christ, and their

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οἷς ηὕρισκεν ἠρκεῖτο, καὶ πλέον οὐδὲν ἐζήτει. Μετὰ δὲ τὸν θάνατον τῶν γονέων, αὐτὸς μόνος κατελείφθη μετὰ μιᾶς βραχυτάτης ἀδελφῆς· καὶ ἦν ἐτῶν ἐγγὺς δέκα καὶ ὀκτὼ, ἢ καὶ εἴκοσι γεγονὼς, αὐ τός τε τῆς οἰκίας καὶ τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἐφρόντιζεν. Οὔπω δὲ μῆνες ἓξ παρῆλθον τοῦ θανάτου τῶν γονέων αὐ τοῦ, καὶ κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς προερχόμενος εἰς τὸ Κυριακὸν, καὶ συνάγων ἑαυτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν, ἐλογί ζετο περιπατῶν, πῶς οἱ μὲν ἀπόστολοι πάντα κατα λιπόντες ἠκολούθησαν τῷ Σωτῆρι· οἱ δὲ ἐν ταῖς Πρά ξεσι πωλοῦντες τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἔφερον καὶ ἐτίθουν παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τῶν ἀποστόλων, εἰς διάδοσιν τῶν χρείαν ἐχόντων, τίς τε καὶ πόση τούτοις ἐλπὶς ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἀπόκειται. Ταῦτα δὴ ἐνθυμούμενος, εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ συνέβη τότε τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ἀναγι νώσκεσθαι, καὶ ἤκουσε τοῦ Κυρίου λέγοντος τῷ πλου σίῳ· Εἰ θέλεις τέλειος εἶναι, ὕπαγε, πώλησον πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά σοι, καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς, καὶ δεῦρο ἀκολούθει μοι, καὶ ἕξεις θησαυρὸν ἐν οὐρανοῖς. Ὁ δὲ Ἀντώνιος, ὥσπερ θεόθεν ἐσχηκὼς τὴν τῶν ἁγίων μνήμην, καὶ ὡς δι' αὐτὸν γενομένου 26.844 τοῦ ἀναγνώσματος, ἐξελθὼν εὐθὺς ἐκ τοῦ Κυρια κοῦ, τὰς μὲν κτήσεις ἃς εἶχεν ἐκ προγόνων (ἄρουραι δὲ ἦσαν τριακόσιαι εὔφοροι καὶ πάνυ καλαὶ), ταύτας ἐχαρίσατο τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς κώμης, ἵνα εἰς μηδ' ὁτιοῦν ὀχλήσωσιν αὐτῷ τε καὶ τῇ ἀδελφῇ. Τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ὅσα ἦν αὐτοῖς κινητὰ, πάντα πωλήσας, καὶ συναγαγὼν ἀργύριον ἱκανὸν, δέδωκε τοῖς πτωχοῖς, τηρήσας ὀλίγα διὰ τὴν ἀδελφήν. Ὡς δὲ, πάλιν εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸ Κυριακὸν, ἤκουσεν ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ τοῦ Κυρίου λέγοντος, Μὴ μεριμνήσητε περὶ τῆς αὔριον, οὐκ ἀνασχόμενος ἔτι μένειν, ἐξελθὼν διέδωκε κἀκεῖνα τοῖς μετρίοις. Τὴν δὲ ἀδελφὴν παραθέμενος γνωρίμοις καὶ πισταῖς παρ θένοις, δούς τε αὐτὴν εἰς Παρθενῶνα ἀνατρέφε σθαι, αὐτὸς πρὸ τῆς οἰκίας ἐσχόλαζε λοιπὸν τῇ ἀσκή σει, προσέχων ἑαυτῷ καὶ καρτερικῶς ἑαυτὸν ἄγων. Οὔπω γὰρ ἦν οὕτως ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ συνεχῆ μονα στήρια, οὐδ' ὅλως ᾔδει μοναχὸς τὴν μακρὰν ἔρημον, ἕκαστος δὲ τῶν βουλομένων ἑαυτῷ προσέχειν οὐ μα κρὰν τῆς ἰδίας κώμης καταμόνας ἠσκεῖτο. Ἦν τοίνυν ἐν τῇ πλησίον κώμῃ τότε γέρων, ἐκ νεότητος τὸν μονήρη βίον ἀσκήσας· τοῦτον ἰδὼν Ἀντώνιος, ἐζήλωσεν ἐν καλῷ· καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἤρξατο καὶ αὐτὸς μένειν ἐν τοῖς πρὸ τῆς κώμης τόποις. Κἀκεῖθεν εἴ που τινὰ σπουδαῖον ἤκουεν, προερχόμενος ἐζήτει τοῦτον ὡς ἡ σοφὴ μέλισσα· καὶ οὐ πρότερον εἰς τὸν ἴδιον τόπον ἀνέκαμπτεν, εἰ μὴ τοῦτον ἑωράκει, καὶ ὥσπερ ἐφόδιόν τι τῆς εἰς ἀρετὴν ὁδοῦ παρ' αὐτοῦ λα βὼν, ἐπανῄει. Ἐκεῖ τοίνυν τὰς ἀρχὰς διατρίβων, τὴν διάνοιαν ἐστάθμιζεν, ὅπως πρὸς μὲν τὰ τῶν γονέων μὴ ἐπιστρέφηται, μηδὲ τῶν συγγενῶν μνημονεύῃ· ὅλον δὲ τὸν πόθον καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν σπουδὴν ἔχῃ περὶ τὸν τόνον τῆς ἀσκήσεως. Εἰργάζετο γοῦν ταῖς χερσὶν, ἀκούσας· Ὁ δὲ ἀργὸς μηδὲ ἐσθιέτω· καὶ τὸ μὲν 26.845 εἰς τὸν ἄρτον, τὸ δὲ εἰς τοὺς δεομένους ἀνήλισκε. Προσηύχετο δὲ συνεχῶς, μαθὼν, ὅτι δεῖ κατ' ἰδίαν προσεύχεσθαι ἀδιαλείπτως. Καὶ γὰρ προσεῖχεν οὕτως τῇ ἀναγνώσει, ὡς μηδὲν τῶν γεγραμμένων ἀπ' αὐτοῦ πίπτειν χαμαὶ, πάντα δὲ κατέχειν, καὶ λοιπὸν αὐτῷ τὴν μνήμην ἀντὶ βιβλίων γίνεσθαι. Οὕτω μὲν οὖν ἑαυτὸν ἄγων, ἠγαπᾶτο παρὰ πάντων ὁ Ἀντώνιος· αὐτὸς δὲ τοῖς σπουδαίοις, πρὸς οὓς ἀπήρχετο, γνησίως ὑπετάσσετο, καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἑκάστου τὸ πλεονέκτημα τῆς σπουδῆς καὶ τῆς ἀσκή σεως κατεμάνθανε· καὶ τοῦ μὲν τὸ χαρίεν, τοῦ δὲ τὸ πρὸς τὰς εὐχὰς σύντονον ἐθεώρει· καὶ ἄλλου μὲν τὸ ἀόργητον, ἄλλου δὲ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον κατενόει· καὶ τῷ μὲν ἀγρυπνοῦντι, τῷ δὲ φιλολογοῦντι προσεῖχε· καὶ τὸν μὲν ἐν καρτερίᾳ, τὸν δὲ ἐν νηστείαις καὶ χαμευνίαις ἐθαύμαζε· καὶ τοῦ μὲν τὴν πραότητα, τοῦ δὲ τὴν μακροθυμίαν παρετηρεῖτο· πάντων δὲ ὁμοῦ τὴν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν εὐσέβειαν, καὶ τὴν

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