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

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 Christ to be sufficient. These were the words of Antony; and they, marvelling also at this, withdrew, embracing him, and confessing that they had been helped by him. The fame of Antony reached even the emperors. For when Constantine Augustus, and his sons Constantius and Constans, the Augusti, learned of these things, they wrote to him as to a father, and prayed to receive replies from him. But he neither made much of the letters, nor did he rejoice at the epistles; but he was the same as he had been before the emperors wrote to him. And when the letters were brought to him, he called the monks and said: "Do not be amazed if an emperor writes to us, for he is a man; but rather be amazed that God wrote the law for men, and has spoken to us through His own Son." He was therefore unwilling to receive the letters, saying that he did not know how to write back in such matters; but being urged by the monks, because the emperors were Christians, and so that they might not be offended as if they were cast off, he allowed them to be read. And he wrote back, accepting them because they worship Christ, but he counselled them on matters for salvation; and not to consider present things as great, but rather to remember the coming judgment, and to know that 26.957 Christ alone is the true and eternal king. He also urged them to be philanthropic, and to care for justice and for the poor. And they, receiving them, rejoiced. Thus he was beloved by all, and all desired to have him as a father. Being known, then, as such a man, and answering in this way those who met him, he returned again to the inner mountain. And he held to his customary discipline; but often while sitting with those who came to him, and walking, he was carried away, as is written in Daniel. And after a time he himself would speak of what followed to the brothers with him; and those who were with him perceived that he was seeing some vision. For often, while he was on the mountain, he saw things happening in Egypt and related them to Sarapion the bishop, who was inside and saw Antony occupied with the vision. Once, at any rate, while sitting and working, he fell as it were into a trance, and groaned much in the vision. Then, after a time, turning to those who were with him, he groaned, and becoming terrified, he prayed, and bending his knees, he remained for a long time. And rising up, the old man wept. So those who were with him became terrified, and being very frightened, they asked to learn from him; and they troubled him much until he was forced to speak. And he, groaning greatly even so, said: "O children, it were better to die, before the things of the vision come to pass." And when they asked again, he said with tears: "Wrath is about to overtake the Church, and it is about to be handed over to men like irrational beasts. For I saw the table of the Lord's house, and mules standing around it in a circle on all sides, and kicking the things within, just as would be the kicks of 26.960 disorderly leaping beasts. You surely perceived," he says, "how I was groaning; for I heard a voice saying: 'My altar shall be defiled.'" These things the old man saw; and after two years the present attack of the Arians came to pass, and the seizure of the churches, when having violently seized the vessels, they had them carried by gentiles; when also they forced the gentiles from their workshops to assemble with them; and in their presence they did upon the table as they pleased. Then we all recognized that the kicking of the mules prefigured to Antony these things which now the

30

ἀλλὰ πίστις δι' ἀγάπης τῆς εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν ἐνεργουμένης· ἥντινα ἐὰν σχοίητε καὶ ὑμεῖς, οὐκέτι τὰς διὰ λόγων ἀποδείξεις ζητήσετε· ἀλλ' αὐτ άρκη τὴν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν πίστιν ἡγήσεσθε. Ταῦτα τοῦ Ἀντωνίου τὰ ῥήματα· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ θαυμάζοντες, ἀνεχώρουν, κατασπαζόμενοι αὐτὸν, καὶ ὁμολογοῦντες ὠφελεῖσθαι παρ' αὐτοῦ. Ἔφθασε δὲ καὶ μέχρι βασιλέων ἡ περὶ Ἀντω νίου φήμη. Ταῦτα γὰρ μαθόντες Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ Αὔ γουστος, καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ Κωνστάντιος καὶ Κώνστας οἱ Αὔγουστοι, ἔγραφον αὐτῷ ὡς πατρὶ, καὶ ηὔχοντο λαμβάνειν ἀντίγραφα παρ' αὐτοῦ. Ἀλλ' οὔτε τὰ γράμματα περὶ πολλοῦ τινος ἐποιεῖτο, οὔτε ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς ἐγεγήθει· ὁ αὐτὸς δὲ ἦν, οἷος καὶ πρὸ τοῦ γράφειν αὐτῷ τοὺς βασιλέας. Ὅτε δὲ ἐκομίζετο αὐτῷ τὰ γράμματα, ἐκάλει τοὺς μοναχοὺς, καὶ ἔλεγε· Μὴ θαυμάζετε, εἰ γράφει βασιλεὺς πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ἄνθρωπος γάρ ἐστιν· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον θαυμάζετε, ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς τὸν νόμον ἀνθρώποις ἔγραψε, καὶ διὰ τοῦ ἰδίου Υἱοῦ λε λάληκεν ἡμῖν. Ἐβούλετο μὲν οὖν μὴ δέχεσθαι τὰς ἐπιστολὰς, λέγων οὐκ εἰδέναι πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἀντι γράφειν· προτραπεὶς δὲ παρὰ τῶν μοναχῶν, ὅτι Χρι στιανοί εἰσιν οἱ βασιλεῖς, καὶ ἵνα μὴ ὡς προῤῥιφέν τες σκανδαλισθῶσιν, ἐπέτρεπεν ἀναγινώσκεσθαι. Καὶ ἀντέγραφεν, ἀποδεχόμενος μὲν αὐτοὺς, ὅτι τὸν Χρι στὸν προσκυνοῦσι, συνεβούλευε δὲ τὰ εἰς σωτηρίαν· καὶ μὴ μεγάλα ἡγεῖσθαι τὰ παρόντα, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον μνημονεύειν τῆς μελλούσης κρίσεως, καὶ εἰδέναι, ὅτι 26.957 ὁ Χριστὸς μόνος ἀληθὴς καὶ αἰώνιός ἐστι βασιλεύς. Φιλανθρώπους τε αὐτοὺς εἶναι ἠξίου, καὶ φροντίζειν τοῦ δικαίου καὶ τῶν πτωχῶν. Κἀκεῖνοι δεχόμενοι ἔχαι ρον. Οὕτω παρὰ πᾶσιν ἦν προσφιλὴς, καὶ πάντες ἔχειν αὐτὸν ἠξίουν πατέρα. Τοιοῦτος δὴ οὖν γινωσκόμενος, καὶ οὕτω πρὸς τοὺς ἀπαντῶντας ἀποκρινόμενος, ὑπέστρεφε πάλιν εἰς τὸ ἔνδον ὄρος. Καὶ τῆς μὲν συνήθους ἀσκήσεως εἴχετο· πολλάκις δὲ μετὰ τῶν εἰσερχομένων πρὸς αὐ τὸν καθεζόμενος, καὶ περιπατῶν, ἀπηνεοῦτο, ὡς ἐν τῷ ∆ανιὴλ γέγραπται. Καὶ αὐτὸς μὲν μεθ' ὥρας ὡμί λει τὰ ἀκόλουθα τοῖς συνοῦσιν ἀδελφοῖς αὐτῷ· οἱ δὲ συνόντες ᾐσθάνοντό τινα θεωρίαν αὐτὸν βλέπειν. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὰ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ γινόμενα πολλάκις, ἐν τῷ ὄρει τυγχάνων ἔβλεπε καὶ διηγήσατο Σαραπίωνι τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ, ἔνδον ὄντι καὶ βλέποντι τὸν Ἀντώνιον ἀσχοληθέντα τῇ ὀπτασίᾳ. Ποτὲ γοῦν καθεζόμενος καὶ ἐργαζόμενος, ὥσπερ ἐν ἐκστάσει γέγονε, καὶ πολὺς ἦν ἐν τῇ θεωρίᾳ στενάζων. Εἶτα μεθ' ὥραν στραφεὶς πρὸς τοὺς συνόντας, ἐστέναζε, καὶ ἔντρομος γενόμε νος, ηὔχετο, καὶ κάμπτων τὰ γόνατα, διέμενεν ἐπὶ πολύ. Καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔκλαιεν ὁ γέρων. Ἔντρομοι τοί νυν γενόμενοι οἱ συνόντες, καὶ πάνυ φοβηθέντες, ἠξίουν μαθεῖν παρ' αὐτοῦ· καὶ πολὺ διώχλησαν ἕως βιασθεὶς εἴπῃ. Ὁ δὲ καὶ οὕτω μέγα στενάξας· Ὦ τέκνα, βέλτιον, ἔλεγεν, ἀποθανεῖν, πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι τὰ τῆς θεωρίας. Τῶν δὲ πάλιν ἀξιούντων, δακρύσας ἔλεγε· Μέλλει τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ὀργὴ καταλαμβάνειν, καὶ μέλλει παραδίδοσθαι ἀνθρώποις ὁμοίοις ἀλόγοις κτήνεσιν. Εἶδον γὰρ τὴν τράπεζαν τοῦ Κυριακοῦ, καὶ περὶ αὐτὴν ἑστῶτας ἡμιόνους κύκλῳ πανταχόθεν, καὶ λακτίζοντας τὰ ἔνδον οὕτως, ὡς ἂν ἀτάκτως 26.960 σκιρτώντων κτηνῶν γένοιτο λακτίσματα. Πάντως δὲ ᾔσθεσθε, φησὶ, πῶς ἐστέναζον· ἤκουσα γὰρ φωνῆς λεγούσης· Βδελυχθήσεται τὸ θυσιαστήριόν μου. Ταῦτα εἶδεν ὁ γέρων· καὶ μετὰ δύο ἔτη γέγονεν ἡ νῦν ἔφ οδος τῶν Ἀρειανῶν, καὶ ἡ ἁρπαγὴ τῶν ἐκκλη σιῶν, ὅτε καὶ τὰ σκεύη μετὰ βίας ἁρπάσαντες, δι' ἐθνικῶν ἐποίουν βαστάζεσθαι· ὅτε καὶ τοὺς ἐθνι κοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐργαστηρίων ἠνάγκαζον συνάγε σθαι μετ' αὐτῶν· καὶ παρόντων αὐτῶν ἔπραττον ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης ὡς ἤθελον. Τότε πάντες ἡμεῖς ἐπέγνω μεν, ὅτι τὰ λακτίσματα τῶν ἡμιόνων ταῦτα προ εμήνυε τῷ Ἀντωνίῳ, ἃ νῦν οἱ

30