Saint Anthony the Great

Saint Anthony was born around 251 AD in a village in Egypt. He grew up in a Christian family and was deeply devout. When he was about eighteen years old, he walked into church one day and heard the Gospel passage where Jesus tells a rich young man: "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, then come and follow me." Anthony took those words personally.

He gave away all his family's land, put his sister in the care of a community of women, and went into the desert. For years he lived near his village, learning from older holy men. Then he went deeper into the desert, to an abandoned fort near the Nile, where he lived alone for twenty years without anyone seeing him. He battled demons, prayed constantly, worked with his hands, and grew in holiness and peace.

When he finally opened his door, people were amazed — his face shone with a quiet joy and he was healthier than when he had gone in. Disciples flocked to him from across the Roman world. St. Athanasius, who wrote his life story, said Anthony "held communion with God as a friend." Even the Emperor Constantine wrote to him seeking his prayers. He lived to be over 100 years old and died in peace. His monastery in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, built near his cave, is the oldest Christian monastery in the world and still thrives today.