St. Anthony the Great is called the father of all monks. He was born in 251 A.D. in a city in Upper Egypt to rich and good Christian parents. They raised him up in the fear of God. When he was 20 years old, his parents died and he had to take care of his sister.

One day in church, he heard the deacon reading the words of Christ in the Gospel. “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven and come, follow me.” He decided to listen and practice this commandment right away. He went home, sold everything that he had and gave the money to the poor.

St. Anthony left to live alone to in the desert to worship and praise God. The devil fought him with many temptations but St. Anthony was strengthened by the power of God. The devil got jealous of St. Anthony’s holiness so he beat him and left him on the ground to die. St Anthony’s friends found him and carried him to the church. When he was healed, he went back to his place in the desert and continued fighting.

The devil tried harder to scare St. Anthony with snakes and lions, but St. Anthony laughed and them and told them, “If any of you beasts had power over me, you would be able to fight me.” When he said this, all the beasts disappeared like smoke.

One day, while St. Anthony lived alone in the desert, he became bored. He heard a voice that told him, “Go out of your cell and see.” When he went outside, he saw an angel sitting while weaving palm leaves to make baskets. Then the angel stood up to pray, and then sat to weave again. The angel said to him, “Do this and you will not get bored.” So St. Anthony did this and he was never bored again.

After 20 years of living in the desert, many people heard about St. Anthony and his holy life. Many men came to him in the desert and wanted to live a life like his. St. Anthony became their spiritual leader and taught them how to live a holy life alone with God. He stayed with them for 5 years then left to live alone again.

During the time that Christians were being killed for their faith, St. Anthony left the desert and went to Alexandria to comfort the Christians who were in prison. When the persecution of the Christians ended, he went back to the monastery.

St. Anthony left the desert a second time to help the Pope, St. Athanasius, in fighting against wrong teachings that spread in the Church. After this, he went back to the desert. When St. Anthony felt that the day of his departure was coming, he told his disciple to hide his body after he departs.
On the 22^nd day of Toba 355 A.D., St Anthony gave up his spirit.

This blessed saint lived for 105 years struggling in the way of holiness and purity. Today, there is a monastery built where St. Anthony lived by the Red Sea in Egypt.

May his blessings be with us all. Amen