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14
ST. ATHANASIUS
THE LIFE
OF SAINT ANTONY
Tnrr
WRITERS
THE WORKS OF THE FATHERS IN TRANSLATION
EDITED BY
JOHANNES QUASTEN, S.T.D,
Professor of Ancient Church History
and Christian Archaeology
JOSEPH C. PLUMPE, PH.D.
Professor of Patristic Greek
and Ecclesiastical Latin
The Catholic University of America
Washington, D. C.
No. 10
THE NEWMAN PRESS
WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND
1950
ST. ATHANASIUS
THE LIFE
OF SAINT ANTONY
NEWLY TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED
BY
ROBERT T. MEYER, Ph. D.
Assistant Professor of Comparative Philology
Catholic University of America
Washington, D. C.
THE NEWMAN PRESS
WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND
1950
Nihil Obstat:
JOANNES QUASTEN, S. T. D.
Censor Deputatus
Imprimatur:
PATRJCIUS A. O'BOYLE, D. D.
Archiepiscopus Washingtonensis
die 7 Martii 1950
COPYRIGHT 1950
BY
REV. JOHANNES QUASTEN, S. T. D.
AND
REV. JOSEPH C. PLUMPE, PH. D.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY WICKUND-NALLEY LITHOGRAPHERS, INC.
WESTMINSTER, MARYLAND
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 3
TEXT 17
PROLOGUE 17
BIRTH AND YOUTH OF ANTONY 18
ANTONY'S CALL AND HIS FIRST STEPS IN ASCETICISM . 19
EARLY CONFLICTS WITH DEMONS 22
ANTONY'S LIFE IN THE TOMBS. FURTHER STRUGGLES
WITH DEMONS 26
HE CROSSES THE NILE. LIFE IN THE DESERT
SOLITUDE OF PISPIR 29
HE LEAVES HIS SOLITUDE. THE FATHER AND TEACHER
OF MONKS 32
ANTONY'S ADDRESS TO THE MONKS (16-43) 33
MONASTIC VIRTUE 57
THE CANDIDATE FOR MARTYRDOM UNDER
MAXIMIN DAjA<311) 59
THE DAILY MARTYR OF THE MONASTIC LIFE .... 60
FLIGHT TO THE INNER MOUNTAIN 61
DEMONS AGAIN 63
ANTONY VISITS THE BRETHREN ALONG THE NILE ... 65
THE BRETHREN VISIT ANTONY 66
MIRACLES IN THE DESERT 68
VISIONS 74
ANTONY'S DEVOTION TO THE CHURCH'S MINISTERS ... 76
His LOYALTY TO THE FAITH 77
WISDOM TO THE WISE 80
THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE WRITES TO HIM .... 86
HE FORETELLS THE RAVAGES OF THE ARIAN HERETICS . . 87
GOD'S WONDER- WORKER AND PHYSICIAN OF SOULS . . 89
DEATH 93
EPILOGUE 98
NOTES 99
To THE INTRODUCTION 101
To THE TEXT 106
INDEX 137
ST. ATHANASIUS
THE LIFE
OF SAINT ANTONY
INTRODUCTION
The present volume contains the most important docu-
ment of early monasticism, The Life of St. Antony, whose
author is no less a man than the great St. Athanasius
himself.
Antony, generally considered the father of Christian
monachism or monasticism, 1 was born about the year 250
of well-to-do parents in Middle Egypt. If Sozomen's in-
formation is not confused, his home town was Coma."
His parents were Christians. Athanasius stresses that the
boy was attached to them and to home life, finding school
and companionship with other children distasteful.
He was eighteen or twenty years of age when his
parents died, leaving him guardian of his younger and
only sister. One day, about six months later, he happened
to enter the church when he was struck by the reading of
the Gospel in which the Lord speaks to the rich young
man: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell all that thou hast,, and
give it to the poor; and come,, follow me and thou shalt
have treasure in Heaven* Applying this to himself, he
went home and distributed his land a fertile farm of more
than two hundred acres among the townspeople. He
sold all his other belongings. He did not wish the goods
of the world to hamper himself or his sister, and so he also
disposed of the money received, giving it to the poor. Only
a small sum was retained for his sister.
But once again as he went to church, he was moved by
a lesson of the Gospel: Be not solicitous for the morrow. 4
4 INTRODUCTION
Taking this as another gesture from on high, he distrib-
uted the remaining fund to the poor. Placing his sister
in the care of a community of pious women, he began to
practice the ascetic life near his old home. At this time
such life was not yet practiced in common, but one who
desired to lead the perfect life went apart from the rest,
and apart from any organization practiced it by himself.
Near Antony's native village there lived an old man who
had given himself to a life of asceticism from his youth.
Drawn by his example, Antony left his home surroundings
and observed carefully the ascetic practices of this solitary
and of other men like him. He endeavored to imitate the
special virtue of each, not in a spirit of pride or contention,
but with the purpose of becoming a model ascetic in the
eyes of God. Prayer was combined with fasting and
manual labor, for his teachers in the ascetic life agreed
with the Apostle who said that he that is lazy, neither let
him eat: 1
Later he departed to some tombs that lay at a consider-
able distance from the village. An obliging friend locked
him in an empty vault and brought him bread from time
to time. Athanasius reports (10) that Antony remained
here until he was approximately thirty-five years of age,
in his solitude fighting off the temptations of the flesh and
the attacks of demons. Because of his constancy the Lord
promised him in a vision that He would be ever at his side
in time of trial and make him renowned throughout the
world. He left this retreat to move to the right side of the
Nile to the "Outer Mountain" 7 at Pispir, where he occu-
pied a deserted fort.
After living in his new solitude for a long time St.
INTRODUCTION 5
Athanasius states (14) that this period lasted twenty years
he was visited by friends who wished to copy his holy
life. They broke down the door of his retreat, and Antony
emerged, fresh and unchanged, and performing miracles
and preaching the love of Christ. Many gathered around
him to follow the ascetic life. He became their leader,
teaching them constantly by word and example, fostering
their zeal, and attracting still others to the ascetic life.
From this period we have a long discourse (16-43) de-
livered by Antony on the vocation of the monk, the temp-
tations of Satan and his powerlessness in the presence of
recourse to prayer against him, and the gift, coming from
the Holy Spirit, of discerning good and evil spirits.
At about this time we also find Antony at the head of
a group of monks going to Alexandria during the persecu-
tion of Maximin Daja. His purpose was to offer himself
for martyrdom, if the Lord willed it. He spent his time
"ministering to the confessors in the mines and in the
prisons." 8 But to his grief it did not please God that he
should die a martyr, and when the persecution had ended,
he returned to his cell, to be a "daily martyr to his con-
science, ever fighting the battles of the faith" (47).
While Antony was the recognized superior of the monks
who had subjected themselves to him, he remained ever
true to his eremitic vocation. He needed to be alone; and
to be alone, he left Pispir and travelled for some days
through the desert towards the Red Sea. When he had
found a spring and some date palms, he settled there at
the foot of a mountain. This was the "Inner Mountain," 9
still known as Der Mar Antonios, where he cultivated a
small garden and spent his time in prayer and meditation.
6 INTRODUCTION
Charles Kingsley has this to say of Antony's new retreat:
The eastward view from Antony's old home must be one of the
most glorious in the world, save for the want of verdure and of life.
For Antony, as he looked across the Gulf of Akaba, across which,
far above, the Israelites had passed in old times, could see the
sacred peaks of Sinai, flaming against the blue sky with that in-
tensity of hue which is scarcely exaggerated, it is said, by the
bright scarlet color in which Sinai is always painted in medieval
illuminations. 10
From this retreat he was to make quite regular trips to
visit and counsel his spiritual subjects.
And other recorded facts, too, show that Antony must
not be thought of as one who immersed himself in his
ascetic practices and the eremitical life to the exclusion
of all else. Athanasius pictures him as going to Alexandria
and publicly denouncing the Arian heretics and "Christ-
fighters" (68-70). He did not refuse to enter discussion
with the "Greeks/ 5 the followers of Neo-Platonic thought
(72-80). The world beat a path to his cell in the heart of
the desert, seeking cures of body and mind and soul; and,
as they had done at Pispir, monks came to him for his
sympathy and practical advice.
When he felt his end approaching, he wished to die
alone on his mountain the "Inner Mountain" where he
had spent so many decades of "daily martyrdom." After
a brief farewell to the brethren on the "Outer Mountain,"
he went back to his retreat in the company of two monks,
Macarius and Amatas, who lived with him because of his
advanced age. He then made his last will and testament-:
his place of burial was never to be revealed by the two
monks; further, to Bishop Athanasius he left a sheepskin
and a cloak, gifts which he had once received from him;
Bishop Serapion was to receive his other sheepskin, but
INTRODUCTION 7
they were to keep the hair shirt for themselves (91 ) * With
a final blessing for them, he gave up his spirit.
When Antony died in the year 356 at the age of one
hundred and five years, he was the recognized founder and
father of monasticism. His original settlement at Pispir
of monks who looked to him as their superior, had become
the center of the solitary life in Egypt. 11 It was a school
for asceticism,, including such famous solitaries as Hi-
larion, who visited Antony in his youth and later helped
spread the monastic life in Palestine; 12 Macarius the
Elder, 13 spiritual father to several thousand monks in the
desert of Scete; Amoun, 14 the founder of Nitrian monasti-
cism; Paul the Simple, and others. As Dom Cuthbert
Butler has said:
Whether in works which may claim to be history, or in the
vaguer traditions enshrined in the Apophthegmata, or in the pure
romances, a firmly set tradition ever looks back to Antony as the
- inspirer, nay even the creator, of that monastic system, which . . .
had by the year 370 attained to vast proportions in Egypt and
elsewhere. 15
For the history of Egyptian monasticism during the
fourth and fifth centuries we are dependent upon Palla-
dius 5 celebrated record of monastic biographies known as
The Lausiac History, and the various collections, in many
versions, of "Sayings of the Fathers" (or Elders), called
Apophthegmata Patrum or Verba Seniorum. We should
also mention, among others, a third source, the anony-
mous Historia Monachorum in Aegypto (History of the
Monks in Egypt) , long thought to be an original work in
Latin by Rufinus. The solution in great part of the baf-
fling problems and riddles presented by this mass of litera-
ture was achieved by some of the most brilliant research
8 INTRODUCTION
of recent times and is to be credited principally to the
English Benedictine just mentioned, Dom Cuthbert Butler,
and the German scholar, Wilhelm Bousset The con-
stant recurrence of references to Antony and his teachings
and to incidents in his life 17 indicates the high esteem in
which his memory was held. If we were limited to these
general works of monastic lives and traditions, we should
have a very high opinion of the position he held in the
development of monasticism in Egypt.
But it is fortunate, and also important for the develop-
ment of monasticism in the West, that St. Athanasius
turned his attention to writing a biography of Antony as
early as 357, within a year after his death. The year 357
is generally accepted today as the date of composition of
the Vita, 18 though the view of the Maurist editors that it
was written at a later date, in the year 365, still finds-
support. 19 But modern criticism has concerned itself with
the authenticity of the biography rather than the date of
composition. 20
The contemporaries or near-contemporaries of St.
Athanasius never hesitated to ascribe the authorship to
him. In 392 St. Jerome shows that he was acquainted with
the Vita., both in the original and in the Latin version
made of it by Evagrius 21 approximately thirty years
earlier. St. Gregory Nazianzen remarks that Athanasius
wrote a life of St. Antony in the form of a narrative. 22
Further, the Herodotus of the desert Fathers, Palladius,
quotes an incident recorded in the life of the Nitrian monk
Amoun and indicates his source, "The blessed Athanasius
the bishop in his life of Antony." 23
"Since the Reformation the general tendency of protes-
tant writers has been to discredit, of Roman Catholics
INTRODUCTION 9
to maintain the authority of the Vita." This statement
by an eminent editor of the writings of St. Athanasius,
Archibald Robertson, held quite true when It was written
nearly sixty years ago. 24 Among the Reformers attacking
the authenticity were the Magdeburg Centuriators, the
Calvinist theologian Andrew Rivet, and the ex-Premon-
stratensian Casimir Oudin; on the Catholic side as de-
fending the Athanasian authorship the names of Bellarmin
and Montfaucon were the most conspicuous. In modern
times the last serious attempt to deny the genuineness of
the Vita was made some seventy years ago by the Breslau
professor H. Weingarten. 25 Today no one denies that St.
Athanasius is the author,, and its unique importance not
only for the development of monasticism, but for monas-
ticism's earliest history is generally conceded.
One of the difficulties urged against the authority of the
Vita also strikes the modern reader: the long passages
representing discourses by Antony and setting forth a high
degree of learning on the theory of asceticism (16-43),
on Greek philosophy, especially Neo-Platonism (72-80),
and against Arianism (69) . Against this it was urged that
Athanasius states. or intimates in several places in the Life
that Antony possessed no book learning. It is even doubt-
ful that he could read or write. 20 The most we can say
regarding these sections is that they are both Antony and
Athanasius: equidem quid Antonio quid Athanasio tri-
buendum sit, vix diiudicari posse concedo as the learned
critic of Weingarten put it. 27
Athanasius meets rather well the requirements of
modern historical criticism as far as the sources of his in-
formation go. 28 He had himself known Antony well, hav-
ing spent part of his youth with him, probably before he
10 INTRODUCTION
was ordained deacon in 318. Antony had visited him in
Alexandria (71 ) , and Athanasius had probably spent some
time with him in the desert during one of his periods of
exile. Further, the author indicates near the close of the
Prologue that he has profited from information given him
by one "who was his (Antony's) companion over a long
period/ 5 29
If we accept the heading preserved in the ancient Latin
version of Evagrius, the Prologue is addressed to monks in
foreign parts ad peregrines fratres. This must refer to
monks in the West who had apparently asked Athanasius
to give some account of the life of Antony for their emula-
tion. Athanasius had, of course, spent some time in the
West on two different occasions, while exiled from Alex-
andria. His first stay was at Trier on the banks of the
Mosel in 336-337. 30 The Eusebians forced him into exile
a second time, and in March, 340, he set out for Rome. 31
Although in the following year he was exonerated by a
Roman synod under Pope Julius, it was more than six
years before he was free to return to the see of Alexandria.
In the course of this stay he also came to Milan* and re-
visited Trier. He had gone to Rome accompanied by a
Nitric monk named Isidore. Palladius relates n2 how the
monk became known to the Roman senate and the Roman
noblewomen; and we have it on the authority of St.
Jerome 33 that at this time Roman society became ac-
quainted with the life of St. Antony and cherished admira-
tion for the monastic life. The* part played by St. Atha-
nasius in introducing monasticism to the West is most
significant. 34
For his own part Athanasius was anxious to perpetuate
the memory of his friend and teacher in the ascetic life.
INTRODUCTION 1 1
We must not, however, judge the Vita as we should a
modern biography. We should expect him to press into
service, as he did in his apologetic works, his earlier rhe-
torical training in the schools of Alexandria. For his
purposes he found in the classical Greek literature the
literary type known as the encomium, exemplified by the
Agesilaus of Xenophon, which itself harks back to the
earlier Evagoras of Isocrates, long studied in the schools
and used as a model by the rhetoricians* 35
Formally, it may be said, the Vita composed by St.
Athanasius is an encomium 36 in that it gives us Antony's
nationality, parentage, education, and youth, and enu-
merates his good qualities. However, the likeness ends
here in that the ancient encomium had as its purpose the
praise of an important figure in public life, and hence
placed much emphasis upon his personal achievements,
especially in the service of the state. Xenophon greatly
admired the*heroic Agesilaus for his deeds and his ideal
Spartan character he saw in him the ideal of a good
king. 37 Athanasius saw in Antony the ideal monk and
wished to leave behind a literary monument to perpetuate
his memory and to serve as a model for others, notably for
such as sought perfection in the monastic life.
Modern critics have been qui'ck to find another kind of
literary model of the Vita S. Antoni in the vitae of certain
philosophers. 38 Philostratus had written a biography of
Apollonius of Tyana, lamblichus among others wrote
one of Pythagoras, and Porphyry composed a life of his
teacher Plotinus. These biographical works portray the
ideal philosophical sage in all his virtues and contain
graphic accounts of the extraordinary deeds performed by
the philosophers to prove their claim of occult knowledge
12 INTRODUCTION
to their followers. St. Athanasius 5 Antony, it must be
owned, contains a number of striking parallels to the life
history given by Porphyry of his master. It may indeed be,
as List is inclined to think, 39 that St. Athanasius was con-
scious of Porphyry's biography as he wrote the life of his
desert hero, of the "unlettered' 3 Antony who had not
sought the fame of worldly knowledge and wisdom, who
yet was sought out and respected by philosophers, among
them followers of Plotinus, who laid claim to such worldly
accomplishments. If any such tendency, of showing his
hero superior to that of Porphyry, was in the mind of
Athanasius, he certainly succeeded in that purpose, 40
though it was a very secondary one with him.
At any rate, besides the ancient classical models of biog-
raphy, the newer type must have been known to Atha-
nasius that of the sage or the mystic, who drew great
crowds of followers, not on the battlefield or in the affairs
of state, but in the equally dramatic battle with self and
the forces of nature. However this literary tradition may
have served the inspiration and composition of Athana-
sius, he consciously or unconsciouslyinaugurated a
third type of life story, the Christian biography. His hero,
Antony,, gains greatness not from the greatness of his
deeds or his wisdom, but from the monumental greatness
of his simplicity; from "uniting in himself in perfect har-
monyrenunciation and generosity, the love of solitude
and the love of man, independence and humility"; 41 from
his great love of the Faith, his great love of the Church,
his great mystical love of God. The ancient ideal type,
the hero in the natural order, or later, the sage in the
intellectual order, is here superseded by the saint in the
supernatural order. The highest prototype of classical
INTRODUCTION 13
antiquity, the plus Aeneas, was but a pale ghost beside
Saint Antony who achieved what Socrates and Plato and
Plotinus could only grope for in their highest speculation.
The crowning achievement of Athanasius is that he com-
bined the ancient literary forms of biography with the
Christian element, and produced a type that was to in-
fluence all subsequent Greek and Latin hagiography.
There is a striking popular element in the Vita the
accounts of demons. While it is true that such material is
less overwrought and less obstrusive than in many sub-
sequent accounts of the lives of monks, still we sense that
there is quite too much of it in the Vita: besides all the
incidents of violent and strange encounters with Satan and
his helpers, the long address (16-43) which Antony is
shown as giving to his fellow monks and which takes up
nearly one-fourth of the entire work, is almost in its en-
tirety a discourse on demonology. 42
No single or complete explanation of the great stress on
this phenomenon is possible. Many factors enter here
the ancient inability to account for certain natural causes;
the Christian conviction that the pagan gods and idols
were in reality demons and that they plagued especially
the Christians because Christianity was destroying more
and more their dominance of the world; Gnostic tradi-
tions; certain occult influences which may have been more
pronounced in antiquity than now and which we cannot
quite explain even now; Athanasius' tendency to empha-
size and aggrandize the heroic in his hero; his purpose to
edify and to instruct his addressees other monks and
ascetics; the influence of similar accounts in other Chris-
tian literature, notably the popular "acts of martyrdom"
(acta martyrum)* 3 Allowing that these and other con-
14 INTRODUCTION
siderations may fall short of explaining satisfactorily the
role that demons play in Antony's life story, careful read-
ing of his experiences and counsels also reveals many sane
and acute observations made by him in the realm of the
psychological and of the spiritual life. 44
The Life of St. Antony enjoyed a tremendous popularity
in ancient times and through the Middle Ages. It was read
in faraway Gaul less than twenty years after it was
written. 45 Probably at the instance of St. Jerome, 40 Evag-
rius translated or paraphrased it into Latin while he was
still a presbyter, about the year 370. It served as the
literary forerunner of Jerome's lives of Paul and Hilarion.
St. Augustine tells us in the Confessions that it was one
of the deciding influences in his own conversion. 47 Ponti-
cianus, who recounted the life of Antony to him, probably
had it in the Latin version of Evagrius. 48 In fact, as time
went on, the Evagrian version enjoyed an existence and
fame quite apart from the Greek original. Later, in the
thirteenth century, it was incorporated, in somewhat
abbreviated form, into the Legenda Aurea of Jacobus
de Voragine. In succeeding centuries this edition of it
served as the source of many vernacular translations in
Western Europe. Further, it was largely through this
medium that the story of St. Antony kindled the inspira-
tion of artists. 49 Sculptors and painters have represented
numerous scenes from the Life of St. Antony in wood and
metal, in oils and stained glass. 50 The temptation of St.
Antony particularly recommended itself to artistic treat-
ment, allowing as it did, free scope to the imagination. In
more recent times it provided Flaubert with the title to one
of his works.
INTRODUCTION 15
Again, a Syriac version of the Vita was made very early,
perhaps as early as the Latin by Evagrius. 51
The Greek text of the Vita S. Antoni which appeared
in the celebrated Benedictine edition by Bernard de Mont-
faucon in Paris, 1698, has never been superseded. This
as reprinted in Migne's Patrologia Graeca 26 (1887) 835-
976 (published separately by A. F. Maunoury, Paris 1887,
1890), has served as the text for the present translation.
The following modern translations have also been
consulted:
Clarus, L., Das Leben des heiligen Antonius von Athana-
sius dem Grossen (Miinster L W. 1857).
Ellershaw, H., Life of Antony, In Select Writings and
Letters of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, edited
by A. Robertson (A Select Library of Nicene and Post-
Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second
Series 4, New York-Oxford-London 1892) 195-221.
Lavaud, B., Antoine le Grand, pere des moines. Sa vie par
saint Athanase et autres textes (Lyon 1943),
McLaughlin, Dom J. B., St. Antony the Hermit by St.
Athanasius (New York 1924).
Mertel, H., Des heiligen Athanasius Leben des heiligen
Antonius, in Des heiligen Athanasius ausgewdhlte
Sohriften 2 (Bibliothek der Kirchenvater 31, Munich
1917) 676-777. 52
PROLOGUE
ATHANASIUS THE BISHOP TO THE
BRETHREN IN FOREIGN PARTS *
The rivalry you have entered on with the monks in
Egypt is excellent, determined as you are to equal or even
to surpass them in your practice of the ascetic life. In f act,
by now there are monasteries in your country too and the
name of "monk 53 has established itself. This your purpose
is praiseworthy indeed, and may your prayers prevail upon
God to fulfill it!
Now, you have also asked me for an account of the life
of the blessed Antony: you would like to learn how. he
came to practice asceticism, what he was previous to this,
what his death was like, and whether everything said
about him is true. You have in mind to model your lives
after his life of zeal. I am very happy to accede to your
request, for I, too, derive real profit and help from the mere
recollection of Antony; 2 and I feel that you also, once you
have heard the story, will not merely admire the man but
will wish to emulate his resolution as well. Really, for
monks the life of Antony is an ideal pattern of the ascetical
life.
So, do not disbelieve the reports you have received from
others concerning him, but be assured that you have heard
very little from them. Indeed, they have scarcely told you
all when there is so much to tell; and when I, too, what-
ever I may convey to you by letter at your request, shall
17
18 ST. ATHANASIUS
be giving you only a few of the recollections I have of him.
You on your part must not cease to make enquiries of all
voyagers arriving from here. Thus perhaps as each tells
what he knows, an account will be had that does approx-
imate justice to him. 3
Well, when I received your letter I wanted to send for
some of the monks, especially those who used to associate
with him most closely. Thus I might have learned addi-
tional details and sent you a fuller account. But the sailing
season is about over and the postman is growing im-
patient; therefore, I make haste to write to Your Reverence
what I myself know for I have seen him oftenand what-
ever I was able to learn from him who was his companion
over a long period and poured water on his hands. 4
Throughout I have been scrupulously considerate of the
truth: I wanted no one to refuse credence because what he
heard was too much, nor, again, to make light of the man
because he did not learn enough about him.
BIRTH AND YOUTH OF ANTONY
1. Antony was an Egyptian by birth. 5 His parents
were of good stock and well-to-do; and because they were
Christians hfc himself was brought up a Christian. As a
child he lived with his parents, knowing nothing but them
and his home; and when he grew to be a boy and was
advancing in age, he did not take to schooling, desiring
to shun even the companionship of other children: his one
desire was, as the Scripture states concerning Jacob, 7 to
lead a simple life at home. Of course, he attended church 8
with his parents; and here he did not show the disinterest
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 19
of a child nor youth's contempt for such things. No,
obeying his parents, he paid attention to the lessons that
were read, and carefully kept in his heart the profit he
gleaned from them. Again, notwithstanding the easy eye-
cumstances in which he lived as a boy, he never impor-
tuned his parents for fancy and rich food, nor did he take
any pleasure in such. He was satisfied with what was put
before him, and asked no more.
ANTONY'S CALL AND HIS FIRST
STEPS IN ASCETICISM
2. Upon his parents' death he was left alone with an
only sister who was very young. He was about eighteen
or twenty years old at the time and took care of the house
and his sister. Less than six months had passed since his
parents' death when, as usual, he chanced to be on his way
to church. As he was walking along, he collected his
thoughts and reflected how the Apostles left everything
and followed the Savior; 9 also how the; people in Acts sold
what they had and laid it at the feet of the Apostles for
distribution among the needy; 10 and what great hope is
laid up in Heaven for such as these. 11 With these thoughts
in his mind he entered the church. And it so happened
that the Gospel was being read at that moment and he
heard the passage in which the Lord says to the rich man:
If thou wilt be perfect, go sell all that thou hast, and give
it to the poor; and come, follow me and thou shalt have
treasure in Heaven. 1 * As though God had put him in
mind of the saints and as though the reading had been
directed especially to him/ 3 Antony immediately left the
20 ST. ATHANASIUS
church and gave to the townspeople the property he had
from his forebears-three hundred arurae, 14 very fertile
and beautiful to see. He did not want it to encumber him-
self or his sister in any way whatever. He sold all the rest,
the chattels they had, and gave the tidy sum he received
to the poor, keeping back only a little for his sister.
3. But once again as he entered the church, he heard
the Lord saying in the Gospel: Be not solicitous for the
morrow. He could not bear to wait longer, but went out
and distributed those things also to the poor. 16 His sister
he placed with known and trusted virgins, giving her to
the nuns 1T to be brought up. Then he himself devoted all
his time to ascetic living, intent on himself and living a
life of self-denial, near his own house. For there were not
yet so many monasteries in Egypt, and no monk even
knew of the faraway desert. Whoever wished to concern
himself with his own destiny practiced asceticism by him-
self not far from his own village.
Now, at that time there was in the next village an old
man who had lived the ascetic life in solitude from his
youth. When Antony saw him, he was zealous for that
which is good; 18 and he promptly began to stay in the
vicinity of the town. Then, if he heard of a zealous soul
anywhere, like a wise bee he left to search him out, nor
did he return home before he had seen him; and only
when he had received from him, as it were, provisions for
his journey to virtue, did he go back.
There, then, he spent the time of his initiation and
made good his determination not to return to the house
of his fathers nor to think about his relatives, but to devote
all his affections and all his energy to the continued prac-
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 21
tice of the ascetic life. He did manual labor, 19 for he had
heard that he that is lazy, neither let him eat. 20 Some of
his earnings he spent for bread and some he gave to the
poor. He prayed constantly, having learnt that we must
pray in private 21 without cease. 22 Again, he was so atten-
tive at the reading of the Scripture lessons that nothing
escaped him: he retained everything 23 and so his memory
served him in place of books.
4. Thus lived Antony and he was loved by all. He, in
turn, subjected himself in all sincerity to the pious men
whom he visited and made it his endeavor to learn for his
own benefit just how each was superior to him in zeal and
ascetic practice. 24 He observed the graciousness of one, the
earnestness at prayer in another; studied the even temper
of one and the kindheartedness of another; fixed his
attention on the vigils kept by one and on the studies
pursued by another; admired one for his patient endur-
ance, another for his fasting and sleeping on the ground;
watched closely this man's meekness and the forbearance
shown by another; and in one and all alike he marked
especially devotion to Christ and the love they had for one
another. 25
Having thus taken his fill, he would return to his own
place of asceticism. Then he assimilated in himself what
he had obtained from each and devoted all his energies to
realizing in himself the virtues of all. 20 Moreover, he had
no quarrels with anyone of his own age, excepting this
that he would not be second to them in the better things;
and this he did in such a way that no one was hurt in his
feelings, but they, too, rejoiced on his account. And so all
the villagers and the good men with whom he associated
22 ST. ATHANASIUS
saw what kind of a man he was and they called him
"God's Friend"; and they were fond of him as a son or as
a brother.
EARLY CONFLICTS WITH DEMONS
5. But the Devil, the hater and envier of good, 27 could
not bear to see such resolution in a young man, but set
about employing his customary tactics also against him. 28
First, he tried to make him desert the ascetic life by putting
him in mind of his property, the care of his sister, the
attachments of kindred, the love of money, the love of
fame, the myriad pleasures of eating, and all the other
amenities of life. Finally, he represented to him the aus-
terity and all the toil that go with virtue, suggesting that
the body is weak and time is long. In short, he raised up
in his mind a great dust cloud of arguments, intending to
make him abandon his set purpose.
The Enemy saw, however, that he was powerless in the
face of Antony's determination and tkat it was rather he
who was being bested because of the man's steadfastness
and vanquished by his solid faith and routed by Antony's
constant prayer. He then put his trust in the weapons that
are in the navel of his own belly. 2 * Priding himself in
these for they are his choice snare against the young--
he advanced to attack the young man, troubling him so by
night and harassing him by day, that even those who saw
Antony could perceive the struggle going on between the
two. The Enemy would suggest filthy thoughts, but the
other would dissipate them by his prayers; he would try
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 23
to incite him to lust, but Antony, sensing" shame, would
gird his body with his faith, with his prayers and his
fasting. The wretched Devil even dared to masquerade as
a woman by night and to impersonate such in every pos-
sible way, merely in order to deceive Antony. But he filled
his thoughts with Christ and reflected upon the nobility of
the soul that comes from Him, and its spirituality, and
thus quenched the glowing coal of temptation. And again
the Enemy suggested pleasure's seductive charm. But
Antony, angered, of course, and grieved, kept his thoughts
upon the threat of fire and the pain of the worm. 30 Hold-
ing these up as his shield, he came through unscathed.
The entire experience put the Enemy to shame. Indeed,
he who had thought he was like to God, 31 was here made
a fool of by a stripling of a man. He who in his conceit
disdained flesh and blood, was now routed by a man in
the flesh. Verily, the Lord worked with this man He who
for our sakes took on flesh 32 and gave, to his body victory
over the Devil. Thus all who fight in earnest can say:
Not I, but the grace of God with me. 33
6. Finally when the dragon could not conquer Antony
by this last means either, but saw himself thrust out of his
heart, gnashing his teeth, as Scripture says, 34 he changed
his person, so to speak. As he is in his heart, precisely so
did he appear to him as a black boy; 35 and as though
cringing to him, he no longer assailed him with thoughts
for he had been ousted, the imposter but now. using
a human voice, he said: "Many a man have I deceived
and very many have I overthrown; but now when I
attacked you and >your efforts as I have done with many
others, I proved too weak."
24 ST. ATHANASIUS
"Who are you who speak thus to me?' 3 Antony asked.
The other was quick to reply with whining voice: "I
am the lover of fornication. It is my commission to way-
lay the youth and seduce them to this, and I am called the
spirit of fornication. How many have I not deceived who
were determined to keep their senses! How many chaste
persons have I not seduced by my cajoleries! Incidentally ,<
I am the one on whose account the Prophet reproaches
the fallen, saying: Y.ou were deceived by the spirit of for-
nication Yes, it was I that tripped them up. I am the
one who gave you so much trouble and as often was van-
quished by you."
Antony then gave thanks to the Lord and taking
courage against him, said: "Well then, you are quite des-
picable; you are black in your soul and you are as weak as
a child. For the future you cause me no worry at all, for
the Lord is my helper and I will despise my enemies." 37
Hearing this, the Black One fled at once, cowering at his
words and fearing to even come near the man.
7. This was Antony's first victory over the Devil;
rather, let me say that this singular success in Antony was
the Savior's, who condemned sin in the flesh that the justi-
fication of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not
according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 38 Now,
Antony did not grow careless and take too much for
granted with himself, merely because the demon had been
brought to his knees; nor did the Enemy, worsted as he
was in the conflict, cease to lie in wait for him. He kept
going around again like a lion 39 seeking a chance against
him. But Antony, having learned from the Scriptures that
the wiles of the Evil One are manifold, 40 practiced asceti-
cism in earnest, bearing in mind that even if he could not
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 25
beguile his heart by pleasure of the body, he would cer-
tainly try to ensnare him by some other method; for the
demon's love is sin. So he more and more mortified his
body and brought it into subjection, lest having conquered
on one occasion, he should be the loser on another. 41 He
resolved, therefore, to accustom himself to a more austere
way of life. And many marvelled at him, but he bore the
life easily. The zeal that had pervaded his soul over a long
time, had effected a good frame of mind in him, with the
result that even a slight inspiration received from others
caused him to respond with great enthusiasm. For in-
stance, he kept nocturnal vigil with such determination
that he often spent the entire night sleepless, and this not
only once, but many times to their admiration. Again, he
ate but once a day, after sunset; indeed, sometimes only
every other day, and frequently only every fourth day did
he partake of food. His food was bread and salt; his drink,
water only. Meat and wine we need not even mention, for
no such thing could be found with the other ascetics
either. He was content to sleep on a rush mat, though as
a rule he lay down on the bare ground. He deprecated
the use of oil for the skin, saying that young men should
practice asceticism in real earnest and not go for the things
that enervate the body; rather they should accustom it to
hard work, bearing in mind the words of the Apostle:
When I am weak, then am I powerful. 42 It was a dictum
of his that the soul's energy thrives when the body's de-
sires are feeblest.
He further held to the following truly remarkable con-
viction: he thought he should appraise his progress in
virtue and his consequent withdrawal from the world not
by any length of time spent in them, but by his attach-
26 ST. ATHANASIUS
ment and devotion to them. Accordingly, he gave no
thought to the passage of time, but day by day, as though
he were just beginning the ascetic life, he made greater
effort toward perfection. He kept repeating to himself the
words of Paul: Forgetting the things that are behind, and
reaching out to the things that are before, 43 remembering,
too, the voice of Elias the Prophet saying: The Lord
liveth, in whose sight I stand this day. 44 He observed that
when he said "this day," he was not counting the time
that was past, but as though constantly beginning anew,
he worked hard each day to make of himself such as one
should be to appear before God pure of heart and ready
to follow His will and none other. And he used to say
to himself that the life led by the great Elias should serve
the ascetic as a mirror in which always to study his
own life.
ANTONY'S LIFE IN THE TOMBS. FURTHER
STRUGGLES WITH DEMONS
8. So did Antony master himself. Then he left for the
tombs which lay at some distance from the village. He
had requested one of his acquaintances to bring him bread
at long intervals. He then entered one of the tombs, the
man mentioned locked the door on him, and he remained
alone within. This was too much for the Enemy to bear,
indeed, he feared that presently he would fill the desert too
with his asceticism. So he came one night with a great
number of demons and lashed him so unmercifully that he
lay on the ground speechless from the pain. He maintained
that the pain was so severe that the blows could not have
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 27
been Inflicted by any man and cause such agony. By
God's Providence for the Lord does not overlook those
who hope in Him his acquaintance came by next day
with the bread for him. When he opened the door and
saw him lying on the ground as though dead, he lifted him
up and carried him to the village church and laid him
upon the floor. Many of his kinsfolk and the people from
the village sat around Antony as round a corpse. But
about midnight he regained consciousness and awoke.
When he saw that all were asleep and that his friend alone
was awake, he beckoned him to his side and asked him to
lift him up again and carry him back to the tombs with-
out waking anyone.
9. So the man carried him back and the door was
locked as before and once more he was alone within. Be-
cause of the blows received he was too feeble to stand, so
he prayed lying down. His prayer finished, he called out
with a shout: "Here am I, Antony. I am not cowed by
your blows, and even though you should give me more,
nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ." 46
Then he began to sing: If camps shall stand against me,
my heart shall not fear. 47
So thought and spoke the ascetic, but the hater of good,
the Enemy, marvelled that after all -the blows he had the
courage to come back, called together his dogs, 48 and
bursting with rage, said: "You see that we have not
stopped this fellow, neither by the spirit of fornication
nor by blows; on the contrary, he even challenges us.
Let us go after him in another way/ 5
Well, the role of an evildoer is easy for the Devil. That
night, therefore, they made such a din that the whole
28 ST. ATHANASIUS
place seemed to be shaken by an earthquake. It was as
though demons were breaking through the four walls of
the little chamber and bursting through them in the forms
of beasts and reptiles. All at once the place was filled with
the phantoms of lions, bears, leopards, bulls, and of ser-
pents, asps, and scorpions, and of wolves; and each moved
according to the shape it had assumed. The lion roared,
ready to spring upon him, the bull appeared about to gore
him through, the serpent writhed without quite reaching
him, the wolf was rushing straight at him; and the noises
emitted simultaneously by all the apparitions were fright-
ful and the fury shown was fierce.
Antony, pummelled and goaded by them, felt even
severer pain in his body; yet he lay there fearless and all
the more alert in spirit. He groaned, it is true, because of
the pain that racked his body, but his mind was master
of the situation, and as if to mock them, he said: "If you
had any power in you, it would have been enough for just
one of you to come; but the Lord has taken your strength
away, and so you are trying, if possible, to scare me out of
my wits by your numbers. It is a sign of your helplessness
that you ape the forms of brutes." Again he made bold to
say: "If you can, and have received power against me, do
not delay, but up and at me! If you cannot, why excite
yourselves to no purpose? For faith in our Lord is a seal
to us and a wall of safety." So, after trying many ruses,
they gnashed their teeth against him, because they were
only fooling themselves and not him.
10. And here again the Lord was not forgetful of
Antony's struggle, but came to help him. For he looked
up and saw as it were the roof opening and a beam of light
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 29
coming down to him. The demons suddenly were gone
and the pain in his body ceased at once and the building
was restored to its former condition. Antony, perceiving
that help had come, breathed more freely and felt relieved
of his pains. And he asked the vision: "Where were you?
Why did you not appear at the beginning to stop my
pains?"
And a voice came to him: "Antony, I was right here,
but I waited to see you in action. And now, because you
held out and did not surrender, 49 1 will ever be your helper
and I will make you renowned everywhere." 50
Hearing this, he arose and prayed; and he was so
strengthened that he felt his body more vigorous than be-
fore. He was at this time about thirty-five years old.
HE CROSSES THE NILE. LIFE IN THE DESERT
SOLITUDE OF PISPIR
1 1 . On the next day he went out, inspired with an even
greater zeal for the service of God. He met the old man
referred to above and begged him to live with him in the
desert. The other declined because of his age and because
such a mode of life was not yet the custom. So he at once
set out for the mountain by himself. But there was the
Enemy again! Seeing his earnestness and wishing to
thwart it, he projected the illusion of a large disc of silver
into the road, But Antony, seeing through the trickery
of the Hater of Goodness, stopped, and, looking at the
disc, exposed the Devil in it, saying: "A disc in the desert?
Where does that come from? This is not a travelled high-
way, and there is no track of any people coming this way.
30 ST. ATHANASIUS
It is of great size, it could not have been dropped un-
noticed. Indeed, even if it had been lost, the loser would
have turned back and looked for it; and he would have
found it because this is desert country. This is a trick of
the Devil You will not thwart my resolution by this,
Devil. Let this thing perish with you. 55 51 As Antony
said this, it disappeared like smoke leaving fire.
12. Then as he went on, he again saw, not another
illusion, but real gold scattered along the roadside. Now,
whether it was the Enemy that called his attention to it,
or whether it was a good power training the champion
and showing the Devil that he did not care for even
genuine riches, he himself did not indicate, and we do not
know either, except to say that it was gold that appeared
there. As for Antony, he was surprised at the amount of
it, but he stepped over it as though it were fire and passed
on without turning back. Indeed, he started to run so
fast, that presently he lost sight of the place and it lay
hidden from him.
So, having grown stronger and stronger in his purpose,
he hurried to the mountain. 52 On the far side of the river
he found a deserted fort which in the course of time had
become infested with creeping things. There he settled
down to live. The reptiles, as though someone were
chasing them, left at once. He blocked up the entrance,
having laid in bread for six monthsthis the Thebans do
and often loaves keep fresh for a whole year and with
water in the place, he disappeared as in a shrine. He
remained there alone, never going forth and never seeing
anyone pass by. For a long time he persisted in this prac-
tice of asceticism; only twice a year he received bread
from the house above.
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 31
13. His acquaintances who came to see him often spent
days and nights outside, since he would not let them come
in. They heard what sounded like riotous crowds inside
making noises, raising a tumult, wailing piteously and
shrieking: "Get out of our domain! What business have
you in the desert? You cannot hold out against our per-
secution." At first those outside thought there were men
fighting with him and that they had entered in by means
of ladders, but as they peered through a hole and saw no
one, they realized that demons were involved; and filled
with fear, they called out to Antony. But he was more
concerned over hearing them than to pay any attention
to the demons. Going close to the door he suggested to
them to leave and to have no fear. "It is only against
the timid," he said, "that the demons conjure up spectres.
You, now, sign yourselves and go home unafraid, and
leave them to make fools of themselves." 53
So they departed, fortified by the Sign of the Cross,
while he remained without suffering any harm whatso-
ever from them. Nor did he grow weary of the contest,
for the assistance given him through visions coming to him
from on high, and the weakness of his enemies brought
him great relief in his hardships and gave him the stamina
for greater zeal. His friends would come again and again,
expecting, of course, to find him dead; but they heard him
singing: Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered;
and let them that hate Him ftee from before His face. As
smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish away; as wax melteth
before the fire, so let the sinners perish before the face of
God. 5 * And again: All nations compassed me about; and
in the name of the Lord I drove them off* 5
32 ST. ATHANASIUS
HE LEAVES HIS SOLITUDE. THE FATHER
AND TEACHER OF MONKS
14. So he spent nearly twenty years practicing the
ascetic life by himself, never going out and but seldom
seen by others. After this, as there were many who longed
and sought to imitate his holy life and some of his friends
came and forcefully broke down the door and removed it,
Antony came forth as out of a shrine, as one initiated into
sacred mysteries and filled with the spirit of God. It was
the first time that he showed himself outside the fort to
those who came to him. When they saw him, they were
astonished to see that his body had kept its former appear-
ance, that it was neither obese from want of exercise, nor
emaciated from his fastings and struggles with the
demons: he was the same man they had known before
his retirement.
Again, the state of his soul was pure, for it was neither
contracted by grief, nor dissipated by pleasure nor per-
vaded by jollity or dejection. He was not embarrassed
when he saw the crowd, nor was he elated at seeing so
many there to receive him. No, he had himself completely
under control a man guided by reason and stable in his
character.
Through him the Lord cured many of those present
who were afflicted with bodily ills, and freed others from
impure spirits. He also gave Antony charm in speaking;
and so he comforted many in sorrow, and others who were
quarrelling he made friends. He exhorted all to prefer
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 33
nothing In the world to the love of Christ. And when in
his discourse he exhorted them to be mindful of the good
things to come and of the goodness shown us by God,
who spared not His own Son., but delivered Him up for
us all, m he induced many to take up the monastic life.
And so now monasteries 7 also sprang up in the moun-
tains and the desert was populated with monks who left
their own people and registered themselves for citizenship
in Heaven. 58
15. When the need arose for him to cross the canal of
Arsinoe 59 and the occasion was a visitation of the breth-
renthe canal was full of crocodiles. And simply praying,
he went in with all his companions, and passed over un-
scathed. Returning to his monastery, he zealously applied
himself to his holy and vigorous exercises. By ceaseless
conferences he fired the zeal of those who were already
monks, and incited most of the others to a love of the
ascetic life; and soon, as his message drew men after him,
the number of monasteries multiplied and to all he was a
father and guide.
ANTONY'S ADDRESS TO THE MONKS (16-43)
16. Now, one day when he had gone out, all the monks
came to him and asked to hear a discourse. He spoke to
them in the Egyptian 60 tongue as follows:
"The Scriptures are really sufficient for our instruc-
tion. 61 Yet it is well for us to encourage each other in the
faith and to employ words to stimulate ourselves. Be you,
therefore, like children and bring to your father what you
34 ST. ATHANASIUS
know and tell it, while I, being your senior, share with
you my knowledge and my experience.
"To begin with, let us all have the same zeal, not to give
up what we have begun, not to lose heart, nor to say: "We
have spent a long time in this asceticism.' No, beginning
over each day, let us increase our zeal. The whole of
man's life is very short measured by the ages to come, so
that all our time is as nothing compared to eternal life.
And in the world everything is sold at its worth and like
value is bartered for like; but the promise of eternal life
is bought for very little. For Scripture says: The days of
our life have seventy years in them; but if in the mighty
they are eighty years and more, they are a labor and a
burden. 2 If, then, we live tjie full eighty years, or even a
hundred, in the practice of asceticism, we shall not reign
the same period of a hundred years, but instead of the
hundred we shall reign for ever and ever. And though our
striving is on earth, we shall not receive our inheritance
on earth, but what is promised us is in Heaven. Moreover,
we shall put aside our corruptible body, and receive it back
incorruptible. 63
17. "So, children, let us not grow weary nor think that
we are toiling a long time or that we are doing something
great. For the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall
be revealed to us. 64 Neither let us. look back upon the
world and think that we have renounced great things.
For even the whole world is a very trifling thing compared
with all of Heaven. Accordingly, if we should be lords of
the whole earth and renounced the whole earth, this
would again mean nothing as compared with the King-
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 35
dom of Heaven. 65 As though a person should despise one
copper drachma to gain a hundred drachmas of gold, so
he who is lord of all the earth, and renounces it, really
gives up but little and receives a hundredfold. If, then,
even the whole earth is not equal in value to Heaven, cer-
tainly one who gives up a few acres must not boast nor
be careless; for what he leaves behind is practically
nothing, even though it be a home or a tidy sum of
money he parts with.
"We must further bear in mind that if we do not give
up these things for virtue's sake, later we must leave them
behind and often, too, as Ecclesiastes reminds us, 00 even
to persons to whom we do not wish to leave them. Then
why not give them up for virtue's sake so that we may
inherit a kingdom besides? Therefore, let none of us have
even the desire to possess riches. For what does it avail
us to possess what we cannot take with us? 7 Why not
rather possess those things which we can take along
with us prudence, justice ? temperance, fortitude, under-
standing, charity, love of the poor, faith in Christ, meek-
ness, hospitality? Once we possess these we shall find
them going before us, preparing a welcome for us in the
land of the meek.
18. "With these thoughts let a man persuade himself
that he must not grow careless, arid that all the more
as he considers that he is a servant of the Lord and bound
to serve his Master. Now, a servant would not dare to
say, 'Since I worked yesterday, I am not working today/
Nor will he count up the time that has elapsed and rest
during the days that lie ahead of him; no, day in and
day out, as is written in the Gospel," 8 he shows the same
36 ST. ATHANASIUS
willingness in order that he may please his master and
not incur any trouble. So let us also persist in the daily
practice of asceticism, knowing that if we are negligent
a single day, He will not forgive us for old time's sake,
but will be angry at us because of our carelessness. So,
too, we have heard in Ezechiel; 69 so also Judas because
of one single night destroyed the toil of an entire past.
19. "Therefore, children, let us persevere in the prac-
tice of asceticism and not be careless. For in this also we
have the Lord with us to help us, as Scripture says: God
co-operates unto good 70 with everyone who chooses the
good. And that we may not be careless, it is well to think
over what the Apostle says, namely, / die daily. 11 Indeed,
if we, too, live as if we were to die each new day, we shall
not sin. As to the quotation given, its meaning is this:
when we awaken each day, we should think that we shall
not live till evening; and again, when about to go to sleep
we should think that we shall not awaken. Our life is by
nature uncertain and is measured out to us daily by
Providence. If we are so disposed and live our daily life
accordingly, we shall not commit sin, nor lust after any-
thing, nor bear a grudge against anyone, nor lay up
treasures on earth; but as men who each day expect to
die, we shall be poor and we shall forgive everything to
all men. As to lusting after women or other sordid
pleasure, we shall not entertain such at all, but turn our
backs upon it as something transitory ever fighting on
and looking forward to the Day of Judgment. For the
fear of greater things involved and the anxiety over tor-
ments invariably dissipate the fascination of pleasure and
steady the wavering spirit.
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 37
20. "Now that we have made a beginning and set
out on the path of virtue, let us lengthen our steps even
more to reach what lies ahead of us. 72 And let no one
turn back as did Lot's wife, 73 especially since the Lord
has said: No man putting his hand to the plough and
turning back is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. 74 And this
turning back is nothing else than to feel regret and to
set one's mind again on worldly things.
"When you hear virtue mentioned, do not be afraid
of it nor treat it as a foreign word. Really, it is not far
from us, nor is its home apart from us; no, the thing is
within us, and its accomplishment is easy if we but have
the will. Greeks go abroad and cross the sea to study
letters; but we have no need to go abroad for the Kingdom
of Heaven nor to cross the sea to obtain virtue. The Lord
has told us in advance: The Kingdom of Heaven is
within you. 75 Virtue, therefore, has need only of our
will, since it is within us and springs from us. Virtue
exists when the soul keeps in its natural state. It is kept
in its natural state when it remains as it came into being.
Now it came into being fair and perfectly straight. Where-
fore, Jesus, the son of Nun, exhorted the people in these
words: Make straight your hearts unto the Lord God
of Israel; 76 and John: Make straight your paths 77 For
the soul is said to be straight when its mind is in its
natural state as it was created. But when it swerves and
is perverted from its natural condition, that is called
vice of the soul.
"So the task is not difficult: If we remain as we were
made, we are in the state of virtue; but if we give our
minds to base things, we are accounted evil. If the task
had to be accomplished from without, it would indeed
38 ST. ATHANASIUS
be difficult; but since this is within us, let us guard our-
selves from foul thoughts. And having received the soul
as something entrusted to us, let us guard it for the Lord,
that He may recognize His work as being the same as
He made it.
2L "Let us also struggle for this, that anger be not
our master, nor concupiscence enslave us. For it is writ-
ten that the anger of man worketh not the justice of God. 78
And concupiscence, when it hath conceived., bringeth
forth sin; and sin, when it is completed, begetteth death.
Living this life, let us be carefully on our guard and, as
is written, with all watchfulness keep our heart. 80 For we
have enemies, powerful and crafty the wicked demons;
and it is against these that our wrestling is, as the Apostle
said no against flesh and blood, but against principalities
and powers, against the rulers of the world of this dark-
ness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places. 81
Great is the number of them in the air around us, 82 and
they are not far from us. But the difference between them
is considerable. It would take us too long to give an
account of their nature and distinctions, and such a
disquisition is for others greater than we: 83 the one urgent
and necessary thing for. us now is merely to know their
villainies against us.
22. "Now, first of all, let us realize this: that the
demons were not made demons as we understand the
term, for God made nothing bad. They, too, were cre-
ated fair, but they fell away from heavenly wisdom. Since
then they have been roaming the earth. On the one
hand, they have deceived the Greeks 84 with vain fancies; 85
and, envious of us Christians, they leave nothing undone
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 39
to hinder us from entering Heaven: they do not want us
to mount to the place from which they have fallen. Hence,
too, the necessity of much prayer and ascetic discipline
that one may receive through the Holy Spirit the gift of
discerning spirits and may be able to know about them 86
which of them are less wicked, which of them are more
so; and what special interest each one of them pursues
and how each is rebuffed and cast out. For their ruses
and machinations are numerous. Of this the blessed
Apostle and his followers were aware when they said:
For we are not ignorant of his devices* 7 And we, draw-
ing on our experiences with them, ought to guide each
other aright, away from them. Hence I, having made
this experience in part, speak to you as to my children.
23. "If, then, they see Christians in general, but monks
in particular, working cheerfully and making progress,
they first assail them and tempt them by continually plac-
ing stumbling blocks in their way. 88 These stumbling
blocks are evil thoughts. But we must not be afraid of
their waylayings, for by prayers and fastings and con-
fidence in the Lord they are promptly thwarted. Yet,
though thwarted, they do not cease, but return to the
attack with all wickedness and cunning. 89 When they
cannot deceive the heart by manifestly unclean pleasure,
they change their tactics and march to the attack again.
They then devise and affect apparitions in order to
frighten it, transforming themselves and mimicking
women, beasts, reptiles, and bodies of huge size and
hordes of warriors. But even so we must not cower at
these their phantoms, for they are nothing and quickly
vanish, especially if a person fortifies himself with the
Sign of the Cross. 90
40 ST. ATHANASIUS
"Indeed, they are daring and exceedingly shameless.
If here, too, they suffer defeat, they advance once more
with new strategy. They pretend to prophesy and to
foretell future events. They show themselves taller than
the roof and burly and bulky. Their purpose is, if pos-
sible, to snatch off by such phantoms those whom they
could not deceive with thoughts. And should they find
that even so the soul remains fortified by its faith and
the hope it entertains, then they bring irt their chief."
24. "And often," he said, "they appear in such fash-
ion; as, for instance, the Lord revealed the Devil to Job
saying: His eyes are as the appearance of dawn. From
his mouth come forth burning lamps, and fires are shot
forth. From his nostrils comes the smoke of a furnace
burning with a fire of coals. His breath is coals, and
flame proceeds from his mouth.^ When the chief of the
demons appears in this way, the knave tries to terrorize
us, as I said before, by his braggart talk, and that again
as he was unmasked by the Lord saying to Job: He es-
teemed iron as chaff, and bronze as rotten wood; he
deemed the sea a vessel of ointment and the depth of the
abyss as a captive; he judged the abyss to be a place for
walking; 92 and through the Prophet: The enemy said:
7 will pursue and overtake'; * and through another:
I will grasp the whole world in my hand like a nest, and
as abandoned eggs will I take it up. 94
"Such, in short, are the boastings they resort to and
such the declamations they make in order to deceive the
God-fearing. Here, again, we faithful need not fear his
appearances nor pay attention to his words. He is only
a liar and there is no truth in all that he speaks. When
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 41
he talks such stuff and does this with so much boasting,
he overlooks how he was dragged with a hook like a
dragon by the Savior, haltered around his snout like a
beast of burden, and had his nostrils ringed like a runaway
and his lips pierced through by an iron band. He has
also been bound by the Lord as a sparrow for our amuse-
ment. 9 ' 1 Both he and his fellow demons have been made
so as to be trodden under foot like scorpions and snakes 96
by us Christians; and proof of this is the fact that w r e are
now existing in spite of him. Indeed, note that he who
proclaimed that he would dry up the sea and seize the
whole world, cannot hinder our ascetic practices nor even
stop me speaking against him. Wherefore, let us not pay
attention to what he may say he is a plain liarnor fear
his apparitions, for they are lies too. Indeed, it is not true
light which appears in them, rather they are a mere be-
ginning and semblance of the fire prepared for them; and
it is with that in which they will be burned that they try
to terrify mankind. They do appear, it is true, but dis-
appear again the same moment, without harming any of
the faithful, while taking with them a likeness of the fire
that is to receive them. So here there is no reason either
for fearing them; for by the grace of Christ all their tactics
come to naught.
25. "But they are treacherous and prepared to undergo
every change and transformation. Often, for instance,
they even pretend to sing Psalms without appearing, and
to quote sayings from Scripture, Sometimes, too, when
we are reading they at once repeat like an echo what we
have read. When we go to bed they rouse us to prayers;
and this they carry on continuously, scarcely permitting
42 ST. ATHANASIUS
us to sleep at all. At other times again they put on the
guise of monks and simulate pious talk, having in mind
to practice deception by their assumed likeness and then
to drag off the victims where they will. But we must not
pay attention to them, even if they rouse us to prayer,
even if they advise us not to eat at all, even if they pre-
tend to accuse and revile us for what they once approved.
It is not for the sake of piety or for truth's sake that they
do this, but in order to bring the guileless into despair;
and to represent the ascetical life as worthless, and to
make men disgusted with the solitary life as something
coarse and all too burdensome, and to trip up those who
live such a life in spite of them.
26. "Hence the Prophet sent by the Lord called such
as these unhappy in these terms: Woe to him that giveth
his neighbor a troubled drink* 7 For such tactics and argu-
ments are ruinous of the way that leads to virtue. Our
Lord Himself, even though the demons spoke the truth
for they said truly; Thou art the Son of God 98 ~ neverthe-
less silenced them and forbade them to speak. He did not
want them to sow their own evil along with truth; and
He also had in mind to accustom us never to heed them
even though they should appear to speak the truth. Then,
too, it is unbecoming that we who possess the Sacred
Scriptures and the freedom of the Savior, should be taught
by the Devil, by him who has not remained at his post, 09
but has changed his mind constantly. Hence, He also
forbids him to use quotations from the Scriptures, saying:
But to the sinner God hath said: 'Why do you relate my
judgments -and take my testament into your mouth?* 10
Indeed, they do everything: they talk, they raise clamor,
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 43
they practice deception, they cause confusion all to be-
guile the simple. They also din loudly, emit silly laughs,
and hiss. If no one pays any attention to them, they wail
and lament as though defeated.
27. fC The Lord, therefore, because He is God, silenced
the demons. As for us, we have learned our lessons from
the Saints and do as they have done and imitate their
courage. For when they saw such things, they made it
their practice to say: When the sinner stood against me,
I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good
things; 101 and again: But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and
as a dumb man not opening his mouth; and I became as a
man that heareth not. 102 So let us, too, neither listen to
them, regarding them as so many strangers, nor pay any
attention to them, though they rouse us to prayer and
talk about fasting. Let us rather attend to the practice of
asceticism as resolved upon by us and not be misled by
them who practice treachery in all they do. We must not
fear them, even though they appear to attack us and to
threaten death. In reality, they are weak and can do
nothing but threaten.
28. "Well, up to this point I have spoken on this sub-
ject only in passing. But now I must not shrink from
dealing with it in greater detail: to bring this to your
attention can only redound to your greater safety.
"Since the Lord dwelt with us, the Enemy is fallen and
his powers have declined. 103 Therefore, he can do noth-
ing; still, though he is fallen, like a tyrant he does not
keep quiet, but threatens even if his threats are but words.
And let each one of you bear this in mind, and he can
despise the demons. Now, if they were bound to such
44 ST. ATHANASIUS
bodies as we are, they might then say: 'People who hide
themselves we do not find; but if we do find them, we do
them harm.' And in that case we could escape them by
hiding and locking the doors against them. But since this
is not the case and they can enter despite locked doors;
and seeing that they are present everywhere in the air,
they and their leader, the Devil; and if they are evil-willed
and bent on doing harm and if, as the Savior said, the
father of evil, the Devil, is a murderer from the begin-
ning: 104 then, if nevertheless we live and live our lives
in defiance of him, it is plain that they are without any
power. For, as you see, place does not hinder their plot-
ting, neither do they see us friendly to them, that they
should spare us, nor are they lovers of good, that they
should change their ways. No, on the contrary, they are
wicked, and there is nothing they desire more eagerly
than to harm lovers of virtue and worshippers of God.
For the simple reason that they are impotent to do any-
thing, they do nothing except threaten. If they could,
you may be sure that they would not wait, but effect what
is uppermost in their desires evil, and that especially
against us. Note, for instance, how we are gathered here
and speaking against them, and that they know that as
we make progress they grow weak. Indeed, if it were
within their power, they would not let one of us Chris-
tians live, for the service of God is an abomination to the
sinner. 105 And since they can do nothing, it is rather
themselves they hurt, for they cannot carry out any of
their threats.
"Further, this should also be taken into account to put
an end to fear of them: if they had any power, they would
not come in droves, nor resort to apparitions, nor would
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 45
they employ the device of transforming themselves. But
it would be enough that one only should come and do
what he is able and inclined to do; and, most important
of all, anyone who really has power neither endeavors to
slay with phantoms nor seeks to terrify with hordes, but
without further ado uses his power as he wills. But actu-
ally the demons, powerless as they are, cut capers as if
they were on a stage, changing their forms and frighten-
ing children by the illusion of coming in hordes and by
the grimaces they make all things for which they are
the more to be despised as weaklings. To be sure, the
genuine angel sent by the Lord against the Assyrians had
no need of crowds, nor of visible illusions, nor of resound-
ing blows or rattling noises; no, he exercised his power
quietly and straightway put to death one hundred and
eighty-five thousand of them. 106 But the demons, impo-
tent creatures that they are, try to terrify, and if it be by
mere phantoms!
29. "Now, if any one should ponder the story of Job
and say: Why, then, did the Devil go forth and do every-
thing against him? He stripped him of his possessions,
killed his children, and struck him with a grievous ulcer, 107
let such a person realize that this was not a case of the
Devil having the power to do this, but of God turning
over Job to him to be tried. 108 Of course, he had no power
to do it; he asked for it and did this when he received it.
So, here again there is the more reason to despise the
Enemy, for although such was his desire, he could not
prevail against even one just man. Had the power been
his, he evidently would not have asked for it; and the
fact that he asked not once, but a second time, exposes
his weakness and inability. Nor is it extraordinary that
46 ST. ATHANASIUS
he had no power against Job, when it was impossible for
him to destroy even his herds unless God had acceded to
it. No, not even against swine does he have power, as is
written in the Gospel: They besought the Lord, saying:
'Let us depart into the swine.' 109 But if they have no
power even over swine, much less do they have power over
men made after the image of God. 110
30. "Wherefore, one must fear God alone and despise
those beings and not fear them at all. But the more they
do these things, the more let us devote ourselves to asceti-
cism to counteract them, for an upright life and faith in
God is a great weapon against them. Indeed, they dread
ascetics for their fasting, their vigils, 'their prayers; their
meekness, calmness, contempt of money, lack of conceit,
humility, love of the poor, almsgiving, freedom from
anger, and, most of all, their loyalty to Christ. This is
the reason they do everything that no one may trample
them under foot. They know the grace given to the faith-
ful by the Savior when He said: Behold, I have given you
power to trample upon serpents and scorpions and upon
all the power of the enemy . m
31. "Again, if they pretend also to foretell the future,
let no one give heed. Often, for instance, they tell us days
beforehand of brothers coming to visit us; and .they do
come. But it is not because they care for their hearers
that they do this, but in order to induce them to place
their confidence in them, and then, when they have them
well in hand, to destroy them. Hence, we must not listen
to them, but send them off, for we have no need of them.
What is wonderful about that, if they who have lighter
bodies than men, 112 seeing that men have set out on a
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 47
journey, outdistance them and announce their arrival?
A person riding horseback could outstrip a man journey-
ing on foot and give the same advance information. So,
once again there is no need to marvel at them. They have
no fore-knowledge of what has not yet happened, 113 but
God alone knows all things before they come into being. 114
These, however, are like thieves in that they run ahead
and announce what they see. At this very moment to
how many have they made known our business, how we
have gathered here and hold a discussion against them,
before anyone of us can leave and report the same! But a
boy fast on his feet could do the same, getting ahead of
a slower person.
"What I am trying to say Is this. If someone were to
take to the road from the Thebaid or any other place,
until he actually starts, they do not know whether he will
go on a journey; but once they see him walking, they run
ahead and announce him before his arrival. And it so
happens that after a few days he arrives. Often, though,
travellers turn back and their report is false.
32. "So, too, they sometimes talk nonsense in regard
to the water of the River. 115 For example, seeing heavy
rains falling in the regions of Ethiopia and knowing that
the flooding of the River originates there, they run ahead
and tell it before the water reaches Egypt. Men could tell
it too, if they could run as fast as these. 116 And as David's
lookout-man, 117 mounting a height, got an earlier glimpse
of who was coming than did the one who was staying be-
low; 11S and as the man who ran ahead brought tidings
before the rest, not of what had not yet come to pass, but
of things already on the way to be reported and actually
happening, so these choose to hasten and announce things
48 ST. ATHANASIUS
to others for the sole reason of deceiving them. Indeed, if
in the meantime Providence were to make a special dis-
position in regard to the waters or the travellers and this
is quite possible then the demons' report turns out to be
a lie and those who put trust in them are deceived.
33. "Thus it was that the Greek oracles arose and thus
the people of old were led astray by the demons. 119 But
with this also goes the story of how deception was stopped
for the future. For the Lord came who suppressed the
demons along with their villainy. For they know nothing
of themselves, but they see what knowledge others have,
and like thieves they pick it up and misrepresent it. They
practice guesswork rather than prophecy. Wherefore,
even if they should sometimes hit on the truth in speaking
of such things, even so a person must not wonder at them.
Indeed, physicians, too, who are experts in diseases from
having observed the same ailment in different persons,
often make conjectures on the basis of their practice and
foretell what will happen. And again, pilots and farmers,
observing the weather conditions, forecast from their ex-
perience if there will be a storm or fair weather. But no
one would say because of this that they prophesy by divine
inspiration, but by experience and practice. Consequently,
if the demons, too, sometimes guess at these same things
and mention them, you must not therefore be astonished
at them nor mind them at all. Of what use is it to the
hearers to know from them days in advance what is going
to happen? Or what point is there to eagerness to know
such things, even if such knowledge prove true? Surely,
this is not the stuff of which virtue is made, nor is it at all
a token of good character. For no one of us is judged by
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 49
what he does not know, and no one Is called blessed be-
cause of what he has learned and knows; no, the judg-
ment that awaits each asks this whether he has kept the
faith and faithfully observed the commandments.
34. "Hence, it behooves us not to make much of these
things, nor to give ourselves to the toil of asceticism for the
sake of knowing the future, but that we may please God
by living well. And we should pray, not in order to know
the future, nor should we ask for this as a reward for the
practice of asceticism, but that the Lord may be our fellow
worker in achieving victory over the Devil. But if we care
some day to know the future, let us be pure in mind. For
I feel confident that if the soul is pure through and
through and is in its natural state, 120 it becomes clear-
sighted and sees more and farther than the demons. 121 It
then has the Lord to reveal things to it. Such was the soul
of Eliseus seeing what went on with Giezi, 122 and be-
holding the armies standing nearby. 123
35. "Now then, when they come to you at night and
want to tell the future, or say, 'We are the angels,' ignore
them, for they are lying. If they praise your practice of
asceticism and call you blessed, do not listen to them nor
have anything to do with them at all. Rather sign your-
selves and your dwelling and pray; and you will see them
disappear. They simply are cowards and. deathly afraid
of the Sign of our Lord's Cross, since it was on the Cross
that the Savior stripped them and made an example of
them. 124 But if they persist even more shamelessly,
dancing about and changing their appearance, do not fear
them, nor cower, nor give them any attention as though
they were good; for it is quite possible to tell the difference
50 ST. ATHANASIUS
between the good and the bad when God grants it. 125 A
vision of the holy ones is not turbulent, for he shall not
contend, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear his
voiced* But it comes so quietly and gently that instantly
joy and gladness and courage arise in the soul. For with
them is our Lord who is our joy, and the power of God
the Father. And the thoughts of the soul remain un-
troubled and unruffled, 127 so that in its own bright trans-
parency it is able to behold those who appear. A longing
for things divine and for the things of the future life takes
possession of it, and its desire is that it may be wholly
united to them if it could but depart with them. But if
some, being human, are seized with fear at the vision of
the good, then those who appear dispel the fear by love,
as did Gabriel for Zachary, 128 and the angel who appeared
to the women at the holy sepulchre, 129 and the angel who
spoke to the shepherds in the Gospel: Fear not. 180 Fear
in these cases is not from cravenness of soul, but from an
awareness of the presence of higher beings. 'Such, then,
is the vision of the holy ones.
36. "On the other hand, the attack and appearance of
the evil ones is full of confusion, accompanied by crashing,
roaring, and shouting: it could well be the tumult pro-
duced by rude boys and robbers. This at once begets
terror in the soul, disturbance and confusion of thoughts,
dejection, hatred of ascetics, indifference, sadness, remem-
brance of kinsfolk, and fear of death; and then a desire
for evil, a disdain for virtue, and a complete subversion of
character. When, therefore, you have a vision and are
afraid, if then the fear is taken from you immediately
and in its place comes ineffable joy and contentment; and
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 51
courage and recovery of strength and calmness of thought
and the other things I have mentioned, and stouthearted-
ness, too, and love of God, then be of good cheer and
pray for your joy and your souPs tranquillity betoken the
holiness of Him who Is present. Thus Abraham, seeing
the Lord, rejoiced; m and John, hearing the voice of Mary,
the Mother of God, 132 leaped for joy. 13 ' But when you
have certain visions, and confusion overtakes you and
there Is tumult from without and earthly apparitions and
threats of death and all the things I have mentioned, then
know that the visit is from the wicked.
37. "And let this also be a sign to you: when the soul
remains in fear, it Is enemies that are present. For the
demons do not take away fear caused by them as did the
great archangel Gabriel for Mary and Zachary and he
who appeared to the women at the sepulchre; 134 on the
contrary, when they see men afraid, they Increase their
phantoms that they may terrify them the more, and then
descend upon them and mock them, saying: Fall down
and adore us. ia ' 5 In this way they deceived the Greeks,
for among them they were thus taken falsely for gods.
But our Lord did not permit us to be deceived by the
Devil, when once He rebuked him for trying to pass off
such phantoms on Him: Get behind me, Satan; for it is
written, 'The Lord thy God shalt thou adore and Him
only shalt thou serve.' 13fJ Therefore, let the Author of
Evil be more and more despised by us, for what our Lord
has said, that He has done for our sake: that when the
demons hear like words from us, they may be driven off
through the Lord who In those words rebuked them.
38. "We must not boast about casting out demons, nor
52 ST. ATHANASIUS
give ourselves airs because of cures performed; nor must
we honor only him who casts out demons and hold in
j
contempt one who does not. Let a man study closely the
ascetic life of each, and then either imitate and emulate it,
or else correct it. For to work miracles 137 is not for us.
That is reserved for the Savior. Indeed, He said to the
disciples: Rejoice not because demons are subject to you,
but because your names are written in Heaven. 1 ** And
the fact that our names are inscribed in Heaven is witness
to our life of virtue, but as to casting out demons, that is
the gift of the Savior who grants it. Hence, to those who
were boasting not of their virtue, but of their miracles, and
saying: Lord., have we not cast out devils in Thy name
and wrought many miracles in Thy name? 139 He an-
swered: Amen, I say to you, I know you not; 14 for the
Lord knows not the ways of the ungodly. 141 In short, one
must pray, as I have said, for the gift of discerning spirits,
that, as is written, we may not put faith in every spirit. 142
39. "Really, I meant to stop and to mention nothing
coming from my own self, satisfied with what has been
said. That you may not think, however, that I simply
say these things, but may be convinced that I am speaking
from experience and torch, for this reason I here recount
what I have seen of the practices of the demons. I shall
perhaps appear foolish; even so the Lord who listens
knows that my conscience is clear and that it is not for
myself, but out of my love for you and to encourage you
that I do so.
"How often they called me blessed, while I cursed them
in the name of the Lord! How often they made predic-
tions regarding the water of the River and I said to them,
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 53
And what business is that of yours?' Once they came
with threats and surrounded me like soldiers in full armor.
On another occasion they filled the house with horses and
beasts and reptiles, but I chanted the Psalm: These are
in chariots and these are on horses, but we shall be mag-
nified in the name of the Lord God, 14 * and at these prayers
they were repulsed by the Lord. Once in the dark they
came with an illusion of light and said: "We have come
to bring you light, Antony/ But I shut my eyes, I prayed,
and at once the light of the impious ones was put out.
And a few months later they came along chanting Psalms
and quoting the Scriptures. But Z as one deaf heard not} 44
Once they shook the monastery 14r> from one side to the
other, but I prayed, remaining unshaken in mind. Then
they came again and made a continuous noise, hammer-
ing, hissing, and prancing about. But I prayed and lay
singing Psalms to myself; and presently they began to
wail and cry, as though completely exhausted; and I ex-
tolled the Lord who had brought to naught their brazen-
ness and madness and taught them a lesson.
40. "Once a very tall demon appeared in a vision and
dared to say: T am the power of God'; and, C I am Provi-
dence. What favor do you wish me to bestow upon you?'
Then I blew a breath at him, 14(J calling upon the name of
Christ, and I made an effort to strike him. It would seem
that I succeeded, and instantly, big as he was, he with all
his fellow demons disappeared at the name of Christ.
Once when I was fasting, the Crafty One came to me
even as a monk carrying phantom loaves. He counselled
me, saying: 'Eat, and cease from your many hardships!
You, too, are a man and you are bound to get sick/ But I,
perceiving his wiliness, arose to pray, and he could not
54 ST. ATHANASIUS
bear it. He left, resembling smoke as he went out through
the door.
"How often in the desert did he show me a vision of
gold that I might but touch it and look at it! But I would
counter him by chanting a Psalm and it would be dis-
solved. Often they struck me blows, and I would say:
'Nothing will separate me from the love of Christ'; 14T
and then they would beat each other instead! But it was
not I who stopped them and crippled their efforts, but it
was the Lord, He who says: / saw Satan like lightning
falling from Heauen. 148
"My children, mindful of what the Apostle said, I have
applied this to myself ^ that you may learn not to lose
heart in your ascetic life, and not to fear the delusions of
the Devil and his demons.
41. "And, seeing that I have already made myself
foolish by going into all this, take the following, too, to
serve your own safety and self-assurance; and believe me
I am not lying.
"Once there was a knock at my door in the monastery,
and going out I saw a tall, towering figure. Then, when
I asked; 'Who are you?'
'I am Satan, 5 he said.
'What are you doing here?' I asked him.
He said: 'Why do the monks and all the other Chris-
tians find fault with me for no reason at all? Why do they
curse me every hour?'
'Well,' said I, 'why do you annoy them?'
He said: 'It is not I who annoy them, but their troubles
originate with themselves; for I have become weak. Have
they not read: The swords of the enemy have failed to the
end and their cities Thou hast destroyed? 15 I now have
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 55
no place, no weapon, no city. Everywhere there are
Christians, and even the desert "is already full of monks. 151
Let them mind their own business and not curse me with-
out cause.'
"Then I marvelled at the grace of the Lord and said to
him: 'Though you are always the liar and never speak
the truth, yet this time you have spoken the truth, how-
ever you disliked to do so, You see, Christ by His coming
had made you powerless and cast you down and stripped
you.' He, hearing the Savior's name and unable to endure
the heat it caused In him, vanished.
42. "Wherefore, if even the Devil himself confesses
that he has no power, we ought to condemn him and his
demons as well from first to last. The Evil One with his
hounds, it is true, has all this store of knaveries; but we,
having learned their weakness, can despise them. Let us,
therefore, not give up and become despondent in mind,
nor entertain cowardice in our soul, nor conjure up fears
for ourselves, saying c lf only a demon does not come and
trip me up! If only he does not lift me up and hurl me
down, or appear suddenly and scare me out of my wits!'
No, we must not have such thoughts at all nor grieve as
though we were perishing. Let us rather be of good
courage and rejoice always as men who are being saved.
Let us ponder in our soul that the Lord is with us, He
who put the evil spirits to flight and made them impotent.
"Let us think this over and ever bear in mind that as
long as the Lord is with us, { our enemies will do us no
harm. For when they come, they conduct themselves as
they find us; and in whatever state of mind they find us,
so likewise do they represent their phantoms. 152 If they
56 ST. ATHANASIUS
see us panic-stricken with fear, they promptly take pos-
session like robbers who find the place unguarded; and
whatever we think of ourselves, this they pay out with
interest added. If they see us fearful and fainthearted,
so much the more do they augment our faithheartedness
in the form of phantoms and threats, and thus the poor
soul is tormented for the future. But if they find us re-
joicing in the Lord, meditating on the good things to come
and contemplating the things that are the Lord's, con-
sidering that everything is in the Lord's hands and that
a demon has no power over a Christian, that, in fact, he
has no power over anyone at all then, seeing the soul
safeguarded with thoughts such as these, they are put
to shame and they turn away. Thus, when the Enemy
saw Job fortified all round, he withdrew from him, but
finding Judas bare of all this, he took him prisoner.
"Wherefore, if we wish to despise the Enemy, let us
always keep our thoughts upon the things of the Lord and
let the soul ever rejoice in hope. 153 We shall then see the
trumperies of the demons as so much smoke and see them
fleeing rather than pursuing. For they are, as I said, abject
cowards, always apprehensive of lr>4 the fire which has
been prepared for them. 155
43. "And observe this, too, as betokening the fearless-
ness you should have in their presence. When any phan-
tom appears, do not promptly collapse with cowardly fear,
but whatever it may be, first ask with stout heart, 'Who
are you and whence do you come?' And if it should be a
vision of the good, they will reassure you and change
your fear into joy. If, however, it has to do with the Devil,
it will weaken on the spot, seeing your steadfast mind; for
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 57
to simply ask, 'Who are you and whence do you come?'
Is an indication of calmness. Thus did the son of Nave in-
quire and leara; I5r> and the Enemy did not escape detec-
tion when Daniel questioned him."
' 1ST
MONASTIC VIRTUE
44. As Antony discussed these matters with them, all
rejoiced. In some the love of virtue increased, in some
negligence was discarded, and in others conceit was
checked. All heeded his advice to despise the schemings
of the Devil, and were in admiration of the grace given to
Antony by the Lord for the discerning of spirits.
So, then, their solitary cells in the hills were like tents
filled with divine choirs singing Psalms, studying, fast-
ing, praying, rejoicing in the hope of the life to come, and
laboring in order to give alms and preserving love and
harmony among themselves. And truly it was like seeing
a land apart, a land of piety and justice. For there was
neither wrongdoer nor sufferer of wrong, nor was there
reproof of the tax-collector; 15S but a multitude of ascetics,
all with pne set purpose virtue. Thus, if one saw these
solitary cells again and the fine disposition of the monks,
he could but lift up his voice and say: How fair are thy
dwellings, O Jacobthy tents, O Israel! Like shady glens
and like a garden by a river, and like tents that the Lord
hath pitched and cedars beside the waters! 159
45. Antony himself went back as usual to his own cell
and intensified his ascetic practices. Day by day he sighed
as he meditated on the heavenly mansions, 160 longing for
58 ST. ATHANASIUS
them and seeing the short-lived existence of man. When
he was about to eat and sleep and provide for the other
needs of the body, shame overcame him as he thought of
the spiritual nature of the soul. 161 Often when about to
partake of food with many other monks, the thought of
spiritual food came upon him and he would beg to be
excused and went a long way from them, thinking that
he should be ashamed to be seen eating by others. He did
eat, of course, by himself because his body needed it; and
frequently, too, with the brethren embarrassed because
of them, yet speaking freely because of the help his words
gave them. He used to say that one should give all one's
time to the soul rather than to the body. True, because
necessity demands it, a little time should be given to the
body; but on the whole we should give our first attention
to the soul and look to its advantage. It must not be
dragged down by the pleasures of the body, but rather the
body must be made subject to the soul. This, he stated,
was what the Savior said: Be not solicitous for your life,
what you shall eat, nor for your body what you shall put
on. And seek not you what you shall eat or what you shall
drink, and be not lifted up on high; for all these things do
the nations of the world seek. But your Father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. But seek you first
His kingdom and all these things shall be added to you. 162
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 59
THE CANDIDATE FOR MARTYRDOM UNDER
MAXIMIN DAJA (311)
46. After this the persecution of Maximin 1C3 which
broke out at the time befell the Church. When the holy
martyrs were taken to Alexandria, he, too, left his cell and
followed, saying: "Let us also go to take part in the con-
test if we are called, or to look on the contestants/ 5 Now,
he had a yearning to suffer martyrdom, but as he did not
wish to give himself up, he ministered to the confessors in
the mines and in the prisons. 164 He was busy in the court-
room 165 stimulating the zeal of the contestants as they
were called up, and receiving and escorting them as they
went to their martyrdom and remaining with them until
they had expired. So the judge, seeing his fearlessness and
that of his companions and their zeal in this matter, gave
orders that no monk was to appear in the court or stay in
the city at all. All the others thought it well to remain
in hiding that day, but Antony thought so little of it that
he washed his clothes 166 and on the following day posted
himself at a prominent place in front, in plain view of the
prefect. While all wondered at this and the prefect saw it
too as he came through with his staff, he stood there un-
afraid, showing the eager spirit characteristic of us Chris-
tians; for, as I stated before, he was praying that he, too,
might be martyred. Therefore, he also appeared grieved
that he did not suffer martyrdom. 167
But the Lord was guarding him for our own good and
for the good of others, that to many he might be a teacher
of the ascetic life which he himself had learned from the
60 ST. ATHANASIUS
Scriptures. In fact, many from merely seeing his conduct
were zealous followers of his way of life. Again, therefore,
he followed his wont of ministering to the confessors; and
as though he were in bonds with them, 168 he grew weary
in his toil for them.
THE DAILY MARTYR OF THE MONASTIC LIFE
47. When the persecution finally ceased and Bishop
Peter of blessed memory had suffered martyrdom, 9 he
left and went back to his solitary cell; and there he was a
daily martyr to his conscience, ever fighting the battles of
the Faith. For he practiced a zealous and more intense
ascetic life. He fasted continually, his clothing was hair
on the inside while the outside was skin, 170 and this he
kept to his dying day. He never bathed his body in water
to remove filth, 171 nor did he as much as wash his feet or
even allow himself to put them in water without necessity.
No one ever saw him undressed, nor did anyone ever look
upon his bare body till he died and was buried.
48. Now, then, as he returned to solitude and having
determined to set himself a period of time during which
he would neither go out himself nor receive anyone, a
military officer, a certain Martinianus, came to importune
Antony: he had a daughter troubled by a demon. As he
persisted in staying, knocking at the door, and begging
him to come and pray to God for his child, Antony would
not open, but using a peephole, he said: "Man, why do
you make all this clamor to me? I am a man just as you
are. If you believe in Christ whom I serve, go, and, as you
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 61
believe, pray to God and it will come to pass." And the
man left at once, believing and invoking Christ, and his
daughter was cleansed from the demon. Many other
things, too, did the Lord perform through him, He who
said: Ask, and it shall be given you. 1 " 2 For very many
sufferers simply slept outside his cell, 1 since he would not
open his door to them; and they were healed by their faith
and sincere prayer.
FLIGHT TO THE INNER MOUNTAIN
49. When he saw himself beset by many and that he
was not permitted to withdraw as he had proposed to him-
self and wished, and concerned that because of what the
Lord was doing through him m he might become con-
ceited or another might account him more than was
proper, he looked about and set out on a journey to the
Upper Thebaid to people among whom he was unknown.
He had received loaves from the brethren and was sitting
by the banks of the River, watching to see if a boat should
come along on which he could embark and leave with
them. While he was thus on the lookout, a voice came to
him from above: "Antony, where are you going, and
why?"
He was not bewildered, but, being used to hearing such
calls often, he listened and answered: "Since the crowds
do not permit me to be alone, therefore I want to go to the
Upper Thebaid because of the many annoyances I am
subjected to here and especially because they ask me
things beyond my power."
62 ST. ATHANASIUS
"Whether you go up to the Thebaid," the voice said,
"or, as you have been considering, down to the Pas-
tures/ 75 you will have more yes, twice as much trouble
to put up with. But if you really wish to be by yourself,
then go up to the inner desert."
"And," said Antony, "who will show me the way? I
am not acquainted with it." At once his attention was
called to some Saracens 17<I who were about to take that
route. Coming up and approaching them, Antony asked
to go along with them into the desert. They welcomed
him as though by the command of Providence. And he
journeyed with them three days and three nights and
came to a very high mountain. At the base of the moun-
tain there was water, crystal-clear, sweet, and very cold.
Spreading out from there was flat land and a few scraggy
date-palms.
50. Antony, as though inspired by God, fell in love
with the place, 177 for this was what He meant who spoke
to him at the riverbank. He made a beginning by getting
some loaves of bread from his companion travellers, and
stayed alone on the mountain, with no one to keep him
company. For the future he regarded this place as though
he had found his own home. As for the Saracens, noticing
Antony's enthusiasm, they made it a point to travel
through by that road and were happy to bring him bread.
Then, too, in those days he derived a small and frugal
change of diet from the date-palms. Later the brethren,
learning of the place, like children mindful of their father,
saw to it that bread was sent to him. Antony, however,
seeing that the bread was causing some of them to trouble
themselves to the extent of enduring hardship, and mean-
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 63
Ing to show consideration for the monks In this also, he
thought the matter over and asked some of those who
visited him to bring him a two-pronged hoe, an axe, and
some grain.
When these were brought, he w 7 ent over the ground
about the mountain, and finding a small patch that was
suitable, and with a generous supply of water available
from the spring, he tilled and sowed it. This he did every
year and it furnished him his bread. He w r as happy that
he should not have to trouble anyone for this and that in
all things he kept himself from being a burden. But later,
seeing that people were coming to him again, he began
to raise a few 7 vegetables too, that the visitor might have a
little something to restore him after the weariness of that
hard road.
At first wild animals in the desert coming for water
often would damage the beds in his garden. But he caught
one of the animals, held it gently, and said to them all:
"Why do you do harm to me when I harm none of you?
Go away, and in the Lord's name do not come near these
things again!" And ever afterwards, as though awed by
his orders, they did not come near the place. 118
DEMONS AGAIN
51. So he was alone in the Inner Mountain, giving his
time to prayer and to the practice of asceticism. But the
brethren who looked after him asked that they might
come every month and bring him olives and pulse and oil,
for he was now an old man.
64 ST. ATHANASIUS
From those who visited him we have learned how many
wrestlings 17() he endured while living there, not against
flesh and blood, as is written, 180 but in conflict with
demons. For there, too, they heard tumults and many
voices and clangor as of weapons. At night they saw the
mountain alive with wild beasts. They also saw him
fighting as with visible foes, and praying against them.
To such as visited him he spoke words of encouragement,
while for himself he kept up the struggle on bended knees
and praying to the Lord. And it was truly remarkable
that, alone as he was in such a wilderness, he was neither
dismayed by the attacks of the demons, nor, with all the
animals and creeping things there, did he fear their
savageness. But, as Scripture has it, he truly trusted in
the Lord like Mount Sion, 181 with a mind unshaken and
unruffled. Thus the demons rather fled from him, and the
wild beasts, as is written, 382 kept peace with him,
52. So the Devil kept a close watch on Antony and
gnashed his teeth against him, as David says in the
Psalm; 183 but Antony was heartened by the Savior, re-
maining unharmed by his villainy and his subtle strategy.
Thus, he set wild beasts on him as he kept vigil in the
night; and well-nigh all the hyenas in that desert came
out of their lairs and encircled him. With him in their
midst, each with open jaw threatened to bite him. But
he, knowing well the Enemy's craft, said to them all: "If
you have received the power to do this against me, I am
ready to be devoured by you; if you have been sent by
demons, get out without delay, for I am Christ's ser-
vant." 184 As Antony was saying this, they fled, as though
hounded by the whip of that word. 185
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 65
53. Then a few days later as he was at work for work
was ever in his thoughtssomeone came to the door and
pulled the cord he was working with: he was weaving
baskets, articles he gave to visitors in exchange for what
they brought him. He rose and saw a monster resembling
a man as far as the thighs, but having legs and feet like
an ass. Antony simply made the Sign of the Cross and
said: "I am Christ's servant. If you are on a mission
against me, here I am." But the monster with its demons
fled so fast that its speed caused it to fall and die. And
the death of the monster stood for the fall of the demons:
they were making every effort to drive him back from the
desert, and they cotild not.
ANTONY VISITS THE BRETHREN
ALONG THE NILE
54. Once the monks asked him to return to them and
to spend some time on a visitation of them and their settle-
ments. He made the journey with the monks who had
come to meet him. A camel carried bread and water for
them; for all the desert thereabouts is without water and
there is no drinking water at all except in the one moun-
tain from which they had drawn it, there where his cell
is. Now, on the way the water gave out and they all were
in danger, as the heat was most intense. They went about
and returned without finding water. Presently they were
too weak to even walk. They stretched themselves out
upon the ground and let the camel go, giving themselves
up in despair.
66 ST. ATHANASIUS
Then the old man, seeing the danger all were in, was
overcome with grief. Sighing deeply, he walked a little
way from them. He then knelt down, stretched forth his
hands, and prayed. And at once the Lord made a spring
come forth where he was praying, and so all drank and
were refreshed. 180 Filling their waterskins, they set out to
look for the camel and found it; for it so happened that
the rope had wrapped around a stone and it was held fast.
They brought it back and watered it, and putting the
waterskins on it, finished their journey no worse for the
incident.
As he came to the outer cells, all gave him a hearty
welcome, regarding him as a father. And he, for his part,
as though bringing them provisions from his mountain,
entertained them with his stories and gave them of his
practical experience. And again there was joy in the
mountains and eagerness for improvement, and the con-
solations that come from a common faith, 187 And so he,
too, rejoiced to witness the zeal of the monks and his
sister grown old in her virginity, herself the guiding spirit
of other virgins.
THE BRETHREN VISIT ANTONY
55. After some days he returned to his mountain.
From then on many came to him, and there were those,
too, who had an affliction and risked the journey to him.
But as for all the monks who came to him, he had the
same advice to place their confidence in the Lord and to
love Him, to keep themselves from bad thoughts and
pleasures of the flesh, and not to be seduced by a full
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 67
stomach, as Is written In Proverbs. 188 They should flee
conceit and pray continually, sing Psalms before sleeping
and after, commit to heart the commandments enjoined
in the Scriptures, and hark back to the deeds of the saints,
that the soul by keeping in mind the commandments
might train itself on the example of their zeal. He coun-
selled them above all to ever bear in mind the Apostle's
word, Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, 18 * and
to regard this as spoken of all the commandments alike:
the sun must not go down, not merely on our anger, but
on any other sin of ours. "It is but right and necessary,
too, that the sun does not condemn us for any sin by day,
nor the moon for any fault or even any thought by night.
To assure ourselves of this, it is well to hear and treasure
what the Apostle says: Judge yourselves and prove your-
selves. 1 Wherefore, let every man daily take an account-
ing with himself of the day's and the night's doings; m
and if he has sinned, let him stop sinning; and if he has
not, let him not boast of it. Let him rather persist in the
good and not grow careless, nor pass judgment on his
neighbor, nor pronounce himself as just, as the blessed
Apostle Paul said, until the Lord comes who searches
out the hidden things. 2 For often we are not aware of
what we are doing we do not know it, but the Lord
notices everything. Therefore, leaving judgment to Him,
let us have sympathy with each other and hear one
another's burdens. 1 * Ourselves let us judge; and where
we fall short, let us be earnest about making up our
deficiency. Let this observation be a safeguard against
sinning: let us each note and write down our actions and
impulses of the soul as though we were to report them
to each other; and you may rest assured that from utter
68 ST. ATHANASIUS
shame of becoming known we shall stop 5inning and en-
tertaining sinful thoughts altogether. Who is there that
likes to be seen sinning? Who, having sinned, would not
choose to lie, hoping to escape detection? Just as we
would not give ourselves over to lust within sight of each
other, so if we were to write down our thoughts as if
telling them to each other, we shall so much the more
guard ourselves against foul thoughts for shame of being
known. Now, then, let the written account stand for the
eyes of our fellow ascetics, so that blushing at writing the
same as if we were actually seen, we may never ponder
evil. Molding ourselves in this way, we shall be able to
bring our body into subjection, 1 * 4 to please the Lord and
to trample under foot the machinations of the Enemy."
MIRACLES IN THE DESERT
56. Such were his words of advice to those who visited
him. With those who suffered he united in sympathy and
prayer; and often and in a great variety of cases the Lord
heard his prayer. But he neither boasted when he was
heard, nor did he complain when not heard. He always
gave thanks to the Lord, and urged the sufferers to bear
up and realize that healing was not his prerogative nor
indeed any man's, but God's who performs it when He
will and for whom He will. The sufferers were satisfied
to receive even the mere words of the old man as a cure,
for they had taken the lesson not to give up, but to be
long-suffering. And those who were cured learned not to
thank Antony, but God alone.
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 69
57. There was, for example, a man named Pronto, 1115
hailing from Palatium. He had a dreadful disease, for he
was continually biting his tongue, and his eyesight was
failing. He came to the mountain and asked Antony to
pray for him. The latter prayed and then said to Pronto:
"Go, and you will be cured." But he was persistent and
remained there for days, while Antony kept on saying:
"You cannot be healed as long as you remain here. Go,
and when you arrive in Egypt, you will see the miracle
worked on you." The man w T as convinced and left; and
the moment he came in sight of Egypt, his malady was
gone. He was well according to the instructions of Antony
which he had learned from the Savior in prayer.
58. A girl from Busiris in Tripoli 19tt had a dreadful
and very loathsome diseasea discharge from her eyes,
nose, and ears immediately became worms when it fell to
the ground. Moreover, her body was paralyzed and her
eyes were defective. Her parents hearing of monks who
were leaving to see Antony, and having faith in the Lord
who healed the woman troubled with an issue of blood, 197
they asked to go along with their daughter. They con-
sented. The parents and their child remained at the foot
of the mountain with Paphnutius, 198 the confessor and
monk. The others went up; and just as they wished to
tell about the girl, he anticipated them and told them all
about the sufferings of the child, and how she had made
the journey with them. 199 Then when they asked if these
people also might come in, he would not allow it, but said:
"Go, and you will find her cured if she has not died. This
certainly is no accomplishment of mine that she should
come to a wretched man like me; no, indeed, her cure is
the work of the Savior who shows His mercy in every
70 ST. ATHANASIUS
place to those who call upon Him. In this case, too, the
Lord has granted her prayer, and His love for men has re-
vealed to me that He will cure the child's malady where
she is." At all events, the miracle actually took place:
when they went down, they found the parents rejoicing
and the girl in sound health from then on.
59. It happened that when two of the brethren were
journeying to him, the water gave out on the journey: the
one died and the other was on the point of dying. He no
longer had strength to go, but lay on the ground expecting
to die also. Antony, sitting on the mountain, called two
monks who happened to be there, and urged them to
hasten, saying: "Take a jar of water and run down the
road towards Egypt; for two were coming, one has just
died, and the other will unless you hurry. This has just
now been revealed to me as I was praying." The monks,
therefore, went and found the one lying dead and buried
him. The other they revived with water and brought him
to the old man. The distance was a day's journey. Now,
if anyone asks why he did not speak before the other man
died, his question is not justified. For the decree of death
was not passed by Antony, but by God who determined
it for the one and revealed the condition of the other. As
for Antony, this alone was wonderful, that as he sat with
sober heart on the mountain, the Lord showed him things
afar off.
60. Again, on another occasion as he was sitting on the
mountain and looking up, he saw in the air someone
borne aloft amid great rejoicing of others who met him.
Wondering at such a great host and thinking how blessed
they were, he prayed to learn what this might be. And at
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 71
once a voice came to him saying that this was the soul of
the monk Amoun In Nitria. 200 He had lived the life of
an ascetic up to old age. Now, the distance from Nitria
to the mountain where Antony was takes thirteen days
to travel. Those who were with Antony, seeing the old
man in wonderment, asked what it meant and were told
that Amoun had just died. 201
He was well-known, for he came there often and many
miracles had taken place through him. The following is
an example: Once when he had to cross the so-called
Lycus River 20l> and it was the flood season, he asked Theo-
dore 203 to go well ahead of him so that they might not
see each other naked while swimming across the water.
Then, when Theodore had gone off, he felt further shame
to see himself naked. While he was thus embarrassed and
pondering, he was suddenly borne across to the opposite
bank. Theodore, himself a pious man, came up; and
seeing that the other had come over before him and had
not even gotten wet, he asked how he had crossed. When
he saw that he did not wish to tell him, he clung to his
feet and insisted that he would not let him go until he
had learned this from him. Noting Theodore's determina-
tion, especially from the declaration he had made, he in-
sisted in turn that he should not tell anyone till his death,
and so revealed to him that he had been carried across
and set down on the other side; that he had not walked
on the water and that this was not possible at all for
man, but for the Lord alone and for those whom He per-
mits, as He had done in the case of the great Apostle
Peter. 204 Theodore, then, told this after Amoun's death.
Now, the monks to whom Antony had spoken of
Amoun's death made a note of the day; and when after
72 ST. ATHANASIUS
thirty days the brethren arrived from Nitria, they in-
quired and learned that Amoun had fallen asleep 205 on
that same day and hour when Antony saw his soul borne
on high. And they as well as the others were amazed at
the purity of Antony's soul, that he should learn at once
what happened thirteen days away and should see the
soul borne aloft.
61. Again, the count Archelaus 206 once met him in the
Outer Mountain and asked him only to pray for Poly-
cratia, 207 the admirable Christ-bearing 208 virgin of Laodi-
cea. She was suffering severely from her stomach and
side because of her excessive austerity, and her body was
in an utterly weakened condition. Antony prayed, and the
count made a note of the day on which the prayer was
made. When he returned to Laodicea, he found the vir-
gin well. Inquiring when and on what day she had been
freed from her sickness, he produced the paper on which
he had marked the time of the prayer. When he had been
told, he immediately showed his notation on the paper;
and all were astonished as they recognized that the Lord
had cured her of her ailment at the very moment when
Antony was praying and appealing to the Savior's good-
ness on her behalf.
62. And as for those who came to him, he frequently
foretold their coming, days and sometimes a month in
advance and for what reason they were coming. Some
came merely to see him, others through sickness, and
others suffering from demons. And all thought the exer-
tion of the journey no trouble or loss: each returned feel-
ing that he had been helped. While Antony had these
powers of speech and vision, yet he begged that no one
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 73
should admire him for this account, but rather admire the
Lord, because He granted to us mere men to know Him
to the best of our capability.
63. On another occasion he had again come down to
visit the outer cells. When he had been invited to enter a
ship and pray with the monks, he alone perceived a hor-
rible, very biting smell. The crew said that there were fish
and salted meat on board and the odor was from them,
but he insisted that the smell was different. While he
was still speaking, a young man who had a demon and
had come on board earlier as a stowaway, suddenly let
out a shriek. On being censured in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the demon went out and the man became
normal; and all knew that the stench was from the demon.
64. And another, a man of rank, came to him pos-
sessed by a demon. In this case the demon was so frightful
that the possessed 209 man was not aware that he was
going to Antony. He even devoured the excrement of his
own body. The men who brought him begged Antony to
pray for him. Feeling compassion for the young man,
Antony prayed and kept awake with him the whole night.
Towards dawn the youth suddenly rushed upon Antony
and gave him a push. His companions became vexed at
this, but Antony said: "Do not be angry with the young
man, for he is not responsible, but the demon in him.
Being rebuked and commanded to be gone to waterless
places, 210 he was driven mad and he did this. Give thanks
to the Lord, therefore, for his attacking me in this way is,
a sign of the demon's departure." The moment Antony
had said this, the young man was normal again. Restored
to his senses, he recognized where he was and embraced
the old man, giving thanks to God.
74 ST. ATHANASIUS
VISIONS
65. Numerous monks have stories stories uniformly
concordant about many other such things done through
him. These, however, do not appear so marvellous as
compared with still more marvellous things. Once, for
example, when he was about to eat and stood up to pray 5
about the ninth hour, 211 he felt himself carried off in
spirit, and strange to say as he stood he saw himself, as
it were, outside himself 212 and as though guided aloft by
certain beings. Then he also saw loathsome and terrible
beings standing in the air and bent on preventing him
from passing through. 213 As his guides offered resistance,
the others demanded to know on what plea he was not
accountable to them. Then, when they set themselves to
taking an account from his birth, Antony's guides inter-
vened, saying to them: "As for the things dating from
his birth, the Lord has erased them; but as for the time
since he became monk and promised himself to God, you
can take an account." Then, as they brought accusations
but could not prove them, the way opened up to him
free and unhindered; and presently he saw himself
approaching, so it seemed to him, and halting with him-
self; and so he was the real Antony again.
Then, forgetting to eat, he spent the rest of the day and
all the night sighing and praying. For he was astonished
to see against how many we battle and what labors a
person has to pass through the air; and he remembered
that this is what the Apostle said according to the prince
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 75
of the power of the air. 214 Here precisely lies the Enemy's
power, that he fights and tries to stop those who pass
through. Wherefore, too, his special admonition: Take
unto you the armor of God that you may be able to resist
in the evil day . . . ; - L ~ that having no evil to say of us the
Enemy may be put to shame.' 211 '' And we who have learned
this, let us remember what the Apostle says: Whether in
the body I know not, or out of the body I know not; God
knoweth.' 217 But Paul was carried up to the third heaven
and heard words unutterable ~ 18 and returned; whereas
Antony saw himself entering the air and struggling until
he became free.
66. Again, he had this favor from God. When he sat
alone on the mountain, if ever in his reflections he failed
to find a solution, it was revealed to him by Providence
in answer to his prayer: the happy man was, in the words
of Scripture, taught of God.~ w Thus favored, he once had
had a discussion with some visitors about the life of the
soul and the kind of place it will have after this life. The
following night there came a call from on high saying,
"Antony, rise, go out and look!" He went out, therefore
he knew which calls to heed 22 and, looking up, saw a
towering figure, unsightly and frightening, standing and
reaching to the clouds; further, certain beings ascending
as though on wings. The former was stretching out his
hands: some of the latter were stopped by him, while
others flew over him and, having come through, rose with-
out further trouble. At such as these the monster gnashed
his teeth, but exulted over those who fell. Forthwith a
voice addressed itself to Antony, ^Understand the
vision!" 221 . His understanding opened up, 222 and he real-
76 ST. ATHANASIUS
ized that it was the passing of souls 223 and that the
monster standing there was the Enemy, the envier of the
faithful. Those answerable to him he lays hold of and
keeps them from passing through, but those whom he
failed to win over he cannot master as they pass out of
his range. Here again, having seen this and taking it as a
reminder, he struggled the more to advance from day to
day in the things that lay before him.
He w r as not inclined to tell about these things to people.
But \vhen he had spent a long time in prayer and the
wonder of it all absorbed him, and his companions kept
on inquiring about it and importuning him, he was forced
to speak. As a father he could not keep the secret from his
children. He felt that his own conscience was clear and
to tell them this might be a help to them. They would
learn of the good fruit that the ascetic life brings and that
often visions are granted as a compensation for its
hardships.
ANTONY'S DEVOTION TO THE CHURCH'S
MINISTERS
67. He w 7 as, moreover, forbearing by disposition and
humble of soul. Renowned man that he was, he yet
showed the profoundest respect for the Church's min-
istry and he wanted every cleric ~ B to be honored above
himself.-"' 5 He was not ashamed to bow his head before
bishops and priests; and if ever a deacon came to him for
help, he conversed with him on what was helpful; but
when it came to prayers, he would ask him to lead, not
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 77
being ashamed to learn himself. In fact, he would often
ask questions and seek the views of his companions; and
if he profited from what another said, he made acknowl-
edgement of it.
His face, too, had a great and indescribable charm in
it. And he had this added gift from the Savior: if he was
present in a gathering of monks and someone w 7 ho had
no previous acquaintance with him wished to see him,
as soon as he arrived he would pass over the others and
run to Antony as if drawn by his eyes. It was not his
stature or figure that made him stand out from the rest,
but his settled character and the purity of his soul. For
his soul was imperturbed, and so his outward appearance
was calm. 227 The joy in his soul expressed itself in the
cheerfulness of his face, and from the body's behavior one
saw and knew the state of his soul, as Scripture says:
When the heart is glad, the face is radiant; but when it
is full of grief, the face is gloomy. 22 * Thus Jacob observed
that Laban was plotting against him, and said to his
wives: Your father's countenance is not as yesterday and
the day fee/ore. 2 " 9 Thus Samuel recognized David, for he
had eyes that begot gladness and teeth white as milk. 23n
So 5 too, was Antony recognized: he was never agitated,
for his soul was calm; he was never gloomy, for there was
joy in his mind.
HIS LOYALTY TO THE FAITH
68. Again, in matters of faith his devotion was abso-
lutely admirable. For instance, he never had anything to
do with the Meletian 231 schismatics, aware of their wick-
78 ST. ATHANASIUS
edness and apostasy from the beginning. Nor did he have
any friendly dealings with the Manichaeans " :i2 or any
other heretics, except only to admonish them to return to
the true religion. 233 He thought and taught that friend-
ship and association with them brought harm and ruin
to the soul. So, too, he loathed the heresy of the Arians 234
and he exhorted all not to go near them nor to share their
perverted belief. Once when some of the Ariomaniacs m
came to him, he questioned them closely; and when he
learned of their impious faith, he drove them from the
mountain, saying that their words were worse than the
poison of serpents.
69. When on one occasion the Arians gave out the lie
that his views were the same as theirs, he showed that he
was vexed and angry with them. Answering the appeal
of both the bishops and all the brethren, he came down
from the mountain, and entering Alexandria, 23 " he de-
nounced the Arians. He said that their heresy was the
worst of all and a forerunner of the Antichrist. He taught
the people that the Son of God is not a creature nor has
He come into being "from non-existence"; 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,' 2a7 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 ddrkness. ns 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 re-
spect different from the pagans who worship the created
in place of God the Creator. 23 * And you may be sure that
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 79
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."
70. The people all rejoiced to hear such a man anath-
ematize the heresy which fights against Christ. 240 The
entire city ran together to see Antony. Pagans, 241 too, and
even their so-called priests came to the church saying:
"We would like to see the man of God" for so they all
called him. Moreover, there also the Lord through him rid
many of demons and cured mental cases. Many pagans,
too, asked but to touch the old man, confident that they
would be helped; and, indeed, as many became Christians
in those few days as one would have seen in a year.
Again, some thought he was annoyed by the crowds and
therefore were trying to keep all away from him; but he,
unannoyed, said: "These people are no more numerous
than those demons we wrestle with on the mountain."
71. When he was leaving and we 242 were seeing him
off and had arrived at the gate, a woman behind us cried
out: "Wait, man of God, my daughter is terribly plagued
by a demon! Wait, please, or I shall hurt myself running."
The old man heard her, we begged him to stop, and he did
so gladly. When the woman approached, her child was
hurled to the ground. Antony prayed and called upon the
name of Christ, the child stood up cured as the unclean
spirit left her. The mother gave praise to God and all
gave thanks. And he, too, rejoiced as he left for the moun-
tainto him his own home. 243
80 ST. ATHANASIUS
WISDOM TO THE WISE
72. He also had a very high degree of practical wisdom.
The wonder was that although he was without formal
schooling, 244 he was yet a man of ready wit and under-
standing. To illustrate: once two Greek philosophers
came to him, thinking they could experiment with
Antony. He happened to be on the Outer Mountain at
the time. When he had sized up the men from their ap-
pearance, he went out to them and said through an
interpreter: "Why, philosophers, have you gone to so
much trouble to come to a foolish man?" When they said
that he was not foolish, but very wise, he said to them:
"If you have come to a foolish man, your trouble is to
no purpose; but if you do think that I am wise, make your-
selves what I am, for one ought to imitate the good. In-
deed, if I had come to you, I would have imitated you;
conversely, now that you have come to me, make your-
selves what I am: I am a Christian." They left marvelling
at him, for they saw that even demons feared Antony.
73. Others again of the same kind met him in the Outer
Mountain and thought they could fop him because he had
not received any schooling. Antony said to them: "Well,
what do you say, which is first, the mind or letters? And
which is the cause of which the mind of letters, or letters
of the mind?" When they stated that the mind is first
and the inventor of letters, Antony said: "Therefore, one
who has a sound mind has no need of letters." 245 This
amazed both them and the bystanders. They went away
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 81
astonished to see such wisdom In an ordinary man. 246 For
he did not have the rough manner of one who had lived
and grown old in the mountains, but he was a man of
grace and urbanity. His speech was seasoned with divine
wisdom 247 so that no one bore him ill-will, but rather all
rejoiced over him who sought him out.
74. And indeed, after this still others came. 248 They
were of those who among the pagans are supposedly wise.
They asked him to state an argument for our faith in
Christ. When they tried to make inferences from the
preaching of the divine Cross 249 and wished to scoff,
Antony paused for a moment, and first pitying them for
their ignorance, said through an interpreter who gave
an excellent translation of his words: "Which is better to
confess the Cross, or to attribute adulteries and pederasties
to your so-called gods? For to maintain what we maintain
is a sign of manly spirit and betokens disregard for death,
whereas your claims bespeak but wanton passions. Again,
which is better to say that the Word of God was not
changed, but remaining the same took on a human body
for the salvation and well-being of mankind, so that by
sharing human birth, He might make men partakers of the
divine and spiritual nature; 25 or to put the divine on a
level with senseless things and therefore to worship beasts
and reptiles and images of men? These precisely are the
objects worshipped by you wise men. How dare you revile
us for saying that Christ has appeared as man, whereas
you derive the soul from heaven, saying that it strayed
and fell from the vault of the heavens into the body?
Would that it were only into the body of man, and not
that it changed and migrated into beasts and serpents! 2r>1
82 ST. ATHANASIUS
Our faith declares Christ's coming 252 for the salvation of
men; but you mistakenly theorize about an uncreated
Soul. 253 We believe in the power of Providence and His
love of men and that this 254 also was not impossible with
God; but you, calling the Soul an image of the Mind, 255
impute falls to it and fabricate myths about its ability to
change. 250 Consequently, you make also the Mind itself
changeable because of the Soul. For as was the image, so,
too, must be that of which it is the image. But when you
have such thoughts about the Mind, remember that you
are also blaspheming the Father of the Mind. 257
75. "And regarding the Cross, which would you say is
better: when treachery is resorted to by wicked men, to
endure the Cross and not to flinch from death in any
manner or form, 258 or to fabricate fables about the wander-
ings of Osiris and Isis, 259 the plots of Typhon, the banish-
ment of Cronus, 260 the swallowing of children, and slaying
of fathers? Yes, here we have your wisdom!
"And why is it that while you deride the Cross, you do
not marvel at the Resurrection? For those who reported
the one also wrote of the other. Or why is it that while
you remember the Cross, you'have nothing to say about
the dead brought back to life, the blind who saw again,
the paralytics who were cured and the lepers made clean,
the walking on the sea, and the other signs and wonders
which show Christ not as man but as God? At all events,
it seems to me that you are but defrauding yourselves and
are not really familiar with our Scriptures. But do read
them and see that the things which Christ did, prove Him
to be God abiding with us for the salvation of mankind.
76. "But you must also tell us your own teachings.
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 83
Though, what could you say about senseless things ex-
cept senselessness and barbarism? But if, as I hear, you
wish to say that among you people such things are spoken
figuratively; 261 and you make the rape of Persephone 262
an allegory of the earth, Hephaestus' lameness of the fire,
Hera of the air, Apollo of the sun, Artemis of the moon,
and Poseidon of the sea: even so you are not worshipping
God Himself, but you are rendering service to the crea-
ture in place of the God who created all. For if you have
composed such stories because creation is beautiful, it was
for you to go no further than to admire it, and not to make
gods of the creatures lest you give the honor that is the
Maker's 263 to the things made. In that case it were time
that you transferred the honor due the architect to the
house built by him, or the honor due the general to the
soldier. Now, what have you to say to all this? Thus we
shall know whether the Cross has anything that deserves
to be made a jest of."
77. They were embarrassed and turning this way and
that. Antony smiled and said, again through an inter-
preter: "Sight itself bears proof of all that I have said.
But since, of course, you pin your faith on demonstrative
proofs and this is an art in which you are masters, and
you want us also not to worship God without demonstra-
tive arguments do you first tell me this. How does precise
knowledge of things come about, especially knowledge
about God? Is it by verbal proof or by an act of faith?
And which comes first, an active faith or verbal proof?"
When they replied that the act of faith takes precedence
and that this constitutes accurate knowledge, Antony
said: "Well said! Faith arises from the disposition of the
soul, while dialectic comes from the skill of those who
84 ST. ATHANASIUS
devise it. Accordingly, those who are equipped with an
active faith have no need of verbal argument, and probably
find it even superfluous. For what we apprehend by faith,
that you attempt to construct by arguments; and often
you cannot even express what we perceive. The con-
clusion is that an active faith is better and stronger
than your sophistic arguments.
264
265
78. "We Christians, therefore, possess religious truth
not on the basis of Greek philosophical reasoning,
but founded on the power of a faith vouchsafed us by God
through Jesus Christ. And as for the truth of the account
given, note how we who have remained unlettered believe
in God, recognizing from His works His Providence over
all things. And as for our faith being something effectual,
note how we lean upon our belief in Christ, while you
take support from sophistical wranglings over words; and
your phantom idols are passing into desuetude, but our
faith is spreading everywhere. And you with your syl-
logisms and sophisms are not converting anybody from
Christianity to paganism; 266 but we, teaching faith in
Christ, are stripping your gods of the fear they inspired, 267
now that all are recognizing Christ as God and the Son of
God. You with all your elegant diction do not hinder the
teaching of Christ; but we by mentioning the name of the
crucified Christ drive away all the demons whom you fear
as gods. Where the Sign of the Cross appears, there magic
is powerless and sorcery ineffectual. 268
79. "Indeed, tell us, where are now your oracles?
Where are the incantations of the Egyptians? Where are
the phantom illusions of the magicians? When did all
these things cease and lose their significance? Was it not
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 85
when the Cross of Christ came? Wherefore, is it this that
deserves scorn, and not rather the things that have been
done away with by it and proved powerless? This, too, is
remarkable, the fact that your religion was never perse-
cuted; on the contrary, among men it is held in honor in
every city. Christ's followers, however, are persecuted,
and yet it is our cause that flourishes and prevails, not
yours. Your religion, for all the tranquillity and protection
it enjoys, is dying; whereas the faith and teaching of
Christ, scorned by you and often persecuted by the rulers,
has filled the world. When was there a time that the
knowledge of God shone forth so brightly? Or when was
there a time that continence and the virtue of virginity so
showed itself? Or when was death so despised as when the
Cross of Christ came? And this no one doubts when he
sees 269 the martyrs despising death for Christ's sake, or
sees the virgins of the Church who for Christ's sake keep
their bodies pure and undefiled.
80. "These are proofs sufficient to show that faith in
Christ is the only true religion. Still, here you are you
who seek for conclusions based on reasoning, you have no
faith! We, however, do not prove, as our teacher said, in
persuasive words of Greek wisdom; 27 but it is by faith that
we persuade men, faith which tangibly precedes any con-
structive reasoning of arguments. See, here we have with
us some who are suffering from demons." These were
people who had come to him troubled by demons; bringing
them forward, he said: "Either cleanse these by your
syllogisms and by any art or magic you wish, calling on
your idols; or, if you cannot, then stop fighting us and see
the power of the Cross of Christ." Having said this, he
invoked Christ and signed the afflicted with the Sign of the
86 ST. ATHANASIUS
Cross, repeating the action a second and third time. And
at once the persons stood up completely cured, restored to
their right mind and giving thanks to the Lord. The so-
called philosophers were astonished and really amazed at
the man's sagacity and at the miracle performed. But
Antony said: "Why do you marvel at this? It is not we
who do it, but Christ who does these things through those
who believe in Him. Do you, therefore, also believe, and
you will see that it is not wordcraft which we have, but
faith through love that works for Christ; and if you, too,
will make this your own, you will no longer seek arguments
from reason, but will consider faith in Christ sufficient by
itself."
So did Antony speak. They admired him as they left,
embraced him and acknowledged that they had been
helped by him.
THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE
WRITES TO HIM
81. The fame of Antony reached even to emperors;
for when Constantine Augustus and his sons Constantius
Augustus and Constans Augustus heard about these
things, they wrote m to him as to a father and begged
him to write back. He, however, did not make much of the
documents nor did he rejoice over the letters; but he was
the same as he was before the emperor wrote to him.
When the documents were brought to him, he called the
monks and said: "You must not be surprised if an emperor
writes to us, for he is a man; but you should rather be
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 87
surprised that God has written the law for mankind and
has spoken to us through His own Son." 272 Indeed, he did
not like to accept the letters, saying that he did not know
what to answer to such things. But being persuaded by
the monks who urged that the emperors were Christians
and that they might take offense at being ignored, he had
them read. 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. 273 He begged
them to show themselves humane and to have a regard for
justice and for the poor. And they were glad to receive
his answer. So was he beloved by all, and all wished to
have him as a father.
HE FORETELLS THE RAVAGES
OF THE ARIAN HERETICS
82. Giving such account of himself and thus answering
those who sought him out, he returned again to the Inner
Mountain. He kept up his wonted ascetic practices, and
often as he was sitting or walking with visitors he would
become dumb, as it is written in Daniel. 274 After some
time he would take up again what he had been saying to
the brethren who were with him; and those present would
know that he was seeing a vision. For often when he was
on the mountain he saw things happening even in Egypt.
He would describe them to the bishop Serapion 275 when
he chanced to be on the Inner Mountain 276 and saw
Antony entranced in a vision.
88 ST. ATHANASIUS
On one occasion, for instance, as he sat working, he
took on the appearance of one in ecstasy, and moaned
continuously at what he saw. Then after some time he
turned to those present, moaning and trembling, and
prayed and knelt down, remaining in that position a long
time. And when he arose, the old man was weeping. Then
those with him were shaken and very much alarmed and
asked him to tell what it was; and they pressed him for a
long time until he was constrained to speak. Sighing
deeply, he said: "Oh, my children, it were better to die
before the things in the vision take place." When they
asked further questions, he said with tears: "Wrath is
about to strike the Church and she is about to be delivered
up to men who are like to senseless beasts. For I saw the
table of the Lord's house, and mules around it standing
on all sides in a ring and kicking up their hoofs at what
was within, the same as the kicking you have when a
frisking herd runs wild. You surely heard," he said,
"how I moaned; I heard a voice saying: 'My altar shall
be desecrated/ "
So spoke the old man; and two years later came the
present assault of the Arians and the plundering of the
churches,^ 77 when they took the vessels by force and had
them carried away by the pagans; when, too, they forced
the pagans from the shops to their meetings and in their
presence did as they pleased on the sacred table. Then
we all realized that the kicking of the mules presaged to
Antony what the Arians are now doing like so many
senseless beasts.
When he saw this vision, he consoled his companions,
saying: "Do not be discouraged, children, for as the Lord
has been angry, so will He bring us recovery later. And
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 89
the Church will quickly regain the beauty that Is hers
and shine with her wonted splendor. You will see the
persecuted restored and irreligion retreating again to its
proper haunts and the true faith asserting itself every-
where with complete freedom. Only, do not defile
yourselves with the Arians. This their teaching is not of
the Apostles, but of the demons and their father, the
Devil. Indeed, it is sterile and unreasonable, and it lacks
right sense like the senselessness of mules." ~ 7<s
GOD'S WONDER-WORKER AND
PHYSICIAN OF SOULS
83. Such is the story of Antony. We must not show
ourselves skeptical when it is through a man that all these
great wonders came to pass. For it is the promise of the
Savior who says: If you have faith as a grain of mustard
seed, you shall say to this mountain: 'Remove hence!' and
it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you. 270
And again: Amen, amen, I say to you, if you ask the
Father anything in my name, He will give it to you ....
Ask and you shall receive* And it is He who said to His
disciples and to all who believe in Him: Heal the sick; . . .
cast out the demons; freely have you - received, freely
give. 281
84. Antony, then, healed not by giving out commands,
but by praying and by calling upon Christ's name, so that
it was clear to all that it was not he who did this, but the
Lord showing His loving-kindness to men and curing the
sufferers through Antony. Antony had to do only with
90 ST. ATHANASIUS
prayer and the practice of asceticism for the sake of which
he lived his mountain life, happy in the contemplation of
the divine and grieving that many disturbed him and
forced him to the Outer Mountain.
All the judges, for instance, begged him to come down
from the mountain, since it was impossible for them to
go there because of their following of people involved in
lawsuits. They asked him to come that they might but
see him. But he tried to avoid the journey to them and
begged to be excused from making it. They persisted,
however, and even sent to him defendants under escort
of soldiers, that on account of these he might come down.
Under such compulsion, therefore, and seeing them la-
menting, he would go to the Outer Mountain; and again
the trouble he went to was not in vain, for to many he
.was a help and his coming a benefaction. He helped the
judges by counselling them to give justice precedence over
all else, and to fear God and to bear in mind with what
judgment they judged they would be judged. 282 But of
all things he loved his mountain life most.
85. Once when he had been thus importuned by
persons who needed assistance and the military com-
mander had sent numerous messengers asking him to
come down, he came and spoke a few words on the subject
of salvation and in behalf of those who wanted him, and
then hastened to leave. When the duke, 283 as he is called,
begged him to stay, he said he could not spend any time
with them, and satisfied him by a beautiful comparison,
saying: "J ust as fisk exposed for any length of time on
dry land die, so monks go to pieces when they loiter among
you and spend too much time with you. Therefore, we
must off to the mountain, as fish to the sea. OtheY-
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 91
wise, if we tarry, we may lose sight of the inner life.'*
The commandant on hearing this and much more from
him, admiringly said that truly this was a servant of God;
for whence could an ordinary man have such extraor-
j
dinary intelligence, unless he were beloved of God?
86. There was one commandant Balacius was his
name 284 who in his partisanship for the execrable Arians
bitterly persecuted us Christians. And since he was so
barbaric as to beat virgins and strip and flog monks, 285
Antony sent him a letter with the following contents:
"I see God's judgment aproaching you; stop, therefore,
persecuting Christians, that the judgment may not seize
you; even now it is on the point of overtaking you/' But
Balacius laughed, threw the letter on the ground and spat
on it, and maltreated the bearers, telling them to take
back this message to Antony: "Seeing that you are con-
cerned about the monks, I shall now come after you, too/*
And five days Had not passed when God's judgment over-
took him. For Balacius and Nestorius, the prefect of
Egypt, 286 had gone out to the first station out of Alexandria,
which is called Chereu, 287 and both were on horseback. The
horses belonged to Balacius and were the most gentle of
all he kept. They had not yet reached the place, when the
horses began to frisk with one another, as horses do, and
suddenly the gentler of the two, the one on which
Nestorius was riding, bit Balacius, threw him down, and
attacked him; and it rent his thigh so badly with its teeth,
that he had to be taken back to the city at once and he
died in three days. And all wondered that what Antony
had foretold was fulfilled so quickly.
87. Thus did he warn the harsh. But as for the others
92 ST. ATHANASIUS
who came to him, his heart-to-heart talks with them made
them forthwith forget their litigation and deem those
happy who withdraw from life in^ the w r orld. He so
championed the cause of the wronged that one would
think that he himself, not the others, was the injured
party. Further, he had such a gift for helping everybody
that many who were in military service and many men
of great affluence gave up their burdensome life and then
became monks. In a word, it was as though a physician
had been given by God to Egypt. For who came to him in
grief and did not return in joy? Who came weeping for
his dead and did not immediately put away his mourning?
Who came in anger and was not transformed into friend-
liness? What down-and-out pauper met him, and seeing
him and hearing him did not despise wealth and feel
consoled in his poverty? What monk grown careless did
not gain new fervor from a visit with him? What young
man coming to the mountain, and seeing Antony, did not
promptly renounce pleasure and love chastity? Who came
to him plagued by a demon and was not freed? Who came
with tortured mind and did not find peace of mind?
88. This was also unique in Antony's practice of as-
ceticism that, as I stated above, he had the gift of dis-
cerning spirits. 288 He recognized their movements and was
well aware in what direction each of them directed his
effort and attack. Not only was he himself not fooled by
them, but encouraging others who were harassed in their
thoughts, he taught them how they might ward off their
designs, describing the weaknesses and wiles of the spirits
practicing possession. And so each went down as though
anointed 28 by him and filled with confidence against the
designs of the Devil and his demons.
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 93
And how many girls who had suitors but who had seen
Antony only from afar, remained virgins for Christ!
People came to him also from foreign lands. These re-
ceived help like all the others, and returned as though sent
on their way by a father. And indeed, now that he has
passed away, all, like orphans who have lost their father,
comfort themselves by one thing their memory of him
cherishing at the same time his words of admonition and
counsel.
DEATH
89. This is also the place for me to tell and for you to
hear, as you are anxious to, how he came to the end of his
life; for in this, too, he w r as a model for imitation.
As was his wont, he happened to be visiting the monks
in the Outer Mountain. Receiving a premonition of his
death from Providence, he spoke to the brethren, saying:
"This is the last visit I am making with you, and I am
wondering if we shall see each other again In this life.
It is time now for me to die, for I am near a hundred and
five years." Hearing this they wept, embracing and kissing
the old man. But he, as though he were departing from
a foreign town for his own, chatted joyously. He exhorted
them "not to grow lax in their efforts nor to lose heart in
the practice of the ascetic life, but to live as though dying
daily; and, as I have said before, to work hard to guard
the soul from filthy thoughts; to emulate holy men. Do
not go near the Meletian schismatics, for you know their
wicked and unholy teaching. Have nothing to do with
the Arians, for the irreligion of these Is plain to everyone.
94 ST. ATHANASIUS
And If you should see the judges supporting them, you
must not permit yourself to be confused: this will come to
an end it is a phenomenon that is mortal and bound to
last for but a short time. Therefore, keep yourselves clean
from these and watch over the tradition of the Fathers,
and, above all, the orthodox faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ, as you have learned it from the Scriptures and as
you have often been put In mind of by me."
90. When the brethren urged him to stay with them
and die there, he refused to do so for many reasons, as he
indicated, though without saying anything, and espe-
cially because of this. The Egyptians have the custom of
honoring with funeral rites and wrapping in linen shrouds
the bodies of good men, and especially of the holy martyrs;
but they do not bury them in the earth, but place them
on couches and keep them with them at home, thinking
in this way to honor the departed. Antony had often
asked even the bishops to give instructions to the people
on the matter. Likewise he had made laymen ashamed
and reproved women, saying that this was "not right nor
reverent at all The bodies of the Patriarchs and the
Prophets are preserved in tombs to this day; and the
body of the Lord, too, was placed in a tomb, and a stone
set there hid it 29 until He rose on the third day." By
stating the case thus, he showed that he commits a wrong
who after death does not bury the bodies of the departed,
holy though they be. Indeed, what is greater or holier
than the Lord's body? As a result, many who had heard
him, from then on buried their dead 291 and thanked the
Lord that they had received a good lesson.
91. He knew this and was afraid that they might do
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 95
the same to his own body. Therefore, bidding farewell to
the monks on the Outer Mountain, he hastily made for
the Inner Mountain where he was used to living. After
a few months he fell sick. He called those who were with
himthere were two there w r ho had been ascetics for
fifteen years and looked after him because of his great age 202
and said to them: "I am going the way of my fathers, as
Scripture says, 293 for I see myself called by the Lord.
And you be on your guard and do not bring to naught the
asceticism you have practiced for so long. Make it your
endeavor to keep up your enthusiasm as though you were
but now beginning. 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, 294 taking heed for yourselves and remembering the
counsels you have heard from me. Let there be no com-
munion whatever between you and the schismatics and
none at all with the heretical Arians. 295 You know how
I myself have kept away from them because of their
Christ-attacking false heresy. 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 29e as familiar friends. Give these
things your thought, make them your purpose; and if you
have any care for me and think of me as a father, do not
allow anyone to take my body into Egypt, lest they should
keep it in their houses. This was my reason for going
to the mountain and coming here. You know how I have
always put to shame those who do this and charged them
to stop the custom. Therefore, carry out my obsequies
yourselves and bury my body in the earth and let what
96 ST. ATHANASIUS
I have said be so respected by you, that no one will know
the place but you alone. At the resurrection of the dead
I shall receive it back from the Savior incorruptible. Dis-
tribute nay garments. To Bishop Athanasius give the one
sheepskin and the cloak on which I lie, which he gave
me but which has worn out in my possession; 297 and to
Bishop Serapion give the other sheepskin, and keep the
hair shirt for yourselves. And now, my children, God
bless you; Antony is going and is with you no more."
92. Having said this and having been kissed by them,
he drew up his feet; and with a look as though friends
had come to him and he was overjoyed at sight of them
for, as he lay there, his face had a cheerful look he passed
away and was gathered to his fathers. Then they, follow-
ing the orders he had given them, prepared and wrapped
up the body and buried it there in the earth. And to this
day no one knows where he is buried, save those two
only. 21 * 8 As for the recipients of the sheepskin of the
blessed Antony and the cloak worn out by him, each
guards his gift as some great treasure. For to look on
them is like seeing Antony; and to wear them is like
taking on his exhortations with joy.
93. This was the end of Antony's life in the body, as
above we had the beginning of his ascetical life. And
though this be but a meagre account as compared with
the virtue of the man, yet do take this and reflect what
manner of man Antony, the man of God, was. From
youth to so great an age he preserved an unswerving de-
votion to the ascetic life. He never made old age the
excuse for yielding to the desire for lavish foods, nor did
he change in his form of clothing because of his body's
THE LIFE OF SAINT ANTONY 97
infirmity, nor did he as much as wash his feet with water.
And yet his health remained entirely unimpaired. For
instance, even his eyes were perfectly normal so that his
sight was excellent; and he had not lost a single tooth,
only they had worn down near the gums through the old
man's great age. He also kept healthy hands and feet, and
on the whole he appeared brighter and more active than
did all those who use a diversified diet and baths and a
variety of clothing.
The fact that he became famous everywhere and that
he found universal admiration and his loss is felt even by
people who have never seen him, betokens his virtue and
a soul beloved of God. For Antony gained renown not
for his writings, nor for worldly wisdom, nor for any art,
but solely for his service of God.
And that this was something God-given no one could
deny. For whence was it that this man who lived hidden
in a mountain was heard of in Spain and Gaul, in Rome
and in Africa, if it was not God who everywhere makes
known His own, who, moreover, had told this to Antony
at the very beginning? 2 " For though they do their work
in secret and though they wish to remain obscure, yet the
Lord shows them forth as lamps to all men, that thus
again those who hear of them may realize that the com-
mandments can lead to perfection, and may take courage
on the path to virtue.
98 ST. ATHANASIUS
EPILOGUE
94. Now, then, read this to tfie other brethren, 300 that
they may learn what the life of monks should be like
and that they may be convinced that our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ glorifies those who glorify Him; and that He
not only leads to the Kingdom of Heaven those who serve
Him to the end, but even here He makes them, though
they hide themselves and strive to live away from the
world, known and spoken of everywhere because of their
own goodness and because of the help they give to others.
And if the occasion presents itself, read it also to the
pagans, that at least in this way they may learn that our
Lord Jesus Christ is not only God and the Son of God,
but that the Christians by their faithful service to Him
and their orthodox faith in Him prove that the demons
whom the Greeks consider gods are no gods; that, more-
over, they trample them under foot and drive them out
for what they are deceivers and corrupters of men;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is glory for ever
and ever. Amen.
NOTES
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ActaSS J- Bollandus (Bollandists), Acta sanctorum (Ant-
werp, etc. 1 643-)
ACW Ancient Christian Writers (Westminster, McL
1946-)
Bardenhewer O. Bardenhewer, Geschichte der altkirchlichen
Literatur 1-3, 2nd ed.; 4-5 (1913-1932)
Butler C. Butler, The Lausiac History of Palladius 1-2
(Texts and Studies 6. 1-2, Cambridge 1898-1904)
DACL Dictionnaire d*archeologie chretienne et de liturgie
(Paris 1924-)
DTC Dictionnaire de theologie catholique (Paris 1903-)
LTK Lexikon fur Theologie und Kirche 1-10 (Freiburg
i. Br. 1930-1938)
MG J. P. Migne, Patrologia graeca
OCD Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford 1949)
RE A. Pauly G. Wissowa W. Kroll, Realenzyklopddie
der classischen Altertumswissenschaft (Stuttgart
L894-)
TWNT G. Kittel, Theologisches Worterbuch zum Neuen
Testament (Stuttgart 1 933-)
INTRODUCTION
1 This was the common view in the fourth century cf. St. Jerome,
Vita S. Pauli I. Some, whom Jerome favors, held that the title
belonged to the hermit Paul of Thebes (228-341). See W. H.
Mackean, Christian Monasticism in Egypt to the Close of the
Fourth Century (London 1920) 67 f.
- Cf. Sozomen, Hist. Eccl. 1. 13, and below, n. 5 to the text.
: 'Matt. 19.21.
101
102 NOTES
4 Ibid. 6. 34.
~>2Thess. 3. 10.
t; Regarding certain chronological difficulties, notably the ques-
tion whether or not the period spent in the tomb and the time
he lived in the abandoned fort are concurrent or identical, cf. L. v.
Hertling, Antonius der Elnsiedler (Forsch. z. Gesch. d. innerkirch-
lichen Lebens I, Innsbruck 1929) 30-34.
7 See below, 12 of the text and n. 52.
8 See below, 46 and nn. 163-7.
9 See below, n. 177 to the text.
10 C Kingsley, The Hermits (London 1868) 128.
21 Cf. Mackean, op. cit. 79 f.; P. R Anson, The Quest of Solitude
(London 1932) 16 f.
12 Cf. St. Jerome, Vita S. Hilar. 3.
13 Hist, monach. in Aegypto 28 (86-90 Preuschen); Rufinus,
Apol in Hier. 2. 12.
14 Cf. Hist Laus. 8 (2.26-29 Butler), and below, 60 with
n.200; for Paul the Simple, see Hist. Laus. 22 (2.69-74 Butler).
15 Butler 1.225f.
It; Butler, the title entered above in the List of Abbreviations;
Bousset, Apophthegmata, Studien zur Geschichte des altesten
Monchtums (Tubingen 1923). For further literature, cf. B. Al-
taner's Italian edition (by A. Ferrua) of his patrology: Patrologia
(Rome 1944) 146 f.; for the Apophthegmata, note E. C. Tappert,
'A Greek Hagiologic Manuscript in Philadelphia,' Trans, of the
Am. Philol Assoc. 68 (1937) 264-76. Generous samples of the
Verba Seniorum and the Historia Monachorum in Aegypto were
recently given in English translation by Miss Helen Waddell, The
Desert Fathers (New York 1936) 53-216.
17 Some of these references and others occurring elsewhere have
been incorporated in the observations on the text: cf. nn. 16, 60,
166, 170, 178, 236, 243, 246, 292, 297.
18 Following the studies of A. Eichhorn, Athanasii de vita as-
cetica testimonia collecta (Halle 1886). See below, n. 277 to the
text.
10 Thus v. Hertling, op. cit. 1 n. 2, who favors the period when
Athanasius finally resided in peace in Alexandria, 365-373.
20 Cf. Butler 1. 215-28: 'Recent Theories Concerning St. Antony/
21 St. Jerome, De viris ill 87 f., 125.
22 St. Gregory Nazianzen, Or. 21 (In laudem Athanasii) 5.
23 Palladius, Hist. Laus. 8 (2. 28 Butler).
NOTES 103
24 Select Writings and Letters of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexan-
dria, In A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the
Christian Church 4 (New York-Oxford-London 1892) I88 ? where
see his excellent summary of opinions up to his time. Cf. also
K. Heussi, Der Ursprung des Monchtums (Tubingen 1936) 1-10.
25 Ursprung des Monchtums im nachkonstantinischen Zeitalter
(Gotha 1877).
26 See below, the notes to the text, 6, 60, 244.
27 Eichhorn, op. eft. 52, quoted by Robertson, op. eft. 191. See
also Butler 1.2211
- 8 Cf. H. Delehaye, Les legendes hagiographiques (Subsidia
hagiogr. 18 - 3rd ed. Brussels 1927) 68-70.
29 Cf. v. Hertling, op. eft. 7-12.
30 Cf. G. Bardy, Saint Athanase (Paris 1914) 48.
31 Cf. P. Batiffol, La paix constantinienne et la catholicisme (3rd
ed. Paris 1914) 445-7.
32 Hist. Laus. 1 (2. 16 Butler).
33 Epist. 127. 5. Cf. P. de Labriolle, in Fliche- Martin, Histoire de
/'Eg/we 3 (Paris 1947) 3481
34 Cf. E. S. Duckett, The Gateway to the Middle Ages (New York
1938) 358 f.; M. L. W. Laistner, Thought and Letters in Western
Europe 500-900 (London 1921) 15.
35 Cf. F. Blass, Die attische Beredsamkeit 2 (2nd ed. Leipzig
1892) 284-8.
36 This forms the theme of List's monograph, Das Antoniusleben
des hi Athanasius d. Grossen: eine literarhistorische Studie zu den
Anfdngen der lyzantinischen Hagiographie (Texte u. Forsch. z.
byz.-neugr. Philol 11, Athens 1930); cf. 62, his resume.
37 Cf . E. C. Marchand, Xenophon, Scripta Minora (Loeb Classical
Library, London 1925) xviii-xix; Blass, op. eft. 2. 379-85.
38 Cf . R. Reitzenstein, Hellenistische W under erzdhlungen (Leipzig
1906) 55-59, for which see A. Puech, Histoire de la litter ature
' chretienne 3 (Paris 1930) 116; cf. also List, op. eft. 59-61.
3(> Loc. eft.
40 List, op, eft. 61.
41 From v. Hertling's final appraisal of Antony's stature-op, eft.
88. Here we may also quote the words of Cardinal Newman (The
Church of the Fathers, in Historical Sketches 2 [New York- Bombay
1906] 111), previously cited by Butler 1. 228: 'His doctrine surely
is pure and unimpeachable; and his temper is high and heavenly,
without cowardice, without gloom, without formality, and without
104 NOTES
self-complacency. Superstition is abject and crouching, it is full of
thoughts of guilt; it distrusts God, and dreads the powers of evil.
Antony at least has nothing of this, being full of holy confidence,
divine peace, cheerfulness, and valorousness. . . .'
42 For this and the following, see the excellent observations by v.
Hertling, op. cit. 47-56; also M. Viller K. Rahner, Aszese und
Mystik in der Vaterzeit (Freiburg i. Br. 1938) 86 f.
43 Cf. List, op. cit. 55-59.
44 Cf. Viller-Rahner, he. cit.
45 Perhaps this was already in the Latin* version by Evagrius.
Cf. H. Giinter, Legendenstudien (Cologne 1906) 83 1; H. Mertel,
Des heiligen Athanasius Leben des heiligen Antonius (Bibl. d.
Kirchenv. 31, Munich 1917) 1.
4t5 St. Jerome, De viris ill. 125. An even earlier Latin translation,
which is anonymous, was brought to light by A. Wilmart, 'Une
version latine inedite de la Vie de saint Antoine,' Revue benedictine
31 (1914) 163-73. It was edited by G. Garitte, Un temoin impor-
tant du texte de la vie de saint Antoine par saint Athanase. La
version latine inedite des Archives du Chapitre de Saint-Pierre d
Rome (Etudes de philoL, d'archeol. et d'hist anc. 3, Brussels-Rome
1939).
47 St. Augustine, Conf. 8. 6. 14: Then when I told him (Pontici-
anus) that I spent a great deal of effort in the reading of Scripture,
he began to tell me the story of Antony, the Egyptian monk whose
name was famous among Thy servants, but up to then was un-
known to us.' See ibid. 12. 29, and below, n. 13 to the text; also
A. D. Nock, Conversion; the Old and the New in Religion from
Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo (Oxford 1933) 265. For
traces of St. Athanasius in the works of St. Augustine, see the study
by B. Altaner, 'Augustinus und Athanasius. Eine quellenkritische
Studie,' Rev. bened. 59 (1949) 82-90.
48 See Altaner, art. cit. 87, who suggests that the other Latin
version (cf. above, n. 46) was scarcely known in wider circles.
49 Cf. M. Helin, A History of Medieval Latin Literature (trans,
by J. C Snow, New York 1949) 118.
50 For numerous illustrations of art depicting St. Antony and his
life, see the book by C. Champion, Saint Antoine Ermite (L'art et
les saints, Paris n. d.).
51 Published by P. Bedjan, Acta' martyrum et sanctorum 5 (Paris
1895) 1-121. Cf.'also the recension made by the seventh- century
monk Anan-Isho: The Book of Paradise, ed. by E. A. Budge
NOTES 105
(London 1904) 1.1-108 (Life of St. Anthony, trans.); 2.1-93
(Syrlac text). Cf. Bardenhewer 3. 67 f.
52 A considerable number of sections have also been translated
by Cardinal Newman and interspersed in his two chapters on
Antony in Historical Sketches 2: The Church of the Fathers (New
York-Bombay 1906) 94-126.
106 NOTES
TEXT
1 This heading, preserved in the Evagrian version, is probably the
original one: Athanasius episcopus ad peregrines fratres. The
heading or title chosen by the Benedictine editors from several
appearing in the Greek manuscripts reads: 'The life- and conduct of
our holy father Antony; composed and sent to the monks abroad by
our holy father Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria,'
2 Here there may be a reminiscence of Xenophon, Mem. 4. 1. 1 :
'Even the remembrance of him (Socrates), though he is no longer
with us, benefits not a little those who were wont to associate
with him. 5
3 R. Reitzenstein, De$ Athanasius Werk uber das Leben des
Antonius (Sitzungsb. d. Heidelb. Akad. d. Wiss. 8, 1914) 6 L, points
to similar commonplaces in L/ucian and Ps.-Lucian.
4 Cf. 4 Kings 3. 1 1, where the same is said of Eliseus 5 attendance
upon Eli as. In my translation I follow the preponderance of the
Greek MSS, reading TTCLDO. rov aKa\ov6r)<ravros . . . /cat 67rtX6aw>s, in-
stead of rap* avrov <koAou#i]cra$ . . . Kal iTrcxew^, which makes Atha-
nasius the companion and servant of Antony; in other words, ac-
cording to the former reading Athanasius' principal source is a
monk who lived with Antony a long time, while in the latter
reading Athanasius is his own primary source. See v. Hertling's
excellent defense of the former reading: Antonius der Einsiedler
(Forsch. z. Gesch. d. innerkirchlichen Lebens 1, Innsbruck 1929)
7 n. 1.
5 Sozomen, Hist. Eccl. 1.13, says he was born at Coma in central
Egypt. This may be a confusion arising from the fact that Atha-
nasius repeatedly speaks of the home 'town' or 'village' (jafyzi]) of
Antony; see v. Hertling, op. dt. 12 n. 1.
6 Antony consistently despises the higher (Greek) learning: See
below, 20, 33, 72.
7 Cf. Gen. 25. 27.
8 The word used for church: 'Kvpianbv = Dominicum = lit. 'that
which is the Lord's' 'the Lord's House.' Cf. the study of F. J.
Dolger, 'Kirche als Name fur den christlichen Kultbau, Sprach- und
Kulturgeschichtliches zu den Bezeichnungen Kvpiax6v t of/cos
Dominicum, basilica, 3 Ant. u. Christ. 6 (1941) 161-95.
NOTES 107
9 Cf. Matt. 4.20; 19.27.
10 Cf. Acts 4. 35-7.
11 Cf. Eph. 1.18; Col. 1.5.
12 Matt 19.21.
13 Cf. St. Augustine's account, Conf. 8. 12. 29, of how he recalled
this Incident in the life of St. Antony and followed the voice ad-
monishing him tolle, lege! tolle, fege/ and found all darkness
dispelled when he opened a volume containing St. Paul's epistles
and read Rom. 13. 13 f.
14 The arura was 100 Egyptian cubits 2756 (or 2737?) square
meters. We see that also by American standards the farm was of
goodly size, approximately 207 acres. See F. Hultsch, 'Arura,* RE 2
(1896) 1491.
15 Matt. 6. 34.
16 The Apophthegmata patrum 20 (MG 65.81 C), relate: 'A
brother who had renounced the world and distributed his posses-
sions to the poor, but kept back a little for himself, came to the
abbot Antony. When he had learned of this, the old man said: "If
you wish to become a monk, go to yonder village, buy some meat,
put it around your bare body, and then come here." When the
brother had done this, the dogs and birds kept hacking away at
his body. As he came before him, the old man inquired whether
everything had been done as he had suggested. When the other
pointed to his body cut to shreds, Antony said: "Those who have
renounced the world, but wish to have money are thus attacked and
massacred by the demons." '
17 Here we have the first occurrence of the word irapdev&v in the
Christian sense of, lit. e a house or group of virgins.' At this early
time (ca. 271) women religious generally still lived with their
families, though meeting for common exercises; cf. M. Viller-K.
Rahner, Aszese und Mystik in der Vdterzeit (Freiburg i. Br. 1939)
49 f. McLaughlm translates "sisterhood, 9 which also leaves it an
open question whether in this passage TrapBw&v implies a place or
home for religious a convent. Later in the present biography,
54, we are told that when Antony's sister had advanced In years
in the practice of virginity, she became the superioress of a group
of virgins. For further use of the term irapSw&v by the Fathers, cf .
Du Cange, Gloss, ad script, med. et inf. graecitatis (Lyons 1688)
1120f. The word nonna== < nun* appears to have been first used
by St. Jerome, Epist. 22. 16.
108 NOTES
18 Gal. 4. 18.
19 Regarding the manual labor of Antony and the other Egyptian
monks, see A. T. Geoghegan, The Attitude towards Labor in Early
Christianity and Ancient Culture (Stud, in Christ. Ant. 6, Wash-
ington 1945) 163-174.
20 2Thess. 3. 10.
21 Cf. Matt. 6. 6.
22 On the necessity of continual prayer, see Tertullian, De
exhort, cast. 10; Cyprian, De dorn. orat. 34-6; Clement of Alexan-
dria, Strom. 7. 7. 35. 1; Basil, Epist. 2 (Ad Gregorium). 2; Horn. 4
(In martyrem lulittam). 3; Ambrose, Comm. in Lucam 1. 6. 88-90;
John Chrysostom, Comm. in Matt. horn. 22. 5 f.; Augustine, Enarr.
in Ps. 37. 14; etc. Of course, our Lord Himself had enjoined the
same: Luke 18. 1; 21.36. See also St. Paul's injunction, 1 Thess.
5. 17: Pray without ceasing.
23 There is a reminiscence here of Luke 8.15 of those who,
hearing the word, keep it. On the subject of Scripture reading by
the ancient monks, see F. Bauer, 'Die HI. Schrift bei den Monchen
des christlichen Altertums, 5 Theol. u. Glaube 17 (1925) 512-32. It
was said of more than one monk that he had learned the Old and
New Testaments by heart: cf. Palladius, Hist. Laus. 11 (2.32
Butler) : Ammonius; ibid. 18 (2.56 Butler) : Marcus. Of the Pacho-
mian monks at Tabennesi it is reported by Palladius, ibid. 32
(2. 96 Butler), that 'they repeat by heart the entire Scriptures.'
24 See Palladius, Hist. Laus. 18 (2. 471 Butler), the account re-
garding Macarius of Alexandria.
25 Antony here distills the sum and essence of all virtue love of
Christ and love of neighbor; cf. J. List, Das Antoniusleben des hi
Athanasius d. Grossen (Texte u. Forsch. z. byz.-neugr. Philol. 11,
Athens 1925) 14. List, ibid. n. 4, remarks that in the present
passage ten Christian virtues are mentioned as compared with the
Aristotelian nine; for another list of ten Christian virtues, see
below, 17.
26 Antony was eager to learn from all, but not, as v. Hertling
appositely remarks (op. cit. 23), to best them by any ascetic
'records' of his own. His remarkable spiritual poise and his con-
sideration for the feelings of others will be met with again and
again in the pages that follow.
27 '0 fjLi(r6ica\o$ Kal <t>0ovep6$; similarly, below, 9.
28 Time and experience have made the Devil a past master of his
NOTES 109
invidious craft. See St. Cyprian, Ad Fortun. 2: 'Adversarius vetus
est et hostls antiquus, cum quo proelium gerimus. Sex millia
annoram iam paene conplentur, ex quo homlnem diabolus in-
pugnat. Omnia genera temptandi et artes atque insidias deiciendi
usu ipso vetustatis edidicit, 5 etc. On the manifold wiles and un-
tiring resourcefulness of the Evil One, cf. also Firmicus Maternus,
De.err. prof. reL 26.4; Lactantius, De op. Dei 1.7; Cyril of Jeru-
salem, Cat. 16. 15; Isidore of Pelusium, Eplst. 3. 156; Cassian, Coll.
7.9-24; Leo the Great, Serm. 16.3; 89.3; especially, too, St.
Jerome's celebrated description of his experience with temptation
while living a solitary life in the desert: Epist. 22 (ad Eustochium).
7; also ibid. 29 and Epist. 125 (ad Rusticum). 12. See below,
nn. 40 and 89.
29 Job 40. 11.
30 Cf. Judith 16. 21; Eccli. 7. 19; Isa. 66. 24; Mark 9. 48 (Greek).
31 The same sin as that to which he the serpentseduced Eve
with the words (Gen. 3. 5.) : Eritis sicut dii, 'You shall be as Gods.'
32 This assumption of human flesh by the Savior is the topic of
Athanasius 9 De Incarnatione; cf. especially chs. 8 and 9.
33 I Cor. 15. 10.
34 Ps. 111. 10 (the sinner); Mark 9. 17 (a demon).
35 Black ater, niger, pekas was not uncommonly used by the
Romans and Greeks in a transferred moral sense to designate
malice or wickedness (e.g., Cicero, Pro Caecina 10. 27; Horace, Sat.
1. 4. 81-5; Ovid, Am. 1. 13. 35-6; etc.) Early Christian usage is the
same: cf. Hermas, Past. sim. 9. 1. 5 and 9. 19. 1; Origen, In Cant.
Cant, hom 1.6; Methodius of Philippi, De sang. 4.2; etc. The
transfer of the color black to the author of all evil and all inquity
the Devil was very early and very common. He is called the Black
One, 6 McXas, by Ps.-Barnabas, 4. 10 and 20. 1 (cf. ACW 6. 41 and
63; also J. A. Kleist's note 36, p. 171 ibid.'). Because Ethiopians and
Egyptians were black or very dark of skin, the Devil was frequently
designated by these national names: see, for instance, the Passio
SS. Perpetuae et Felicitatis 10.6, 8, 9, 14 (Aegyptius); Acts of
Peter 22 (Ethiopian woman); Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena 17 f.
(Ethiopian king). On this very interesting subject, see F. J. Dolger,
Die Sonne der Gerechtigkeit und der Schwarze (Liturgiegesch.
Forsch. 2, Miinster i. W. 1918) 49-83.
36 Osee 4. 12.
37 Ps. 117.7.
38 Rom. 8. 3 f .
110 NOTES
3& See 1 Peter 5. 8.
40 Cf. Eph. 6. II. For a graphic account of the persistence of the
evil spirits in temptation, see the story of the monk Moses, who in
his earlier years had been a profligate and a robber: Palladius, Hist.
Laus. 19 (2. 60-62 Butler). Cf. above, n. 28, and below, n. 89.
41 Cf. 1 Cor. 9. 27.
42 2 Cor. 12.10.
43 Phil 3. 13.
44 3 Kings 17. 1. The word cr^juepw = 'this day'; from which,
according to Athanasius, Antony argued his point, is not found in
the original of this verse.
45 Courage is necessary when dealing with the Devil. See Pastor
Hermae, mand. 7; mand. 12. 5 L; Origen, Cont. Cels. 8. 36; Cyril
of Jerusalem, Cat. 16. 19; Ambrose, Exam. 6. 49; Augustine, Enarr.
in Ps. 61.20.
46 Cf . Rom. 8. 35.
47 Ps. 26. 3.
48 In the mythology of the ancients the servants and minions of
the gods were often called dogs: thus the Griffins, Harpies, Furies,
eta; cf. Liddell-Scott-Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon 1. 1015.
49 God stands by while Antony is tempted. See also Augustine,
Enarr. inPs. 34.2 f.
50 The promise was redeemed indeed see below, 93.
51 Cf. Acts 8. 20, St. Peter's rejection of money offered by Simon
Magus for the gift of imparting the Holy Spirit by the imposition
of hands.
52 This was the 'Outer Mountain' where St. Antony spent twenty
years in retirement. It is at Pispir on the east bank of the Nile,
about fifty miles south of Memphis. The Nilrian desert lay to the
northwest across the Nile, directly south of Alexandria. To the
south of Heracleopolis, on both sides of the Nile lay the 'great
desert 5 of the Thebaid, the home of later Egyptian monasticism.
See Butler 2.xcviii, for a map of this region in CCL 400 A.D.
53 In De Incarn. 47, Athanasius states that in times past demons
hid in various places and terrified people by playing upon their
fancy. But that was changed by the appearance of the Divine
Word a mere Sign of the Cross breaks all such spells. Cf. ibid.
48; 53; also the present biography 23; 35; also Lactantius, Epit.
div. inst. 46. Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 13. 3, states that the demons
shake with fear when they see the Sign of the Cross made; etc.
Particularly interesting is the testimony by Julian the Apostate,
NOTES 1 1 1
Epist. 79 (93 f. Bidez-Cumont), that the Christians protected them-
$elves against demons by hissing at them and making the Sign of the
Cross. See the very lucid passage in Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 16. 19;
also below, n. 146. Cf. F. J. Dolger, 'Heidnische Begriissung und
cLiristliche Verhohnung der Heidentempel, 3 Ant. u. Christ. 3
(1932) I93-5.-On the terms <r$pa7ts 'seal,' and <r<l>P*yl?u>
'to seal, 5 'to impress a seal,' as used here to signify the making of the
Sig.n of the Cross, see F. J. Dolger, Sphragis (Stud. z. Gesch. u. Kult.
d. Altert. 5. 3-4, Paderborn 1911) 171 f.
54 Ps. 67.2 f.
55 Ibid. 117.10.
56 Rom. 8. 32.
57 Not, of course, in our sense, but in the original sense cells or
other habitations of individual povaxol , monachi, 'monks/ or
anchorites (from toaxup&v = to 'withdraw,' 'retire'), who led a
lone life, a life for themselves. These were loosely organized and
under the spiritual guidance of Antony.
58 A reminiscence of Heb. 3. 20 and 12. 23.
59 The canal, here named after the city of Arsinoe, linked up the
Nile and Lake Mceris (cf. Herodotus 2. 148). Arsinoe was the chief
city of the nomos or district of the same name, the Fayum of today.
It lay approximately fifty miles west of Pispir. In the time of
Herodotus," who visited it (cf. ibid.)., it was called Crocodilopolis
'city of crocodiles.' He speaks of a gigantic labyrinth built there,
the lower chambers of which contained the sepulchres of kings and
sacred crocodiles. See J. David, 'Aschmoun/ Diet, d'hist. et de
' geogr. ecdes. 4 (1930) 898 f.; R. Pietschmann, 'Arsinoe' no. 3, RE
2(1896) 1277 f.
60 This was in Coptic, the popular language of Egypt. It was the
only language spoken by Antony: cf. Palladius, Hist. Laus. 21
(2. 69 Butler); also G. Bardy, La question des langues dans I'Eglise
andenne 1 (Paris 1948) 45 f. See below, n. 244.
61 Athanasius often speaks of this sufficiency: cf. Con. gent. 1;
Epist. de Syn. 6; Epist. ad episc. Aegypti et Libyae 4.
62 Ps. 89. 10.
63 Seel Cor. 15.42.
64 Rom. 8. 18.
65 See St. Cyprian, Ad Fortun. 13; St. Ambrose, De lacob et vita
beata 1. 7. 28; Gregory of Nazianzus, Or at. 7. 17; John Chrysostom,
In Epist. ad Rom. horn. 15. 10.
* 6 SeeEccle.2. 18; 4. 8; 6. 2.
112 NOTES
67 St. Augustine, Enarr. in Ps. 38. 12, states that there is one way
of taking earthly riches with us by sending them ahead of us, im
the hands of the poor.
68 See Luke 17.7-10.
69 See Ezech. 33. 12 f.
70 Rom, 8. 28.
71 1 Cor. 15. 31. See below, 91 and n. 294.
72 See Phil. 3. 13.
73 See Gen. 19. 26.
74 Luke 9. 62. Cf. Jerome, Epist. 3. 4, concerning the rjionk
Bonosus; Epist. 71. 1, to Lucinius who had vowed continence in
marriage; Epist. 118.4, urging a rich widower to renounce his
wealth completely.
75 Luke 17.21.
76 Jos. 24. 23. J esus> is d 16 Greek form ( TT/O-OUS ) of the Hebrew
Yeshua* = 'Joshua' O r e josue.'
77 Matt. 3. 3.
78 James 1.20.
T9 7Kd. 1.15.
80 Prov. 4. 23.
81 Eph. 6. 12.
82 It was commonly believed in Christian antiquity that the evil
spirits used the air as their habitat and as the medium of their
nefarious activity (cf. the present biography, 65). St. Paul writes
to the Ephesians (2. 2) that in time past they had 'walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of this air'; cf. ibid. 6. 12. See Tatian, Ad Graec. 15. 8;
Athenagoras, Suppl. 25. According to St. Augustine, De civ. Dei
8. 22, the demons, cast down from Heaven, were punished to live
in the air as a dungeon; cf. ibid. 8. 15; Cassian, Coll. 8. 12; Peter
Chrysologus, Serm. 9. Cf. E. Mangenot, 'Demon d'apres les Peres/
DTC 4. 1 (1911) 339-84; J. Quasten, 'A Coptic Counterpart of a
Vision in the Acts of Perpetua and Felicitas,' Byzantion 15 (1941)
1-9; also the observations by L. A. Arand in ACW 3. 123 n. 68.
83 Origen, Cont. Cels. 7. 67, states that the subject of demonology
is extensive and difficult.
84 That is, the pagans.
85 $avracriai,$. The Greek religious myths, according to Justin,
Apol. 1. 54, were inventions of the evil spirits. Christian baptism,
of which the demons had heard through the Prophets, was aped
NOTES 113
37 the pagans in various religious purifications again by demonia-
cal inspiration: ibid. 2. 62. Theophilus, Ad AutoL 2. 8, states that
tl'ie ancient Greek poets, beginning with Homer and Hesiod, were
inspired by phantoms instilled by deceitful spirits. The ancient
oracles were the work of the Devil and his demons: cf. Mart.
Carpi, Papyli et Agathon. 17 (11 Kriiger); Origen, Cont. Cels.
1. 3-6, 35; 8. 62. Cf. also Lactantius, Epit. inst. div. 23.
80 The ability to discern good and evil spirits (discretio
spirituum) is a gift of the Holy Spirit: see St. Paul, 1 Cor. 12. 7
and |10. See below, 35 and n. 125.
87 2 Cor. 2. 11.
88 See Ps. 139. 6.
89 CM the two most severe trials to which Christians are subjected,
persecution and temptation both the work of the Devil the latter
is the more formidable and dangerous: cf. Leo the Great, Serm.
18. 1. Cf. above, nn. 28 and 40.
90 Cf. above, 13 and n. 53.
91 Job 4.1. 10-13 (Sept.) description of the leviathan.
92 Ibid. 41. 19, 23 f. (Sept.), again said of the leviathan.
93 Exod. 15.9.
94 Isa. 10. 14. For a similar application of this and the following
passage to Satan, see Athanasius, Epist. ad episc. Aegypti et Libyae
1.2.
95 See Job 40. 25, 26, 29 (Sept.), also with reference to the levia-
than. The Syriac writer Isaac of Antioch in a metrical homily on
the Devil, Horn. 36.20-30 (1.454f. Bedjan), describes him as a
roaring lion who frightens men, but cannot harm them because he
is muzzled.
96 Cf. Luke 10. 19,
97 Hab. 2. 15.
98 Luke 4. 41.
99 Cf . Jude 6.
100 Ps. 49. 16.
101 Ps. 38. 2.
102 Ps. 37. 14 f.
103 Cf. Athanasius, De Incarn. 47 f.; Epist ed episc. Aegypti et
Libyae I. 2; Justin, Apol. 2. 5; Dial. 45. 3; also Origen, Cont. Cels.
1.31; Augustine, Enchir. 14. 50.
104 John 8. 44.
105 Cf. Eccli. 1.25(26).
114 NOTES
106 Cf. 4 Kings 19. 35.
107 Cf. Job !. 13 ff. and 2. 7.
108 Gf. ibid. 1.12.
109 Matt. 8. 31. Cf. Gregory the Great, Mor. 2. 10. 16.
110 Gen. 1. 26 L, 5. 1, 9. 6. The creation of man after God's image
and likeness is a favorite topic of St. Athanasius: cf. Cont. Ge?nt.
34; De Incarn. 3; Cont. Ar. orat 2. 78-80; Epist. fest. 2. 2.
111 Luke 10. 19.
112 Tertullian, ApoL 22.2, states that this quality subtilitas et
tenuitas suais of advantage to the demons in their assaults both
upon the body and upon the soul of man.
113 Origen, Cont. Cels. 4. 92 f. s speaking of the practice of divina-
tion and augury, thinks that certain demons, because they ate un-
encumbered by any corporeal substance, have in a measure the
faculty of prognosticating future events. In order to seduce the
human race away from the true God, they hide themselves in cer-
tain animals, for example, serpents and certain types of birds, and
employ them to mislead the curious and credulous. See also Tertul-
lian, ApoL 23; Minucius Felix, Oct. 26 f.; Cyprian, Quod idola dii
non sint 7; Lactantius, Div. inst. 2. 17; Peter Chrysologus, Serm.
5; etc.
114 Dan. 13. 42.
115 The Nile, to the Egyptian that which makes Egypt, in much
the same sense that to the Roman Urbs ('the City') was Rome.
Interestingly enough, in the Hebrew Old Testament the Nile is
never referred to by name, but termed simply, as here, c the River. 5
116 The primitive, materialistic conception of the demons and
their activity is quite apparent; cf. A. Robertson's pertinent note to
H. Ellershaw's translation of the previous section, 31. Regarding
the present passage, we can well agree with the remarks by Viller-
Rahner, op. cit. 86: That the Devil plays a quite too prominent
role in these discourses will surprise no one who is familiar with the
literature of the time. It is quite in point to take it good-humoredly
when we are told that a demon, equipped as he is with a body
lighter than man's, is capable of unusually swift locomotion and
can foreannounce by several hours or days the floods of the Nile
from having observed them in Ethiopia.' Regarding what some find
to be 'ridiculous' or even 'buffoonish/ but others regard as good-
naturedly and wholesomely 'humorous' in the ancient accounts of
the desert monks versus the Devil, see the excellent observations by
NOTES 115
Henri Bremond in his introduction to Jean Bremond, Les peres du
desert (Paris 1927) Lxxvii-xxx; also v. Hertling, op. cit. 56.
I m 2 Kings 18. 24.
\ us That is, David; 'The man coming 5 ~ Achimaas, followed by
Chusai; because actually there were two men approaching, Evagrius
uses the plural venientes.
119 See also Athanasius, De Incarn. 47, where the various oracles
are mentioned by name.
li20 On the souPs 'natural state 3 (cf. also above, 20). see P.
Resqh, La doctrine ascetique des premiers maltres egyptiens du
quatrieme siecle (Paris 1931) 5-13.
121 See below, 59, 62.
122 4 Kings 5. 26.
123 Ibid. 6. 17.
124 See Col. 2. 15.
125 On distinguishing good and evil spirits, see above, 22 and
n. 86. Cf. Hermas, Past. mand. 5; Origen, De princ. 3. 2. 4 and
3. 3. 4. See Viller-Rahner, op. cit. 75; Resch, op. cit. 95-99.
126 Matt. 12. 19 (see Isa. 42.2).
1 27 'A/cujLca^rot, a highly poetic metaphor of the calm sea undis-
turbed by any waves e waveless.'
128 Luke L 13.
129 Matt. 28. 5.
130 Luke 2. 10. The most eminent example, of. Gabriel reassuring
the Blessed Virgin Fear not Mary (Luke 1. 30) is referred to two
paragraphs further on.
131 John 8. 56.
132 6eor6/cos j Dei genetrix } deipara, the celebrated title and term
which had been employed for a long period to express Mary's
motherhood, when in the first half of the fifth century it was
attacked and defended in the Nestorian controversies and defined
in the Council of Ephesus (431). According to the historian Sozo-
men, Hist. Eccl. 7. 32, the title had already been used by Origen;
however, it is not found in the wreckage of the great Alexandrian's
works. The first surviving record of the use of the title appears to
be a letter by St. Alexander, bishop of Alexandria (313-28): cf.
Epist. 1. 12 ( = Rouet de Journel, Enchiridion Patristicum, 9th ed.,
no. 680). Alexander is followed by Eusebius of Caesarea and nu-
merous other Fathers who employed the title as a common designa-
tion for the Blessed Mother. For the patristic evidence, see E.
116 NOTES
Dublanchy, 'Marie, maternite divine: enseignement patristique*
DTC 9. 2. (1927) 2349-55 (Athanasius: 2351 f.); also V. Schweitz-
er, 'Alter des Titels Geor6/cos,' Katholik 3 ser. 17 (1903) 97-113,
133 Luke 1.41.
134 See above, n. 130.
135 Matt. 4. 9.
136 IiiU 4. 10. SeeDeut 13.4.
137 I^Tcr, lit. 'signs,' a word often used in the New Testament
(other words used: repara and Swages all three occur in #xcts
2.22 and 2 Cor. 12.12) to designate Christ's miracles: ivfiatt.
12. 38; 16. 1; Luke 23. 8; John 2. 11; 6. 26; etc. f
138 Luke 10.20.
139 Matt. 7. 22.
140 Ibid. 7. 23. - 1
141 See Ps. 1. 6.
142 See 1 John 4.1.
143 Ps. 19.8.
144 Ps. 37. 14.
145 See above, n. 57.
146 p or ^15 passage, see F. J. Dolger, Die Sonne der Gerechtigkeit
und der Schwarze 23 n. 1; also above, n. 35. Of numerous similar
accounts of blowing one's breath or hissing at demonis, the follow-
ing quoted by Dolger (Ant. u. Christ. 3 [1932] 195) from H.
Rosweyde, Vitae Patrum (2nd ed. Antwerp 1628) 379, may serve
as an example. Pelagia, a penitent from Antioch, continued to be
harassed by a demon even after she had been baptized. Bishop
Nonnus advised her: 'Bless yourself with the Cross of Christ and
renounce him.' This she did and the demon left her at once. But
when during the night the demon began to molest her again,
Pelagia rid herself of him in the following manner: Then Pelagia,
the servant maid of God, blessed herself with the Sign of the Cross
and blew a breath at the demon, saying: "May my God who has
liberated me from your teeth and who has led me into His heavenly
bridal chamber, resist you for me." And the Devil disappeared in-
stantly.' See above, n. 53.
147 See Rom. 8. 35.
148 Luke 10. 18.
149 1 Cor. 4. 6.
150 On the Devil quoting Scripture, see Matt. 4. 6; Cassian, Coll
L 20 f.; De Incarn. 7. 16. See above, 25.
NOTES 117
151 See above, 14.
152 Gregory the Great, Mor. 14. 13. 15, describes the Devil as an
'excellent psychologist who carefully surveys the temperament and
Inclinations of each prospective victim and chooses and sets his
scares accordingly. Gregory also states pointedly (ibid. 2. 13. 22)
t|iat the Devil not only plots what to do, but when to do it.
i 15S See Rom. 12. 12.
154 npoo-5oKwj>ras, looking forward to, 5 'expecting': an illustra-
tion of the belief often expressed in the Fathers, that the punish-
ment with hell-fire had not yet begun, or at least had been inter-
rupted, and, therefore, still lay ahead for Satan and his demons.
Evidently this belief was based in good part on the account in the
Apocalypse, especially Ch. 20, of Satan's war against the Church
and of the Last Judgment (cf. 20. 9 f.: Satan and Antichrist are
cast mto the everlasting torment of fire and brimstone); on the
account in the Apocalypse, see especially St. Augustine, De civ. Dei
20. 7-14. Justin Martyr, ApoL 1. 28, states that Christ foretold that
Satan and his minions would be condemned to fire; in fact, accord-
ing to the testimony of Irenaeus (Adv. haer. 5. 26. 3 Harvey), Justin
held that prior to Christ's coming Satan abstained from blasphem-
ing God because he was not yet aware of his condemnation. Ter-
tullian, Apol 27. 3, speaks of a delay in the punishment (poenae
mom) of the demons; but adds that when they begin to serve their
sentence, this will be all the more severe because of their part in
fomenting the persecution of the Christians. St. Ambrose, Comm.
in Lucam 6.41, thinks that the demons who begged the Lord's
permission to enter a herd of swine (Luke 8.32), did so because
they knew that at His coming glory they would be cast into the
abysses of hell. Gregory of Nyssa, finally, appears to believe that
after many centuries of purification the demons will be saved; see
Dial, de an. et ress. 9.2, and elsewhere. For further patristic
evidence, cf. E. Mangenot, 'Demon d'apres les Peres, 5 DTC 4. 1
(1911) 339-84.
155 See Matt 25.41.
156 See Jos. 5. 13 f. Josue's vision of the warrior near Jericho.
157 See Dan. 13. 51-59 Daniel questioning the two wicked elders.
158 Antiquity's hatred and contempt for the class of tax-collectors
was notorious. This was especially true of the little native officials
serving as collectors for the entrepreneurs to whom the taxes were
farmed out: cf. Cicero, De off. 1.52. 150; Lucian, Necyom. 11;
118 NOTES
Philo, Spec. leg. 2. 93; Gregory of Nazianzus, Or at. 19. 14 (where
the apothegm: 'War is the father of taxes'!). For Egypt, see T.
Frank, An Economic History of Rome (2nd e'd. Baltimore 1927) ?
391-4. On this subject see also the informative article by H. C.
Youtie, 'Publicans and Sinners,' Mich, Alum. Quart. Rev. 43 (1937*)
650-62.
For a remarkable encomium of monastic Egypt 'this desert be-
come fairer than any paradise 5 see John Chrysostom, In Matt.
horn. 8. 4 f. This Egypt, it is said, is proud of the lowly fisherman,
and 'Everywhere they sing the praises of the publican and tent-
maker 9 ! On the other band, we find St. Basil, the great protector
of monks, making a most urbane plea (Epist. 284) with an assessor
that he exempt them from taxation. He argues that if they are true
monks, they own neither money nor bodies of their own: the
former is spent in helping the needy, the latter is worn away by
prayer and fasting. Cf. G. F. Reilly, Imperium and Sacerdotium
according to St. Basil the Great (Stud, in Christ. Ant. 7, Washing-
ton 1945) 98 f.
159 Num. 24. 5 f.
3(50 See John 14. 2.
101 Cf. the first sentence in Porphyry's Life of Plotinus: 'Plotinus,
the philosopher who livd in our day, appeared to he ashamed of
being in a body/
162 Luke 12. 22 and 29-31, with slight borrowings from the paral-
lel passage in Matthew, 6. 31-33.
163 When in the year 305 Diocletian and Maximianus abdicated
as Emperors (AugustiJ, Constantius and Galerius succeeded them,
and Severus and Maximin Daja (nephew of Galerius) were
appointed Caesars. Maximin received the administration of Syria,
Palestine, and Egypt. He was especially active in continuing the
persecution of the Christians undertaken by Diocletian. Abetted by
Galerius, this persecution lasted till the year 311. Celebrated
victims of his cunning and savage cruelty included the martyrs
Pamphilus of Caesarea, revered teacher of Eusebius, the bishop
Methodius of Philippi (Olympus?), and Peter, bishop of Alexandria
(see below, n. 169). On the persecution, see Eusebius, De martyri-
bus Palaestinae, a supplement to bk. 8 of his Ecclesiastical History.
See P. Allard, La persecution de Diocletien et la triomphe de
rEglise (2nd ed. Paris 1900) 166-205 and passim; A. Ehrhard, Die
Kirche der Marty rer (Munich 1932) 91 ff.
NOTES 119
164 On Antony's conduct in Alexandria and the historicity of the
present episode, see v. Hertl!ng 5 op. cit. 71 f.
165 ^is reca iis an incident told by Eusebius (Hist Eccl. 5. 1. 49)
concerning the conduct of a prominent physician, Alexander,
during the persecution of the Christians in Gaul (A.D. 177/8).
At a final hearing for such Christians as had already abjured their
faith and who were to be set free, the court found that these abjured
their former abjuration. Alexander had posted himself near the
tribunal, where the mob saw him gesticulating to the prisoners,
thus encouraging them to give witness for the faith. Cf. J. C.
Plumpe, Mater Ecclesia (Stud, in Christ. Ant. 5, Washington
1943) 38.
166 In other words, he changed the appearance of a monk to that
of an Egyptian civilian. The Syriac version of Palladius' Book of
Paradise (1.57 Budge) adds that he 'made white the apparel with
which he was clothed/ V. Hertling, loc. cit., suggests that he may
also have cut away his beard.
167 Antony's own life of asceticism came to be looked upon as
equivalent to martyrdom: cf. R. Reitzenstein, Des Athanasius
Werk uber das Leben des Antonius 19 n. 2. On the subject of
equivalents for martyrdom and of the tendency of hagiographers
to show that their unmartyred heroes had led lives as good and as
heroic as the martyrs, see H. Delehaye, Sanctus (Stud, hagiogr. 17,
Brussels 1927) 109-21: c Du martyr an confesseur.'
168 SeeHeb. 13.3.
169 Peter became bishop of Alexandria probably in the year 300
and was executed on November 25, 311. Eusebius, Hist. Eccl.
9. 6. 2, calls him *an extraordinarily fine bishop, both for his life
of virtue and for his competence in the Sacred Scriptures/ Of his
writings only fragments remain. Cf. Bardenhewer 2. 239-470; G.
Fritz, 'Pierre d'Alexandrie, 5 DTC 12. 1 (1935) 1802-4.
170 Jerome, Vita S. Hilar. 4, relates that Antony dismissed the
boy monk Hilarion with the gift of such a garment of skins.
171 Porphyry, Vita Plot. 2, relates the same of Plotinus. Instances
of the practice as recounted by Palladius, Hist Laus. are: 1 (2. 15
Butler), the Alexandrian priest Isidore; 38 (2. 122 Butler), the
Iberian deacon Evagrius. The Palestinian solitary, Hilarion, never
washed the sackcloth he wore so Jerome, Vita S. Hilar. 10. See
also Serapion of Thmuis, Ep, ad mon. 2; Gerontius, Vita S.
Melaniae iun. 2; Diadochus, Cap. cent, de perf. spir. 50 f. The
120 NOTES
shunning of the bath was, of course, bound up with the motive of
performing penance; but at the basis of this form of asceticism lay
also a profound abhorrence of the notorious licentiousness prevalent
in the pagan public baths: cf. Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3. 5;
John Chrysostom, In Matt. horn. 7. 6 f.; etc. On ancient asceticism
and bathing, see J. Zellinger, Bad und Bdder in der altchristlichen
Kirche (Munich 1928) 47-92.
172 Luke 11.9.
173 This reminds us of the ancient practice known as incubation.
Persons desirous of receiving a vision or relief from sickness slept
within the precincts of a temple. The practice, for which various
observances and rites (fasting, sleeping on certain -pelts, etc.) were
prescribed, was particularly prevalent in the temples of Asclepius
(god of health), and later spread to the shrines of Isis and Serapis.
See J. Pley, 'Inkubation,' RE 9 (1916) 1256-62; R. Herzog, Die
W under heilungen von Epidaurus (Philologus Supplementb. 22. 3,
Leipzig 1931) 139-160. Cf. J. Quasten, Theol. Rev. 30 (1931)
540 f.; A. Chaudre, 'Inkubation,' LTK 5 (1933) 406 f.
174 See 2 Cor. 12. 4.
175 Td BowcoXia, a swampy district in the Nile delta inhabited by
herdsmen; cf. K. Sethe, >6Xot/ RE 3 (1898) 1013. Here the
Voice' intimates that Antony had reflected not only on going in a
southerly direction, but also on heading to the north.
176 Originally a tribe in Arabia, probably mentioned already by
Pliny, Nat. hist. 6.32.157 (as Araceni). Saracens later became
synonymous with Arabs and in the time of the Crusades the name
was used for Moslems.
177 Mount Colzim, lying in the open desert on the South Qalala
Plateau, approximately 100 miles south-east of Cairo, 75 miles east
of the Nile, and 20 miles west of the Red Sea. The mountain, with
the ancient Monastery of St. Antony, is still called Der Mar
Antonios. See P. F. Anson, The Quest of Solitude (London 1932)
15 f. Antiquity has preserved for us a detailed description of the
locality, specifically of the Inner Mountain/ in St. Jerome's Vita
S. Hilarionis (30 f.). See also v. Hertling, op. cit. 35-43. Regarding
the remark that Antony 'fell in love with the place,' the same is
reported by St. Jerome with respect to Paul of Thebes when he had
found his mountain cave: Vita S. Pauli 6.
178 One of the stock incidents of hagiography. See Jerome, Vita
S. Hilar. 31, a replica of the present narrative, though Antony is
NOTES 121
there described as thrashing the wild ass he had caught. The Acta
SS for August, VI (1868) 72.36, tells of a great number of wild
boars which are abjured by St. Caesarius of Aries to leave the
neighborhood of his monastery. On animal stories as a character-
istic of the records of the Egyptian monks, cf. W. H. Mackean,
Christian Monasticism in Egypt to the Close of the Fourth Century
(London 1920) 137.
179 The terminology of the ancient athletic events is used meta-
phorically by St. Paul (Eph. 6. 12; 1 Cor. 2.24; Phil. 3. 14; 2 Tim.
4. 7; etc.) and the early Christian writers to portray the life of effort
and trial which a Christian must take upon himself if he wishes to
get to Heaven. See especially St. Basil's panegyrics on the martyrs,
passim. On the saints as God's athletes, see H. Delehaye, Les pas-
sions des martyres et les genres litteraires (Brussels 1921) 21 If.
See the articles '&y&v ' and 'MXtjTfc' in TWNT 1 (1933); also F. J.
Dolger, 'Der Kampf mit dem Aegypter in der Perpetua- Vision,'
Ant. u. Christ. 3 (1932) 177-88; E. L. Hummel, The Concept of
Martyrdom according to St. Cyprian of Carthage (Stud, in Christ.
Ant. 9, Washington 1946) 79-87.
180 See Eph. 6. 12.
181 Ps. 124. 1.
182 See Job 5. 23.
183 See Ps. 34. 16.
184 XpurroO 8ov\o$, as St. Paul frequently calls himself: Rom.
1.1; Phil. 1.1; Gal. 1.10.
185 That is, the word (Word) 'Christ.'
186 One can scarcely be impressed by the erudition of K. Heussi,
Der Ursprung des Monchtums (Tubingen 1936) 98, when he re-
marks that 'here there is an echo of an old legendary motif
(italics mine) and refers to the Old Testament miracle of the rock
struck by Moses.
187 See Rom. 1.12.
188 See.Prov. 24. 15 (Sept.).
189 Eph. 4. 26.
190 2 Cor. 13. 5.
191 Daily examination of conscience, not entirely unknown to the
pagan mind (see Seneca, De ira 3. 36. 1-3; Epist. 83. 2), was often
recommended by the Fathers: see St. Basil, Serm. ascet. 1.5; St.
John Chrysostom, In Matt. horn. 42. 3 f.; In Epist. ad Heb. 9. 5;
St. John Climacus, Scala parad. 4. The examination is prominently
122 NOTES
mentioned in the monastic rules. Cf. G. Sepieter, Uexamen de
conscience (2nd ed. Lille 1932).
192 See 1 Cor. 4. 5; Rom. 2. 16.
183 Gal. 6. 2.
194 1 Cor. 9. 27.
105 A Roman name, as is the name of the town from which
Fronto is said to have come. Though there were at least two towns
in ancient Italy that went by the name Palatium, the further,
normal meaning of the word as 'palace,' 'court, 5 suggests that the
man, otherwise unknown, was a Roman official or employee con-
nected with the palace of the Roman prefect in Alexandria.
100 It seems quite impossible to unscramble this combination of
town and province. There were several towns in Egypt called
Busiris (cf. F. Killer v. Gaertringen, k Busiris,' RE 3. 1 [1897]
1073-7); and besides the province so named in northern Africa,
there were in antiquity several groups of towns or communities
that went by the name Tripolis (cf. 'Tripolis' RE 2. R., 7. 1 [1939]
202-10: Nos. 8 [E. Kirsten], 9 and 10 [F. Bolte]); but a Busiris
in Tripoli (s) appears to be simply bad geography on the part of
Athanasius.
187 See Matt. 9. 20.
198 The name Paphnutius was most common in Egypt of the
fourth century. There are at least a half-dozen bishops and monks
by that name, and sometimes it is quite impossible to establish
which Paphnutius is meant in certain ancient data; see Butler
2. 224; H. I. Bell, Jews and Christians in Egypt (London 1924) 101.
In the present instance, however, the addition of the title 'confessor'
makes it quite certain that the bishop of the Upper Thebaid who
was tortured under Maximian (so Evagrius and Rufinus Sozomen
reads Maximin) is referred to. He had lost his right eye and his
left knee was maimed. He was highly honored at the great Council
of Nicaea and took a prominent part in it. Cf. Socrates, Hist. Eccl.
1.8 and 11;' Sozomen, Hist. Eccl. 1.4; Theodoret, Hist. Eccl 1.6.
See Acta SS Sept. Ill (1868) 778-87; J. Hefele-H. Leclercq, Histoire
des conciles 1. 1 (Paris 1907) 429 f., and 620-4; M, M. Hassett,
'Paphnutius,' Cath. Encycl. 11 (1911) 457.
199 On 'second sight' and similar endowments of the desert
solitaries, cf. E. W. Watson, 'Palladius and Egyptian Monasticism, 5
Church Quart. Rev. 64 (1907) 123 f.
200 Yhe story of Amoun (also Amon, Ammon, originally the name
NOTES 123
of an Egyptian deity) is told by Paliadius, HisL Laus. 8 (2. 26-29
Butler). He was an orphan of a prominent family, and married at
the insistence of his uncle. He and his wife lived a life of virginity
for eighteen years, whereupon, at her suggestion, he left her (A.D.
320-330) to become a monk in the Nitrian desert west of the Nile
delta. He lived there for twenty years till his death, having visited
his wife twice annually. By the end of the fourth century the desert
of Nitria held five thousand disciples of Amoun. The incidents re-
lated by Athanasius in the present section are also adverted to by
Paliadius. See also Hist, monach. in Aegypto 29. 1 (90 Preuschen);
Socrates, Hist. Eccl. 4. 23; Sozomen, Hist. Eccl. 1. 14 and 6. 28; cf.
also Acta SS Oct. II (1866) 413-22; Mackean, op. cit. 81 L; J. P.
Kirsch, 'Amrnon,' LTK 1 (1930) 367.
201 The Venerable Bede relates a similar incident regarding St.
Cuthbert: Vita Cuthberti 4.
202 Paliadius, Hist. Laus. 8 (28 f. Butler), and Sozomen, Hist.
Eccl. 1. 14, state that this was a canal branching out from the Nile
probably at Lycopolis in Upper Egypt.
203 A favorite name with the desert monks, and the identity of
Amounts companion escapes detection.
204 Matt. 14. 29.
205 On the ancient metaphor of death as a sleep and the note of
cheer and hope attaching to it for the early Christians (note also
KOifiyrhpLov = 'cemetery, 3 lit. 'a sleeping place'), cf. A. C. Rush,
Death and Burial in Christian Antiquity (Stud, in Christ. Ant. 1,
Washington 1941) 1-22: 'Death as a Sleep/-For further 'same
day and hour' incidents, see Palladius, Hist. Laus. 4 (2. 20 f.
Butler): Didymtis the Blind regarding the death of Julian the
Apostate; Theodoret, Hist. Eccl. 3. 19: the monk Julianus regarding
the death of the same.
206 Perhaps the high official who assisted Athanasius in unmask-
ing some of the machinations of the Eusebians and Meletians at the
Synod' of Tyre in the year 335; see Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire des
conciles 1.2 (1907) 656-66. The title given to Archelaus, Jc6/w?s 9
transliterated from the Latin comes (hence the English 'count 8 ),
was an imperial designation for officials of various ranks. The
statement by Rufinus, Hist. Eccl. 1. 16, that the Archelaus men-
tioned was comes Orientis, the governor of the Orient, is accepted
by R. Reitzenstein, 'Archelaos' no. 31, RE 2. 1 (1895) 452 f., but
seriously doubted by Bell, op. cit. 67.
124 NOTES
207 Polycratia as a woman's name occurs rather frequently in
ancient Greek inscriptions (cf. W. Pape G. F. Benseler, Worter-
buch der griechischen Eigennamen [2nd ed. Braunschweig 1884]
s.u.); but apparently it is not found with the ancient hagiographers.
It is not clear either which Laodicea is meant: there were a number
of cities by that name, the most prominent of which lay in Syria
and Phrygia.
208 Xpwrro^opos ('Christopher 9 = 'Christ- bearer*) had been in use
as a title for the good Christian since Ignatius of Antioch (cf. Ad
Ephes. 92, and J. A. Kleist in ACW 1 [1946] 64 and 122 with
n. 27). The designation probably has its roots in St. Paul, Gal.
3. 27: c As many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put
on Christ. 5 During the persecutions it became a favorite title for the
martyrs: Christ resides in them, their courage and ability to suffer
are from Him, it is He who fights and is victorious in them. In the
fourth century, with the end of the persecutions and the rise of
monasticism, the title was given especially to men and women
ascetics (many parallels between martyrdom and asceticism were
seen). Cf. the most interesting papyrus letter reproduced and
translated by Bell, op. cit. 108f. Here a certain Valeria, suffering
from a serious case of asthma, addresses herself to a monk Paphnu-
tius, calling him Xptcrro<6pos, She states: I trust by your prayers
to obtain healing, for by ascetics and devotees revelations are mani-
fested.' See the excellent study by F. J. Dolger, 'Christophoros als
Ehrentitel fur Martyrer und Heilige im christlichen Altertum,' Ant.
u.Christ. 4 (1933) 73-80.
209 Here called frepyovfxvos. In ancient Christian times the
energumeni were persons subject to demoniacal disturbances. In-
sanity and epilepsy were also ascribed to such influence. In the
fourth century the energumeni constituted a special class of the
Church's subjects, standing between the catechumens and the
penitents; a very detailed ritual of exorcism was also developed. See
J. Sauer, 'Energumenen,' LTK 3 (1931) 671 f.; H. Leclercq,
'Exorcisme, Exorciste' DACL 5. 1 (1922) 964-78; for their place in
the liturgy, J. Quasten, Monumenta eucharistica et liturgica vetus-
tissima (Bonn 1935) Index s.v.
210 See Luke 11. 24.
211 Dividing the day into twelve hours, of shorter or longer dura-
tion according to the season of the year, this appears to have been
between one and three o'clock in the afternoon.
NOTES 125
21 - On ecstasy (cKOTcuns, in the ancient concept = the soul
'stepping out' of the body temporarily ) 5 see Tertullian, De anima
45. 3, and the notes by J. H. Waszink, Quinti Septlmi Florentis
Tertulliani De Anima (Amsterdam 1947) 484 f.; also Augustine,
Serm. 12. 4. 4, and the Apophthegmata Patrum: De Abb. Silvano
(MG 65.408C). Cf. F. Pfister, 'Ekstasis, 9 in the Festschrift for
F. J. Dolger: PisciculL Studien zur Religion und Kultur des Al~
tertums (Miinster L W. 1939) 178-91.
213 Cf. A. C. Rush, op. cit. 32-43.
214 Eph. 2. 2.
^ Ibid. 6. 13.
216 Titus 2. 8.
217 2 Cor. 12. 2.
218 Ibid. 12. 2.
219 See Isa. 54. 13; John 6. 45; 1 Thess. 4. 9.
220 Because he had the gift of discerning the promptings of good
and evil spiritssee above, nn. 86 and 125. Cf, above, 49: Antony
was 'used to hearing such calls often. 5
221 See Dan. 9. 23.
222 See Luke 24. 45.
223 The ancient concept of the soul as something spiritual, or as
something immaterial or nearly immaterial, is perhaps best illus-
trated by the effort, both pagan and Christian, to represent it in
art, on tombstones and other monuments. Attempts to picture the
soul as a phantom (et&oXcw), representations of it as a minute
beingfrequently with wings and similar portrayals document this
concept of the soul's nature and its flight from the body at the
moment of death. See the materials, with illustrations, offered in
the article by H. Leclercq: 'Ame/ DACL I. 1 (1924) 1470-554
(particularly interesting the monument, col. 1481, of a departed
Christian infant, showing her fitted with Icarian wings!). The con-
viction of the ancients, both pagan and Christian, that when death
occurs, the soul is beset by grave dangers, was symbolizedin litera-
ture (e.g. Origen, In Luc. horn. 23; Macarius, Horn. 22 and 43;
Cyril of Alex., De exitu an. horn. 14; etc.) and art by dragons,
lions, and other demoniacal representations: cf. especially A. C.
Rush, op. cit. 23-43; also J. Quasten, Der Gute Hirte in friih-
christlicher Totenliturgie und Grabeskunst/ in Miscellanea Gio-
vanni Mercati 1 (Studi e testi 121, Vatican City 1946) 373-406:
Christ in ancient Christian art is shown as the psychopampos, the
126 NOTES
Guide and Protector of souls on their dangerous passage into
eternity.
224 TOP KQ.VOVCL TTJS 'E#/cX??crtas, that is, the validly and officially
appointed clergy of varying (hierarchic) rank in the perform-
ance of their ministry. For the history of the important term
KCLV&V (tcavovucos, canon, canonicus) since its use in the New Testa-
ment (2 Cor. 10. 13, 15, 16; Gal. 6. 16) and during the first
centuries of the Church (beginning with Clement of Rome 7.2),
see H. W. Beyer, TWNT 3 (1938) s.u., 600-606; F. Cabrol, 'Canon
romain/ DACL 2. 2 (1925) 1847 f. ( e le mot canon'); also H. Oppel,
Kav&v, Zur Bedeutungsgeschichte des Wortes und seiner latein-
ischen Entsprechungen, regula - norma (Leipzig 1937); J. P.
Christopher, ACW 2. 109 n. 89.
225 The word (K\fjpo^ K\rjpuc6$ 9 clerus, clericus) appears to occur
first in Tertullian (De monog. 12) and Origen (In Jer. horn. 11.3).
Cf. B. Dolhagaray, c Clercs, s DTC 3. 1 (1908) 225-35.
226 It should be remembered that only a very few monks were also
priests or in sacred orders at all (see Viller-Rahner, op. cit. 198 f.).
The life of independence they led in the desert and their life of
asceticism as compared with the life of the clergy serving the needs
of the people in the world could easily prompt them to think little
of the 'seculars.* Elsewhere, Epist. ad Dracont. 9, Athanasius sug-
gests that monks must not depreciate the secular clergy. Among the
canons issued by a synod held against the Priscillianists at Sara-
gossa, Spain, in or about 380, no. 6 prescribes that a cleric who out
of pride turns monk, supposing this to be a better observance of the
law, shall be excommunicated (Hefele-Leclercq, Histoire des con-
dies I. 2 [1907] 987).
227 Antony, in other words, possessed in a very high degree Chris-
tian dxafeta perfect self-control, freedom from passionthe ideal
of every true monk and ascetic striving for perfection. Christ, who
was free from every emotional weakness and fault wrofiris Xpurrbs
is his model (see Athanasius, De Incarn. 54). He is farthest from
Stoic apathy, he loves God intensely, he is not indifferent toward
his fellow man but his fellow man's happiness is his joy; as Evag-
rius Ponticus, De or at. 122, states: 'Blessed the monk who joyfully
regards the welfare and progress of all men as his own.' Cf. Viller-
Rahner, op. cit. 107 f. The concept of Christian &ira#ta was first
developed by Clement of Alexandria (e.g. Paed. 1.2; Strom. 6.9)
and his pupil Origen (e.g. In Jer em. 5, 8 f.). On Christian <br&0ta
NOTES 127
among the Fathers, especially, too, the ancient writers on asceticism
Evagrius, Palladius, John Climacus, etc. see J. Stiglmayr, Sack-
liches und Sprachliches bel Makarius (Innsbruck 1912) 66 L; also
P. de Labriolle, in Fliche-Martin, Hlstolre de FEglise 3 (1936)
336-8.
228 Prov. 15. 13.
229 Gen. 31.5.
230 Seel Kings 16. 12.
231 Named after Meletius, bishop of Lycopolis in Egypt (ca. 325)
and not to be confused with the Antiochene bishop and schism a
half century later. The earlier Meletian schism seems to have
originated from Meletius 5 disagreement with Peter, bishop of Alex-
andria, over the treatment of the lapsed during the Decian perse-
cution, and also from Meletius' arrogation of the right to ordain
priests and bishops to replace the imprisoned clergy. The Council
of Nicaea took measures against him. His followers now went into
the camp of the Arians and became especially prominent in the
bitter struggles against our present reporter on them St. Atha-
nasius. This is vividly documented in the records of the Synod of
Tyre in 335 (see above, n. 206). Cf. E. Amann, 'Melece de Lycop-
olis,* DTC 10. 1 (1928) 531-6.
232 An old Gnostic heresy named after its founder Mani whose
approximate dates are 216 and 275. A conglomerate of Zoroastrian,
Hellenistic, and Christian elements, Manichaeism spread to practi-
cally all Christianized countries and survived in certain parts of
Asia into the Middle Ages. Perhaps its most celebrated disciple was
the young Augustine of Tagaste. See G. Bardy, 'Manicheisme,'
DTC 9. 2 (1927) 1841-95.
2X3 E<r4/?ta (cvo-e/frfc), used here, and d<rl/3a (curq&fc) found be-
low, lit. meaning 'piety' and 'impiety,' regularly stand for 'ortho-
doxy' and 'heterodoxy 3 ; cf. Card. Newman's remarks, Select Trea-
tises, etc. see the following note 2 (9th impression London 1903)
410 f.
234 The great heresy of the fourth century, named after Arius,
who was born in Libya in the second half of the third century, was
ordained priest by bishop Achilles of Alexandria, and died suddenly
in 336. The history of this Christological heresy, which denied
both the divinity and the humanity of Christ, also contains the life
story of St. Athanasius, whose bitter struggles of more than four
decades with the heresy date from the time he was deacon at
128 NOTES
Alexandria; and still one of the best for the study of both, Arianism
and Athanasius, is Cardinal Newman in his two works: The Arians
of the Fourth Century, first published in 1833, and Select Trea-
tises of St. Athanasius in Controversy with the Arians 3 which first
appeared in 1842 and 1844 as a translation with notes and consti-
tuting volumes 8 and 19 of the series A Library of Fathers of the
Holy Catholic Church, and in 1881 was published apart, again in
two volumes, the first of which contained a freer version of the
text, and the second an appendix consisting of nearly five hundred
pages of articles of varying length on theological subjects and terms.
For more recent treatment of the heresy, cf. A. Stohr, 'Arianismus/
LTK 1 (1930) 635-41; G. Bardy, in Fliche-Martin, Histoire de
I'EgliseS (Paris 1936) 69 ff.
235 Athanasius has AetenScu/toi'ta, a name used not only by him,
but by the emperor Constantine and the general Church for the
followers of Arius. While it most obviously designates 'the fol-
lowers of the madness of Arius,' *the Arius-crazy,' the title also im-
plies the fanaticism with which the heresy spread and maintained
itself; for this and further touches of meaning, see the discussion
and wealth of material in Card. Newman's note, Select Treatises
(9th impression) 2. 377-9.
236 There is very good authority for believing that this brief visit
to Alexandria was made shortly before July 27, 337 or 338; cf. v.
Hertling, op. cit. 73 n. 1. Antony's activity there against the Arians
is described briefly by Theodoret, Hist. Eccl. 4. 27.
237 *jjj, 7rorj g r O fa fa (see, too, above oi>/c 6vrwv karlv = 'He
has His existence from non-existence*), the celebrated formula of
Arius as recorded in the encyclical letter of Bishop Alexander of
Alexandria and preserved by Socrates, Hist. Eccl. 1. 6; cf. the
heresiarch's own letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia, preserved by
Theodoret, Hist. Eccl. 1.5.3.
238 2 Cor. 6. 14.
239 Rom. 1.25.
240 Xpio-Tojuaxos, like 0eo/zdxos = 'fighting against God 5 (cf. Acts
5. 39, also 23. 9). Both terms are used very frequently by Atha-
nasius and others in reference to heretics; cf. Newman, Select Trea-
tises 2. 415.
241 "EXXi^es, Greeks-see above, n. 84.
242 Obviously Athanasius was in Alexandria on this occasion.
243 Socrates, Hist. Eccl. 4. 25, relates another incident, apparently
NOTES 129
happening on Antony's way to Alexandria: "It is said that earlier
already, in the time of Valens, Antony had met this Didymus when
he went down to Alexandria from the desert because of the Arians;
and that when he perceived the intelligence of the man, he said
to him: "Didymus, you must not let the loss of your physical eyes
grieve you. After all, the eyes that you lack are such as also flies
and gnats see with. You should rather rejoice that you have eyes
with which angels see, eyes which serve the contemplation of God
Himself and the reception of His light." 5
The desert monk and scholar Didymus had lost his sight at the
age of four (Palladius, Hist. Laus. 4 [2. 19 Butler]). Socrates, in-
cidentally, must have erred in his chronology: this last journey of
Antony to Alexandria very probably was made in 337 or 338 (see
above, n. 236) ; Valens, born about 328, was appointed emperor of
the East in 364; and at this latter date Antony was already dead,
having passed away probably in 356 or 357, Sozomen, Hist. EccL
3. 15, who takes this story from Socrates, evidently noticed Socrates'
error and dropped the reference to Valens.
244 Tpa/ijuara w }j,a9&v, lit. c not having learned letters' see also
the following 73: on w fJLepadrjKe ypapuarct . As v. Hertling
rightly remarks (see his long note, op. cit. 14 L), this does not
necessarily mean that he did not know how to read or write, but
only that he had not received the rhetorical and humanistic train-
ing usual with sons of parents as comfortably situated as were
Antony's. Yet, as Athanasius states at the beginning of this biog-
raphy, Antony 'did not take to schooling,' and the context there
may well be taken to indicate that he was rather successful in his
desire to stay at home. Moreover, antiquity took the statement
literally that he was unlettered; so, for example, Augustine in the
prologue to the De doctrina Christiana. Regarding the fact that
Athanasius (81 below) and Jerome (VitaS. Hilar. 24) report that
Antony exchanged letters with Constantine and other men in high
position and corresponded with various monks, this does not prove
that he could read and write: as he used interpreters in dealing
with Greeks, so a fellow monk could assist him as reader and
amanuensis. Cf. Bardenhewer 3. 80 f.; again, regarding the letters
handed down under Antony's name, v. Hertling, op. cit. 56-70.
245 Cassian, Inst. 5. 33 f., quotes the abbot Theodore, a master of
Scripture interpretation, as saying that one who has a pure heart
and, as a result, a clear mind, has all that is required for the under-
130 NOTES
standing of the mysteries of Holy Scripture and has no need of
laboring over commentaries.
m Socrates, Hist. Eccl. 4. 23, relates: "To the good Antony there
came a philosopher of the day and said: "Father, how do you hold
up deprived as you are of the solace of books?" Antony said: "My
book, philosopher, is nature, and thus I can read God's language
at will." '
247 Lit 'with divine salt': cf. Col. 4. 6 and Mark 9. 49.
IMS Attracted, no doubt, by the account of the other groups just
mentioned.
249 Cf. Athanasius, De Incarn. 53, where he eloquently describes
the routing of the gods by the Cross and the acceptance of the
crucified Savior by the pagans ("Greeks') who once jeered Him;
cf. ibid. 1; Cont. Ar. 1. 43; Leo the Great, Serrn. 70. 3; etc. To be
God and to be crucified was a paradox which from the beginning
was a stumbling block to the Jews and spelled sheer folly to the
pagans (see 1 Cor. 1.23). See Tertullian's defense (ApoL 16; Ad
nat. 1. 12) against the notorious charge that Christians adore the
Cross and an ass's head; so, too, Minucius Felix, Oct. 29. In this
connection it is pointed out that the e infamy of the Cross' must be
understood from -the fact that in the world empire of the Romans
crucifixion was the most disgraceful form of capital punishment,
one reserved for slaves, pirates, and thieves. But it is often over-
looked that this penalty remained in force well into the fourth
century, coexistent, therefore, with the rise and full development of
Christianity from that Cross. The position of Christians explaining
and defending their allegiance to it was not easy, and non- Chris-
tians could be in very good faith if they could not see rhyme or
reason in such allegiance. See the very instructive introductory re-
marks by H. Leclercq in his article, 'Croix et Crucifix,' DACL 3. 2
(1914) 3045-8.
250 See 2 Peter 1.4.
~ >o1 Here two well-known elements of ancient psychology are
adverted to, the pre-existence and the transmigration (metem-
psychosis) of the soul. Within the Greek sphere of thought and
religion this teaching is found particularly in Orphism, Pythagoras,
Plato, the Gnostics, and Neo-Platonism. For the present passage
Neo-Platonism as developed by Plotinus, a native of Egypt and
pupil of Ammonius Saccas in Alexandria, seems to offer the material
for Antony's (or Athanasius') polemic; see Plotinus, Enn. 1. 1. 12;
NOTES 131
3. 4. 2, 5; 4. 3. 15; etc. Cf. R. Hedde, 'Metempsychose, 3 DTC 10. 2
(1929) 1574-95; P. O. Kristeller, Der Begriff der Seele in der Ethik
des Plotin (Heidelb. Abh. z. Philos. u. Ihrer Gesch. 19, Tubingen
1929).
~ 52 The word wapovaia is used here: 'presence,' 'arrival, 9 "com-
ing/ first employed in a technical sense in the profane sphere to
designate the official visit of a ruler or other high personage. It is
found frequently in the New Testament, notably in the Epistles of
St. Paul (e.g. I Cor. 15.23; 1 Thess. 2. 19; 2 Thess. 2. 1), and is
there employed as a standing term for the second corning of Christ
at the Last Judgment. Early in the second century the term began
to be used to refer also to the first coming of Christ in His Incarna-
tion and Redemption (see Ignatius of Antioch, Philad. 9. 2; Justin
Martyr, Apol. 1.52.3; etc.); quite certainly this second sense is
intended in the present passage. Cf. J. Chaine, 'Parousie,' DTC
11.2 (1932) 2043-54; J.-B. Colon, 'Paul (Saint): la parousie,'
ibid. 2388-99; P. Gachter, 'Parasie,' LTK 7 (1935) 990-2.
253 The third of Plotinus' Triad of Divine Principles, the 'World-
SouF ('All-Soul/ 'Soul of the All, 5 'Cosmic Soul')-^x4 -from
which the individual souls diverge or emanate. See W. R. Inge,
The Philosophy of Plotinus (3rd ed. London 1929) 1.200-64;. E.
Brehier, La philosophie de Plotin (Paris 1928) 47-79; K. Prachter,
Die Philosophie des Altertums, in F. Ueberweg, Grundriss der
Geschichte der Philosophie 1 (Berlin 1926) 603 f.
254 That is, the Incarnation of the Son of God, the coming of
Christ, just referred to.
255 Also rendered the 'Intelligence' or 'Spirit' the Nous -the
second of Plotinus 5 Triad of Divine Principles; see especially Enn.
5. 1.3 and 7.
256 ee Plotinus, Enn. 4. 3. 12-17, 24. Antony- Athanasius do not
distinguish between the All-Soul and the individual souls, though
in the doctrine of Plotinus both remain united to a certain extent
(see Inge, op. eft. 213-21).
257 The First Principle of Plotinus' Divine Triad, also called the
'One, 5 the 'Absolute/ etc. For the present section, see also J. M.
Colleran's Introductions to St. Augustine's De quantitate animae
and De magistro, in the preceding volume of the series A CW 9. 9
and 118-20.
258 See Athanasius' discourse on Christ's death on the Cross,
De I near n. 19-25.
132 NOTES
259 Egyptian tutelar divinities whose cult also spread to the
Greeks and Romans. Isis 9 wanderings began when her husband,
Osiris, was murdered by his plotting brother Typhon and cast into
the Nile. She finally found the corpse, only to be forced into
another long search when Typhon discovered the body, dismem-
bered it into fourteen parts, and scattered these to the four winds.
She recovered thirteen parts, buried them at Philoe. Osiris then
inhabited the sacred bull Apis, and his wanderings took place from
the death of one bull to the reappearance or reincarnation of Apis
in another. Cf, Plutarch, De hide et Osiride 12 ff.; Athenagoras,
Leg. 22; Firmicus Maternus, De err. prof. rel. 2; Augustine, De civ.
Dei 18. 5 (where Osiris == Serapis); T. A. Brady, Isis 5 and Osiris,'
OCD (1949) 459 f. and 628.
2WO Cronus (Saturn to the Romans) was one of the Titans. He
rebelled against his father Uranus, mutilated him, and took the
world dominion from him. In the course of time his father's curse
was visited upon him. Fearing for his throne, he swallowed his
own children as they were born Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades,
and Poseidon. Zeus alone escaped. When he had grown up, he
forced his father to regurgitate his brothers and sisters, defeated
him in the battle with the Titans, and banished him to Tartarus.
Cf. the account in Hesiod, Theog. 164 ff., 453 ff., 666 ff.; also the
sarcastic treatment of the myth by Tertullian, Ad not. 2. 12; H. J.
Rose, 'Kronos,' OCD (1949) 476.
- <u The frequent castigation by the early Christian writers of
allegory as a rationalization of the ancient myths, shows how com-
monly it was resorted to as a last desperate effort to defend the
pagan pantheon against unbelievers and scoffers. See Tatian
21. 6-9; Athenagoras, Leg. 22; Origen, Cont. Cels. 4. 38, 48; 5. 37;
6.42; Ps. Clement, Recog. 10.29-36; Gregory of Nazianzus, Orat.
4. 115-7; Augustine, De civ. Dei 4. 10; 6. 8; and especially the acid
critique by Arnobius, Adv. nat. 4. 32-45 ( ACW 8. 440-51). The
allegorical treatment was applied particularly to Homer cf. the
work published in Greek by the Stoic Heraclitus (probably in the
Augustan period) : Quaestiones Homericae, also known as Allego-
riae Homericae. On allegorization by the Stoics, cf. S. Angus, The
Religious Quests of the Graeco-Roman World (New York 1929) 29.
~ <] ~ On the gods and goddesses mentioned here, see the articles
by H. J. Rose in OCD 68 f. (Apollo), 104 f. (Artemis), 412
(Hephaestus), 412 f. (Hera), 666 (Persephone), 721 (Poseidon).
NOTES 133
263 A^jiuoupyos, Ht. 'one who works for the people' = 'craftsman.*
The word Is used regularly by the Gnostics ('Demiurge*: cf.
Irenaeus, Adv. haer. 3 passim) for the creator of the universe. It is
also found once in the New Testament (Heb. 11. 10) and in the
Apostolic Fathers (Clement of Rome 20. 11; 26. 1; 33. 2; 59. 2; Ad
Diogn. 7. 2; 8. 7) to designate the Christian opifex mundi. See the
note by Newman, Select Treatises 2. 400 f.
264 'Religious truth' for TO puarripiov O f the text. The various
meanings of this difficult term in the New Testament and in early
Christian literature have evoked much profound study. The recent
article by G. Bornkamm, TWNT 4 (1942) s.u., 809-34, also con-
siders the use of the term in the late fourth century (832); where
see also the recent literature.
265 Literally, 'in the wisdom of Greek words' see 1 Cor. 1. 17.
266 The text : cts 'EXX^KTMO** .
267 The word used here, fleto-t&u^oz/ta, which to the pagan mind
usually meant 'due respect to the gods' or simply 'religion,' but to
the Christian became synonymous with 'superstition,' is undoubt-
edly a reminiscence of the same term used by St. Paul in addressing
the philosophers at Athens, Acts 17. 22: 'Men of Athens, wherever
I look I find you scrupulously religious' (dewtfainovccrrkpovs trans,
by Knox). Cf. the study of P. J. Koets, AeKriScu/Kwia , A Contribu-
tion to the Knowledge of the Religious Terminology in Greek
(Purmerend 1929).
268 With this and the following, compare De Incarn. 47; also
Tertullian, De idol. 9; Ambrose, Exam. 4. 33.
269 Cf. also De Incarn. 48. Among numerous similar passages in
the writings of the Fathers, Tertullian's Semen est sanguis Chris-
tianorum (Apol 50. 6) has corne down as one of antiquity's most
celebrated aphorisms (cf. J. E. B. Mayor, QSeptimi Florentis Tertul-
liani Apologeticus [Cambridge 1917] 482 f.); and Tertullian him-
self, so tradition has it, owed his conversion from a pagan lawyer
and profligate, to his observation of the Christian men and women
martyred in the Roman amphitheatre.
270 1 Cor. 2. 4.
271 Athanasius uses the imperfect typ&fov, implying repeated
writing, as is also understood by Evagrius who adds the adverb
crebro: they wrote to Antony 'repeatedly,' 'frequently. 5
272 See Heb. 1.2.
273 These rulers had assured Antony that they worshipped
134 NOTES
Christ. The emperors before Constantine had de-
manded worship for themselves. The refusal of emperor worship
had been one of the main issues in the persecutions of the Chris-
tians. Here Antony reminds his imperial correspondents that they
must not forget the Church's uncompromising position through the
difficult times that lay behind: that all authority comes from God,
that the one and true King and Emperor is Christ. Cf. the study by
F. J. Dolger, *Zur antiken und fruhchristlichen Auffassung der
Herrschergewalt von Gottes Gnaden,' Ant. u. Christ. 3 (1932)
117-127,
274 See Dan. 4. 16.
275 Serapion (or Sarapion) was a very common name in Egypt
and in Egyptian monastic literature (Butler 2. 21 3 f.). The man
mentioned here (see also below, 91) had been superior of a colony
of monks before he became bishop of Thmuis in Lower Egypt. Sozo-
men (Hist. EccL 4. 9) states that he was a man of extraordinary
holiness and eloquence, and St. Jerome (De vir. ill 99) speaks of
his great learning. A friend of Athanasius, he suffered with him
during the Arian disorders, was ousted from his see, for which he
was known as 'confessor' in the orthodox Nicaean circles. He is
also known for a work against the Manichaeans, and especially for
his Euchologium or Sacramentary, a collection of thirty liturgical
prayers, first published near the close of the last century and of
capital importance for the history of the Church's early liturgy.
Cf. Bardenhewer 3. 98-102; G. Bardy, 'Serapion de Thmuis/ DTC
14. 2 (1941) 1908-12; for the Euchologium, ]. Wordsworth, Bishop
Sarapion's Prayer-Book (2nd ed. London 1923); also J. Quasten,
Monumenta eucharistica et liturgica vetustissima (Bonn 1935)
49-67, with complete bibliography.
276 For tvfov -cf. v. Hertling, op. cit. 75 n. L
277 These troubles evidently were going on when- St. Athanasius
was composing the biography, for here he speaks of the 'present
assault of the Arians.' The biography is now quite generally
assumed to have been set down in the year 357, after Athanasius
had escaped an attack on his life (De fuga 24 f.) in February of the
year before and fled to the monks in Upper Egypt (cf. Gregory of
Nazianzus, Or at. 21. 19). In the apology for his flight, De fuga
3f., 6f., he describes the cruelties and excesses practiced by the
Arians when the Church and orthodoxy seemed doomed (also the
orthodox bishops in the West, including Pope Liberius, had been
NOTES 135
deposed and banished after the synods of Aries in 353 and Milan
in 355). Cf. Athanasius, Hist, Ar. 31 ff.
278 The comparison, here and somewhat earlier, of the Arians
with mules seems quite illustrative of Antony's homespun and un-
varnished appraisal of persons and things; but the parallel drawn
is also consistent with Athanasius' trenchant opinions about the
Arians (see above, nn. 235 and 240). Regarding the 'senselessness'
of the Arians (aXoyia , which can also mean 'want of respect'),
see Card. Newman's excellent note, 'AXoyta, "AAoyo^ Select Trea-
tises 2. 364 f.; to quote his introductory remark: 'This epithet is
used by Athan. against the Arians, as if, by denying the eternity
of the Logos (Reason or Word), first, they were denying the Intel-
lectual nature of the Divine Essence; and, secondly, were forfeiting
the source and channel of their own rational nature. 9
279 Matt. 17.20 (Greek).
280 John 16. 23 f.
281 Matt. 10. 8.
282 Matt. 7. 2.
2S3Ao6 9 from the Latin dux (English 'duke'): during the later
Roman imperial times, a military commander in a province. This
office was created by Diocletian to weaken the power of the prefects
who up to that time had held the civil power as well as the com-
mand of the troops stationed in a province. Cf. O. Seeck, *Dux,'
RE 5 (1905) 1869-75; also the material in Du Cange, Gloss, graec.
s.u., 327 f. andApp. 61.
284 Balacius was military commander (dux) in the province of
Egypt from 340-345. Cf. O. Seeck, 'Balakius,' RE 5 (1905) 2816.
Athanasius repeats the story of his death in Hist. Ar. 14.
285 Cf. Athanasius, Hist. Ar. 12.
286 Nestorius was prefect from 345 to 352; cf . W. Ensslin, 6 Nes-
torius' no. 2, RE 17 (1937) 137.
287 A town in Lower Egypt, approximately seventeen miles south-
east of Alexandria. It was the last station on the roads leading
from Memphis and Pelusium over Andropolis to Alexandria. It is
known today as El Keriun. Cf. K. Sethe, 'Xaipfcw (ir6X) ,' RE 3
(1899) 2030.
288 See above, n. 86.
289 A metaphor from anointing athletes for the games of the
Greeks and Romans, See in the Possfo SS. Perpetuae et Felicitatis
10. 7 9 the vision of Perpetua in which she sees herself rubbed with
136 NOTES
oil in preparation for her contest with the Devil, here called the
Egyptian.
290 Cf. Matt. 27. 60 f.; Mark 15. 46.
291 Christianity brought to Egypt a spiritualized view of the after-
life, and, consequently, a decrease in concern for the body after
death. Mummification, a practice which had sought the preserva-
tion of the body as a necessary partaker in the future life, was dis-
continued more and more. Cf. Mackean, Christian Monasticism in
Egypt 58; H. Leclercq, 'Momie,' DACL 11. 2 (1934) 1744-52.
292 The Historia Lausiaca (21) identifies these monks as Ma-
carius and Amatas (cf. Butler's note, 2. 1931). See also Jerome,
Vita S. Pauli 1, and Chron. an. 361.
293 Probably 3 Kings 2.2 is referred to (cf. also Jos. 23. 14),
though Daniel actually says: 'I am going the way of all the earth'
294 See above, 19, where Antony explains in detail what 'dying
daily' means. See also Jerome, Epist. 53. 10; 60.14; 127. 6.
295 See above, 68 f.
296 Luke 16. 9.
297 Jerome in his legendary life of Paul of Thebes relates (12)
that when Antony at the age of ninety visited the senior solitary
who was then one hundred and thirteen, Paul requested him to
return to his own cell and fetch the cloak presented to him by Atha-
nasius and to bury him in it.
298 The grave was discovered in the year 56 1 and his body trans-
ferred to Alexandria. When the Saracens made themselves masters
of Egypt in 635, the remains were brought to Constantinople. From
there they came to France in the late tenth or early eleventh cen-
tury, and since 1491 they have been kept in the Church of Saint
Julien in Aries. Cf. R. Hindringer, 'Antonius, hi., Abt,' LTK 1
(1930) 514.
299 See above, 10; v. Hertling, op. cit. 88.
300 See the Prologue.
INDEX
INDEX
Abraham, 51
Absolute, the, 131
acta martyrum, 13
Act a Sanctorum, 122 f.
Acts of Peter 22: 109
Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena
171: 109
Achilles, bishop of Alexandria,
127
Achimaas, 115
adultery, 81
Aeneas, 13
Africa, 97, 122
Akaba, Gulf of, 6
Alexander, bishop of Alexandria,
128
Epist. 1. 12: 115
Alexander, physician, 119
Alexandria, 6, 101, 59, 78, 91,
102, 119, 122, 128 ff., 135 f.
All-Soul, the, 131
Allard, P., 118
allegory, 132; and Stoics, ibid.
alms, 57
dXo7a,&Xo70*, 135
Altaner, B., 102, 104
altar, 88
Amann, E., 127
Amatas, 6, 136
Ambrose, St., Comm. in Lucam
6.41: 117; 7.6, 88-90: 108;
De lacob et vita beata 1. 7. 28:
111; Exam. 4.33: 133; 6.49:
110
Ammon, see Amoun .
Amraonius, 108
Ammonius Saccas, 130
Amoun, 7, 71, 122f.
111
Anan-Isho, 104
anchorites, 111
Andropolis, 135
angels, 50, 129
anger, 46
Angus, S., 132
animals, 63 f., 1 14; animal stories
characteristic of Egyptian
monks, 121
Anson, P. R, 102, 120
Antichrist, 78, 117
Antioch, 113, 124, 127
antiquity, 13, 117; Christian,
112, 120, 133
Antony, birth, early youth, 3, 1 1,
181; sister of, 3, 19, 20, 66;
spoke only Coptic, 111; moved
by Gospel to life of asceticism,
3f., 19-21; model of monks
and ascetics, 3, 5, 7 L, 9, 11,
13, 17, 25, 32 f., 59, 60, 66, 68,
111; discourse on ascetic life,
33-57; desire for martyrdom,
5, 59; conflicts with Devil and
demons, 231, 28, 39 ff., 57,
64, 73, 92; encounters with
philosophers, 80-86; devotion
to Church and respect for her
ministers, 76 f.; worker of mir-
acles, 5, 60 f., 63, 66, 68-73,
79, 89-91; visions, 70-72,
74-76, 87; death, 6 f., 95 f.; re-
nown of, 97; Life of St. Anto-
ny: composition, authenticity,
historicity, influence on hagi-
ography, etc., 8-15
<brd0eta, 126
&ro0ifo Xm<rr6s, 126
Apis, 132
139
140
INDEX
Apollo, 83, 132
Apollonius of Tyana, 1 1
Apophthegmata Patrum, 7, 102;
DeAbb.Silvano-20: 125
Apostate, Julian the, 110
Apostle(s), 19, 25, 36 5 38 f., 54,
67, 74 ., 89; Peter the, 71
Apostolic Fathers, 133
apparitions, 39, 41, 44, 51. See
vision
Arabia, Arabs, 120
Araceni, 120
Arand, L. A., 112
Archelaus, 72, 123
*Apeo#<mrcu , 128
arguments, Devil raises, 22, 42;
Faith transcends, 84 S.
Arianism, Arians, 9, 91, 127 f.,
134 f.; Antony denounces, 6,
78, 88 f., 95; Athanasius' criti-
cism of, 135
Ariomaniacs, 78, 128
Aristotelian virtues, 108
Arius, 127 f.
Aries, Synod of, 135
Arnobius, Adv. nat. 4. 32-45: 132
Arsinoe, 33, 11 1
art, 125; inspired by Life of St.
Antony, 14
Artemis, 83, 132
arum, 20, 107
ascetic life, 17, 20 ff., 26, 32 f.,
42, 52, 54, 59 f., 76, 93, 96,
passim
asceticism, 4, 9, 17, 19ff., 120,
126; Antony and, 20 f., 24, 30,
33-57; equivalent to martyr-
dom, 119, 124; Pispir, a school
for, 7; practices of, 6, 21, 39,
41, 57, 87; theory of, 9, 25,
33-57, 95
ascetics, 13, 25, 50, 57, 68, 95,
124, 126
Asclepius, 120
Atrcpfc, 127
Asia, 127
Assyrians, 45
asthma, 124
ater, 109
Athanasius, 3, 6-12, 17, 102, 114,
123, 127 f., 131, 134, passim;
education, 11; ordained dea-
con, 10, 127; goes to Rome,
10; visits the West (336-337),
10; composed Life of St. An-
tony, 134
Cont. Ar. orat 2.78-80:
114; 1.43: 130; Cont. gent. 1:
111; 34: 1 14; DC fuga 3 f., 6 f. :
134; 24 f.: 134; De Incarn. I:
130; 3: 114; 7.16: 116; 8f.:
109; 19-25: 131; 47: 115, 133;
47 f.: 113; 48: 133; 53: 110,
130; 54: 126; Epist. ad Dra-
cont. 9: 126; Epist. ad episc.
Aegypti et Libyae I. 2: 113; 4:
111; Epist. de Syn. 6: 111;
Epist. fest. 2. 2: 114; Hist. Ar.
12: 135; 14: 135;31ff.: 135
Athenagoras, Leg. 22: 132;
SuppZ. 25: 112
Athens, 133
athletes, 121, 135
augury, 114
Augustine, St., 14, 127
Conf.8.6. 14: 104; 8. 12.29:
107; De civ. Dei 4. 10: 132;
6.8: 132; 8.22: 112; 18.5:
132; 20.7-14: 117; De doct.
Christ., prol.: 129; De mag.:
131; De quant, an.: 131;
Enarr. in Ps. 34. 2 f.: 110;
INDEX
141
37. 14: 108; 38. 12: 112; 61. 20:
110; Enchir. 14.50: 113; Serm.
12.4.4: 125
austerity, 22, 25, 72
Author of Evil, the Devil, 51
Balacius, 91, 135
baptism, aped by pagans, 1 12 f.
Bardenhewer, O.. 101, 105, 119,
129, 134
Bardy, G., 103, 111, 127 f., 134
Basil, St, 118, 121
Epist. 2 (Ad Gregorium) 2:
108; Epist. 284: 118; Horn. 4
(In martyrem lulittam) 3:
108; Serm. ascet. 1.5: 121
bath, bathing, 60, 97, 120
Batiffol, P., 103
Bauer, R, 108
Bede, Vita Cuthberti 4: 123
Bedjan, P., 104, 113
beasts, 53, 64, 81, 88
Bell, H. L, 122, 123
Bellarmin, R., 9
Beyer, H. W., 126
Bidez, J., Ill
biography, ancient literary, 13;
influenced Christian biogra-
phy, 12
birds, demons impersonate, 114
bishops(s), 60, 76, 78, 94, 96,
127, 134, passim
black, 23; in soul, 24; applied to
the Devil, 109
Blass/R, 103
Blessed Virgin, 115
body, corruptible, 34; subject to
soul, 58
Bolte, R, 122
Bonosus, monk, 112
Bornkamm, G., 133
120
Bousset, W., 8 9 102
Brady, T. A., 132
Brehier, R, 131
Bremond, H., 1 15
Bremond, J., 1 15
bread, 21,26 ., 30, 62 f.
Budge, E. A., 104, 119
Busiris, 69, 122
Butler, C, 71, 102, 103, 108,
110, 111, 122,136
Cabrol, R, 126
Caesarius of Aries, St., 121
Cairo, 120
canon, canonicus, 126
carelessness, 36
Cassian, Coll. L 20 f.: 116; 7. 9-
24: 109; 8.12: 112; Inst.
5.33f.: 129
catechumens, 124
Centuriators, the Magdeburg, 9
Chaine, J., 131
Champion, C., 104
character, 50
charity, 35
chastity, 92
Chaudre, A., 120
Chereu, 91
children, Antony addresses his
monks as, 62, 76, 82, 88, 96
Christ, 6, 23, 64, 79, 82, 95, 116
f., 124, 126, 131, passim; in
art, 125; demons disappear at
name of, 53, 55, 89; devotion
to 21, 33, 41, 46, 54; divinity,
127; the Emperor, 134; faith
in, 35, 60 f., 81,84 ff., 94; hu-
manity, 127; the King, 87 5
134; 'to put on Christ,' 124;
142
INDEX
the Word, 121. See Jesus
Christ, Son of God
Christ-bearer, 72, 124
Christ-fighters, 6, 79, 128
Christian, 24, 127, 133; antiq-
uity, 112; art, 125; concept of
soul, 125; martyrs, 133; vir-
tues, 126; writers, 13, 121, 132
Christianity, 13, 84, 130, 136
Christians, 13, 78, 80, 84, 98,
123, 130; charges against, 130;
demons envy, 38 f., 44, 55;
curse Satan, 55; hiss at de-
mons, 111; persecution of, 91,
113, 118L, 134; subjected to
temptation, 113; trample de-
mons under foot, 41
Christological heresy, 127
XpWT0/idY0*, 128
Christopher, 124
Christopher, J. P., 126
9 121
$, 124
Church, 12, 76, 85, 89, 124, 126;
128; persecution of, 59, 88,
117, 134
Chusai, 115
Cicero, De off. 1.52.150: 117;
Pro Caec. 10. 27: 109
Clarus, L., 15
Clement of Alexandria, Paed.
1.2: 126; 3.5: 120; Strom.
6.9: 126; 7.7.35. 1: 108
Clement of Rome, Ad Cor.
7.2: 126; 20.11, 26.1, 33.2,
59. 2: 133
clergy, 126 f.
cleric, 76
clericus, clerus, 126
Colleran, J. M., 131
Colon, J.-B., 131
Coma, 3, 106
comes, comes Qrientis, 123
commandments, 49, 67, 97
conceit, 46, 57
concupiscence, 38
conscience, 52, 76, 121
Constans Augustus, 86
Constantine, 86, 128 f., 134
Constantinople, 136
Constantius Augustus, 86, 118
contemplation, 90
contest, 59
continence, 85, 112
conversion, 14
Coptic, language of Antony, 111
Cosmic Soul, 131
Council, of Ephesus, 115; of
Nicaea, 122, 127
courage, 43, 50, 55, 110
craftsmen, 133
creation, 79, 83
Creator, 79, 133
crocodiles, 33; sacred, wor-
shipped in Egypt, 111
Crocodilopolis, 111
Cronus, 82, 132
Cross, 31, 49, 81 ff., 85, 130 f.
crucifixion, as a form of capital
punishment, 130
Crusades, 120
Cumont, F., Ill
Cuthbert, St., 123
Cyprian, St., Ad Fortun. 2: 109;
13: 111; De dom. or at 34-36:
108; Quod idola dii non sint
7: 114
KVOLO.K&V = Dominfcum, 106
Cyril of Alexandria, De exitu an.
horn. 14: 125
Cyril of Jerusalem, Cat. 13.3:
110; 16.15: 109; 16. 19: 110 f.
INDEX
143
Daniel, 57, 87, 117, 136
David, 47, 64, 77 5 115
David, ]., Ill
Day of Judgment, 36. See judg-
ment
deacon, 76, 119
dead, 82
death, 81 f., 123, 125, 136
Deems, persecution of, 127
Dei genetrix, 115
deipara, 115
5eK7i5ai/iQj>a, 133
Delehaye, H., 103, 119, 121
Demeter, 132
Demiurge, 133
demonology, 13 f., 33-57, 112
demons, 13 f., 22, 26, 33-57, 63,
72, 110, 117; attack Antony,
4, 26, 64; assault body and
soul, 114; break through
walls, 28; cast down by
Christ, 55; cast out by An-
tony, 51 f., 73, 79, 92; cre-
ated fair, 38; Christianity less-
ened evil influence of, 13;
claim to be Providence, 53;
chant Psalms, 53; mistakenly
considered as gods by Greeks,
48, 51, 98; Devil their leader,
44; din loudly, 42, 43, 124;
disguise themselves as ani-
mals, 114, 117; feared Antony,
64, 80; fomented persecutions
against Christians, 117; fore-
tell, guess future events, 48,
114; their number great, 38;
hissed at by Christians, 11,
116; inspired oracles, 113;
make fools of themselves, 31;
mislead the curious, 114;
powerless against prayer,
plague people, 39, 54, 60, 79,
85; powerful and crafty, 38 f.;
44 ff. } 54 ff., 95; pretend to be
angels, 49; pretend to proph-
esy, 40, 46; primitive concep-
tion of, 114; punished to live
in air, 112; terrified and ban-
ished by Sign of Cross, 31, 65,
84, 116; quote Scripture, 41,
53; resemble smoke, 54, 56;
shameless, 40; silenced by
God, 43; speak truth at times,
42; transform themselves, 39,
41, 45, 49, 51
Der Mar Antonios, 5, 120
desert, 20, 26, 29, 33, 55, 62, 1 18,
123
Desert Fathers, 8
Devil, 23, 27, 40, 42, 49, 51, 57,
64, 1131, 136, passim; the
Black One, 109; the Crafty
One, 53; the Enemy, 22 ff., 26,
29, 43, 45 5 56, 68, 75 f.; for-
bidden to quote Holy Scrip-
ture, 42; frightens only the
timid, 31; God permitted him
to try Job, 45; good psycholo-
gist, 117; hater and envier of
good, 22, 29; "inspired" ora-
cles, 113; leader of demons,
44, 89; masquerades, 23; met-
rical homily on, 113; monks
warned against, 92; must be
handled with courage, 110;
quotes Scripture, 116; power-
less against prayer, 45; the
spirit of fornication, 24; tempts
Antony, 29, passim; wiles are
manifold, 24, 30. See Satan
Diadochus, Cap. cent, de perf.
spir.SOi: 119
144
INDEX
dialectic, 83
Didymus the Blind, 123, 129
Diocletian, 118, 135
Diogrietum, Ad, 7. 2, 8. 7: 133
discerning of spirits, 49 f., 57,
92, 113, 115, 124
discretio spirit uum, 113
divination, 114
divinity, of Christ, 127
dogs, of Devil, 27
Dolger, F. J., 106, 109, 111, 116,
121, 124 f., 134
Dolhagaray, B., 126
W' 135
dragons, 125
Dublanchy, E., 115 f.
Du Cange, C. du P., 107, 135
Duckett, E. S., 103
duke, 90
dux, 135
dying daily, 36, 93, 95, 136
$, 116
earnestness, 21
East, 129
Ecclesiastes, 35
ecstasy,. 88, 125
education, 9, 18, 129
Egypt, 3, 7, 17,20,47,691,87,
91 f., 95, 114, 118, 122, 127,
130, 132, 134 ff., passim; Low-
er, 134 f.; Upper, 123, 134;
monasticism in, 7 f.
Egyptians, 18, 84, 94, 109, 114,
119, 121, 134,136
Ehrhard, A., 118
Eichhorn, A., 102 f.
, 125
s, 125
Elias, 26, 106
Eliseus, 49, 106
El Keriun, 135
Ellershaw, H., 15, 114
emperor- worship, 134
encomium., 11
Enemy, the Devil, 22 ff., 26, 29,
43, 45, 56,68, 75 f.
energumeni, 124
hepyov/jtevos, 124
Ennslin, W., 135
epilepsy, 124
eternity, 135; life in, 34
Ethiopia, 47, 114
dffepfa, 127
Eusebians, 10, 123
Eusebius of Nicomedia, 128
Eusebius of Caesarea, 115, 118;
De mart. Palaest.: 1 18; Hist.
Eccl.5. 1.49: 119; 9. 6. 2: 119
Evagrius, 8, 14 f., 104, 115, 122,
127, 133
Evagrius, Iberian deacon, 119
Evagrius Ponticus, De or at. 122:
126
Eve, 109
Evil One, 24, 55. See Devil
evil, spirits, 5, 1 12; thoughts, 39
cf ow OVT&P kcrlv > 128
examination ot conscience, 121 f.
excommunication, 126
existence, 79, 128
Ezechiel, 36
exorcism, 124
fable, 82
faith, 60, 711, 82,84 f., 89; An-
tony s s love of/ 12; faith in
Christ, 35, 81, 85 f.; in God,
46, 98; in the Lord, 28, 69, 94;
puts demons to flight, 22 f., 61
fame, love of, 22
farmers, 48
INDEX
145
fasting, 4, 21, 32, 39, 43, 57, 60,
118, 120, passim
Father, God the, 78, 82, 94
Fathers, Apostolic, 133; Church,
115, 121, 127, 133; of the des-
ert, 8
Fayum, 111
fear, 36, 50
Ferrua, A., 102
fire, 30, 41, 56
Firmicus Maternus, De err. prof.
rel.2: 132; 26. 4: 109
First Principle, 131
Flaubert, G., 14
forbearance, 21
fornication, 24, 27
fore- knowledge, 47
fortitude, 35
France, 136
Frank, T., 118
Fritz, G., 119
Fronto, 69, 122
funeral rites, Egyptian, 94
Furies, 110
Gabriel, 115
Gachter, P., 131
Gaertringen, H. v., 122
Galerius, 118
Garitte, G. 3 104
Gaul, 14,97, 119
games, of Greeks and Romans,
135
generosity, 12
Geoghegan, A. T., 108
Gerontius, Vita S. Melaniae iun.
2: 119
Giezi, 49
gift, 77; of discerning good and
evil spirits, 39, 52, 92
gladness, 50
glory, 98
Gnostics, 13, 127, 130, 133
God, 5, 17, 19, 26, 33, 43 f., 49,
68, 75, 82, 91 f., 97, 130; au-
thority from, 134; contempla-
tion of, 129; Creator, 38, 83;
determines span of life, 70;
Devil thought he was equal
to, 23; Father, 50; faith in, 46,
84; fighting against, 128; law-
giver, 87; love of, 12, 29, 126;
knowledge of, 83; man created
in His image, 114; man of
God, 96; Son of God, 78, 84,
87, 98, 131; spirit of, 32
God-fearing, 40, 78
gods, pagan, 13, 133
good, the, 50; spirits, 5
Gospel, 3, 19 f., 46, 50
grace, 41, 55, 57
graciousness, 21
Greek, 14, 124; learning, 37, 48,
80; literature, 11; oracles, 48;
philosophers, 80, 84, 130
Greeks, 6, 37, 109, 128 f., 132,
135; the pagan, 38, 51, 98
Gregory the Great, Mor.
2.10.16: 114; 2.13.22: 117;
14. 13. 15: 117
Gregory Nazianzen, St., 8
Ora*. 4.115-7: 132; 7. 17:
111; 19.14: 118; 21.5: 102;
21.19: 134
Gregory of Nyssa, Dial, de an. et
ress.9.2: 117
Griffins, 110
Giinter, H., 104
Hassett, M. M., 122
Hades, 132
146
INDEX
hagiographers, hagiography, 13,
119f., 124
happiness, 126
harmony, 57
Harpies, 110
health, 97
Heaven, 19, 35, 52, 81; attained
by trial, 121; demons against,
39; Kingdom of, 37, 98; re-
ligious life prepares for, 33 f.;
a reward, 34
Hebrew, 112, 114
Hedde, R., 131
Hefele, J., 122 f.; 126
Helm, M., 104
hell-fire, punishment of, 117
"EXXflro, 128
Hephaestus, 83, 132
Hera, 83, 132
Heracleopolis, 110
Heraclitus, Quaestiones Homeri-
cae (Allegoriae Homericae),
132
heresy, heretics, 78 f., 95; Gnos-
tic, 127; and Athanasius, 128
Hermas, Past mand. 5: ll5;
12. 5 f.: 110; sim. 9. 1. 5,
9. 19.1: 109
Herodotus, 8, 1 1 1
Hist. 2. 148: 111
Hertling, L. v., 102, 103, 104,
106, 108, 115, 119, 120, 128,
129, 134, 136
Herzog, R., 120
Hesiod, 113
Theog. 164 ff., 453 f.,
666 E: 132
Hestia, 132
heterodoxy, 127
Heussi, K., 103, 121
Hilarion, monk, 7, 119
Hindringer, R., 136
Historia Monachorum inAegyp-
o,7, 102; 28: 102; 29. I: 123
Holy Spirit, 5, 39, 113
Homer, 113, 132
hope, 56, 123
Horace, Sat 1. 4. 81-85: 109
hospitality, 35
hounds, of Devil, 55
Hultsch, F., 107
humanity, of Christ, 127
humility, 12, 46
Hummel, E. L., 121
lamblichus, 11
idols, 13, 85
Ignatius of Antioch, Ad Ephes.
92: 124; Ad Philad. 9.2: 131
impiety, 127
Incarnation, 131
incubation, 120
Inge,W. R., 131
initiation, 20, 32
Inner Mountain, 5 L, 61, 63, 87,
95, 120
insanity, 124
inspiration, divine, 48
instruction, to monks, 33-57;
Scriptures sufficient for our, 33
intelligence, J91, 131
Irenaeus, Adv. haer.: 133; 5. 26.
3: 117
Isaac of Antioch, Horn. 36. 20-
30: 113
Isidore, Alexandrian priest, 119
Isidore, Nitrian monk, 10
Isidore of Pelusium, Epist. 3.
156: 109
Isis, 82, 120, 132
Isocrates, 11
Israelites, 6
INDEX
147
Jericho, 117
Jacob, 18, 77
Jerome, St., 8, 10, 14, 120, 136
Chron. an, 361 : 136; De vir.
iKus. 87 f.: 102; 99: 134; 125:
102, 104; Epist. 3.4: 112; 22.
7: 109; 22.29: 109; 53. 10:
136; 60. 14: 136; 71.1: 112;
118.4: 112; 125.12: 109; 127.
5:103; 127.6: 136; Vita S.Hi-
lar.: 129; 3: 102; 4: 119; 10:
119; 30 L: 120; 31: 120; Vita
S. Pauli I: 101, 136; 6: 120;
12: 136
Jesus, son of Nun, 37
Jesus Christ, 98; faith in, 84, 94;
name of performs cures, 73.
See Christ, Son of God
Jews, 130
Job, 40, 45 f., 56
John the Baptist, 37, 51
John Chrysostom, In Epist. ad
Heb. horn. 9. 5: 121; In Epist.
ad Rom. horn. 15. 10: 111; In
Matt. horn. 7. 6 f.: 120; 8. 4 L:
118;22.5f.: 108; 42. 3 f.: 121
John Climacus, St., 127
Scala par ad. 4: 121
Josue, 112, 117
joy, 50, 77, 92, 96, 126
Judas, 36, 56
judgment, 87; Day of, 36; God's,
91; the particular, 49
Julian the Apostate, 123
Epist. 79: HOt
Julianus, monk, 123
Julius, Pope, 10
justice, 35, 57, 87
Justin Martyr, Apol 1.28: 117;
1.52.3: 131; 1.54: 112; 2. 5:
113; 2.62: 113; Dial. 45.3:
113
, 126
kindheartedness, 21
king, 109; Christ the, 134; Christ
the true and eternal, 87
Kingdom of Heaven, 37, 98
Kingsley, C, 6, 102
Kirsch, J. P., 123
Kirsten, E., 122
Kleist, A. J., 109, 124
K\ijpO$y K\V]plKO$ 9 126
knowledge, 34; about God, 83,
85
Knox, R.A., 133
Koets, P. J., 133
KO LIMITS ptov 123
K&M*> 123
Kristeller, P. O., 131
Kriiger, G., 113
Labriolle, P. de, 103, 127
Laban, 77
labyrinth, 111
Lactantius, De op. Dei 1, 7: 109;
Div. inst. 2. 17: 114; Epit.
inst.div.23: 113; 46: 110
Laistner, M. L. W., 103
Lake Moeris, 111
Laodicea, 72, 124
lapsed, Christian, 127
Last Judgment, 117, 131. See
judgment
Lausiae History, see Palladius
Lavaud, B., 15
lawsuits, 90
Leclercq, H., 122, 123, 124, 125,
126, 130
Legenda Aurea, 14
148
INDEX
Leo the Great, Serm. 16. 3: 109;
18. 1: 113; 70.3: 130; 89.3:
109
lepers, 82
leviathan, 113
Liberius, Pope, 134
Libya, 127
life, 14, 93, 95, 121; future, 57,
136; the inner, 91; of monks,
98; man's is very short, 34, 36;
in the world, 92
Life of St. Antony, see Antony
lion, 24, 28, 113, 125
ListJ., 12, 103 f., 108
literature, Christian, 13, 133;
Greek, 11; monastic, 134
litigation, 92
liturgy, 134
Logos, 135
long-suffering, 68
Lord, the, 38 , 61, 67, 95, 97;
cured the sick, 32, 66, 72, 79;
our protector in temptation,
23, 27 f., 49; revealed Devil to
Job, 40; speaks to rich man,
19L; speaks in Gospels, 37;
took on flesh, 23
Lord Jesus Christ, 73, 94, 98.
See Christ, Lord
Lord's House, 106
Lot, 37
love, 50, 52, 57, 70, passim; of
Christ, 27, 33, 54; of Faith, 12;
of God, 51; of the poor, 35
Lower Egypt, 134f.
Lucian, 106
JVeci/om. 11: 117
Lucinius, 112
lust, 23, 36, 68
Lycopolis, 123, 127
Lycus River, 71
Macarius, companion of Antony.,
6, 136
Macarius of Alexandria, 108
Macarius the Elder, 7
Horn. 22, 43: 125
Mackean, W. H., 101 f., 121,
123, 136
Magdeburg Centuriators, 9
Mangenot, E., 112, 117
magicians, 84
man, 81, 114; man of God (An-
tony), 79, 96
Mani, 127
Manichaeism, Manichaeans, 78,
127, 134
manual labor, 4, 21, 108
Marchand, E. C, 103
Marcus, monk, 108
marriage, 112
Mart. Carpi, Papyli et Agathon*
17: 113
Martinianus, 60
martyr, 59, 85, 121, 124, 133;
daily, 5; to conscience, 60
martyrdom, Antony desirous of,
5, 59; asceticism equivalent to,
119, 124; daily, 6
Mary, 51; Dei getietrix, 115;
deipara, 115; Mother of God,
51, 115
Maunoury, A. F., 15
Maximian, 118, 122
Maximin Daja, 5, 59, 118
Mayor, J. E. B., 133
McLaughlin, J. B., 15, 107
meditation, 5, 56
meekness, 21, 35, 46
MAas, 6, 109
Meletians, 77, 93, 123, 127
Meletius, 127
INDEX
149
Memphis, 110, 135
Mertel, H., 15, 104
metempsychosis, 130
Methodius of Philippi, 118
De sang. 4.2: 109
Middle Ages, 14, 127
Middle Egypt, 3
Milan, 10; Synod of, 135
mind, 77, 92; in natural state,
37; pagan, 121, 133; Soul an
image of Mind, 82
ministry, 76, 126
Minucius Felix, Oct. 26 f.: 114;
29: 130
miracles, 52, 71; performed by
Antony, 5, 60 f., 63, 66, 68-73,
79,89-91; of Christ, 116
jLU<r6fcttXos, 108
monachism, see monasticism
juo^axoi, 111
monasteries, 20, 33, 53 f., 120 f.
monastic, life, 33, 60; rules, 121 f.
monasticism, 3, 7, 20, 53, 124,
passim; Antony its founder, 7;
Egyptian, 7 f.; in the West, 8
money, 22, 35,46, 118
monks, 3, 17, 53, 77, 91 i, 98,
118, 126, 129, passim; ad-
dressed by Antony, 33-57; An-
tony their superior, 5, 11; St.
Basil a protector of, 118;
Egyptian, 121; exempt from
taxation, 118; learn Old and
New Testaments by heart,
108; Pachomian, 108; popu-
late desert, 33; respect for
secular clergy, 126; and Sacred
Orders, 126; strive for perfec-
tion, 126; vocation of, 5, 33-
57; in West, 10
Montfaucon, B. de, 9, 15
moon, 67, 83
mortification, 25
Moses, 121
Moses, monk, 110
Mother of God, 51
Mount Colzim, 120
mummification, 136
HVffTrjpiov, 133
mystic, 12
mythology, 110
myths, 112, 132
Nature, divine, 81, 135; rational,
135; spiritual, 81
Nave, 57
Neo-Platonlsm, 6, 9, 130
Nestorian, 115
Nestorlus, prefect, 135
New Testament, 116, 126, 133
Newman, J. H., 103, 105, 127 L,
133, 135
Nicaea, Council of, 122, 127
niger, 109
Nile, 4, 29, HOff., 114, 120, 123,
132
NItria, 7, 10, 71 i, 123
Nitrian desert, 110, 123
Nock, A. D., 104
nomos, 111
non-existence, 78, 128
nonna, "nun," 107
Nonnus, bishop, 116
Now, 131
Nun, 37
nuns, 20, 107
obedience, 19
Old Testament, 1 14, 121
Olympus, 118
opifex mundi, 133
Oppel, H., 126
150
INDEX
oracles, 48, 84, 113, 115
Orient, governor of, 123
Origen, 115
Cont.Cel$. 1.31: 113; 4. 38,
48: 132; 4.921: 114; 5.37:
132; 6.42: 132; 7.3-6, 35:
113; 7.67: 112; 8.36: 110;
8.62: 112; De princ. 3.2.4,
3.3.4: 115; In Cant. Cant.
horn. L6: 109; In ]erem. 5.
8f.: 126; 11.3: 126; In Luc.
horn. 23: 25
Orphism, 130
orthodox, faith, 94, 98; bishops,
134
orthodoxy, 127, 134
Osiris, 82, 132
Oudin, C, 9
Outer Mountain, 4, 6, 72, 80, 90,
93,95, 110
Ovid, Am. 1.13.35-6: 109
Pachomian monks, 108
paganism, pagans, 79, 81, 84, 88,
98, 112; concept of soul, 125;
mind, 121
Palatium, 69, 122
Palestine, 7, 118
Palladius, 7 f., 10, 123, 127
Book of Paradise 1.57: 119;
Hist. Laus. I: 103, 119; 4:
123, 129; 8: 102, 123; 11: 108;
18: 108; 19: 110; 21: 111; 21:
136; 22: 102; 32: 108; 38: 119
Pamphilus of Caesarea, 118
.Paphnutius, 69, 122, 124
paradise, 118
paralytics^ 82
irapovvla. , 131
irapOw&v, 107
Passio SS. Perp. et Pel 10.6:
109; 10.7: 135; 10.8, 9, 14:
109
passion, 81, 126
Pastures, the, 62
patience, 21
Paul, Apostle, 26, 121, 133
Paul the Hermit, of Thebes, 14,
101, 120, 136
Paul the Simple, 7, 102
peace, 92
pederasty, 81
Peiagia of Antioch, 116
Pelusium, 135
penance, 120, 124
perfection, 11, 97, 126
Perpetua, 135
persecution, 60, 124, 134; of
Christians, 113, 118f.;Decian,
127; of Maximin Daja, 51
Persephone, 83, 132
Peter, Apostle, 71
Peter, bishop, 1 18 f., 127
Peter Chrysologus, Serm. 5: 114;
9: 112
Pfister, R, 125
<f>avracria, 112
phantoms, 40, 45, 55 f.; of beasts,
28, 39, 45, 51, 53, 56, 84;
Greek poets inspired by, 113;
spirits, 125
Philo, Spec. leg. 2.93: 118
Philoe, 132
philosophers, addressed by St.
Paul, 133; Antony's discourse
to, 80-86
Philostratus, 11
Phrygia, 124
<0oi>pos, 108
physicians, 48, 89, 92
Pietschmann, R., 1 1 1
piety, 57, 127
INDEX
151
pilots, 48
pirates, 130
Pispir,4ff.,29, HOf.
Plato, 13, 130
pleasure, 58; of eating, 22; of the
flesh, 23, 36, 66, 92
Pley, J., 120
Pliny, Nat hist. 6. 32. 157: 120
Plotinus, llff., 118f., 130 f.
Enn. 1. 1.12: 130; 3. 4. 2 S
5,4.3.12-17,24,4.3.15,5. 1.
3,5: 131
Plumpe, J. C., 119
Plutarch, De Is. et Osir. 12 ff.:
132
Polycratia, 72, 124
Ponticianus, 14
poor, 21, 87
Porphyry, 11 f.
VitaPlotinil: 118; 2: 119
Poseidon, 83, 132
possession, 92, 96
poverty, 92
Prachter, K., 131
praise, 79
prayer, 4 f., 17, 27, 33, 42 f., 57,
64, 118, 134; healing by, 61,
70, 89 f., 124; constant, 21 f.,
76; demons fear, 46, 53; neces-
sity of, 39
pre- existence, 130
Preuschen, 102, 123
priest, 76, 79, 127
Priscillianists, 126
Prophet, 24, 26, 42, 94, 112
Providence, 27, 36, 48, 53, 62,
82, 84; foretells future, 75, 93
prudence, 35
Psalm(s),41, 53 f., 64, 67, passim
Ps.-Bamabas, 4. 10, 20. 1: 109
Ps.-Clement, Recog. 10.29-36:
132
Ps.-Lucian, 106
ux*> 131
psychopompos, 125
Puech, A., 103
punishment, 117, 130
purity, 26, 49, 72, 85
Pythagoras, 11, 130
Quasten, J., 112, 120, 124 f., 134
Rahner, K., 104, 107, 114i, 126
Reason, Word, 135
Red Sea, 5, 120
Redemption, 131
Reilly,G. K, 118
Reitzenstein, R., 103, 106, 119,
123
religion, 85; Greek, 130; pagan,
133; the true, 78
renunciation, 12, 34
reptiles, 30, 39, 53, 81
Resch,P., 115
resurrection, of Christ, 82; of the
dead, 96
riches, 30, 35
River, the (Nile), 47, 52 5 66, 1 14
Rivet, A., 9
Robertson, A., 9 9 15, 103, 114
Roman(s), 109, 114, 130, 133,
135; name, 122; Senate, 10;
synod, 10
Rome, 10,97, 114
Rose, H. J., 132
Rosweyde, H., 116
Rouet de Journel, M. J., 115
Rufinus, 7, 122
Apol in Hier. 2. 12: 102;
Hist. Eccl 1. 16: 123
rules, monastic, 121 f.
Rush, A. Q, 123, 125
152
INDEX
sadness, 50
saints, 12; God's athletes, 121;
imitation of, 43, 67, 95
salvation, 82, 90
Samuel, 77
Saracens, 62, 120, 136
Sarapion, see Serapion
Satan, 113, 54, 117; powerless
against prayer, 5; wars against
Church, 117. See Devil
Saturn, 132
Sauer, J., 124
Savior, 41, 44, 46, 58, 77, 89, 96,
98, 130; assumed human flesh,
109; Christians possess, 42;
encouraged Antony, 52, 64,
69; triumphed over demons on
the Cross, 49; works miracles,
52,72
Scete, 7
schism, schismatics, 77, 93, 95,
127
Schweitzer, V., 116
Scripture, 18, 23, 34, 60, 64, 67,
75, 82, 95; Antony learned
from, 21, 24, 36; demons
quote, 41 f.; interpretation of,
129; sufficient for monk's in-
struction, 33; a vehicle of tra-
dition, 94
Seeck, O., 135
self-control, 20
self-denial, 126
ormeia, 116
Seneca, De ira 3.36.1-3: 121;
Epist. 83.2: 121
Sepieter, G., 122
Serapion of Thmuis, 6, 87, 96,
134
Ep. ad mon. 2: 119
Serapis, 120
serpents, 28, 78,81, 114
Sethe, K., 120, 135
Severus, 118
shame, 23, 58, 68, 71, 95
Sign of the Cross, demons fear,
49, 65, 110; effective against
demons, 3 1,39, 84 ff., 116
Simon Magus, 110
sin, sinner, 25, 36, 44
Sinai, 6
slaves, 130
Snow, J. C, 104
Socrates, philospher, 13
Socrates, historian, 129
Hist. EccL 1.6: 128; 1.8,
11: 122; 4. 23: 123, 130; 4,25:
128
soldier, 83, 90
solitaries, 119; ceils of, 57, 60;
life of, 7, 42
solitude, 20, 29, 60; Antony's
love of, 12
snakes, 41
Son of God, 78, 84, 87, 98, 131
soul, 25, 40, 55, 58, 67, 76, 97,
125, 131; Christian concept of,
23, 125; cosmic, 131; life of,
75; Neo-Platonic teachings on,
81 f., 130 f.; passing of souls,
76, 125 f.; purity of, 72, 77;
state of, 32, 37, 49 ff., 115;
transmigration of, 130
South Qalala Plateau, 120
Sozomen, 3, 122
Hist. EccL 1.4: 122; 1.13:
101, 106; 1. 14: 123; 3. 15:
129; 4.9: 134; 6.28: 123; 7.
32: 115
Spain, 97, 126
spirit, 3, 131; discerning of,
49- f., 57, 92, 113. 115, 124;
INDEX
153
evil, 92; of fornication, 27; of
God, 32; impure, 32. See Holy
Spirit
spiritual, food, 58; life, 14; sub-
je'cts, 6
spirituality, 23
0-<pa7ts, cr<t>payiw, III
Stiglmayr, J., 127
Stohr, A., 128
Stoic, 126, 132
study, 57
sun, 67, 83
syllogism, 84 f .
superstition, 133
synod, of Aries, 135; Milan, 135;
Rome, 10; Saragossa, 126;
Tyre, 123, 127
Syria, 118, 124
Syriac, 105, 113, 119
Tabennesi, 108
Tappert, E. C., 102
Tartarus, 132
Tatian, Ad Graec. 15.8: 112;
21. 6-9: 132
tax-collectors, 57, 117
taxation, 118
temperance, 35
temptation, 4, 14, 23, 1 13
rkpa/TQ* 116
Tertullian, conversion of, 133
Apol 16: 130; 22.2: 114;
23: 114; 27. 3: 117; 50. 6: 133;
Ad nat. L 12: 130; 2. 12: 132;
De anima 45.3: 125; De ex-
hort, cast. 10: 108; De idol. 9:
133; De monog. 12: 126
Thebaid, 47, 62, 110,122
Theodore, abbot, 129
Theodore, disciple of Amoun, 71
Theodoret, Hist. Eccl. 1.5.3:
128; 1.6: 122; 3. 19: 123; 4.
27: 128
Theophilus, Ad Autoi 2. 8: 113
90TO/CO$, 115
thoughts, evil, 37, 66, 68, 93
time, 26, 34
Titans, 132
tradition, 133; of Fathers, 94;
Gnostic, 13; literary, 12; mo-
nastic, 8
transmigration, of soul, 130
Triad, Plotinian, 131
Tripoli(s),69, 122
truth, 42, 52, 55
Typhon, 82, 132
unbelievers, 132
understanding, 35
universe, 133
Upper Egypt, 123, 134
Upper Thebaid, 61, 122
Uranus, 132
Urbs, 114
Valens, 129
Valeria, 124
VerbaSeniorum, 7, 102
vigils, 21, 25, 46, 64
Viller, M., 104, 107, 114f., 126
virgins, 72, 91; community of,
20, 66, 93, 107
virginity, 85; in marriage, 123
virtues, 21, 35, 44, 48, 85, 96;
nine Aristotelian, 108; ten
Christian, 108; love of, 57;
path of, 20, 37, 97; progress
in, 25
154
INDEX
visions, 501, 87, 120 3 135; An-
tony's, 70-72, 74-76; evil spir-
its in, 53 f .
Voragine, Jacobus de, 14
Waddell, H., 102
war, father of taxes, 118
Waszink, J. H., 125
Watson, E. W. s 122
wealth, 92. See riches
Weingarten, H., 9
West, 8, 134
will, 37
Wilmart, A., 104
wisdom, 78, 88 ff., 97, 133
women, 4, 20, 39, 94, 107, 109
Word, Christ, 121; God, 78, 81;
Son of God, 78
Wordsworth, J., 134
work, 65
world, 6, 87, 92, 98, passim,
World Soul, Plotinus, 131
Xenophon, 11
Mem. 4. 1. 1: 106
Youtie, H. C, 118
Zachary, 50
zeal, 21, 25, 34, 66; Antony fired
by, 33
Zellinger, J., 120
Zeus, 132
ANCIENT CHRISTIAN WRITERS
THE WORKS OF THE FATHERS IN TRANSLATION
Edited by
I QUASTEN, S.T.D., and J. C. PLUMPE, PH.D.
1. THE EPISTLES OF ST. CLEMENT OF ROME AND ST. IGNATIUS
OF ANTIOCH. Trans, by JAMES A. KLEIST, S. J., PH. D. Pages x -f 162.
1946.
2. ST. AUGUSTINE, THE FIRST CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION.
Trans, by JOSEPH P. CHRISTOPHER, PH.D. Pages vi + 171. 1946.
3. ST. AUGUSTINE, FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY. Trans, by Louis A.
ARAND, S. S., S. T. D. Pages vi -f- 165. 1947.
4. JULJANUS POMERIUS, THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. Trans, by SR.
MARY JOSEPHINE SUELZER, PH. D. Pages vi + 220. 1947.
5. ST. AUGUSTINE, THE LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT. Trans.
by JOHN J. JEPSON, S. S., PH. D. Pages vi + 227- 1948.
6. THE DIDACHE, THE EPISTLE OF BARNABAS, THE EPISTLES AND
THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. POLYCARP, THE FRAGMENTS OF
PAPIAS, THE EPISTLE TO DIOGNETUS. Trans, by JAMES A. KLEIST,
S. J., PH. D. Pages vi + 235. 1948.
7. ARNOBIUS, THE CASE AGAINST THE PAGANS, Vol. 1. Trans, by
GEORGE E. MCCRACKEN, PH. D., Pages vi -j- 372. 1949.
8. ARNOBIUS, THE CASE AGAINST THE PAGANS, Vol. 2. Trans, by
GEORGE E. MCCRACKEN, PH.D. Pages vi 4-287. 1949.
9. ST. AUGUSTINE, THE GREATNESS OF THE SOUL AND THE
TEACHER. Trans, by JOSEPH M. COIXERAN, C. SS. R., PH. D. Pages vi
+ 255. 1950.
10. ST. ATHANASIUS, THE IIFE OF SAINT ANTONY. Trans, by ROBERT
T. MEYER, PH. D. Pages vi + 155 pp. 1950.
11. ST. GREGORY THE GREAT, THE PASTORAL CARE. Trans, by
HENRY DAVIS, S. J., S. T. D. In the press.
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