Antony the Great

CONCERNING ST. ANTONY THE GREAT, ABBOT IN THE THEBAID.

In the year of Christ 356.

Antony the Great, Abbot in the Thebaid (Saint).

FROM Various sources.

Section 1. The various divisions of Egypt. The birthplace of St. Antony.

[1] Egypt, from which the monastic life drew its origin, is variously described, divided, and delimited by various authors. Among these especially Strabo, book 17 of the Geography; Dionysius of Alexandria in his Description of the Inhabited World, Egypt described by the ancients. illustrated by Archbishop Eustathius, chapters 28 and following; Pliny, book 5 of the Natural History, chapters 9 and 10; Diodorus Siculus, book 1 of the Historical Library; and Ptolemy, book 4 of the Geography, chapter 5 -- all ancient and prior to the age of Antony. Some things from these, especially from Strabo, we necessarily transfer here, because the places of St. Antony's exercises are little known to modern people, since access to those provinces of which barbarians have been in possession for so many centuries is almost entirely blocked, and they insult Christians with more than civil hatreds and wars among themselves.

[2] Where irrigated by the Nile, The Nile traverses Egypt from south to north and makes it fertile by its annual inundation, and thus habitable. Whatever is more elevated than its stream, on both sides toward both east and west, is desert for lack of water, and therefore empty of inhabitants. The lands around both banks that are irrigated by the river rarely maintain ^a continuous habitable width of up to three hundred stadia. The ancients called only that which is irrigated by the Nile and inhabited from the places near Syene all the way to the Mediterranean Sea by the name Egypt. Those who lived under the Ptolemaic Kings down to the Roman Caesars Divided into parts, added whatever lies between the Red Sea and the Nile and called it Arabia; and that which faces the western sun, Libya: peoples called by Ptolemy the cosmographer Libyaegyptians and Arabaegyptians. Formerly called otherwise. The Egypt irrigated by the Nile was divided into three parts: Lower, Middle, and Upper Egypt. The Lower is more often called simply Egypt, or alternatively Delta and Augustamnica; the Middle is called by Ptolemy the Heptanomia, by Dionysius the Heptapolis, and afterward, as Eustathius attests, Arcadia by the Emperor Arcadius; the Upper is called the Thebaid, or Thebaida. The boundaries of each are displayed in the maps of Ptolemy, Ortelius, and ^a single one inserted by Rosweyde in his book on the Lives of the Fathers, though less distinctly.

[3] Palladius, in his letter to Lausus, distributes the stations of monks into four provinces, as it were: Egypt, Libya, the Thebaid, and Syene. Rufinus, Cassian, and others who wrote the Lives of the Fathers at roughly the same time agree with Palladius, but they more often call Libya Scetis, and Syene they call the Upper Thebaid. In the Arabia neighboring Egypt, Abbot John the Persian is said to have lived, Otherwise in the age of St. Antony: according to Pelagius, book 5, booklet 6, chapter 7. These borderlands belonged to the Saracens, as was said on January 14 when we treated of the massacre of the Sinai monks and the Raithu monks, These are Arabia; and they were infested by their raids. Scetis, Schiti, and Schitium -- called by Ptolemy the Scythian region -- is ^a part of Libya, Libya, in which Scetis, and is therefore generally distinguished from Egypt in the Lives of the Fathers, book 3, numbers 22, 93, and 146; book 5, booklet 5, numbers 21 and 35; booklet 8, number 10; booklet 10, numbers 39 and 109; booklet 13, number 4; booklet 17, numbers 8 and 17; book 7, chapter 33, number 2; and chapter 42, number 4. In which passages, throughout, the going to, departing from, and flight from Egypt to Scetis, or conversely from Scetis to Egypt, is described. Scetis is separated from Egypt by the Mareotid and Moerid marshes, and by the mountains of Nitria and Pherme. The mountain of Pherme in Egypt appears to be contiguous to the Moerid marsh, according to Palladius, chapter 23, leading into the vast solitude of Scetis; and chapter 7: to the south of the Mareotid lies Mount Nitria, in which that solitude begins which extends beyond the desert of Scetis to Ethiopia. In that solitude are the Cells, about which we treated in connection with the life of St. Macarius the Egyptian on January 15, and Nitria, ^a village where natron is produced, which gave the place its name or received it from it. And the Nitrian anchorites; Not far from this village are the monasteries, or dwellings, of fifty Nitrian anchorites, some native-born, others foreigners. Palladius, chapter 69, calls the former indigenous, born in the place itself, the latter strangers or pilgrims. These and the remaining monks of Scetis and Libya, St. Athanasius in the preface to the life of St. Antony appears to call foreign Brothers -- in Greek, the monks in the foreign land -- and places them outside Egypt, praising them as striving to equal and surpass the monks of Egypt by their perseverance in virtue, as will be discussed more fully in connection with the prologue.

[4] Egypt, as it excludes the Thebaid and Libya or Scetis, Egypt properly so called; extends somewhat more broadly for Athanasius, Palladius, and other writers of that age than does Lower Egypt or the great Delta for Ptolemy and the above-cited cosmographers, because it includes part of the Heptanomia or Arcadia. Hence the Memphite, Arsinoite, and Aphrodite Nomes are reckoned as being in Egypt by St. Jerome in the life of St. Hilarion and by Rufinus, book 2 of the Lives of the Fathers, chapter 18. The remaining places of the Heptanomia are counted as part of the Thebaid, The Lower Thebaid, which is called "inferior" in the life of St. Paul the Hermit. Rufinus affirms this of Heraclea, book 2, chapter 16; of Oxyrhynchus, chapter 5; and of Hermopolis, chapter 7; and Palladius of Antinoe, chapter 96; and below, St. Athanasius at number 77, of the eastern part of the Nile, where the mountain and monastery of St. Antony were, about which see section 2. Then follows the Upper Thebaid, which Syene and the Tabennensian places enclose. And the upper. Of this elsewhere: it does not pertain here, since St. Antony was prohibited by divine admonition from withdrawing into it, number 65.

[5] Sozomenus, book 1, chapter 13, describes the birthplace of St. Antony as follows: The homeland of St. Antony, "He was an Egyptian by birth, of the class of the Eupatridae, from Coma. This Coma is ^a village near Heraclea, among the people called Arcades by the Egyptians." This was rendered into Latin by Christophorsonus as follows: "He was born from the class of Patricians who inhabited Coma (this is ^a village near Heraclea, among the Arcadians bordering on the Egyptians)." In the copy of Scaliger it reads: "This Coma is of the Heracleot Nome." Nicephorus, book 8, chapter 4: "He was an Egyptian by birth, holding the first rank in his homeland, born in ^a village so called Coma, A village near Heraclea, which is neighboring to Heraclea of the Arcadians among the Egyptians." St. Athanasius: "Antony was Egyptian by birth, of noble parents who possessed ^a sufficient estate, and Christians." Which was thus translated by Evagrius: "Antony, born of noble and religious parents, was ^a native of Egypt," etc. Moreover, he does not mention the place except at number 8, where he calls it ^a village: "Beginning also himself to lead the solitary life, he dwelt in places ^a little removed from the village" -- in Greek: "he began himself to remain in the places before the village"; and at number 18, he withdrew to the tombs not far from the village, where in Greek: Called Coma, "he went to the tombs that happened to be far from the village." Perhaps Coma is taken here as ^a common noun, as Ortelius suspects in his Geographical Thesaurus, and was then called so by antonomasia on account of the famous renown of St. Antony; in which manner Epiphanius Scholasticus in Cassiodorus, book 1 of the Tripartite History, chapter 11, seems to have understood the cited passage of Sozomenus: "He was Egyptian," he says, "born of an illustrious family, in ^a village situated in the region of Heraclea among the Egyptians." In the Heracleot Nome, St. Antony was therefore born and began the anchoretic life as ^a young man either in the Heracleot Nome (which on the most famous island of the Nile, at the left bend of the river, had Heraclea the Great City, as Ptolemy calls it) or in the region opposite this city, Or the Arsinoite. outside the island in the Arsinoite Nome; for the latter is generally assigned to Egypt, the former to the Thebaid. But Antony appears to be Egyptian not only by lineage but also by birth. And indeed that practice of living anachoretically near one's own home had been greatly in use among the Arsinoites long before, as will be discussed in section 3.

Section 2. The twofold desert, the mountain and monastery of St. Antony.

[6] We examine the two desert mountains in which (having passed beyond youth, and the domestic anachoresis, as it were, and the preludes to ^a more severe exercise of life) he spent the remaining seventy years of his life. Having left his homeland, he is written at number 22 to have withdrawn into the desert, and having crossed the Nile, to have turned aside to ^a mountain near it, situated on its eastern bank, Where the first desert of St. Antony was: and to have inhabited ^a deserted fortress there. We suspect this desert lies between Memphis, Babylon, and Aphroditon, cities below the island of the Heracleot Nome; for St. Hilarion, three years after the death of St. Antony, inhabited this desert -- the very one in which previously, while with St. Antony, having changed his secular habit, he had undergone his novitiate in the monastic life for approximately two months, around the year of Christ 306, when the latter first began to build monasteries, as will be discussed more fully on October 21 and here in sections 4 and 6. The same desert is close to the Arsinoite prefecture, which St. Antony visited from there (number 26), in which, as in this desert, very many monasteries were afterward built. Rufinus, book 2 of the Lives of the Fathers, chapter 18, found among the Arsinoites Serapion, Father of ten thousand monks, and innumerable multitudes of monks in the regions of Memphis and Babylon.

[7] Finally, the journey described from here to the second mountain, situated in the interior desert, is the same The journey thence to the second and inner desert: by which St. Hilarion is read to have come from Aphroditon. St. Antony completed that journey in three days and nights, number 66; and St. Hilarion reached that mountain from Aphroditon in three days through the vast solitude. That vast solitude, below at number 71, is called ^a waterless route without drinkable water, in which one of the Brothers perished of thirst and St. Antony, learning of that peril by heavenly revelation, rescued the other, number 79; and he himself, about to revisit the monasteries of the first mountain, lest he and his retinue perish of thirst, drew forth ^a spring by his prayers, number 71. And in the life of St. Hilarion, Baisanes the deacon of Aphroditon, having hired dromedary camels on account of the scarcity of water in the desert, was accustomed to guide those going to Antony. The very situation of the second mountain will confirm what has been said.

[8] The mountain of St. Antony, so called par excellence, on which he also ended his life, inclined toward the interior desert, toward Arabia On it the mountain of St. Antony. or the Red Sea; yet it was distant only about thirty miles from the river Nile, according to Palladius, chapter 25, situated on the eastern side of the Heracleot Nome, not far from the city of the Angiri,

as Ptolemy calls it, or Ancyrus, as Stephanus calls it, which we suspect was either destroyed or reduced to ^a village in the time of St. Antony, because no mention of it exists in the Lives of the Fathers or in other writers of that age. Formerly called Troicus, where situated. From the city of the Angiri, or from the eastern part of the Nile, there is the Troicus mountain, distant about thirty miles from the river according to Ptolemy, called Troicus Lapis; which the very distance demonstrates to be the same as this mountain of St. Antony. Strabo describes this mountain thus in book 17: "Troicus, ^a sufficiently rocky mountain, and caves beneath it, and ^a village nearby both these and the river, called Troia." Stephanus says the same from Strabo. Ortelius in the ancient map of Egypt places the village of Troia above the city of the Angiri on the Nile; but because he removes the Troicus mountain further contrary to the authority of the ancients, and considers it to be the neighboring Climax placed by Orosius in Lower Egypt to the south (as he observes in the Thesaurus), we do not agree with him. But, lest we dispute about the name, the distance indicates that the Troicus mountain of Strabo, Ptolemy, and Stephanus was afterward called the mountain of St. Antony in the Lives of the Fathers, and the comparable situation of both confirms this.

[9] "A rocky and lofty mountain," says St. Jerome in the life of St. Hilarion, "extending for about ^a thousand paces, presses out waters at its base, What it is like: some of which the sands drink up, while others, flowing down to the lower parts, gradually form ^a stream." And below: "At the lofty summit of the mountain, as if ascending by ^a spiral staircase with very steep effort, two cells of equal measure were to be seen, in which, fleeing the throng of visitors and the fellowship of his own disciples, he dwelt. But these, carved out of living stone, had only doors added." And Palladius, an eyewitness, calls it in chapter 74 ^a high mountain overhanging the river, very terrible and precipitous, on which he saw monks, disciples of St. Antony (about whom see section 8), living in caves. And below at number 66, according to St. Athanasius, it is called ^a very lofty mountain, at the base of which ^a spring of sweet water flowed. Strabo writes that stones were quarried from this mountain with which the Pyramids were built. Here then is ^a rocky mountain, caves beneath it, and ^a stream. Finally, lest anything be lacking, where the village of Troia once stood near the Nile, there was perhaps the estate of the very wealthy Pergamius, of whom mention is made in the life of St. Hilarion and in the annotations below at chapter 20; or that neighboring village to which Antony first wished to send away Paul the Simple, as Palladius writes in chapter 28 and below in the Apophthegmata, chapter 8, to which he also sent another monk to buy meat, as Pelagius relates, book 5, booklet 6, number 3, and Apophthegmata number 1 (unless the city of the Angiri itself is designated in one or the other passage); or certainly the monastery built there and called Pisper, Pispir, or Pispiri, according to Palladius, chapter 15. Rufinus, book 2 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 8, says: "Pispiri, which is called the mountain of Antony." To this place, to St. Antony, Eulogius brought ^a mutilated man by boat from Alexandria, according to Palladius chapter 26, Paschasius chapter 19, number 3, and Apophthegmata chapter 7.

[10] St. Athanasius throughout the life here recognizes ^a twofold mountain, the interior and the exterior. Twofold: the interior, The interior, that lofty and rocky one, distant about thirty miles from the Nile, was ^a habitation friendly to virtue (below, number 112) and the inner archisterium (number 108), in which Antony, sitting, was illuminated by divine visions (numbers 78, 79, 87, and 104). From this he would go to the Pispiri mountain, the exterior, and his own monastery, And the exterior, or monastery of St. Antony. or the monastery of his disciples, sometimes after ten days, sometimes after twenty, sometimes after five, as was expedient for the benefit of those who came to the monastery, as Cronius narrates in Palladius, chapter 25; and in the life at number 111: "He came according to his custom to visit the Brothers who were in the outer mountain." There he received pilgrims and guests, conferred health upon the sick, wrote letters to Emperors and others, disputed with philosophers, handled the cases of defendants with judges (below, numbers 81, 94, 103, 104, and 108). And this outer mountain extended from the river itself, by ^a most rugged path, to the inner mountain, marked here and there by the cells of anchorites. Thus in the Apophthegmata, number 55, he made ^a cell for St. Paul the Simple at three or four stones' distance from his own cell. Let these things said about the places of St. Antony suffice, from which you may correct or illuminate the chorographic map of Rosweyde for the Lives of the Fathers, and that of Jacobus Ziegler of Landau in Bavaria in his description of the Holy Land and Egypt, who relegated this mountain of St. Antony into Egyptian Arabia, far toward the Red Sea.

Section 3. The first monastic practice in Egypt.

[11] St. Athanasius, below in the life at number 6, before St. Antony's conversion to the monastic or anchoretic life -- which, as will be shown in section 4, occurred around the year of Christ 270 -- acknowledges that there had been monasteries in Egypt, Monks and anchorites in Egypt before St. Antony: as they were when he was writing after the year of Christ 360, even if not so numerous; and that there had been anchorites, but ones who established themselves not far from their own little estates, not yet penetrating the remote wilderness. The ancient author of the Life of St. Pachomius, as translated by Dionysius Exiguus, writes that there were monks before St. Antony, but comparatively few in relation to the fourth and fifth centuries: "Very few monks indeed were then reported to exist throughout Egypt and the Thebaid" (speaking of St. Antony's time). "For after the persecution of the cruel Emperors Diocletian and Maximian" (when St. Antony, as will be discussed in the following section, was still living as ^a solitary in the deserted fortress, numbers 22 and 23, having admitted no monks to share the holy life with him) "a multitude of nations entered, as had been divinely ordained, and the fecundity of the Church began to display most abundant fruits," etc. And below, near the village of Chinoboscium in the Upper Thebaid, within the secrets of the desert, there lived St. Palemon, senior to or certainly contemporary with Antony, as was said on January 11.

[12] St. Jerome in his book On Ecclesiastical Writers (under Mark and Philo), St. Epiphanius in Heresy 29, Eusebius, Cassian, Sozomenus, Nicephorus, Bede, and others whom Baronius cites and follows (tome 1, year of Christ 64, numbers 3 and 4), Bellarmine (tome 2 of the Controversies, book 2 on monks, chapter 5), and Prosper Stellartius (On the Foundation of Monastic Orders, chapters 6 and 7) trace their origin to the Essenes, from Philo's book On the Contemplative Life The Essenes under St. Mark the Evangelist, -- which we shall discuss more fully on April 25 in the Acts of St. Mark. What is relevant here is that they lived as solitaries outside the walls in gardens and estates, and had sacred buildings which they called semneion and monasteria, in which the mysteries of the holy life were practiced; and this around Alexandria at the Marian lake, indeed throughout each Prefecture, "throughout each of the so-called Nomes." From their descendants was St. Frontonius, Abbot of seventy Brothers near Nitria, St. Frontonius and others at Nitria, in the thirteenth year of the Emperor Antoninus, around the year of Christ 150, ^a full century before the birth of St. Antony, as we shall discuss more fully on April 14. Ortelius assigns Mount Pherme especially to the Essenes. Indeed, that this custom continued in the same places, and especially in the Arsinoite Nome, The Arsinoites under St. Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, down to the times of St. Antony, is entirely demonstrated by the first book On Promises by St. Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, in Eusebius, book 7 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 19, where he greatly admires the constancy of the Brothers, their zeal for truth, their ready obedience, and their prudence, because with such excellent order and such great modesty they asked, debated, and assented to him, etc.; and finally with pure conscience, sincere thought, and pure and simple minds toward God, they approved those things which were confirmed by solid arguments and testimonies drawn from the sacred scriptures. He reports that these Brothers settled especially among the Arsinoites in individual villages and praised God with various psalms and hymns, which will be presented more fully on November 17 in connection with the life of St. Dionysius. He himself died around the twelfth year of the Emperor Gallienus, when St. Antony was being raised under the discipline of his parents; and so that old man whom St. Antony found as ^a teacher of the solitary life (number 6) was perhaps one of those with whom St. Dionysius had conversed.

[13] Among the monasteries of Egypt that were erected before Antony formed any colleges of his admirable philosophy, the holy monasteries established by Julian and Basilissa may be counted: Saints Julian, Basilissa, and others at Antinoe, in which St. Julian was Father of ^a holy congregation of about ten thousand monks, and through St. Basilissa the loftier palm of the victory of chastity shone among virgins and women, as is related in their acts written by an eyewitness, above on January 9, number 10. We conjecture, not without good reason, together with the Menaea and Menologia of the Greeks and certain Latin codices, that those monasteries assembled at Antinoe in Egypt, or rather in the Antinoite Nome, chiefly in the countryside; but they were perhaps destroyed in the persecution of Diocletian, when one hundred and forty-four thousand of the faithful in the Thebaid were crowned with martyrdom, and seven hundred were sent into exile, as we have related more fully in section 2 of the prolegomena to their Acts. Our opinion seems to be confirmed by St. Antony's disputation with the Philosophers, in which he objects to them that through the preaching of the ignominious Cross, golden temples had fallen -- which is described as having been done by St. Julian in chapter 12, nor did it need to be narrated more fully by St. Antony, as something universally well known on account of the proximity of place and time. We have given on January 14 Saints Sabas, Sinai martyrs. Isaiah, and thirty-six other monks killed under Diocletian on Mount Sinai in Arabia, not far from Egypt. We omit those who elsewhere in the world cultivated the monastic life, although not celebrated with such illustrious fame, in the first three centuries, whom we shall give scattered throughout this entire work. Bellarmine may be consulted at the cited passage, and Stellartius in his first sixteen chapters.

[14] But of those who penetrated the remote wilderness, Paul was the author, The first hermits, Saints Paul and Antony. Antony the illuminator, and John the Baptist the prince, as St. Jerome testifies in letter 22 to Eustochium. The Life of St. Pachomius agrees in these words: "Blessed Antony, being an emulator of the great Elijah and Elisha, and also of St. John the Baptist, pursued the secrets of the interior desert with singular zeal, and lived ^a life of heavenly virtue on earth." And below: "Hence therefore the Fathers of monks, wondrous men, arose in nearly all regions, whose names are inscribed in the book of the living." Whether St. Onuphrius, and the one who was his teacher of the anchoretic life, lived in the desert before Saints Paul and Antony will be discussed on June 12. But, in the words of Sozomenus, book 1, chapter 13: "Whether Egyptians or others were the founders of this pious life, it is certainly agreed among all that Antony, that great monk, brought this manner of life to its summit through the perfect institutions of piety and the exercises adapted to that end." So that these things may be clearly set before the eyes of readers, we have thought it proper to compare the age of St. Antony with the succession of Emperors, lest anyone be deceived by the impudence and prodigious falsehoods of the heretics, who cry out that monasticism was recently invented -- as Philip Melanchthon in the Augsburg Confession, article 27, and others, whose follies Bellarmine splendidly refutes in the cited book.

Section 4. The age of St. Antony, compared with the succession of Emperors.

[15] The Magdeburg Centuriators, century 4, chapter 6, and Calvin, book 4 of the Institutes, chapter 13, section 16, most gravely censure the institution of Hermits because they were their own murderers through excessive fasting, St. Antony lived 105 years, hair shirts, and other voluntarily undertaken afflictions. Let them take their example from Antony, however, who alone outlived twenty and more Emperors, succeeding one another almost continuously, with his life extended to one hundred and five years, and taught by his own example that fasting is beneficial to health. He died, according to St. Jerome in the Chronicle, in the nineteenth year of the Emperor Constantius. He was therefore born when Decius was Emperor, in the year of Christ 250, which the same Jerome attests in the Chronicle of Eusebius with these words: Born in the year of Christ 250. "Decius, having slain the Emperors Philip, father and son, out of hatred of them raised ^a persecution against the Christians. The monk Antony is born in Egypt." When Decius was killed in the year of Christ 251 together with his son, Gallus Hostilius succeeded with his son Volusianus; and when they were slain after two years and four months, Aemilianus fell in the third month of his reign. Valerian and his son Gallienus soon gained power, of whom the latter reigned with his father for about seven years and alone for eight. And so in the year of Christ 268, Claudius began his reign, and when he died and his brother Quintillus was cut down, it devolved upon Aurelian in the year of Christ 270. Up to Claudius, or certainly the beginning of Aurelian's reign, Antony was piously raised in his paternal home, under the discipline of his Christian parents. When they died and he was about eighteen He becomes an anchorite near the village, or twenty years old (number 4), gradually directing his mind more toward attaining Evangelical perfection, within ^a year he renounced his possessions and the world and began the anchoretic life, withdrawn ^a little from his homeland (number 6). When this exercise had strengthened his mind amid diabolical assaults, desiring greater solitude, he chose ^a dwelling somewhat further away in the tombs of the dead He inhabits ^a tomb, (number 16), and there he endured until his thirty-fifth year of age, the year of Christ 285 (number 20).

[16] Meanwhile the Roman Empire was administered after Aurelian by Tacitus, Probus, and his brother Florianus, from the year of Christ 275 to the year 282, after whom Carus was appointed with his sons Carinus and Numerian; and when the latter was killed together with his father, Diocletian received the purple around the year 284, in the month of September. In the following year, after Carinus was killed, Maximian Herculeus was made Caesar, and then in the year 286 Augustus, by Diocletian; and by them around the year of Christ 291, Constantius Chlorus and Galerius Maximianus Armentarius were named Caesars. In the nineteenth and twentieth years of Diocletian, the years of Christ 303 and 304, such great cruelty was inflicted upon Christians, especially in Egypt, that from this persecution the Egyptian Copts thenceforth reckoned their years, which they call years of grace and mercy and elapsed since the passing of the Martyrs, as was said on January 9 in the prolegomena to the life of Saints Julian and Basilissa, number 11. In the year of Christ 304, in the month of April, when Diocletian and Herculeus voluntarily embraced private life, Constantius Chlorus and Galerius Maximianus Armentarius were made Augusti and Emperors from Caesars. He dwells in the first desert, What meanwhile of Antony? In the first year of Diocletian, the year of Christ 285, he withdrew into the desert (number 20) near Aphroditon, and there in ^a deserted fortress formerly built on the mountain, he endured for twenty years in solitude, separated from human sight, even during the time of persecution (number 23), until the year of Christ 305. In that same year, Caesars were thought to have been created: Constantine the Great, Severus, and Galerius Maximinus, of whom the latter administered the East and Egypt and raged atrociously against the Christians He builds monasteries, and slaughtered innumerable martyrs. Constantine (to say nothing of the others) succeeded his father Constantius in the year of Christ 306, at first as Caesar, soon named Augustus by his father-in-law Maximian. Under the beginnings of Constantine, when many had been converted by St. Antony to the monastic life, monasteries began to be built (numbers 25-26), which were on that mountain like tabernacles full of divine choirs singing psalms, reading, and praying (number 58), where among his first disciples St. Hilarion was trained around the year of Christ 306, as is clear from the latter's life. When the tyrant was raging against the Christians, Antony went to Alexandria, strengthened the Martyrs He confirms the Martyrs: (numbers 60 and 61), was present to St. Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, dying for Christ, and returned to the monastery he had previously built (number 62). Meanwhile Maxentius was defeated in the year of Christ 312, Galerius Maximinus the following year, and Licinius the third year; when the latter was killed in the year 325, peace was given to the civil wars and to the Church.

[17] Antony shines with miracles (number 63). Wherefore, on account of the multitude of those coming (number 64), wearied, he fled to the mountain divinely shown to him in the interior desert He departs to the inner desert, (numbers 65 and 66), cultivated the land for his annual sustenance, sowed, reaped, ground, and baked bread himself on the mountain alone; was visited by guests, indeed he himself visited the earlier monasteries and soon returned to the mountain. In Pispiri dwelt St. Paphnutius the Confessor, who afterward as Bishop of Upper Thebes was present at the Council of Nicaea (as we shall say in connection with his life on September 11), in the year of Christ 325, and so had been trained in the discipline of Antony some time before, although the exact year is unknown. Antony saw the soul of Ammon being carried to heaven. He confutes heretics, Brought to Alexandria by Athanasius, now Bishop, he professed his faith for the purpose of refuting heretics and schismatics. This was done around the year of Christ 330 or shortly after. In the year 335, Athanasius presented himself at the conventicle of Tyre, and from there was compelled to flee to Constantine, by whom he was banished to Trier in the year of Christ 336. The Pispiritanum monastery of St. Antony flourishes with the fame of men. In it Antony writes back to the Emperor Constantine He writes to Emperors: and to his sons Constans and Constantius. Constantine died on the very day of Pentecost in the year of Christ 337. His son Constans, who received Italy, Sicily, Africa, Illyricum, and Greece as his lot, was killed near the Pyrenees in the year of Christ 350. Constantius, however, to whom Asia, Egypt, and the intervening provinces of the East had fallen, outlived both his brothers Constantine and Constans, and also St. Antony. Under him, in the year of Christ 339, Antony was warned by ^a divine oracle concerning an imminent new and quite atrocious storm about to break the peace of the Church. Two years later, He foresees persecution: in the year of Christ 341, when Athanasius was again expelled, Georgius the Cappadocian was substituted, who occupied the Alexandrian Church after perpetrating ^a great massacre. Antony rebuked him, or certainly Balacius the Duke of Egypt, by letters. He, now needing the help of others on account of old age, being ninety years old fifteen years before his death, admitted the ministry of two Brothers whom he permitted to live with him on the inner mountain, from the year 340. As ^a nonagenarian he admits the ministry of others: In the same period the nonagenarian visited St. Paul, as we said on January 10 in connection with the latter's life, or certainly when he was some years older than ninety, as we note below at chapter 21, number 113.

[18] Finally in the nineteenth year of Constantius, according to St. Jerome in the Chronicle, the monk Antony died in the desert in the one hundred and fifth year of his age. He dies in the year of Christ 356. Gregory of Tours, book 1 of the History of the Franks, chapter 38, and Vincent, Speculum Historiale, book 14, chapter 14, agree with Jerome. Rosweyde here in his note on the preludes to the life of St. Antony shows at length that Baronius used ^a corrupt codex of the Chronicle, and therefore erroneously disagrees on all the dates. Since Constantius succeeded his father Constantine, who died on the day of Pentecost, in the year of Christ 337, the seventeenth day of January, on which St. Antony is shown below in section 13 to have died, necessarily falls in the year of Christ 356, the nineteenth of Constantius. Isidore of Seville in his Chronicle, the Venerable Bede in his book On the Six Ages of the World, and absolutely all chronologists also place his death under Constantius.

Section 5. The disciples of St. Antony in the Lower Thebaid.

[19] We first trace the names and deeds of those who lived in Pispiri and on the mountain of St. Antony. St. Jerome in the Chronicle, Three disciples of St. Antony, shortly after commemorating the death of St. Antony, adds: "Sarmata, Amathas, and Macarius, disciples of Antony, are accounted illustrious." There is no mention of Sarmata anywhere in the Lives of the Fathers. Concerning him the same Jerome says again in the Chronicle, under the twentieth year of Constantius: "The Saracens, bursting into the monastery of Blessed Antony, Sarmata the Martyr, kill Sarmata." His feast is celebrated in the Roman Martyrology on October 11. Cronius in Palladius, chapter 25, below in the Apophthegmata, number 44, relates that in the monastery of St. Antony which is near the river, Macarius and Amathas: his disciples Macarius and Amathas dwelt in the place called Pisper; and in chapter 26, Apophthegmata number 46, Macarius appears to have been the Oeconomus or steward of provisions for guests there, whom St. Antony was accustomed to ask about the arrival and character of guests -- whether they were Egyptians or Jerusalemites -- as Cronius observed was done there concerning Eulogius, who had brought ^a leper or mutilated man by boat from Alexandria, which necessarily occurred before the year of Christ 340. For from that year Amathas and Macarius were summoned to the interior mountain, having perhaps left Sarmata as the director of the monastery; and there, separated from St. Antony by ^a small interval, they practiced their exercises and ministered to the old man (number 113), of whom the one who served him water spent no small amount of time with him -- They ministered to the old man, namely fifteen years (number 2 in the prologue). These two disciples met St. Antony returning from St. Paul, to whom he explained everything he had learned about Paul in order, as above in the latter's life, numbers 14 and 16.

[20] To these two he spoke his last words while dying, to them he committed his testament and the burial of his body, in their presence (having given ^a kiss) he breathed his last; they wrapped and buried the body as he had commanded. Cronius also testifies to this of both in Palladius, chapter 25: They buried him when dead: "Macarius and Amathas," he says, "also buried him when he had fallen asleep." St. Jerome ascribes the office of burial to the one only, in the life of St. Paul, number 1: "Amathas and Macarius, disciples of Antony, of whom the elder buried the body of his master, affirm even now," etc. In the life of St. Posthumius it is said that Macarius buried the body of his master. But there no mention of Amathas was required. After St. Antony was buried, they carried out his remaining commands: they brought the sheepskin and the worn cloak to St. Athanasius at Alexandria, and the other sheepskin to Serapion at Thmuis. This perhaps did not happen until under the Emperor Julian, when Athanasius, having found some peace after various exiles, resided at Alexandria; when from one or the other -- the one who had been accustomed to provide water for St. Antony -- One of them narrated the life of Antony to St. Athanasius, he learned what he wrote down concerning his life, as will be discussed in section 8. That both were still living when he wrote is implied at number 115 with these words: "No one to this day, except them, knows where the body of St. Antony is buried." And St. Jerome, in the life of St. Antony published in the Roman style, produces as witnesses still living Amathas and Macarius, who, he says, "even now affirm that ^a certain Paul the Theban was the originator of this thing," namely the anchoretic life. One or the other wrote the Life of St. Paul, He wrote the Life of St. Paul. translated by us from the Greek, as was proved there in the prolegomena, number 6.

[21] Joannes Dadraeus, ^a Parisian Doctor, in his annotated edition of Eusebius, Amathas, called by others Amos, notes on the passage cited above from the Chronicle of St. Jerome -- "Sarmata, Amathas, and Macarius, disciples of Antony, are accounted illustrious" -- that for Amathas, Amos should perhaps be read, whom authors name as the chief among the disciples of Antony. Our own Andreas Schottus had written in the margin of his copy of Jerome that this Amathas is called Amos by others. Certainly, she who is called Amma Talida at Antinoe in the monastery of women by Palladius, chapter 137, is called Amatha in the Paradise of Heraclides, although this is perhaps an appellative and signifies "mother." But this Amathas, the disciple of St. Antony, called by others Amatas, seems to be called Ammonas by Palladius, chapter 74, and Ammon by Rufinus, book 2 of the Lives of the Fathers, chapter 13. "We saw," says Palladius, Ammonas and Ammon, "in the Thebaid ^a high mountain overhanging the river, very terrible and precipitous, and monks living there in caves. Their Father was Pityrion, He succeeded St. Antony on the interior mountain; Pityrion succeeded him. who was one of the disciples of St. Antony, and the third to receive that place, who indeed performed many miracles and effectively expelled spirits. For since he succeeded Antony and his disciple Ammonas, he also deservedly inherited the succession of gifts." Rufinus has nearly the same. This Ammonas, Ammon, or Amathas therefore inhabited the interior mountain of St. Antony as its nearest heir: on which he had ministered to him while alive and had buried him when dead.

[22] Macarius chose, or rather received, the exterior mountain for himself, at least after the murder of St. Sarmata; Macarius governed the monastery, which mountain we have said is called the monastery at Pispiri, in which he had received nearly fifty thousand monks to govern from St. Antony, as is read in the life of St. Posthumius -- but the title of the life indicates that nearly five thousand should be read, in which St. Posthumius, successor of Macarius, is called Father of five thousand monks who dwelt from the river Nile to the interior mountain for about thirty miles. At what time Pityrion succeeded Amathas, or Ammonas, and St. Posthumius succeeded Macarius, is not stated. Rufinus, book 2 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 8, says that in Pispiri, which was called the mountain of Antony, he saw Poemen and Joseph Posthumius succeeded him. and merited to be blessed by their hands. This Poemen is called Pastor in Latin in book 5 of the Lives of the Fathers by Pelagius, and Pimenius by Paschasius in book 7. Whether he is the same as Posthumius, whom Rosweyde noted in his annotation to the life, number 1, is called Pasthumius in other editions, we shall discuss in connection with the life of St. Poemen on August 27. Rosweyde suspected that Pachomius and Posthumius were one and the same, which we do not approve. Ferrarius in the General Catalogue makes Pastor ^a different person from Poemen and assigns him to July 25, which is utterly improbable. St. Antony addresses Pastor in Pelagius, book 5, booklet 5, number 2, below in the Apophthegmata, number 6. Macarius was treated on January 15. Amathas, or Ammonas, will be treated on January 26.

[23] Among the monks of this place, Isaac and Pelusianus are listed by St. Jerome in the life of St. Hilarion, of whom Isaac had been Antony's interpreter; and in the life of St. Thais, Abbot Paul the Elder is named as ^a disciple of St. Antony -- the same perhaps as Paul the Simple, Other disciples of St. Antony. about whom see chapter 8 of the Apophthegmata.

Section 6. The disciples of St. Antony throughout the rest of Egypt.

[24] The disciples of St. Antony enumerated by Rufinus, book 2 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 4: Disciples in Libya, "By the merit of life and antiquity, the Fathers of monks Macarius and Isidore, and another Macarius, and Heraclides and Pambo, disciples of Antony, were esteemed throughout Egypt and especially in the desert regions of Nitria as men who were believed to have fellowship of life and deeds not with other mortals but with the heavenly Angels." The same, in Invective 2: "To come to the masters of the desert, where are Macarius the disciple of Antony, and another Macarius, Heraclides, and Isidore, and Pambo." Sozomenus, from Rufinus, book 6, chapter 20: "We have learned that among the Egyptian monks the two Macarii, of whom mention has been made before (book 3, chapter 13, where however they are not said to have been trained under St. Antony's discipline), were easily the foremost, together with Pambo and Heraclides and the remaining disciples of Antony." Nicephorus copied the same from Sozomenus, book 11, chapter 27. Among the Saints are honored: Macarius of Alexandria on the second, the Egyptian and Isidore on January 15. Isidore, Pambo on July 1. The name of Heraclides we have not yet read in the sacred calendars. Sozomenus again mentions the same, book 3, chapter 13, and Nicephorus, book 9, chapter 14. Isidore, having spoken with St. Antony, learned from him of the martyrdom of St. Potamioena, as Palladius attests, chapter 3, cited on January 15. The same, chapter 10, writes that Pambo exercised this virtue of being accurate and perfect in speech Pambo, "even above the Great Antony and above all the Saints"; Antony is read to have spoken to him in Pelagius, book 5, booklet 1, number 2, in the Apophthegmata, number 21.

[25] Macarius of Alexandria, What the Macarii accomplished with St. Antony, because it amounts to little, we repeat here. "The Alexandrian," says Palladius, chapter 20, "when at the dwelling of the great man and Father Antony he had seen the choice palm branches which Antony himself had worked, asked him for one bundle of palm branches. But Antony said to him: It is written, 'You shall not covet the things of your neighbor.' And when he had said only that, all the branches were immediately scorched as if by fire. When Antony had seen this, he said to Macarius: Behold, the Holy Spirit has rested upon you, and you shall henceforth be the heir of my powers." The Egyptian is called by Rufinus, book 2 of the Lives of the Fathers, chapter 28, "the disciple of Blessed Antony, And Macarius the Egyptian, who possessed, as it were, the hereditary succession of the graces and virtues of Blessed Antony" -- which Rosweyde also observed (here, number 49) was wrongly attributed to this one by Rufinus, since those things were said about the Alexandrian, as we have seen; and he thinks that Palladius, translated into Latin by Rufinus in this book, was here misunderstood. But Pelagius, book 5, booklet 7, number 9, writes thus: "Abbot Macarius the Elder (who was the Egyptian) came to Abbot Antony on the mountain, and when he had knocked at the door, Antony went out to him and said to him: Who are you? And he said: I am Macarius. And closing the door he went inside and left him outside. And when he afterward saw his patience, he opened the door to him. And rejoicing with him, he said: It is ^a long time since I desired to see you, having heard about you. And showing him hospitality, he refreshed him, for he was weary from much labor. When evening came, Abbot Antony soaked ^a few palm branches for himself, and Abbot Macarius said to him: Give me some so that I too may soak some to work. He said: I have no more. And making ^a larger bundle, he soaked it. And sitting from evening, conversing about the profit of souls, they were making ^a plait, and the plait descended through the window into the cave. And going out in the morning, St. Antony saw the collection of plaits of Abbot Macarius and marveled, and kissing his hands said: Much virtue goes forth from these." The same things are read above on January 15 in his life.

[26] By what reason these were disciples of St. Antony is not revealed. Socrates and Sozomenus, cited on January 15, do not acknowledge them among Antony's disciples where they pursue their Acts more fully, the former in book 4, chapters 18 and 19, the latter in book 3, chapter 13, as also Nicephorus, book 9, chapter 14. Nowhere either in the Lives of the Fathers is any of these reckoned as ^a disciple of St. Antony, except for the Egyptian Macarius in the cited passage of Rufinus, where however there is some confusion of the Macarii. Imitators of the life of St. Antony. Certainly all who had seen St. Antony rejoiced to be called his disciples, especially because they professed themselves followers of his virtues and religious institute. Thus Rufinus, book 2 of the Lives of the Fathers, chapter 25, calls Cronius ^a disciple of Blessed Antony, when Cronius himself nevertheless relates that he came by chance, wandering through the desert, to Pispiri, and then served as interpreter for St. Antony and Eulogius -- Palladius chapters 25, 26, 27; Paschasius chapter 9, number 3, and in the Apophthegmata, chapter 7.

[27] Rosweyde, in his note on the passage of Rufinus, number 49, and on the life of St. Paul the Hermit, number 6, holds that one of these Macarii is the same Neither of them was the companion of Amathas. as the one we said above cohabited with Amathas under St. Antony. Indeed, he says, the matter of the two Macarii is thoroughly tangled, so as to discern which was the disciple of St. Antony; and after advancing various arguments on each side, he conjectures that the Alexandrian was rather the companion of Amathas -- which we also subsequently agreed would not seem unreasonable, if indeed either of them had been. But having more carefully compared the Acts of each individual, we believe that neither was the companion of Amathas. First, because Socrates, Sozomenus, and Nicephorus cited above, Cassian, Jerome, and other writers nowhere acknowledge that either ministered to St. Antony or assign Amathas as an inseparable companion to him. Second, because Palladius, to whom credence should especially be given, separates this companion of Amathas from the others, as will be evident to the reader of chapters 19, 20, 25, and 26. Different and remote places of habitation, far from Antony's monastery, are assigned to them, in Scetis and the neighboring places of Libya, the Cells, and the Nitrian desert, where they also died: the Egyptian in the year of Christ 391, the Alexandrian in the year 404, as was said in connection with the life of the Egyptian on January 15. But the one who was Antony's disciple lived in the Thebaid, first in the monastery of Pispiri, then for fifteen years on the interior mountain; finally from Antony's death he governed the same monastery and ended his life in it, around the year of Christ 370 or shortly after. What Palladius learned of his Acts he learned only from the account of Cronius, who had nevertheless lived with Macarius of Alexandria for nine years in the Cells. Let this therefore be ^a third Macarius, of the Thebaid. Certainly the name Macarius was common to many in that century, and therefore easily subject to confusion. Thus Baronius, in his notes on January 2, had confused the Macarius whom Rufinus abstracted from the Mathematicians, about whom Gennadius writes in chapter 28 of Ecclesiastical Writers, with the St. Macarius Romanus whose life is found in book 1 among the Lives of the Fathers, to be treated by us on October 23 -- as Rosweyde rightly observed in his notes on letter 36 of St. Paulinus of Nola, and after him Miraeus on the cited passage of Gennadius.

[28] Among the Scetians also lived Pior, Other disciples of St. Antony. whom Blessed Antony instructed as ^a youth in the holy purpose of monks -- Rufinus, book 3, number 31, concerning whom see chapter 7 of the Apophthegmata, number 41. Abbot Nisteron the Great is called ^a friend of Abbot Antony by Pelagius, book 5, booklet 1, number 11. The Great Aesisius and other elders contemporary with the Great Antony are praised by Palladius, chapters 7 and 30. Stephen the Libyan was known to Blessed Antony.

Section 7. The disciples of St. Antony outside Egypt. Monasticism spread throughout the world.

[29] St. Antony had very many disciples, says Sozomenus, book 1, chapter 13, certainly most distinguished men, of whom some flourished with great glory in Egypt and Libya St. Hilarion trained by St. Antony, (about whom we have treated), others in Palestine, Syria, and Arabia. One stands for all: Hilarion, who, having changed his former habit, as St. Jerome writes of him, "remained near him for about two months, observing the order of his life and the gravity of his character: how frequent he was in prayer, how humble in receiving the Brothers, severe in correcting them, eager in exhorting them, and how no infirmity ever broke his continence or the austerity of his food. Then he returned with certain monks to his homeland, and entered the wilderness which, at the seventh milestone from Maiuma, the port of Gaza, turns to the left for those going along the coast toward Egypt. Moreover Hilarion had been raised by the Lord to such great glory that Blessed Antony also, hearing of his manner of life, wrote to him and willingly received his letters. And whenever sick people from the regions of Syria had gone to him, he would say to them: Why did you wish to trouble yourselves from so far, when you have there my son Hilarion?" Whether the monastery of Egyptians at Anazarbus in Cilicia, mentioned by Moschus in chapter 51, also began at this time, we do not investigate. Certainly Jerome wishes that there were no monks in Syria before St. Hilarion, saying in the latter's life: "There were not yet monasteries in Palestine, nor did anyone know ^a monk in Syria before St. Hilarion. He builds the first monasteries in Palestine. He was the founder and instructor of this manner of life and pursuit in this province. The Lord Jesus had in Egypt the elder Antony, and in Palestine the younger Hilarion, ^a disciple of Antony." By his example, Jerome adds, "innumerable monasteries began to exist throughout all Palestine, and all monks eagerly ran to him."

[30] That Egypt nevertheless retained its preeminence even in his own time is testified by St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8 on Matthew, where he presents the Blessed and Great Antony as nearest to the Apostles, flying through the mouths of many; and he contends that the sky does not so shine with varied choruses of stars as the desert of Egypt is distinguished and illuminated by the innumerable dwellings of monks and virgins; and therefore he judges Egypt to be more fervent in the pursuit of Christian virtue than Palestine, which first received the Lord. St. Basil trained in Egypt In Egypt the Great Basil underwent his yearly novitiate of monastic life under the Archimandrite Porphyrius, and introduced, shaped, and spread this manner of life in Asia. Amphilochius in his life and Basil himself in letter 79 to Eustathius, Bishop of Sebastia, testify to this. And St. Gregory Nazianzen. St. Gregory Nazianzen, having set out for Egypt with Evagrius Ponticus and having conversed there with those pious monks, began to imitate their manner of life with ardent zeal, as Socrates teaches, book 4, chapter 18.

[31] The monastic life introduced into Italy, That in Rome, during St. Antony's lifetime, the monastic profession was unknown and, on account of the novelty of the thing, considered ignominious, is written by St. Jerome in the life of St. Marcella. St. Eusebius, Bishop of Vercelli, introduced it into Italy, having thoroughly examined it when, as will be discussed in section 9, he was an exile in Egypt and afterward performed an apostolic embassy. St. Ambrose says more on this matter in sermon 15. St. Augustine testifies in On the Customs of the Church, chapter 33, that he had seen monks in Rome in the Eastern manner, whose very name before his own conversion in the year of Christ 387 he had not even heard, as he confesses in book 8 of the Confessions, chapter 6. Thence, upon hearing the wonders of Antony the Egyptian, the discourse of Potitianus (who had served as ^a soldier in the Emperor's palace at Trier) "turned to the flocks and customs of the monasteries and Your sweet-smelling fragrances Unknown to the Africans, (he addresses Christ) and the fertile solitudes of the desert, of which we Africans knew nothing. And there was ^a monastery at Milan full of good Brothers outside the city walls, under Ambrose as their nurturer, and we did not know of it. And at Trier, in gardens adjacent to the walls, in ^a certain dwelling lived certain servants of Yours, poor in spirit, whose is the kingdom of heaven," with ^a codex in which was the life of Antony. There Augustine and Potitianus marveled -- the one Described to the Gauls by Cassian, "because such great things were said about St. Antony," the other "because they were unheard of to him." And the institutions of the Egyptian monks were described for the new Gallic monasteries by Cassian, as he states in his preface to Bishop Castor of Apt. Finally, St. Dorotheus the Abbot, in book 1 on renunciation, instruction 1, acknowledges as the God-bearing Fathers of this institute Antony and his imitators Pachomius and Macarius. At the same time, as is read in the Acts of St. Pachomius, "the life of Blessed Antony was excellently set before all for imitation." Certainly, when the vast hosts of monks in Egypt had begun to multiply Propagated to the Indians. and the fame of their virtue and life approaching the imitation of Angels had pervaded the ends of the earth and had been spread even to the Indians, it aroused them too to the pursuit of the same life, as St. John Damascene wrote in the life of Saints Barlaam and Josaphat, of whom he writes that the former was agitated by the same temptations which Athanasius here relates of St. Antony. From all this it is sufficiently established that St. Antony is truly called the Patriarch of the most distinguished monks who flourished in East and West, among whom Baronius counts Basil, Gregory, and Chrysostom, tome 3, year of Christ 328, number 25.

Section 8. The Life of St. Antony written in Greek.

[32] The celebrated name of St. Antony in Egypt, St. Hilarion, as St. Jerome testifies in his life, "hearing the celebrated name of Antony, which was carried through all the peoples of Egypt, kindled by the desire to see him, proceeded to the desert," in which he was then beginning to build monasteries between Memphis, Babylon, and Aphroditon, on the Nile, below the Heracleot Nome. Hilarion was about fifteen years old, and St. Antony died in the sixty-fifth year of the former's age. This name, therefore, already famous throughout Egypt around the year of Christ 306, gradually began to spread throughout the rest of the world. First, when the persecution grew fiercer, he publicly confirmed at Alexandria, that illustrious emporium of the world, Bishop Peter and other Martyrs of Christ, being himself ^a Martyr in desire, accompanying them to the place of the blessed contest. Then, when he was brought to Alexandria by Athanasius, now Bishop, he publicly condemned the Arian heresy. "Then," says Athanasius at number 92, "no age, no sex remained at home; indeed, besides Christians, even the pagans and very worshipers of idols longed to see the Man of God (for that was his name)." There followed the disputations with the Philosophers, which together with his innumerable miracles were spread throughout the world.

[33] Marcella, as St. Jerome writes in her life, learned the life of Blessed Antony, still living at that time, and the discipline of the monasteries of Pachomius in the Thebaid, and of the Virgins and widows, And Italy. first from the Alexandrian Priests and Pope Athanasius, and afterward from Peter, who, fleeing the persecution of the Arian heresy, had taken refuge at Rome as the safest harbor of their communion. This Peter was then ^a Priest, St. Athanasius wrote his Life later Athanasius's successor in the Episcopate. Baronius, tome 3, year of Christ 340, number 7, gathers from this that St. Athanasius at that time brought the life of St. Antony, written by himself, to the City. Our own Possevinus holds the same opinion in his Apparatus Sacer under Antony. There is no doubt that St. Marcella learned many things about the life -- that is, the illustrious manner of living, miracles, and virtues -- of St. Antony from the account of St. Athanasius and other Alexandrian Priests. However, St. Athanasius had not yet written the Life or Acts of St. Antony at that time, as Rosweyde rightly observed in his note on the Life of St. Marcella, number 6. For Marcella is said to have learned just as much from the Alexandrian Priests and Peter as from St. Athanasius -- indeed, she first learned from those priests, then later from Peter -- yet the Life of St. Antony is not attributed to them. Then that it was written after St. Antony's death is clearly demonstrated by the words of the preface: "Since therefore," he says, Of one already deceased, "you have demanded of me that I write to you concerning the manner of life of Blessed Antony, wishing to learn how he began, what sort of man he was before the holy purpose, and what end his life had." And he soon says that he relates what he learned from the one Informed by his disciple: "who had spent no small time with him (St. Antony) in order to provide him water" -- whom we said in section 4 was Amathas or his companion Macarius, both of whom ministered to St. Antony for the last fifteen years, and one of them (if not both), as he had been commanded, brought the sheepskin and cloak to St. Athanasius at Alexandria and informed him about his entire life, or perhaps composed ^a summary account of it, such as we have translated from the Latin concerning St. Paul, and handed it over to him to be published in ^a more elegant style.

[34] Furthermore, the entire narrative, flowing in one continuous tenor, indicates that Antony was already dead, nor can it easily be shown which part might appear to have been added after his death. And completed it. Finally, the words of the Epilogue, cited by St. Ephrem under the name of St. Athanasius in his work On "Attend to Yourself," chapter 10 (as we shall report in that place), leave no room for doubt. Add these words reported in the same place, number 116: "This was the end of Antony's life, these the beginnings of his merits, which, though I have narrated them in ^a rather spare style, as I said before (in the prologue, number 1)," etc. And again at number 117: "That the love and fame of him flew through all provinces -- whom neither an eloquent discourse of published books, nor ^a disputation of worldly wisdom, nor nobility of birth, nor an infinite accumulation of wealth, recommended -- is to be ascribed by the mouth of all to none other than Christ, whose gift this is; who, foreseeing the minds devoted to His Majesty, showed forth ^a man hidden in almost another world and placed amid such great solitudes, to Africa, Spain, Gaul, Italy, Illyricum, and even to Rome itself, the head of cities. This is the benignity of the Creator." Therefore not the benefit of ^a writer who published the life while the man was still living. Finally, no one ever said that Athanasius wrote only ^a part of the life. St. Jerome, On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 88: "Athanasius, Bishop of the city of Alexandria, composed the life of the monk Antony in ^a distinguished volume" -- by which words he also signifies that the final hand was added by Athanasius. Elsewhere too he cites the same life, not as ^a part of an unfinished work.

[35] Why nothing in it about St. Paul the Hermit. Nor let anyone say to us: Why then, if Antony had already died, does no mention anywhere exist of his famous meeting with Paul the Theban? For he passed over in silence most of Antony's disciples as well. He had perhaps intended to write the Life of Paul in ^a separate booklet, had not death or other impediments intervened. Certainly Amathas and Macarius, or at least one of them, seem to have narrated to St. Athanasius both the Acts of Paul and the Life of Antony. St. Jerome testifies that they were still living when the Life of Antony was published in Greek and Latin, and when the Life of Paul was published by himself. Finally, St. Athanasius warns the foreign Brothers in the preface that they should consider that they have heard the least of the greatest, since on account of the haste of the letter-carrier he could not summon the monks so as to learn more fully and transmit greater gifts. From this we gather that it was written in the last decade of his life under Julian or the succeeding Emperors, He wrote after the death of the Emperor Constantius, because until that time after the death of St. Antony he had been absent from Alexandria as an exile on account of religion. That this was written by St. Athanasius is also testified by Paulinus the Priest in the Prologue to the Life of St. Ambrose on December 7, the Greek Menaea in the life of St. Antony, Honorius On Ecclesiastical Writers chapter 88, and the authors to be cited in sections 10 and 11: St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Ephrem, the author of the Life of St. Pachomius, Palladius, Socrates, Nicephorus, Rufinus, and innumerable later writers. Baronius, tome 3, year of Christ 310, number 19, and often elsewhere, says that Athanasius wrote the deeds of St. Antony sincerely and purely. From certain knowledge. And no wonder: he saw him as ^a young man during the time of persecution at Alexandria; he brought him again as Bishop to oppose the Arians; he frequently visited him; from Macarius or Amathas he learned most things, and from the concordant account of the monks.

[36] Baronius, tome 3, year of Christ 328, number 3, writes that St. Athanasius visited the monastery of St. Pachomius in that year He visited St. Pachomius after the death of St. Antony. and on the way visited St. Antony and brought him two cloaks. But when Athanasius came to Pachomius, the latter had already, as is read in his Life cited by Baronius, "learned of his holy life and the innumerable persecutions which he had endured from the Arians for the confession of Christ." Therefore this visit occurred after the death of Constantius, when St. Antony had long since died, at the time when the errors of Origen were beginning to gain strength among the monks of Egypt -- as the remaining Acts of St. Pachomius require, which we shall illuminate on May 14.

Section 9. The Life translated into the Latin language.

[37] This Life, published in Greek, was translated into Latin by Evagrius, then ^a Priest, afterward Bishop of Antioch. Concerning him Jerome writes thus in On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 125: "Evagrius, Bishop of Antioch, of ^a keen and fervent intellect, while he was still ^a Priest, read to me treatises on various subjects Evagrius published the Life in Latin; which he has not yet published; he also translated the Life of Blessed Antony from the Greek of Athanasius into our language." Honorius, On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 126, says the same, and all published and manuscript copies everywhere agree. Rosweyde, Prolegomenon 4 to the Lives of the Fathers, section 4, rightly corrects Trithemius and Sixtus of Siena for confusing this Evagrius with the other, Evagrius Ponticus, ^a disciple of St. Macarius the Egyptian and an Origenist. Evagrius indicates in the prologue that he expressed not word for word but sense for sense; and St. Jerome praises him in letter 101 to Pammachius, On the Best Method of Translating, where he sets forth this entire prologue without citing Evagrius, because he knew that this Life of St. Antony was very well known to Pammachius. But he prefaced that it was not his own: "Lest the authority of my own writings be small on this subject, learn from the reading of the preface that is in the book in which the Life of Blessed Antony is described." And he appends it.

[38] Not St. Jerome, From this, however, Hilarion of Verona, ^a Cassinese monk, and Johannes Grynaeus -- cited by Rosweyde in his Notes on the Preludes to the Life of Blessed Antony, number 4 -- Possevinus in his article on Antony, and Baronius in his Notes on the Roman Martyrology for this January 17 and tome 3, year of Christ 358, number 29, seized the occasion of error and considered Jerome himself to be the translator of this life; as did also Johannes Basilius Sanctorius, who acknowledges both Evagrius and Jerome as translators, as if it had been translated twice. But they are refuted by Rosweyde, who excellently interprets the words of Pope Gelasius in his decree on authentic and apocryphal books, distinction 15, where the Pontiff says: "The Lives of the Fathers Paul, Antony, and Hilarion, and of all the Hermits, which the most blessed Jerome described, we receive with all honor." And first Rosweyde supposes that Gelasius, when he says the Life of Paul and Antony was described by Jerome, was referring to the Life of Paul, in which nearly as much mention is made of Antony as of Paul. The title of the Life from ^a Greek Bavarian manuscript agrees, prefixed as follows: "The History of St. Paul the Theban and St. Antony the Egyptian, dwelling in the interior desert." See January 10. Second, that Evagrius, ^a Greek and most closely connected to Jerome and patron of his studies, made use of Jerome's assistance in translating the life of Antony -- though he himself immediately confesses this to be ^a flimsy argument, and it will be apparent below. Third, that the Life of Antony, formerly written between the Lives of Paul and Hilarion, gave Gelasius occasion to suppose that Jerome was also the author of the Life of Antony, since he was the author of the other two. Rosweyde further judges that most of the Lives of the Fathers were circulated in old times without the name of the author or translator. To whom the Lives of the Fathers are attributed, Certainly Gratian in his Decree, part 2, canon 27, question 2, chapter 26, after reciting the words of Nicholas I to King Charles, by which he decrees that it is not lawful to take vows of continence except with the consent of both spouses, adds the gloss that it is lawful when they are merely betrothed, and proves it: "For, as Blessed Jerome relates, Macarius, the foremost among the hermits of Christ, after the nuptial banquet had been celebrated, when he was about to enter the bridal chamber in the evening, going forth from the city, sought lands overseas, and chose for himself the solitude of the desert." This is found in the Life of St. Macarius Romanus. Baronius in the Roman Martyrology under January 2 judges the author to be Theophilus; Rosweyde, following the Greek Menaea, makes the authors Theophilus, Sergius, and Hyginus. Indeed he thinks this story was rejected as ^a fable by St. Jerome in the Life of St. Paul the Hermit, number 1, where he says that ^a man with hair down to his heels is bruited about in ^a subterranean cave, because in this Life it is said that his beard and hair covered his entire body. We shall examine these matters on October 23 in connection with his Life, and on June 12 in connection with the Life of St. Onuphrius, of whom the same is read.

[39] Here we conclude only this: that the Lives of the Fathers were commonly attributed to St. Jerome by ^a widespread error, As to their collector. as Rosweyde also noted in Prolegomenon 3. The cause of the error was perhaps that St. Jerome arranged for the Lives of the Fathers to be published in ^a certain historical order -- whether he had written them himself, as the Lives of Saints Paul, Hilarion, and Malchus, or had found them written by others, as those of Saints Antony, Onuphrius, Abraham, etc. -- to which others then added further lives and retained the same original author Jerome in the title. The words of Gelasius seem to suggest this, by which he admits to the use of sacred reading the Lives of all the Hermits written by Jerome, when he is known to have written only the three mentioned. The same is asserted more clearly by M. Aurelius Cassiodorus, near to Gelasius's age, in his Institutes of Divine Reading, chapter 32: "Read constantly the Lives of the Fathers," he says, "the confessions of the faithful, the passions of the Martyrs, which among other things you will undoubtedly find in the letter of Jerome to Chromatius and Heliodorus," etc. Whether the principal title of the book was "The Letter of Jerome to Chromatius and Heliodorus," because that stood at the front, while the first volume of the book contained the Lives of the Fathers and the second the Confessions of the Faithful and the Passions of the Martyrs (which we more often call the Martyrology of St. Jerome), requires another place to discuss. Certainly in ancient editions and manuscript codices to be cited in section 11, the Lives of the Fathers are everywhere attributed to Jerome alone, just as the Lives of the Saints are commonly attributed to Mombritius, Lipomanus, Surius, or even Metaphrastes, because they collected them. And to these Acts is prefixed the following title: "Here begins the Life of St. Antony the Abbot, written by Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria, translated from Greek into Latin by Evagrius the Priest, and inserted by Blessed Jerome into this book." Finally, St. Jerome himself, in On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 135, setting forth in chronological order what he wrote, reports first the Life of St. Paul, before this one had been written. He is silent about Antony, and in the Life of St. Paul, number 2: "Because the life of Antony has been diligently transmitted in both Greek and Roman style, I have decided to write ^a few things about the beginning and end of Paul." Nowhere does he intimate that he is the author or translator of the Life of Antony, but attributes it to St. Athanasius, as we said, and to Evagrius.

[40] Evagrius translated this Life while not yet ^a Bishop, that is, before the year of Christ 388, when he was designated as the successor of Paulinus in the consulship of the Emperor Theodosius II and Cynegius, as is established from Socrates, book 5, chapter 15, Theodoret, book 5, chapter 25, and Sozomenus, book 7, chapter 15. Evagrius was famous under Julian, But he was already famous for his learning in the very times of Julian the Apostate, when he accompanied St. Eusebius of Vercelli on his return to Italy, as St. Basil testifies in letter 8 to St. Eusebius of Samosata, where he says: "The Priest Evagrius, son of Pompeianus of Antioch, who once migrated westward with the Blessed Eusebius, has now returned from Rome, requesting ^a letter from us," etc. From this light arises on the translation of this Life. St. Eusebius of Vercelli had been exiled in various places by the efforts of the Arians under Constantius, in Syria and also Egypt, to whose Upper Thebes he was finally banished, according to Socrates, book 3, chapter 4. Thence, under Julian, he came to Alexandria to St. Athanasius, who, after the killing of the pseudo-bishop Georgius, as St. Gregory Nazianzen attests in his Oration in praise of St. Athanasius, had been restored to his Church with the supreme triumph of the Alexandrians. Companion of the journey of St. Eusebius of Vercelli. St. Eusebius was present at the Council convened at Alexandria by Athanasius and subscribed to it, having been constituted Legate of the Apostolic See by Pope Liberius, as Baronius gathers, year of Christ 362, number 177. Departing from Alexandria after the Council, he made for Antioch, as Socrates testifies in chapter 7, where he commemorates at length the discord stirred up between Saints Eusebius and Lucifer of Cagliari, which we shall examine elsewhere. From Syria to Italy. The Priest Evagrius accompanied St. Eusebius on his return from Antioch to Italy; whether he had been his companion before in Egypt, we do not wish to conjecture, since the writers are silent.

[41] How keenly Evagrius rose up for the Church of God against Auxentius, Bishop of Milan, together with Saints Eusebius and Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, whom we celebrated on January 13, is described by St. Jerome in letter 49, on the woman struck seven times at Vercelli, to the same Innocentius to whom Evagrius himself dedicated this Life: He attacks the heretic Auxentius. "See where the order of events has drawn me. For we have now arrived at the name of our Evagrius, whose labor for Christ, if I thought it could be expressed by me, I would not be wise; if I wished to be entirely silent, the voice bursting forth in joy would not permit it. For who could proclaim with worthy praise that Auxentius, brooding over Milan, was by his vigilance almost buried before he was dead; that the Bishop of Rome, already almost entangled in the snares of faction, both conquered his adversaries and did no harm to those he overcame? But these things I, excluded by the unjust limits of space, pass over and leave to be recounted by others after me. I am content with the conclusion of the present matter alone. He goes to the Emperor (Valentinian, not Constantius, as Henricus Gravius erroneously annotated here) purposefully, wearies him with prayers, softens him with merit, earns his goodwill by solitude, so that he might restore to liberty the one restored to life."

[42] These are the words of St. Jerome, who indicates in letter 41 to Rufinus that he went to Syria in his company. "When," he says, "Thrace, Pontus, and Bithynia, and the entire route through Galatia and Cappadocia, He returns with St. Jerome to Syria. and the land of the Cilicians with its fierce heat had broken me, Syria met me like ^a most faithful harbor for ^a shipwrecked man, where, having experienced whatever diseases there could be, I lost one of my two eyes; for ^a sudden burning of fevers snatched away my Innocentius, ^a part of my soul: now in our Evagrius, my one and whole light, I find my joy, to whose labors I, always infirm, have added as ^a burden." "With us was also Hylas, ^a servant of St. Melania," etc. In his house the same St. Jerome wrote letter 5 to Florentius, with this closing: "The holy Priest Evagrius sends you many greetings." And letter 6 to the same: "Often the Priest Evagrius, while I was still at Antioch, corrected me in my presence," etc. For he had departed to the desert, to the village of Maronia, ^a possession of Evagrius himself, thirty miles from Antioch, where he came to know St. Malchus, as he states in the preface to his Life.

[43] These things have been set forth at greater length concerning Evagrius. First, to show that it is the same man who translated this Life; then, so that the time of this Life's translation may be more clearly presented. Baronius, year of Christ 362, number 226, deceived by ^a wrongly translated passage of St. Basil cited above ("the elder Evagrius," etc., when "the Priest" should have been written), makes him the father of ^a younger Evagrius, who was afterward Bishop of Antioch. Then at the year of Christ 369, number 27, he confesses that he could not ascertain well enough who the Evagrius was who stood with undaunted spirit against Auxentius. Finally at the year of Christ 372, number 38, he asserts that it was the very same man who had formerly gone to Italy with St. Eusebius, and had now traveled as ^a companion of St. Jerome to St. Basil in Cappadocia, He visits St. Basil. and from there returned to Syria; and he soon makes the same man ^a Priest, and at number 43 ^a Bishop after his consecration, because St. Jerome calls him Papa in the Life of St. Malchus. It is therefore one and the same Evagrius who went to Italy with St. Eusebius and was afterward Bishop of Antioch, and who, while still ^a Priest, gave this Life to the Latin world. Rosweyde asserts in his Note on the Life, number 1, that this was done when he was living in the Syrian desert with St. Jerome and Innocentius, or shortly before. But Innocentius, as was said above from St. Jerome, died in the very arrival in Syria, around the year of Christ 370. Baronius holds that they departed from Italy after the death of St. Eusebius, at the year 372, number 9, and that St. Eusebius died in the year 371, as he writes there at number 116. But because St. Jerome reports his death in the Chronicle under the sixth year of Valentinian and Valens, he seems to have died in the year of Christ 369 -- which will be more carefully discussed in connection with his Life on August 2 and on September 30 in connection with the Life of St. Jerome, where this pilgrimage will be treated.

[44] What is relevant here is that St. Eusebius either brought the Life of St. Antony in Greek with him from Alexandria, or if it had not yet been written at that time, St. Athanasius sent it to him in Italy; unless Evagrius was together with St. Eusebius in Egypt, or, being joined by ^a singular familiarity with St. Athanasius, received it from him personally. He translated this Life in Italy. Certainly in Italy he published it in Latin for the Latins, whether of his own accord or induced by the request of St. Eusebius and Innocentius, to whom he dedicated it, just as St. Jerome dedicated to the same Innocentius the story of the woman struck seven times at Vercelli. This Life was soon brought from Italy to Trier, where Potitianus had read it, as will be discussed in section 11. Indeed, in Italy, or certainly when he arrived in Syria, St. Jerome wrote the Life of St. Paul, having obtained the historical narrative of him sent from Egypt by Evagrius and perhaps others, in which he writes that "because the life of Antony has been diligently transmitted in both Greek and Roman style, When St. Jerome wrote the Life of St. Paul. he resolved to write ^a few things about the beginning and end of Paul." He reports in the Life of St. Hilarion that this was done by him long ago, while the disciples of St. Antony, Macarius and Amathas, were still living, the former of whom upon his death was succeeded as Abbot in Pispiri by Posthumius, who is the same, as was said, as Poemen, whom Rufinus found there, as it appears.

Section 10. The Life attacked in vain by heretics.

[45] That the Life of St. Antony was written long ago by St. Athanasius, not even the heretics of our time are able to deny, confirmed as it is by so many and so clear testimonies. But because they cannot bear, with their bleary gaze -- even more dazzled by this light of antiquity -- the very many arguments for monasticism, the sign of the Cross, and other Ecclesiastical rites, which are clearer than the noonday sun, they have seized upon this evasion: to say that the writing which has long been widely circulated under the name of St. Athanasius and tossed about in the hands of all is the fabrication of ^a foolish man and worthy of no credence. So say Rodolphus Hospinianus, book 3, On the Origin of Monks, chapter 1; Abrahamus Scultetus, Medulla of the Theology of the Fathers, part 2; Andreas Rivetus, Sacred Criticism, book 3, chapter 4. The Magdeburg Centuriators also express doubt, century 4, chapter 10. But the things commemorated in this Life concerning Antony [What is now contained in the Life of St. Antony was cited from it by the ancient Fathers] were individually cited by the ancient Fathers from the work which Athanasius was then known to have written, and most gravely emphasized; and this Life breathes the perfection of Christian virtue which even the heretics themselves dare not deny Antony achieved, so that anyone can recognize it as the genuine offspring of Athanasius.

[46] St. John Chrysostom, Homily 8 on Matthew: "Antony led such ^a life," he says, St. Chrysostom, "as the laws of Christ require. And this anyone will easily recognize who reads that book which weaves the history of his life, in which he will also see prophecy shining forth. For concerning those whom the Arian pestilence had invaded, he prophesied most clearly and taught how great ^a calamity threatened the Churches from them, with God assuredly revealing these things and painting everything before his eyes in ^a figure. Which is certainly the chief evidence of the Catholic Faith -- namely, that no such person can be shown among the heretics. But lest you seem to hear these things from me, you will rather learn all things more diligently by reading the book itself, so that you may derive from it the greatest lessons of philosophy. I beseech you, moreover, that we not only meditate upon those writings but also imitate the things that are expressed in them." So says Chrysostom. But those who are loath to imitate these things prefer them abolished or cast into the bilge of useless and frivolous writing, lest their own morals be convicted thereby. They would prefer, just as the Arians of old had falsely represented to the public that Antony was ^a sympathizer with their heresy, themselves also to say that he had entered upon some soft manner of living without any good works. That prophecy of St. Antony which Chrysostom indicates is reported in the Life, chapter 18, number 105, and by Sozomenus, book 6, chapter 5. "It is handed down," Sozomenus, says the latter, "that Antony, before the Arians had gained control of the Churches under the reign of Constantius, saw in ^a dream mules kicking and overturning the altar and the sacred table, and immediately predicted that the tumult arising from adulterated and mixed doctrines, and the rebellion stirred up by those who held opinions alien to the Catholic Church, would afterward occupy the Church of God." Nicephorus reports the same, book 10, chapter 43. The persecution itself is described more copiously, but in almost the same words, by Athanasius in his letter to the Orthodox, whose words we shall produce at chapter 18.

[47] The predecessor of Chrysostom was St. Gregory Nazianzen, and he prejudged what he and the rest should think of this Life, St. Gregory Nazianzen, since he considers it to contain the law and norm of the monastic life -- which Athanasius himself had asserted in the preface to this Life: "You have demanded of me," he says, "that I write to you concerning the manner of life of Blessed Antony, etc., so that you may be able to establish yourselves in emulation and imitation of him." And soon: "I know that you wish to follow his purpose; for the perfect way to virtue is to know who Antony was." And St. Gregory Nazianzen in Oration 21, in praise of St. Athanasius: "He (Athanasius) wrote the life of the divine Antony, which under the form of ^a narrative is the norm or established law of the monastic life." This rule will be discussed in section 15.

[48] St. Ephrem, St. Ephrem also clearly shows this to be the work of Athanasius, when he brings forth from the Life that was then recently written things in agreement with the one now in our hands, in his work On "Attend to Yourself," chapter 10: "St. Antony, as St. Athanasius the Archbishop also mentions in the life which he wrote about him, employed much exercise, and that of ^a more eager and vehement kind. For he always fasted and wore ^a garment -- on the inside of haircloth, on the outside of skin -- and this he preserved even until death, so that he neither washed his body with water on account of filth, nor at all washed his feet, nor ever dipped them in water at all, except when compelled by necessity. Nor did anyone ever see him stripped, nor was the bare little body of Antony at all visible to anyone except when it was being buried after death." So says he; and these things are reported in exactly the same manner below in chapter 11, number 62. Those words, however, "and this he preserved even until death," were omitted by the Latin translator, which in the Greek are expressed as: "which he also kept until the end." Elsewhere in the same place St. Ephrem describes the virtues of St. Antony, which St. Athanasius recounts in the same manner in the epilogue, or chapter 22, number 116, where we shall give the passage of St. Ephrem. The same author also, in his letter to the monk John, exhorts monks to the common life with ^a brief recapitulation of the deeds of St. Antony (each of which is found in this life).

[49] The ancient author of the Life of St. Pachomius, The author of the Life of St. Pachomius, which Dionysius Exiguus translated more than 1100 years ago, ascribes this very Life of St. Antony to St. Athanasius: "To Blessed Antony, St. Athanasius, Bishop of the city of Alexandria, bore testimony in his own style; ^a relator worthy indeed of the manner of life of Antony, who at the supplication of the Brothers should write out his Life for the benefit of many and present him as an object of emulation for spiritual men" -- which is said at number 1 in the prologue. The same author continues: "In which work he also makes mention of the holy Father Ammon, by whom through the grace of God the first foundations were laid of the manner of life of those Brothers who now dwell on Mount Nitria; and the Bishop also informed us of the very holy man Theodore, who had been with the aforementioned elder," etc. -- which are contained in numbers 78, 79, and 80. Palladius, chapter 7, writes that the soul of this Amon was seen by Antony being carried to heaven, Palladius, and in chapter 8 he recounts the same man being carried across the river Lycus by divine power, from Athanasius: "But this miracle," he says, "Blessed Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, narrated when writing in the life of Antony." Rufinus, book 2 of the Lives of the Fathers, chapter 30: "St. Antony saw the soul of Ammon, when it had departed from the body, being carried to heaven, as that writing relates which describes the Life of Blessed Antony." So also Sozomenus, book 1, chapter 14. More clearly Socrates, book 4, chapter 18: "Antony, who lived in the same times, saw the soul of this Ammon after death being lifted to heaven by Angels, as has been commemorated by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in his life," at the cited number 78.

[50] Rufinus, The same Rufinus, book 1 of the Ecclesiastical History, chapter 8: "Concerning the virtues and institutions of Antony, and the sobriety of his mind, how living in the desert he had the sole company of beasts, and, winning frequent triumphs over demons, pleased God above all mortals, and how he left to monks even to the present day the excellent examples of his discipline -- though I wished to set forth something of these, that booklet excluded me which, written by Athanasius, has also been published in the Latin language." Socrates uses the same excuse, book 1, chapter 17, saying that it seemed superfluous to him to commemorate the cunning battles of the demons and the many prodigies and miracles of St. Antony, "since it has long since been set forth by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in ^a separate book written about his life, as will be clear to the reader."

[51] This is therefore the genuine and authentic work of Athanasius himself, since all the learned who possess sounder judgment think so, and the most weighty authors both in Athanasius's own age and ever afterward cited from it the very things that are now contained in it. This is that distinguished volume which St. Jerome mentions in On Ecclesiastical Writers, in which he says the Life of St. Paul the Hermit was omitted (number 2), from which he wrote in the same place (number 14) about the two disciples who had been accustomed to minister to him for ^a long time already -- which are recounted here below at number 113. In this life are commemorated those very many miracles at which St. Augustine marvels in book 8 of the Confessions, chapter 6. St. Augustine, Finally, this is found under the name of St. Athanasius in all manuscript codices, some of which were written many centuries before that abnormal wisdom which the heralds of ^a fifth Gospel belch forth was formed or carved from the brain of Jupiter. The same is found in the printed editions that treat of St. Antony, either transcribed in full or reduced to ^a compendium, as will be shown in the following section. In the Notes on the Life itself the reader will find what will vindicate it for St. Athanasius, drawn even from his other works. Finally, the same spirit, the same energy of the sign of the Cross, and the same monasticism are contained in the Life of St. Hilarion, disciple of St. Antony, written by St. Jerome; in the Life of St. Palemon on January 11; and of St. Pachomius, contemporaries of St. Antony, as will often be said in section 15 and in the Life; and in the Life of St. Paul the Hermit it was said by St. Jerome above on January 10.

Section 11. From where this edition is taken.

[52] This Life of St. Antony has been published in the Lives of the Fathers at Nuremberg in the years of Christ 1478 and 1483, and elsewhere in Germany in 1483 and 1485, at Venice in 1483, 1508, and 1512, at Lyon in 1502, 1509, 1512, 1515, 1520, and 1537, at Cologne in 1548 and 1549 (unless these were the same printing with ^a changed title). Published copies, At Alcala in 1596, which editions and names of printers Rosweyde cites in Prolegomenon 17. There may be added the Wittenberg edition from the press of Peter Seitz in the year of Christ 1544, while Luther was still living and dwelling there. Among the Lives of the Saints the same was published by Boninus Mombritius, tome 1; Aloysius Lipomanus, part 2 of the History of the Saints; and Laurentius Surius. But above all others Heribertus Rosweyde illuminated it with learned Preludes and Notes in the Lives of the Fathers published at Antwerp in the years of Christ 1615 and 1627, and at Lyon in 1617. How many manuscript codices were employed by these collectors, who can say? And manuscripts. Theodoricus Loher ^a Stratis the Carthusian asserts in the dedicatory letter of his Cologne edition in the year of Christ 1548 that he had collated them from eight or ten ancient and trustworthy manuscript exemplars. Rosweyde employed more, and distinguished ones, to whose authority he revised the life, Which Heribertus Rosweyde used, namely the manuscript of St. Florian written more than eight hundred years ago, the Audomarensian, Affligemiensian, Crispiniensian, Aquicinctine, Laetiensian, Moretian, Camberonian, that of St. Mary of Bibracum, of St. Peter in Munster, the Carthusian of Brussels, that of the Society of Jesus at Roermond, and the Sionium of the religious women at Courtrai. He himself describes the form and provenance of each codex in Prolegomenon 24. We ourselves, after the death of Rosweyde, collated the same with the manuscripts of St. Mary de Ripatorio, two of St. Maximin, And those which we used. of the house of St. Jerome at Utrecht, and others, and with ^a Greek exemplar, about which see below.

[53] As many as have published the Acts of the Saints in general, or of Hermits, or of Founders of religious congregations, even in abridgement, or have compiled Annals Other narratives of the deeds of St. Antony, or Ecclesiastical Chronicles, or composed ascetical treatises in any language -- lest the virtue of Antony be unknown to any people or nation -- have expressed the same Life. At length, besides those cited, Vincent, book 13 of the Speculum Historiale, chapters 91, 92, and 93, and book 14, chapter 14; St. Antoninus, part 2 of the Chronicle, title 15, chapter 3, sections 1-5; Baronius, tome 2, year of Christ 256, tome 3, years of Christ 310, 318, 319, 328, 336, 339, 340, 342, 343, and 358, and tome 4, year 385; Johannes Gerson, part 1 of his works, in ^a sermon delivered at the Council of Constance, and part 4, in three sermons, of which the first was delivered before Philip I, Duke of Burgundy; Gabriel Biel, On the Feasts of the Saints, sermons 8 and 9; Jacobus ^a Voragine; Claudius ^a Rota; Petrus de Natalibus, book 2, chapter 92; Zacharias Lippelous; Franciscus Haraeus; Phreslebius; Johannes Basilius Sanctorius; Alphonsus Villegas; Petrus Ribadeneira; Franciscus Ortiz Lucius; Johannes Petrus Maffeus; Gabriel Flamma; Also in foreign languages, Paulus Morigia; Paulus Aresius; Sylvester Maurolycus; Henricus Fabricius; Stephanus Binet; Clemens Marchantius; Jacobus Doubletius; Guilielmus Gazaeus; Dionysius Lamberti; Henricus Adriani; Ludovicus Huuetter; and innumerable others. In these, besides the Life written by Athanasius, frequent mention is made of his journey to St. Paul the Hermit, which, given from St. Jerome and others on January 10, we omit here. The same author's apophthegmata, translations, We shall treat below of the various Translations of his relics. First we shall bring forward from the Lives of the Fathers apophthegmata and other illustrious praises of St. Antony omitted by St. Athanasius. We shall append miracles which, after the Translation of the relics to Gaul, were performed in various provinces of Europe, ^a few from among many, for neither have all been written Miracles, nor was it our intention to search for them industriously, since they are nearly innumerable.

[54] The Life of St. Antony was published in Greek at Augsburg in the year of Christ 1611, under the care of David Hoeschel, The Greek Life. who also added ^a new Latin translation, certain notes, and variant readings from an English codex of Henry Savile. The same is found in Greek and Latin in tome 2 of the works of St. Athanasius, published at Paris in the year of Christ 1627. It is remarkable here that the new Hoeschelian version was preferred to the ancient Evagrian one, which was present in the earlier Commelinian edition of the year of Christ 1600 and the Parisian of 1608. L. Holstenius, in the preface to tome 2 of the works of St. Athanasius in the latest edition, says that in the Life of St. Antony he has been able to supply and correct some things from ^a manuscript codex of the Abbot of St. Amantius, which the printer will publish separately or insert among the Hoeschelian notes. These we have not yet seen.

Section 12. The useful reading of this Life.

[55] St. Jerome, in the Life of St. Marcella, relates that she, having heard of the discipline of St. Antony, then still living, and of the other monasteries of Egypt, "was not ashamed to profess what she knew to be pleasing to Christ. Sophronia, Paula, and others imitated her." St. Augustine, book 8 of the Confessions, chapter 6, narrates that on the occasion of the Life of St. Antony being found at Trier, two courtiers serving in the Emperor's palace, who were Agents in Rebus, left their betrothed and chose the solitary life. Two courtiers converted by the reading of this Life: "It happened," he says, "that Potitianus mentioned -- I know not when -- himself and three other companions, while at Trier, when the Emperor was engaged with the afternoon spectacle at the Circus, going out to walk in the gardens adjacent to the walls, and there, as they happened to walk in pairs, one with him going apart, and the other two likewise apart, having wandered in different directions. But those two, wandering, broke into ^a certain dwelling where certain servants of Yours lived, poor in spirit, whose is the kingdom of heaven, and found there ^a codex in which was written the Life of Antony. One of them began to read it, and to marvel and be kindled, and while reading to meditate on seizing such ^a life and, having left secular service, to serve You. He was one of those whom they call Agents in Rebus. Then suddenly, filled with holy love and sober shame, angry at himself, he cast his eyes upon his friend and said to him: 'Tell me, I ask you, by all these labors of ours, where do we aim to arrive? What do we seek? For what purpose do we serve? Can our hope in the palace be greater than to become friends of the Emperor? And there, what is not fragile and full of dangers? And through how many dangers does one arrive at ^a greater danger? And how long will this last? But ^a friend of God, if I wish, behold, I become one now.' He said this, and, troubled with the labor of ^a new life, returned his eyes to the pages, and read, and was changed inwardly, where You could see, and his mind was stripped of the world, as soon appeared. For as he read and turned the waves of his heart, he groaned at some point, and discerned and decreed better things; and, now Yours, he said to his friend: 'I have now broken free from that hope of ours and have decided to serve God, and I begin this from this hour, in this place. If it displeases you to imitate me, do not oppose me.' The other answered that he would cling to his companion for so great ^a reward and so great ^a service. And both, now Yours, were building the tower at the fitting cost of leaving all their possessions and following You. Then Potitianus and the one walking with him in other parts of the garden, seeking them, came to the same place, and finding them, admonished them to return, since the day had already declined. But they, having told of their decision and purpose and how such ^a will had arisen and been confirmed in them, asked them not to be troublesome to them if they refused to join them. These, indeed not at all changed from their former ways, nevertheless wept for themselves, as he said, and piously congratulated those men, and commended themselves to their prayers, and, dragging their heart upon the earth, went back to the palace. But those two, fixing their heart on heaven, remained in the dwelling. And both had betrothed. Who, after they heard this, dedicated their own virginity also to You." Potitianus narrated these things.

[56] This reading, just as it profited those men at that time, so this repeated narrative stimulated the soul of St. Augustine to better things. For he adds in chapter 7: And by their example, St. Augustine himself, "But You, Lord, amid his words, were turning me back upon myself, removing me from behind my back where I had placed myself while I was unwilling to observe myself, and You were setting me before my own face, that I might see how foul I was, how twisted, filthy, spotted, and ulcerous. And I saw and was horrified, and there was nowhere to flee from myself. And if I tried to turn my gaze away from myself, he was narrating what he narrated, and You were again setting me opposite myself and thrusting me into my own eyes, that I might find my iniquity and hate it. I knew it, but dissembled, connived, and forgot. But then, the more ardently I loved those men of whom I heard the salutary affections, who had given themselves entirely to You to be healed, the more execrably I hated myself compared to them." That these things happened in the thirty-third year of the age of St. Augustine, the year of Christ 387, the following passages indicate. We omit more recent examples, of which very many could be adduced to recommend the reading of this life. For what the author of the Life of St. Pachomius wrote of his own time, And others. that the Life of St. Antony was at that time "set before all as an excellent model for imitation," the same is certainly true of all subsequent ages.

Section 13. The public veneration of St. Antony.

[57] Even the elements were commonly said to mourn Antony's death, because for an entire three years after his death the heavens were closed and dried out those lands of Egypt and the Thebaid. So says St. Jerome in the life of St. Hilarion, whom he also records as having learned of Antony's death while absent through ^a divine revelation, and as having set out three years later for the mountain of St. Antony, to celebrate an all-night vigil in the very place where he had died, as he confessed was owed by him. He went and lay upon his bed, and kissed the couch as if it were still warm. Macarius also, who had buried the body of his master, persuaded St. Posthumius not to object to visiting the relics of St. Antony, the prince of anchorites, as the latter's Acts testify. The feast of St. Antony celebrated among the Syrians, That his feast day was soon customarily celebrated in Syria is indicated by the Acts of St. Euthymius the Abbot, written by the monk Cyril, where it is said that he commanded, when the feast day of the divine Antony arrived, that they should keep vigil in the church through the entire night; and when those nocturnal hymns had been completed by him, etc., after he had remained three days in the diaconicon, on Saturday night he fell asleep in peace on the twentieth day of the month of January, in the sixteenth year of the reign of Leo, who succeeded Marcian in the year of Christ 457 -- ^a full century after the death of St. Antony, whose feast was also necessarily reckoned by them as January 17; as is read at the end of his life published by Boninus Mombritius: "St. Antony was buried on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of February." That day was for the Egyptians the 22nd of the month of Tybi, as Rosweyde shows in the Onomasticon, on which day it is thus recorded in the ancient Coptic, or Egyptian, Menologion: The Egyptians, "Of St. Antony, the terrestrial Star and Father of all monks."

[58] Following the Syrians and Egyptians, the Greeks honor him with ^a quite celebrated office, as their various responsories, antiphons, canticles, and odes attest. The Greeks, Among other things, hymns composed by the Studite, Anatolius, and Theophanes are sung. A twofold Gospel is recited: one at Matins, "All things have been delivered to me by my Father" (Matthew 11, from verse 27); the other, "Jesus stood on ^a level place" (Luke 6, from verse 17). The latter is read in the Roman Office on the feast of many Martyrs; the former on the feast of St. Matthias the Apostle and of St. Francis. The Menaea and the Anthologion of the Greeks may be consulted, in which "the commemoration of our holy and God-bearing Father Antony the Great" is celebrated in the most holy great church at Constantinople. Maximus Cytheraeus transcribed the same from the Menaea, in whose epitome and Horologion "rest and dispensation" is noted, indicating that all servile work was prohibited on that day. He is also commemorated in the Menologion of Christophorus of Mytilene and in the Calendar of the Greeks published by Genebrardus.

[59] The Latins also celebrated St. Antony on the same day from time immemorial. The manuscript Martyrology of St. Jerome: "In Egypt, the burial of St. Antony the monk." The Rhinovian manuscript: "In Egypt, of Antony the monk." The Latins. The manuscript of St. Martin at Trier has the same. The old Roman Martyrology published by Rosweyde: "In the Thebaid, of Antony the monk." A very ancient Irish manuscript also mentions him. The ancient manuscript of Centula: "In Egypt, in the Thebaid, the burial of Blessed Antony the Abbot, who enrolled many thousands of monks in the service of Christ and lived most illustrious in life and miracles." The Laetiensian manuscript and the Tournai manuscript of St. Martin: "In Egypt, of St. Antony the monk, who, being of ^a most abstinent life, flourished with many miracles, whose life Blessed Athanasius wrote." Very many other Martyrologies also report the translation of his body, about which we shall treat separately below. So Usuard: "In the Thebaid, of Blessed Antony the monk, whose body under the Emperor Justinian was discovered by divine revelation, brought to Alexandria, and buried in the church of St. John the Baptist." Bede, Ado, Rabanus, Notker, Bellinus, and very many manuscripts have the same together with his translation, in which more things from the Life of St. Antony are narrated at greater length and in paraphrastic fashion from St. Athanasius. The Roman Martyrology: "In the Thebaid, of St. Antony the Abbot, who, Father of many monks, lived most illustrious in life and miracles; whose deeds Athanasius wrote up in ^a distinguished volume." Maurolycus, Galesinius, Felicius, and other later writers also present him in their Martyrologies.

[60] Gavantus, Commentary on the Rubrics of the Breviary, section 7, chapter 3, says that the commemoration of St. Antony is celebrated in the Appendix to the manuscript Sacramentary of St. Gregory, added not long after his death. The feast of Antony the monk is noted in the most ancient Calendar of the monastery of Echternach, composed around the year of Christ 740. The office of his day. Gavantus adds that his office is listed as Simple in ^a manuscript Breviary, Semidouble in one printed in the year of Christ 1550, and was made Double by Pius V. But in the Roman Missal printed at Venice in 1508, it is written "the solemnity of Antony the Abbot, observed universally." In the Breviary of Paul III, arranged by Cardinal Quignonez, it was ^a Minor Double. These things concern the Roman rite. In other rites of various Churches the practices vary. In some only ^a commemoration was made; in others the office has three lessons, in others nine, and more frequently it is marked as Double. In certain Gallican and Anglican printed books his name does not appear, but this day is claimed by St. Sulpitius, about whom see below. It was already Double in many printed books, such as the ancient Belgian ones of Antwerp, Brussels, Bruges, St. Omer, and the Windesheim edition of the Canons Regular, the one of Evora in Portugal, Schleswig in Denmark, the Milanese of St. Ambrose, and others; though it was also of three lessons in very many. In several Benedictine Breviaries, according to their customary rite, it is of twelve lessons. The lessons in virtually all are taken from the life of St. Antony. Some further things will be added below when we treat of the Translation and the cure of the sacred fire, which is commonly called St. Antony's fire.

Section 14. The doctrine of St. Antony.

[61] Rodolphus Hospinianus, Abrahamus Scultetus, and Andreas Rivetus say that contradictory things are reported about Antony -- namely, that he was ^a pleader and very learned, and that the writer of his life says he was unlearned and ignorant of letters. Rosweyde learnedly refuted the first two; and had Rivetus weighed his arguments with ^a calm mind, he would have abstained from his rather harsh, yet quite habitual, censure. For he would have perceived what Rosweyde pointed out: that ^a certain Antony of Alexandria, praised by Suidas, perhaps ^a pagan who pleaded his sister's case at Alexandria and Byzantium, St. Antony was not ^a pleader, is carelessly confused with St. Antony by these men, as Rosweyde demonstrates at length. Nor was St. Antony an Alexandrian. That he should be called ^a pleader in ^a secret and more sacred sense, But ^a patron of the wretched, we certainly shall not resist: for he also approached Judges on behalf of the patronage of the wretched, defended the accused, implored mercy, and brought about the acquittal of some (number 108). He repelled the audacity of the heretics, who had boasted that he agreed with the Arians on matters of religion, having set out from the interior desert to Alexandria for that sole reason; there he pleaded the cause of the sacred orthodox faith, and as judge himself publicly condemned the Arians in ^a public address (numbers 91 and 92). He was very often at hand to help the laboring Athanasius, as Sozomenus testifies, book 2, chapter 29. He wrote to the Emperor on his behalf and besought him not to assent at all to the opinion of the Meletians, but to regard their accusations as calumnies. This was his learning, this the office of the most holy advocate; And defender of the Faith. these the roles of the mystical pleader, all the more effective because he pleaded by virtue rather than by tongue. For this reason he is numbered among the chief champions of the Council of Nicaea by Socrates, Nicephorus, and Sozomenus. The words of the latter, book 3, chapter 12, are these: "Beyond all others who lived in the East, Paul Bishop of Constantinople, Athanasius of Alexandria, and the entire multitude of monks were seen to adhere tenaciously to the decrees of the Council of Nicaea; and indeed Antony the Great, who still remained alive, and all who associated with him."

[62] But his learning was also apparent in other matters, as Athanasius himself testifies in that acute disputation with the Philosophers, Excellently learned, full of ^a certain divine genius, concerning the mysteries of the Christian Faith, which is reported in chapter 17; in the lofty discourse delivered to his disciples concerning the continual renewal of the mind, concerning the nature, stratagems, and weakness of demons, and concerning the discernment of spirits, which is described in chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, committed to writing by himself or by his disciples. For St. Jerome also counted St. Antony among Ecclesiastical writers: "He sent," he says in chapter 88, "seven letters in the Egyptian language to various monasteries, of Apostolic sense and speech, which have been translated into the Greek language, He writes letters. of which the chief one is to the Arsinoites." Concerning these, Symphorianus Campegius says in his letter to Hector Dallus, Protonotary of the Apostolic See: "I do not know whether I should admire more the gravity or the sweetness. For Antony begins most aptly, narrates the stories of the Prophets clearly, inveighs sharply, adorns variously, and embraces things artfully. So aptly, so ornately, so copiously, so beautifully did Antony speak in his letters." This letter of Campegius is prefixed to the letters of St. Antony, rendered into Latin by Valerius Sarasius, And other works. in the Library of the Fathers, Paris edition 1, tome 1; editions 2 and 3, Paris, tome 3; and the Cologne edition, tome 4. In these, the Master of the Sacred Palace warned, it should be taken not literally but metaphorically that the Angels are said to grieve or be saddened by the evils of men. There has also been published, under the name of St. Antony, ^a brief sermon On the Vanity of the World and the Resurrection of the Dead, by Gerardus Vossius from an ancient manuscript of Aldus Manutius, which is printed in the Library of the Fathers, Cologne edition, together with the letters. Trithemius in his book On Ecclesiastical Writers ascribes to St. Antony the famous work of two books called the Melissa, that is, the Little Bee. But Possevinus in the Sacred Apparatus shows that Trithemius is mistaken, and it was omitted in the Frankfurt edition of the year 1601.

[63] Whether entirely ignorant of letters, Concerning these and his other letters to Emperors and others, it could be debated whether they were written by his own hand, or whether what was conceived by the divine spirit was dictated to an amanuensis. For as ^a boy he did not allow himself to be instructed in letters (number 3), and "although he had not learned letters, he was most ingenious and most prudent" (number 93), and "the wise men of the world wished to mock him because he was ignorant of letters" (number 95); therefore, at number 87, "he was, as it is written, taught by God." Both of which St. Augustine also testifies concerning him in the Prologue of book 1 of On Christian Doctrine: "Antony, ^a holy and perfect man, an Egyptian monk, is said to have retained the divine Scriptures by hearing them from memory and to have understood them by thinking prudently, without any knowledge of letters." The same is inscribed in the published Martyrologies of Bede, Ado, Notker, and others, and in the book of Trithemius On Ecclesiastical Writers. The same is hinted at in the Life, number 7: "He applied such zeal to the hearing of the scriptures that nothing slipped from his mind, but keeping all the commandments of the Lord, he had his memory in place of books." Moreover, Evagrius Ponticus, disciple of St. Macarius the Egyptian, teaches in his book On Monks in Socrates, book 4, chapter 18, that the nature of things created by God served Antony in place of books: "To one of those who were considered wise at that time," he says, "who came to Antony the just man and asked how he could sustain his life, deprived of the solace which can be derived from books, he replied: 'My book, O Philosopher, is the nature of things created by God, which whenever it pleases my mind, furnishes the books of God Himself for reading'" -- or, "which is accustomed to be present to me whenever I wish to read the words of God," as is related in book 6 of the Lives of the Fathers, translated by John, booklet 4, number 16.

[64] But perhaps this said ignorance of letters means that he did not know the Greek language, which at that time was familiar and domestic to the Egyptians. Or only of Greek letters, Thus Eulogius the Alexandrian, ^a scholar of the liberal arts, knew Greek, not Egyptian, speech (Palladius, chapter 26). But Abbot Joseph in Cassian, Collation 26, chapter 1, because he was ^a leading citizen of his city Thmuis, was diligently instructed in both Egyptian and Greek eloquence. Add that he is never read to have written through another, as he is said to have addressed others through an interpreter, who was accustomed to express his words most diligently in the Greek language (numbers 94 and 96). And in the life of St. Hilarion by St. Jerome, Isaac is called the interpreter of Antony; and in Palladius, chapter 26, Cronius was the interpreter of his words, And of the liberal arts, "since Blessed Antony did not know Greek" -- the language in which sacred and profane books were nearly all written, and for this reason he was despised by the Philosophers, because he was also ignorant of the other liberal arts. Thus commonly those are considered illiterate and unlearned who otherwise know how to read and write in their vernacular language, and even to compose books. And how is he said at number 8 to have "emulated the industry of the Brothers in reading," if he did not know how to read at all? However the matter may stand, this was admirably declared by Sozomenus, book 1, chapter 13, concerning St. Antony: "He neither knew nor greatly esteemed letters; but he praised most highly the pure mind, as being more ancient than letters and their inventor."

Section 15. The monastic discipline of St. Antony.

[65] Scultetus denies that he can find in this history of St. Antony the laws of monastic life which Nazianzen writes Athanasius wished to promulgate under the pretext of ^a narrative. Students of the ascetic life have indeed found them hitherto and find them daily, who unfold the work with the zeal of imitation. The monastic rule expressed in the Life of St. Antony. Nor is it surprising if these escape the notice of those whose eyes of the mind are dimmed by the pursuit of carnal desires. Nor would it be necessary to point them out here, since they will soon present themselves in the reading itself, were it not that it seemed worthwhile to briefly distribute into its parts all the monastic discipline practiced or handed down by him -- both from the Life of Antony himself, of Hilarion, Abraham, Palemon, and Pachomius, and from the Institutes of Cassian.

[66] Let us begin with the habit, by which monks are distinguished from other mortals. The habit. St. Hilarion, when he saw St. Antony, changed his former habit and remained with him. So also St. Palemon, perceiving with spiritual eyes the faith of Pachomius, at length opened the door and, receiving him, consecrated him with the habit of ^a monk, as was said above on January 11, number 4. This change of clothing, when someone is consecrated as ^a monk, is described by St. Dionysius the Areopagite in his Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter 6, and Tertullian calls it the habit dedicated to God in On the Veiling of Virgins, chapter 3. And that one renouncing the world was customarily clothed in the garments of the monastery by the hands of the Abbot, in the midst of the Brothers, Cassian teaches in book 4 of the Institutes, chapter 5. Concerning his own garments Antony thus decreed before death at number 114: "The sheepskin," he says, "and the worn cloak on which I lie, give to Bishop Athanasius, who had himself brought it to me new. Let Serapion receive the other sheepskin; you keep the haircloth garment." And at number 61: "He wore ^a haircloth garment on the inside, and ^a skin garment on the outside." St. Hilarion used the same garments, "his body covered with sacking and wearing ^a skin ependytes which Blessed Antony had given him when he set out," when he consecrated him as ^a monk, "and ^a rough cloak." Sacking is there called by St. Jerome ^a sacking tunic, ^a haircloth tunic, and ^a cilicium. The inner garment, called by others ^a cilicium, "The sacking," he says, "with which he had once been clothed he never washed, saying it was superfluous to seek cleanliness in haircloth." Thus St. Abraham the Hermit is described by St. Ephrem the Deacon on March 16 as clothed in ^a cloak and ^a haircloth tunic; By others ^a linen colobium; and Blessed Pachomius, to humble his own body, usually wore haircloth. In its place the ordinary inner garment of monks was of linen, called ^a lebiton or colobium, which monks throughout the Thebaid and Egypt are said to wear in the same place; they changed it when the need to wash out the filth required it. Cassian, book 1, chapter 5: "Clothed in linen colobia which barely reach to the bottom of the elbows, they go about with their arms otherwise bare." And Isidore, book 19 of the Etymologies, chapter 22: "A libitonarium," he says, "is ^a colobium without sleeves, such as the monks of Egypt use"; and rather than ^a haircloth garment, says Cassian in chapter 4, "because it is unsuitable and unfit for the exercise of the necessary work in which ^a monk should always proceed nimbly and readily; and also, if it is visible, it provides an occasion of vainglory." These things concern the inner garment.

[67] The outer garment: the sheepskin or skin tunic, The outer garment was of skin, and therefore called ^a melotes, fitted and made from sheep or goat skins, with the wool still on them stripped from the body. The Greek word melon more often means ^a sheep, but in Homer, Odyssey 14, ^a goat. Thus St. Paul the Simple beat ^a demoniac with his sheepskin. And in the rule of St. Pachomius in his Life: "Let each one have ^a melotes, that is, ^a prepared white goatskin, without which they shall neither eat nor sleep." But Palladius, chapter 38: "Let each one have ^a worked sheepskin." And Cassian, chapter 8: "The last item of their garb is ^a goatskin, which is called ^a melotes or pera" -- where Gazaeus supposes that pera is used for penula. Sozomenus, book 3, chapter 13, explains the reason for this garment: "These," he says of the monks of Egypt, "in imitation of Elijah the Tishbite, clothed themselves in skins, so that each one, by the skin wrapped around his body, constantly recalling the virtue of the Prophet, might strenuously contend against carnal desires." Or certainly they imitated those of whom the Apostle, cited by Cassian, says: "They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, tormented -- of whom the world was not worthy -- wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes of the earth" Hebrews 11:37. St. Jerome calls the mantle of Elijah ^a melotes in letter 28 to Lucinus, following the Septuagint, 3 Kings 19:19 and 4 Kings 2:8. And Cronius in Palladius, chapter 26, and Paschasius, chapter 19, number 3, and below in the Apophthegmata, number 46, saw St. Antony clothed in ^a skin cloak, which St. Jerome in the life of St. Hilarion also calls ^a tunic, ^a cuculla, and ^a skin ependytes. It was called ^a cuculla perhaps on account of the cowl, Which is also ^a cuculla, or hood, attached to it, by which the head was covered down to the borders of the neck and shoulders, as Cassian teaches in chapter 4; and ^a cowl covered the head of St. Pachomius.

[68] Ependytes, in Greek ependytes, is the upper or outermost garment. Ependyomai means "I put on over," according to Plutarch in the Life of Pelopidas. And ependytes, Thus it is taken for the melotes in the life of St. Antony, number 61: "Antony, fearless, disregarding the persecutor's command, washed his ependytes. And on another day, standing in ^a certain prominent place, girded in ^a shining garment, he provoked the approaching Judge by his appearance, burning with the desire of martyrdom." Where it should first be observed that Antony appeared in ^a bright and clean garment, so that by that attire he might offer himself as ^a monk for martyrdom as for ^a banquet, with ^a joyful spirit; and so in Greek it reads: "to appear to the Governor bright," or conspicuous. Second, Of white color. that the translator Evagrius rendered it as "girded in ^a shining garment," because it was white, shining from washing. He could have known this from the melotes offered to St. Athanasius after the death of St. Antony, seen by himself or St. Eusebius at Alexandria. And in the Rule of St. Pachomius, both in the Life and in Palladius, the melotes is commanded to be made of white skin. Rosweyde in his Notes, number 56, and Baronius, tome 2, year of Christ 256, number 19, scarcely extricate themselves here: the latter wishes St. Antony to have put on white garments so as to be recognized as ^a Christian, but it was monks, not other Christians, who were expelled from the city by public edict. Rosweyde meanwhile holds that he came in white clothing so that, mingled with the Egyptians clothed in white, he might proceed more safely, since monks, who were recognized by their dark garments, were forbidden the city. But that this concerns ^a shining ependytes washed the day before is quite certain, especially if the Greek is compared with the Latin. Moreover, the ependytes or melotes was ^a garment proper to monks, as the ascetical writers write about the ependytes in Rosweyde's Onomasticon, and in the Life of St. Pachomius: "Except for the sheepskins, which the women do not have, the entire form of their institution was proved to be similar to that of the monks."

[69] Third, it should be observed that this garment was customarily girded; so that ^a monk, says Cassian in chapter 2, might walk about "with his loins girded like ^a soldier of Christ." Thus Elijah and John the Baptist are said to have been bound with ^a leather girdle, according to St. Jerome in letter 8 to Demetrias and in his commentary on Matthew 3. St. Dorotheus, Instruction 1, On Renunciation, after listing the God-bearing Fathers of monks -- Antony, Pachomius, Macarius, and others -- says: "We have," A leather girdle. speaking of clothing, "a leather girdle around our loins. This is the sign that we should be girded and ready for any work as quickly as possible."

[70] These things concern the ordinary garments of St. Antony, to which he often added ^a cloak which he had received as ^a double gift from St. Athanasius: one, now worn at his death, was returned to him; with the other he wrapped the body of St. Paul. In the Life of St. Hilarion it is called ^a rough cloak, ^a pallium, and ^a small mantle, The pallium, or mafortes, which Cassian in chapter 7 calls ^a mafortes: "With ^a narrow small mantle," he says, "seeking both the humility of the covering, the cheapness of the cost, and the compactness, they cover the neck and shoulders equally, which are called mafortes in both our own and their language." But this gift of St. Athanasius was undoubtedly ^a broader and longer pallium, not unlike the upper cloaks of monks; and so Baronius, at the year of Christ 57, number 97, thinks the pallium gradually departed from the common use of the faithful and became the property of those professing the monastic life. In this pallium St. Antony lay dying, though otherwise, when giving his limbs to rest, he used ^a mat woven of rushes (which Pelagius calls ^a matta, book 5, book 8, number 1, in the Apophthegmata, number 7) and ^a haircloth (number 14). And Sozomenus, book 1, chapter 13: "He took sleep on ^a small mat, and not rarely lying on the ground, using the very earth as ^a bed." So St. Hilarion slept on the bare ground and ^a rush mat until death. The cell of St. Antony held no more space on each side than ^a sleeping man could stretch out, as St. Jerome attests in the life of St. Hilarion. So much for clothing.

[71] The manner of sustenance is described in the Life at number 18, with which these words of Sozomenus agree: Food: bread, salt, water; "His food was bread alone and salt; his drink was water; his mealtime was sunset. He often abstained from food for two days and more; indeed, even then his meal was very scanty." Below in the Apophthegmata, numbers 51 and 53, the old man, after ^a fast of five days, ate ^a single paximatum, or paximadium -- that is, ^a dry bread of six ounces, moistened with water. For in the Life, number 22, in the manner of the Thebans, he stored away bread for six months, since they last for ^a year without spoiling. But the prescribed refection for monks was of bread alone in two paximacia, which Cassian teaches are small loaves scarcely weighing one pound (Collation 2, chapter 19, and book 4 of the Institutes, chapter 14). And St. Antony, in Rufinus, book 2 of the Lives of the Fathers, chapter 31, commanded St. Paul the Simple to take food in the evening, but to take care never to eat to the point of satiety, and especially in drink, confirming that phantasms of the mind are produced no less by an abundance of water than the heat of the body increases from wine.

[72] And this dry eating was called by them xerophagia; another was homophagia, when they ate raw and uncooked vegetables moistened with water and seasoned with salt; for xeros means "dry" and omos "raw." Thus at number 67 he cultivated ^a garden, so that arriving guests might be refreshed with some comfort. Raw vegetables counted as delicacies. Cassian asserts in book 4 of the Institutes, chapter 11, that it was counted ^a delicacy for them if an herb seasoned with salt, which they call lapsanium, diluted with water, was set before the Brothers at the meal: "Which in this province (Gaul) neither the temperature of the air nor the quality of our frailty permits." And treating of the monasteries in chapter 24: "Nor is such great care expended among them," he says, "on the preparation or cooking of food, since they mostly use xerophagia or homophagia, and among them cut leek leaves, lapsanium, roasted salt, olives, and tiny salted fish which they call moenidia, served monthly, are the greatest luxury." Therefore St. Antony wished to send Paul the Simple away to the monastery in the Apophthegmata, number 51, where the Brothers could bear his weakness; and at number 46, when in the monastery, he orders lentils prepared for guests -- for which food, or red pottage, Esau sold his birthright (Genesis 25:34). The Lives of Saints Hilarion and Pachomius may be read, and Cassian, book 4 of the Institutes, from chapter 17 to 23.

[73] There remains his daily exercise. His disciples, showing the individual places to St. Hilarion after his death, said: "Here he was accustomed to sing psalms, Manual labor with psalms or conferences. here to pray, here to work, here, when tired, to sit. These vines, these little trees he himself planted; that little garden plot he himself arranged with his own hands." So says St. Jerome in the life of St. Hilarion. First, as regards the psalms, Cassian says in book 2 of the Institutes, chapter 4: "Throughout all Egypt and the Thebaid the number of twelve psalms is observed both in the evening and in the nocturnal solemnities, with this provision only: that after them two lessons follow, one from the Old and one from the New Testament. This mode, established in antiquity (long before St. Antony, as the following chapter shows), has therefore continued inviolate through so many centuries in all the monasteries of those regions until now; because it is affirmed by the elders to have been established not by human invention but to have been delivered from heaven to the Fathers by the instruction of an Angel" -- which he soon explains. In this manner St. Antony in the Apophthegmata, number 53, sang ^a psalm with Paul the Simple which he knew; and when he had sung it twelve times, he prayed twelve times -- this in the evening. And at midnight he roused him for prayer, etc., about which we say more in the Apophthegmata, number 26; and that it should not be omitted even during work, number 27; and in the Life, number 7; and Cassian in all of books 2 and 3, where these words are read in chapter 2: "Among them, those offices which we are compelled to pay to the Lord at the reminder of ^a summoner, by the division of the Hours (which he calls Terce, Sext, and None in chapter 3) and intervals of time, are celebrated voluntarily throughout the whole space of the day with the addition of manual work. For manual labor is practiced by them unceasingly in private throughout the cells, so that the meditation of psalms and other Scriptures is also never entirely omitted. Mingling prayers and orations at every moment with these, they spend the entire time of the day in the Offices which we celebrate at stated times. Wherefore, apart from the evening and nocturnal assemblies, there is no public solemnity among them except on Saturday or Sunday, on which days they gather at the third hour for the purpose of the sacred Communion." That both the Saturday and Sunday were accustomed to be observed as feast days is taught by Clement, book 6 of the Constitutions, chapter 24; Socrates, book 6, chapter 8; and Cassian throughout. On other days, private meditation succeeded the nocturnal solemnity, which they carried out with the addition of manual work, as Cassian testifies in book 2, chapters 13 and 14, "lest sleep be able to creep upon the idle. For just as almost no time of leisure is excepted by them, so neither is an end set to spiritual meditation." Conferences were also often held during work. Thus St. Antony and St. Macarius the Egyptian, "sitting from evening and conversing about the profit of souls, made ^a plait from palm branches," as was said in section 6 and will be said below about St. Antony in the Apophthegmata, number 27. St. Hilarion, "weaving baskets of rushes, emulated the discipline of the Egyptian monks." And Saints Palemon and Pachomius "wove haircloth and labored with their own hands to give to the poor," as above on January 11, number 4 -- which St. Antony teaches at greater length in chapter 1 of the Apophthegmata should be done, and is said to have done in the Life, number 7.

LIFE

BY ST. ATHANASIUS THE BISHOP.

Antony the Great, Abbot in the Thebaid (Saint).

BHL Number: 0609

By St. Athanasius.

PROLOGUE OF EVAGRIUS THE TRANSLATOR.

The Priest Evagrius, to Innocentius, his dearest son in the Lord, greetings.

A translation expressed word for word from one language into another covers over the sense and, like ^a lush overgrowth, strangles what has been sown. For while the discourse serves the cases and figures of speech, what could have been indicated in ^a brief expression it scarcely unfolds when circled round by ^a long circumlocution. Avoiding this, therefore, I have transposed the Life of Blessed Antony, at your request, in such ^a way that nothing is lacking in sense, though something may be lacking in words. Let others hunt for syllables and letters; you seek the meaning.

PROLOGUE OF THE AUTHOR.

[1] Athanasius the Bishop, to the foreign Brothers.

You have entered upon an excellent contest, Brothers, striving either to equal the monks of Egypt or to surpass them by your perseverance in virtue. The purpose of writing the Life of Antony: For already among you there are very many monasteries, and the name of monks is also celebrated; and anyone would rightly marvel at this resolve of yours; and to you who pray, God will grant the desired result. Since therefore you have demanded of me that I write to you concerning the manner of life of Blessed Antony, wishing to learn how he began, what sort of man he was before the holy purpose, and what end his life had, and whether the things which report has spread about him are true, so that you may be able to establish yourselves in emulation and imitation of him, I have received the command of your charity with great joy. For it is ^a great profit and benefit to me myself, this very thing, that I remember Antony; The way to virtue: and I know that you, hearing with admiration, will desire to follow his purpose; for the perfect way to virtue is to know who Antony was.

[2] Therefore, to speak briefly, both believe all those things which the report of those who relate them has spread abroad, and consider that you have heard the least of the greatest; for I do not doubt that even they could not know all things, since I too, asked by you, however much I shall indicate by letter, will not narrate things equal to his merits. But you also, all of you who sail from here, inquire diligently, so that when each one relates what he knows, ^a fitting and worthy account of so great ^a name may be completed. I was therefore planning, after reading your letters, to invite some monks to come to me, and especially those who were accustomed to visit him frequently, so that having learned something more fully, I might transmit greater gifts to you. But since the season for navigation was passing It is careful and reliable. and the bearer of the letters was hastening most urgently, therefore I have hastened to indicate to your love those things which I myself knew (for I frequently visited him) and those which I learned from him who spent no small time with him in order to provide him water, having care for truth in both respects: so that no one, hearing too much, might not believe the accumulation of miracles, nor again, learning things inferior to his merits, might think that so great ^a man was not worthy of admiration.

CHAPTER I.

The pious upbringing of St. Antony. The anchoretic life.

[3] Antony, born of noble and religious parents, was ^a native of Egypt, raised with such care by his own family Of noble birth, that he knew nothing else beyond his parents and home. And when he was still ^a boy, he did not allow himself to be instructed in letters, nor did he join in the foolish tales of children; but burning with desire for God, as it is written, he dwelt innocently at home. Genesis 25:27. Coming often to church with his parents, he followed neither the wantonness of infants nor the negligence of boys, Piously raised, but only listening to what was read, he preserved the benefit of the precepts in the manner of his life. Nor was he ever ^a burden to his family, as is usual at that age, for varied and delicate foods; nor did he seek the enticements of softer fare: content with what was given him alone, he sought nothing more.

[4] After the death of his parents, left with ^a very small sister at about eighteen or twenty years of age, he took honorable care of both the house and his sister. Before six months had passed, going to the church (as was his custom), Frequent in church, he remembered how the Apostles, having spurned all things, had followed the Savior, and how many, as is read in the Acts of the Apostles, having sold their possessions, brought the proceeds to their feet to be distributed to the needy, and what and how great ^a hope was stored up for them in heaven. Acts 4:35. Turning such things over in his mind, he entered the church, An attentive hearer: and it happened that the Gospel was then being read in which the Lord says to the rich man: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and come, follow me, and you shall have treasure in heaven." Matthew 19:21. Hearing this, as if he had divinely conceived such ^a thought in memory before, and as if this Scripture had been recited for his sake, he drew the Lord's command to himself. Returning immediately, he sold the possessions he had. He had three hundred arurai of fertile and very good land, He sells his possessions, which he gave to his neighbors, so that no trouble would arise for either himself or his sister from them. The rest of his movable property he sold entirely, and having collected no small price, gave it to the needy, reserving ^a few things, however, on account of his sister, who seemed weaker both in sex and in age.

[5] Entering the church again, when he heard the Lord saying in the Gospel, "Take no thought for the morrow," he distributed the remaining portion also to the poor, and did not allow himself to remain at home, but commending his sister to faithful and well-known Virgins, to be raised by their example, He renounces the world; he himself, now free from all the bonds of the world, seized upon the harsh and arduous discipline. Matthew 6:34.

[6] Monasteries were not yet so numerous in Egypt, nor did anyone at all know the remote wilderness. He withdraws ^a little from home: But whoever wished to benefit himself in the service of Christ was trained not far from his own little estate. There was therefore in ^a neighboring field ^a certain old man who had followed the solitary life from his earliest years. When Antony saw him, he emulated him for the good. And at first, beginning himself also, he remained in places somewhat removed from the village; then, He imitates the better ones: if he learned of anyone who was vigilant in this pursuit, he went forth and sought him like ^a most prudent bee: nor did he return to his own dwelling before he had enjoyed the sight of the one he desired; and so, as if having received ^a gift of honey, he would go back to his own place.

[7] Trained there in such ^a beginning, when he strengthened his mind day by day so that he remembered neither his father's wealth nor his own relatives, He works with his hands: and exercised all his desire and solicitude toward what he had begun, he worked with his own hands, knowing it is written: "He who does not work shall not eat." 2 Thessalonians 3:10. The wages of his work, however,

excepting the price of bread, he bestowed upon the needy. He prayed frequently, since he had learned that one ought to pray to the Lord without ceasing. He also applied such zeal to the hearing of the Scriptures He devotes himself to prayer and the Scriptures: that nothing slipped from his mind, but, keeping all the commandments of the Lord, he had his memory in place of books.

[8] Living thus, he was loved by all the Brothers with ^a pure affection; and being obedient to all those to whom he went for the sake of learning, he drew from each one his particular graces. He reproduces the virtues of others, He pursued the continence of this one, the pleasantness of that one; he emulated the gentleness of one, the watchfulness of another, the reading industry of yet another; he admired one for fasting, another for sleeping on the ground; he praised the patience of one, the meekness of another. Retaining also the mutual love of all toward himself, and watered with all the parts of virtue, he would return to his own dwelling. There, turning over all things within himself, he strove to reproduce in himself the good qualities of all. And to surpass them. Nor was he ever moved against those of his own age, but only this flame grew in the breast of that excellent man: that he should not be found second to anyone in the aforementioned works. And he did this in such ^a way that while he surpassed all in glory, he was nevertheless dear to all. For the neighbors and the monks to whom he often came, seeing Antony, called him God's beloved, Called God's beloved. and with the affectionate names of nature, some loved him as ^a son, others as ^a brother.

CHAPTER II.

The first victory over the devil. Strict abstinence.

[9] He is beset by diabolical snares: While Antony was doing these things, by which he drew the affection of all toward himself, the devil, the enemy of the Christian name, bearing impatiently such great virtues in ^a young man, attacked him with his veteran wiles. And first indeed, testing whether he might in any way draw him away from the discipline he had undertaken, he cast into his mind the memory of his possessions, the protection of his sister, the nobility of his birth, the love of things, the fleeting glory of the world, the varied pleasure of food, and the other blandishments of ^a more relaxed life. Finally he suggested to him the steep end of virtue and the great labor of attaining it, as well as the frailty of the body and the long spans of time; in short, he stirred up in him the greatest fog of thoughts, wishing to call him back from his purpose.

[10] He overcomes them by prayer, After the devil understood that he was being crushed by Antony's prayers to God through faith in the Passion, seizing the customary weapons against all young men, he disturbed him with nocturnal allurements. And first at night he tried to harass him with ^a hostile multitude, horrible fear, and terrifying noises. By day also he assailed him with such open weapons that no one doubted that Antony was fighting against the devil. For the devil tried to insinuate foul thoughts, and Antony removed them by constant prayer. The devil titillated his senses with the natural heat of the flesh; Antony fortified his entire body with faith, With vigils, fastings, vigils, and fasting. The devil by night transformed himself into the adornment of ^a beautiful woman, omitting no figment of wantonness; Antony, remembering the avenging flames of hell and the pain of worms, opposed the lust that was thrust upon him. The devil set before him the slippery path of youth And remembrance of the last things. and how easily one falls; Antony, considering the eternal torments of the future judgment, preserved the integrity of his soul's purity through temptations. All these things, moreover, worked to the confusion of the devil; for he who thought he could make himself equal to God was now mocked by ^a young man as the most wretched being; and he who raged against flesh and blood was struck down by ^a man who bore flesh. For the Lord helped His servant -- He who, assuming flesh for our sake, bestowed upon the body victory against the devil -- so that to each one fighting thus it is permitted to bring forth the Apostolic word: "Not I, but the grace of God which is with me." 1 Corinthians 15:57.

[11] Finally, when the most foul dragon could not destroy Antony even by this stratagem, and saw himself always repelled by his thoughts, as it is written, gnashing his teeth and wailing, he fittingly appeared as he truly was: ^a horrible and black boy, who, throwing himself at his knees, wept in ^a human voice, saying: He sees the spirit of fornication in ^a hideous form: "I have seduced many, I have deceived very many; but now, as by other Saints, so also by your effort I have been overcome." Mark 9:18. When Antony asked who he was who spoke such things, he said: "I am the friend of fornication; I have taken up manifold weapons of filth against all young men; and therefore I am called the spirit of fornication. How many who had resolved to live chastely have I deceived! How many who had made ^a modest beginning have I persuaded to return to their former impurities! Hosea 4:12. I am the one on whose account the Prophet rebukes the fallen, saying, 'You have been seduced by the spirit of fornication'; and truly it was through me that they too were tripped up. I am the one who often tempted you yourself, and was always repelled."

[12] When the soldier of Christ had heard this, giving thanks to God and emboldened with greater daring against the enemy, he said: "You are therefore very contemptible and very despicable; for both your darkness and your age are signs of feeble things. I have no care for you any longer. He drives him away by pious psalmody. The Lord is my helper, and I shall exult over my enemies." And immediately at the voice of the one singing, the phantom that was seen vanished. This was the first victory of Antony against the devil -- or rather the power of the Savior in Antony, who condemned sin in the flesh, so that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

[13] But neither did this one triumph give Antony security, nor did the forces of the devil, once broken, fail him. For the devil, like ^a roaring lion, sought an entrance through which he might burst in; and Antony, taught by the words of Scripture that the snares of demons are many, guarded his purpose with diligent labor, Tenacious of his holy purpose, considering that Satan, having been overcome in the conflict of the flesh, might more fiercely set in motion the engines of new arts against him. Ephesians 6:11. Therefore he more and more subjugated his body, lest being ^a conqueror of others, he should be conquered in other matters. Determining therefore to bind himself with ^a harsher rule of life, while all marveled at the tireless perseverance of the young man, he patiently bore the holy labor, because the long application of voluntary servitude in the work of God had turned habit into nature.

[14] He was so patient of fasting and vigils He mortifies his body with fasting, vigils, that he conquered incredulity by his powers. He spent the night in prayer very frequently; he ate once ^a day after sunset, sometimes remaining thus for two or three days, and finally taking refreshment on the fourth day. He took bread and salt, and ^a very small amount of water to drink. Of meat and wine I think it better to be silent With scanty fare, than to say anything, since among most monks no such thing is found. When giving his limbs to rest, he used ^a mat woven of rushes and ^a haircloth. On ^a hard bed. Sometimes he even lay upon the bare ground, utterly rejecting ointments, saying that the bodies of those who use them, and especially of the young, could hardly be strengthened if they were softened by the mildness of oil; rather, harsh labors should be imposed upon the flesh, according to the precept of the Apostle who says: "When I am weak, then I am stronger." 2 Corinthians 12:10. And he maintained that the sense of the mind can be revived when the impulse of the body has been wearied.

[15] He weighs merits not by time but by love, Hence he did not measure the merits of his labors by the length of time, but always, as if standing at the very beginning, with voluntary love and service he stirred up his desire for the advancement of divine fear. And wishing to be augmented with new things beyond what was past, he remembered the words of the aforementioned Teacher who says: "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead." Philippians 3:14. He also remembered the words of the prophet Elijah: "The Lord lives, before whom I stand today"; and he discussed why "today" had been added -- because Elijah did not count the past time, After the example of Elijah. but as if placed daily in the contest, he desired to show himself such as he knew to be worthy of God's sight: pure in heart and ready to obey His will. 3 Kings 18:16.

CHAPTER III.

Withdrawal to ^a tomb. The various attacks of demons.

[16] He dwells among the tombs: Therefore St. Antony, reflecting with himself that it behooved ^a servant of God to take his example from the discipline of the great Elijah and to compose his life according to that mirror, withdrew to tombs situated not far from the village, commanding one of his acquaintances to bring him food at appointed days. And when the aforesaid Brother had shut him in ^a tomb, he remained there alone. The devil, therefore, fearing lest with the passage of time he might cause even the desert to be inhabited, so lacerated him with his assembled satellites and various blows He is beaten by demons. that the magnitude of the pain took away both motion and speech. For he himself afterward often used to relate that the wounds had been so severe that they surpassed all the torments of men; but the providence of God, which never fails those who hope in Him, preserved him.

[17] On the next day the Brother whom we mentioned above came bringing the customary food, Half-dead, he is carried to the village. and finding him lying on the ground half-dead, the doors having been broken open, he placed him on his shoulders and carried him back to the dwelling of the little village. When this was heard, ^a great multitude of neighbors and relatives rushed together and performed the sad office of ^a funeral over the body placed in their midst. And when the greater part of midnight had passed, ^a heavy sleep had conquered the watchful eyes of all. Then Antony, with his soul returning ^a little, sighed and lifted his head; and when the rest were prostrate in deep sleep, he saw that the one who had carried him was awake. Summoning him by ^a nod, he begged him that, without waking anyone at all, he would carry him back to his former habitation.

[18] Carried back, he taunts the demons. Carried back, therefore, he remained alone again as was his custom; and indeed he could not stand on account of his recent wounds, but praying prostrate, after his prayer he said in ^a loud voice: "Behold, here I am, Antony. I do not flee your battles; even if you do greater things, nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ." And he sang, saying: "If armies should stand against me, my heart shall not fear." As he said such things, the devil, the enemy of the good, marveling that after so many blows he had dared to return, gathering his dogs and rending himself with his own fury, said: "You see that he was conquered neither by the spirit of fornication nor by bodily pains, and moreover he boldly provokes us. Seize all weapons: he must be attacked more fiercely by us. Let him feel, let him feel. He ought to know whom he provokes." He spoke, and at the voice of the exhorter the crowd of hearers agreed, for the devil has innumerable arts of harming. A sudden noise therefore crashed Their various terrors. so that the place was shaken to its very foundations, the walls were opened, and ^a manifold horde of demons poured forth from there. For putting on the forms of beasts and serpents, they immediately filled the entire place with phantasms of lions, bulls, wolves, asps, serpents, scorpions, and also leopards and bears. And each of these roared according to its own nature: the lion roared, wanting to kill; the bull threatened with bellowing and horns; the serpent resounded with its hissing; the charges of wolves were hurled; the leopard, with its multicolored back, indicated the various cunning of its master. The fierce faces of all, and the dire sound of their horrible voice.

[19] Antony, scourged and pierced, felt indeed sharper pains of the body, but remained undaunted with ^a watchful mind. And although the wounds of his flesh drew forth groans, nevertheless remaining the same in his senses, as if mocking his enemies, he spoke: "If you had any strength, one would suffice for the battle; but since the Lord has broken and enervated you, you try to strike fear by your multitude, when this very thing is an indication of weakness -- that you have put on the forms of irrational beasts." He overcomes them with the sign of the Cross. Again, with confidence, he said: "If you can do anything, if the Lord has given you power over me, behold, I am ready: devour what has been granted. But if you cannot, why do you strive in vain? For the sign of the Cross and faith in the Lord is an impregnable wall for us." They threatened much against St. Antony and gnashed their teeth, because none of their temptations achieved their effect, but on the contrary they were made ^a mockery.

[20] Jesus, not forgetful of the struggle of His servant, became his protector. At length, when he raised his eyes, He is refreshed by ^a heavenly vision: he saw the roof opening from above, and with the darkness drawn back, ^a beam of light flowing in upon him. After the arrival of this splendor, not ^a single demon appeared, and the pain of his body was instantly wiped away. The building also, which ^a little before had been demolished, was restored. Immediately Antony understood the presence of the Lord, and drawing long sighs from the depths of his breast, spoke to the light that had appeared to him, saying: "Where were you, good Jesus? Where were you? Why were you not present from the beginning to heal my wounds?" And ^a voice came to him saying: "Antony, I was here; but I was waiting to see your contest. Now, because by fighting manfully you did not yield, I shall always help you and I shall cause you to be named in all the world." Hearing these things, he rose and prayed, so strengthened Then aged 35. that he understood he had received more power than he had lost before. Antony was then thirty-five years old.

CHAPTER IV.

Withdrawal into the desert. Miracles. Monasteries built.

[21] Thereupon, as religious merits grew along with his ready will, going to the aforesaid old man he begged that they might dwell together in the desert. He seeks the desert. When the old man excused himself on account of his advanced age and the novelty of the undertaking, Antony alone made for the mountain, and breaking through fear, attempted to open the way to the desert, still unknown to monks. But not even then did the tireless adversary cease; He is tempted by ^a silver disc placed in his path: for, wishing to impede his purpose, he threw ^a silver disc in his path. Seeing it, Antony recognized the cunning of the crafty artificer; and standing undaunted, gazing at the disc with fierce eyes, he rebuked the author of the deceit in the phantom of silver, reasoning thus with himself: "Whence comes ^a disc in the desert? This is ^a path for birds; there are no footprints of travelers. Having fallen from ^a pack, it could not have escaped notice on account of its size; and whoever had lost it would have returned and, on account of the solitude of the place, would surely have found what had fallen. This is your trick, devil; you shall not impede my will. Your silver be with you in perdition." As he said these things, the disc vanished like smoke from before fire.

[22] After this, not in ^a phantom as before, but an enormous mass of gold lying in the road he beheld. Whether the devil simulated this, or heavenly power displayed it to test Antony -- that he could not be ensnared even by true riches -- is unknown; we know this, however, that what was seen was gold. But he, He flees at the sight of gold to the mountain: marveling at the size of the gleaming metal, fled with ^a rapid course, as if avoiding some conflagration, all the way to the mountain. There, having crossed the river, he found ^a deserted fortress, full (on account of time and solitude) of venomous animals, in which he established himself as ^a new inhabitant. Immediately at his arrival ^a great throng of serpents, as if suffering ^a persecutor, fled. He, having blocked the entrance with stones, He dwells alone in ^a deserted fortress. storing away with him bread for six months, as is the custom of the Thebans (for they often last for ^a year without spoiling), and also having ^a small supply of water, remained in solitude: never going out from there, never receiving anyone, to such an extent that although twice ^a year he received bread from above through the roof, he had no conversation with those who brought it.

[23] When therefore many, from desire to see him and eagerness to seek him out, spent the night before his door, voices were heard as of ^a mob against Antony, and the clamor of those saying: He is harassed by demons: "Why do you thrust yourself into our dwelling places? What have you to do with the desert? Depart from territory not your own; you cannot dwell here, you cannot endure our ambushes." And at first those who were outside thought that some men had entered by placing ladders and were quarreling inside. But when, peering through the crevices, they saw no one, they understood that demons were contending against him; and terrified with extreme fear, they begged for Antony's help. He, approaching the door to console the Brothers, begged them not to fear and to depart from there; and to those who were trembling, he affirmed that all the terror was inflicted by demons: "Sign yourselves," he said, "and depart in safety, and leave them to delude themselves." He remains undaunted. So while they returned, he remained unharmed, nor was he ever wearied in the contest. The increase in the progress of those who came, and the weakness of those who resisted, added the greatest relief to his effort and suggested constancy to his mind. And when crowds came again to the desert, thinking they would find him dead, he sang within: "Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee before His face. As smoke vanishes, let them vanish; as wax melts before the fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God." And again: "All nations surrounded me, and in the name of the Lord I took vengeance upon them." For twenty years. Thus Antony, having spent twenty years in solitude and separated from the sight of men, endured.

[24] When therefore ^a multitude of those desiring to imitate his purpose, as well as of acquaintances, came running to him, and also an infinite throng of the sick gathered together, at last, when the doors had been almost forcibly torn open, Compelled to come forth, he appeared as if consecrated from some heavenly sanctuary. All were astonished at the grace of his face and the dignity of his body: that it had not swollen from rest, nor had emaciation and pallor from fasting and the conflict with demons taken possession of him; but on the contrary, as if no time had passed, the former beauty of his limbs persevered. What ^a great miracle! With the same beauty of body. What purity of mind was in that man! He was never dissolved into laughter by excessive mirth; he never contracted his face with sadness at the remembrance of sin; he was not elated by the great praises of those who marveled at him. Nothing unseemly had solitude, nothing harsh had the daily battles with enemies, conferred upon him; but his temperate mind was carried with an equal balance toward all things.

[25] He cures demoniacs and the infirm. Very many therefore were liberated from unclean spirits and various infirmities, by the grace of God through Antony. His discourse, seasoned with salt, consoled the sad, taught the ignorant, reconciled the angry, persuading all that nothing should be preferred to the love of Christ. He set before their eyes the greatness of future goods, and recounted the clemency of God and the benefits He had bestowed -- that God had not spared His own Son but had delivered Him up for the salvation of us all. Without delay, He converts many to the eremitical life. this discourse of his persuaded the hearts of many hearers to contempt of human affairs, and this was the beginning of his inhabiting the desert.

[26] What was also done in the town of the Arsinoites I shall not pass over in silence. For when he wished to visit the Brothers, and it was necessary to wade across ^a channel of the river Nile which was full of crocodiles and many fierce river beasts, He crosses through the crocodiles unharmed. he crossed with his companions as unharmed as he returned safe and sound. Again persevering in his former labors, he strengthened many Brothers by his teaching, so that in ^a short time very many monasteries were built. He builds monasteries. He governed the new and the old monks with paternal affection, according to their age and time.

on ^a great island, next to which is ^a canal on the right toward Libya through the Arsinoite Nome, so that the canal has two mouths, since ^a part of the island lies between them." Consult the ancient map of Egypt by Ortelius and what we said in section 1.

CHAPTER V.

Exhortation to fervor of spirit.

[27] On ^a certain day, when St. Antony was asked by the assembled Brothers to bestow instructive precepts upon them, raising his voice with prophetic confidence, he said: "For all the discipline of the commandments, the Scriptures can suffice; but it would also be excellent if the Brothers would console one another with mutual discourse. Useful conference. You therefore," he said, "tell me as ^a Father what you know; and I shall indicate to you as children what I have learned through ^a long life."

[28] "Let this be the first commandment common to all: that no one grow weary in the vigor of the purpose he has undertaken, Spiritual fervor must be nourished, but as one beginning, he should always increase what he has commenced, especially since the spans of human life, compared with eternity, are most brief and small." Having begun thus, he was silent for ^a little while; and marveling at the exceeding generosity of God, 1. Because life is short, the reward eternal: he again added, saying: "In this present life, commerce is of equal exchange for goods, and the seller does not receive more from the buyer. But the promise of eternal life is purchased at ^a cheap price. Psalm 89:10. For it is written: 'The days of our life are seventy years; and if we are strong, eighty; and what is beyond is labor and pain.' When therefore, having labored for eighty or, at most, ^a hundred years, we shall have lived in the work of God, we shall not reign for an equal time in the future; but in place of the said years, the kingdoms of all ages will be granted to us. We shall not inherit the earth, but heaven; and leaving behind the corruptible body, we shall receive it back with incorruption. Therefore, little children, let neither weariness exhaust you nor the ambition of vain glory delight you: 'For the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to come, which shall be revealed in us.'"

[29] "Let no one, when he has despised the world, think that he has left behind great things; for all the earth, compared to the infinity of the heavens, is brief and small. If therefore, even by renouncing the entire world, we cannot offer anything worthy in exchange for the heavenly dwellings, let each one consider and immediately understand that, having despised small fields and walls or ^a modest portion of gold, he ought neither to boast as if he had given up great things, nor be wearied as if he were to receive small things. 2. Little things are left behind, immense things are received: For as someone scorns one bronze drachma in order to acquire ^a hundred golden ones, so also he who has relinquished the dominion of the entire world will receive ^a hundredfold of better rewards in the lofty seat. Above all, we ought to perceive this: that even if we wished to retain our riches, we would be torn from them by the law of death against our will, as it is written in the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 2:18. Why then do we not make ^a virtue of necessity? Why do we not voluntarily leave behind what is to be lost at the end of this light, in order to gain the heavenly kingdoms? Let Christians care for none of those things which they cannot take with them; rather we ought to seek what leads us to heaven: namely, wisdom, chastity, justice, virtue, ^a vigilant mind, care for the poor, ^a robust faith in Christ, ^a mind that conquers anger, and hospitality. John 14:2. Pursuing these, we shall, according to the Gospel, prepare for ourselves ^a dwelling in the land of the peaceful."

[30] "Let us consider that we are servants of the Lord and that we owe service to Him 3. Because we are servants of God. by whom we were created. Just as ^a servant, on account of past service, does not despise the present or future command, nor dares to assert that from his past labor he should have freedom from the present work, but with constant zeal (as it is written in the Gospel) always renders the same service, both so as to please his lord and lest he earn fear and blows; so it is fitting that we too obey the divine commandments, knowing that that just rewarder will judge each one according to the state in which He finds him, as He testifies through the prophetic voice of Ezekiel. Matthew 24:46. Luke 12:37. For the unhappy Judas, on account of the impiety of ^a single night, was deprived of all the labor of his past time. Therefore the continuous rigor of our discipline must be maintained, with God as our helper, as it is written: 'Because God cooperates with everyone who proposes the good.' Romans 8:28."

[31] "Moreover, to trample upon sloth, let us recall the precepts of the Apostle, who testified that he died daily; similarly, let us too, reflecting on the uncertain life of the human condition, not sin. 1 Corinthians 15:31. For when, awakened from sleep, we are uncertain whether we shall reach evening, 4. Because the hour of death is uncertain. and when, giving our bodies to rest, we are not confident of the coming of light, and everywhere mindful of the uncertain nature of our life, we understand that we are governed by the providence of God -- in this way we shall not transgress, nor shall we be swept away by any fragile desire; we shall not even be angry against anyone, nor shall we strive to accumulate earthly treasures. Rather, with the daily fear of departure and the constant meditation on the separation of the body, we shall trample all transitory things. The love of women will cease, the fire of lust will be extinguished, we shall forgive one another our debts, always having before our eyes the coming of the final retribution; because the greater dread of judgment and the horrible fear of punishments at once dissolve the enticements of the slippery flesh and sustain the falling soul as from ^a cliff. Therefore I beseech you to strive with all effort toward the end of your purpose. Let no one, looking behind, imitate the wife of Lot, especially since the Lord has said that no one putting his hand to the plow and looking back is worthy of the kingdom of heaven. Luke 9:62. To look back is nothing other than to repent of what one has begun and to be bound again by worldly desires."

[32] "Do not, I beg you, fear the name of virtue as something impossible, nor let this pursuit seem to you foreign or distant, 5. Because virtue is easy and accessible. since it depends on our own choice. This work has been implanted in human nature, and it is ^a thing that only awaits our will. Let the Greeks pursue studies overseas and seek teachers of empty letters established in ^a foreign land; for us there is no need to travel, no need to cross the seas. The kingdoms of heaven are established in every place on earth. Whence the Lord also says in the Gospel: 'The kingdom of God is within you.' Luke 17:21. The virtue that is in us requires only the human mind. For who can doubt that the natural purity of the soul, if it has not been polluted by any external filth, is the fountain and origin of all virtues? The good Author must have created it good. And if perhaps we hesitate, let us hear Jesus son of Nave saying to the people: 'Make your heart right toward the Lord God of Israel.' Joshua 24:23. Nor did John deliver ^a discordant opinion concerning virtue, preaching: 'Make his paths straight.' Matthew 3:3. For the soul is straight when its ruling integrity is stained by no taint of vices; if it has changed its nature, then it is called perverse; let its condition be preserved, and virtue is the result. The Lord has entrusted our soul to us; let us guard the deposit as we received it. No one can complain of what is externally situated, when what is born in himself is the issue; let the Maker recognize His own handiwork; let Him find His own work as He created it. The natural adornment is sufficient for us: do not, O man, disfigure what divine bounty has granted you. To wish to change the works of God is to pollute them."

[36] especially against monks and sacred Virgins; Their hatred against all Christians is hostile, but especially against monks and Virgins of Christ. They set snares before their paths, and strive to overthrow their minds with impious and obscene thoughts. But let nothing of this strike terror into you: for by the prayers and fasts of the faithful offered to the Lord, they immediately collapse; nor, even if they should pause for ^a little while, should you think the victory complete. to be overcome by prayer, fasting, They are accustomed, even when wounded, to rise up more fiercely, and changing their manner of combat, when they have accomplished nothing through thoughts, they terrify with apparitions, assuming now the forms of women, now of beasts, now of serpents, and also certain enormous bodies with heads stretching up to the roof of the house, and countless shapes and throngs of soldiers. All of which vanish at the first sign of the Cross. When even these modes of deception have been recognized, they begin to make prophecies, by the sign of the Cross, and to wish to predict the events of future days. And when they have been despised in these things as well, they then summon the very prince of their wickedness and the summit of all evil by contempt. to the aid of their struggle.

[37] Frequently indeed Antonius asserted that he had seen the devil in such ^a form as Blessed Job had also come to know, by the Lord's revelation. Job 41:9, 10, 11. His eyes were like the appearance of the morning star, Seen by Saint Antonius in horrible form. from his mouth proceeded burning torches. His hair was scattered with fires, and from his nostrils issued forth smoke, as from the heat of ^a blazing furnace of coals. His breath was like live coals, and flame was gathered from his mouth. With terrors of this kind the prince of demons appeared, said Antonius, and often making great promises, as I have said, he raged with the boastful tongue of his impiety, over which the Lord triumphed, saying to Job: "For he regards iron as straw, bronze as rotten wood, the seas as dry land, and he esteemed the pit of the deep as his captive, the abyss as ^a promenade." Ibid. 18, 22 and 23. Through the Prophet also he rebukes, saying: "Pursuing I will overtake, and I will seize the whole world in my hand like ^a nest, and I will carry off eggs left behind." Exodus 15:9. Isaiah 10:14. Thus the wicked one, vomiting forth his deadly words, frequently ensnares some who live well, Their promises and threats are to be spurned. but we ought neither to believe his promises nor to fear his threats: for he deceives frequently, and promises nothing true. For if he did not speak nothing but lies, how is it that, though he promises such and such infinite things, he was hooked like ^a dragon on the hook of the Cross by the Lord, and bound with ^a halter like ^a beast of burden, and like ^a fugitive slave bound with ^a ring, and having his lips pierced with ^a clasp, he is permitted to devour absolutely none of the faithful? Now the wretched one is caught like ^a sparrow, ensnared by Christ for sport; now he groans that his companions, like scorpions and serpents, are trampled beneath the heel of Christians. He who boasted that all the seas had been swallowed up by him, he who promised that the world was held in his hand, behold he is conquered by you, behold he cannot prevent me from arguing against him. The proud boasting with its empty words is to be utterly despised, little children: that brilliance with which he simulates light is not the splendor of true light; rather, it indicates the flames with which he is to burn. For departing more quickly than ^a word, he carries away with himself the images of his own punishments.

[38] The devices of demons for disturbing the Saints, They are also accustomed sometimes to appear chanting with melody, and -- an abomination! -- they even meditate upon the sacred words of the Scriptures with their impure mouths. For frequently when we are reading, they respond to our last words like an echo. They also rouse sleepers to pray, so as to rob them of ^a whole night's sleep: many also, while they transform themselves into the likeness of noble monks, they rebuke the monks, and impute to them the former sins of which they are conscious; but their reproofs are to be spurned, as are their admonitions to fast, and their deceitful suggestion of vigils. from affinity to virtues. For this reason they assume forms familiar to us, so that by the affinity to virtues they may more easily introduce their poison through ^a harmful door, and may destroy the innocent through an appearance of uprightness. Afterward they declare this pursuit to be impossible and harsh, so that when what has been undertaken seems burdensome, weariness may follow from despair, and sloth from weariness.

Therefore the Prophet, sent by the Lord, denouncing sorrowful things, said with ^a lofty voice: "Woe to him who gives his neighbor drink with turbid overthrow." Habakkuk 2:15. For exhortations of this kind are distortions of the path that leads to heaven.

[39] Therefore when the Lord had come to earth, and the demons unwillingly proclaimed truths about him (for they truly said: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"), he closed the mouths of those who cried out, he who loosed the bound tongues of men, lest they mingle the poison of perversity with the proclamation of truth: Nor are they to be believed even when speaking truth. and so that we, by his example, even if they should urge what is beneficial, should in no way give them our assent: because it is indeed not fitting that we, after the liberty granted by the Lord and the life-giving precepts of the Scriptures, should take counsel for living from the devil, who, forsaking his own order, profaned the sacred command of Christ. Matthew 8:29. Mark 1:25. Luke 4:34. For this reason also the Lord commanded him to be silent when he spoke from the Scriptures, because God says to the sinner: "Why do you declare my statutes, and take up my covenant through your mouth?" Psalm 49:16. The demons simulate all things; they converse often with the Brethren, often they stir up discordant noises among the crowd, they seize hands, they hiss, they laugh foolishly, so that they may enter ^a Christian heart even at ^a single point of sin. And when they have been repulsed by all, at last they attest their weakness with lamentation. And the Lord indeed, as God and conscious of his own majesty, commanded them to be silent: but we, clinging to the footsteps of the Saints, should walk the same path, who, perceiving the aforementioned deceits more keenly, sang: "When the sinner stood against me, I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good things." Psalm 38:2 and 3. And again: "But I, truly as ^a deaf man, heard not, and as ^a mute not opening his mouth: and I was made as ^a man that hears not." Psalm 37:14 and 15. Christ commanded silence as Lord; let us believe nothing of the devil, and we shall conquer.

[40] If they compel us to pray, if they urge fasts, let us do so not from their admonitions, but from our own custom. And finally, even if they rush upon us, Nor should we fear, if they threaten death. and seem to threaten us with death, they should rather be laughed at than feared: for since they are weak, they threaten all things but accomplish nothing. Indeed I recall having already spoken about these things in passing, but now the same matters must be explained more fully, because repetition provides no small degree of caution.

a MSS. Ripat. and S. Maxim. fœdere.

b Let the innovators take note of this, who with Flacius Illyricus in the Catalogus testium veritatis lib. 2 do not hesitate to write that much is read about Antonius's struggles with Satan; Sign of the Cross. but nowhere about the Cross: whereas it is repeated at least twelve times. Or if, on the contrary, with Hospinianus, Scultetus, and the Centuriators cited above, they consider this writing insipid for that reason; let them remember that Saint Hilarion, instructed by Saint Antonius, as Saint Jerome attests, signed the Cross of Christ against the mockeries of demons; and drew three signs of the Cross in the sand; and the swelling sea stood still, etc. And Pachomius, fortifying his forehead with the sign of the Cross, blew upon the demon, and the demon was immediately put to flight.

c He alludes to that passage of Job 40:20: "Can you draw out Leviathan with ^a hook?" where in the Greek: Axes de drakonta en ankistrō? "Will you lead the dragon with ^a hook?"

d Ibid.: "Will you play with him as with ^a bird, or will you bind him for your handmaids?" Rosweyde treats both of these passages at greater length.

CHAPTER VII.

Further instructions on the weakness of demons.

[41] At the coming of the Lord the enemy was destroyed, and all his strength utterly languished. On which account, mindful of his former power, Their strength weakened by the coming of Christ. like ^a tyrant now growing old, seeing that he has fallen, he rages for the destruction of mankind: yet he cannot pervert ^a heart firm in God by the art of thoughts and other deceits. For it is clearer than light that our adversaries, since they are not enclosed in human flesh, so that they might plead that they are unable to overcome us because they cannot enter through ^a closed door -- and indeed if they had been bound in this fragile body, they would be denied access when the entrance was barred. But since (as we have said) they are free from this impediment, and penetrate what is closed, and fly at liberty through all the air, it is manifest that because of their enervation, the body of the Church remains unharmed. Indeed the impious satellites with their prince the devil, whom the Savior in the Gospel affirms to have been ^a murderer and the father of malice from the beginning, would in no way have yielded to us fighting bravely against them, if their power had not been taken away. John 8:14.

[42] For if I lie, why do you spare us, Satan, who run about everywhere? Why can you, who are confined by no place, not shake the constancy of those who live well and argue against you? Saint Antonius taunts them with reproaches. But perhaps you love us, whom you daily strive to overwhelm: or is it credible that you are ^a teacher of goodness, and favor the best rather than harm them? And what can be so dear to you as to injure, especially those who manfully resist your crimes, according to what is written: "For piety is an abomination to the sinner." Ecclesiasticus 1:32. Who possesses ^a heart so fertile for malice? Who strives to fulfill such premeditated ambushes? We know you to be ^a most impure carcass: we know that we live as Christians for this reason, and that the battle against you is secure for us, because you have been weakened by the Lord. Therefore you are pierced by your own javelins, because no effect follows your threats: but if we are deceived, why do you attack our faith with feigned terror, why with the magnitude of bodies? If ability follows will, it suffices for you merely to will. For it is the custom of power not to seek the extraneous aids of deception, but to accomplish what it desires by its own strength. But now, while you strive to delude us, as though crude infants, with the theatrical changing of forms and scenic simulation, you more manifestly prove your exhausted strength. Did that true Angel, sent by the Lord against the Assyrians, need the fellowship of peoples, or seek noises or applause; and did he not rather, exercising his power in silence, lay low one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the enemy, swifter than ^a word, at the command of the Lord who ordered it? 4 Kings 19:35. Therefore, since you are frail in strength, perpetual destruction follows you.

[43] But someone will say: Why did the devil, going forth, drive Blessed Job's entire household to ruin? Job 1:11. Why, when his wealth had been utterly destroyed, did the devil, overturning even the foundations of the walls, heap up one tomb for his numerous offspring? Why did he at last strike him with ^a grievous wound of ^a new kind? Job 2:7. Let him who raises this objection hear in reply: it was not the devil who was able to do this, but the Lord, Temptation is permitted either for glory or for punishment. by whom power against us is given in ^a twofold manner: either for glory, if we are tried; or for punishment, if we sin. Rather, from this let him observe that the devil was unable to do anything even against ^a single man, unless he had received power from the Lord. For no one begs from another that which is in his own jurisdiction. But why do I mention Job, whom the devil could not conquer even when he was granted permission? He could not even exercise his own strength against Job's cattle, nor against the swine in the Gospel, without the permission of God. As it is written: "The demons besought him, saying: If you cast us out from here, send us into the herd of swine." Matthew 8:31. How then shall those who seek the deaths of swine be able by their own right to pervert man, the image of God, and ^a creature so dear to the Creator?

[44] Demons are overcome by living faith and ^a sincere life. Great weapons against the demons, dearest ones, are ^a sincere life and an undefiled faith toward God. Believe me from experience: Satan greatly fears the vigils, prayers, fasts, gentleness, voluntary poverty, contempt of vainglory, humility, mercy, mastery over anger, and especially ^a pure heart toward the love of Christ, of those who live rightly. The most foul serpent knows that by the Lord's command he lies beneath the feet of the righteous, who says: "Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy." Luke 10:19.

[45] Their vain predictions, But if, pretending to possess divination, they have announced the coming of Brethren, and those whom they predicted would come have arrived, not even then should credence be given to liars: for they preceded those who were coming so that belief might be procured for themselves from the report, and afterward an entrance for deception from that belief. But in this there should be no wonder for ^a Christian, since not only can those who by the lightness of their nature run through all things outstrip those who walk; but men too, carried forward by the speed of horses, can announce the arrival of those to come. For they do not report things which have not yet begun to happen, because God alone is conscious of the future: but of those things whose beginning they observe in progress, they claim knowledge for themselves, like thieves, before the ignorant. For how many do you think there are now who, with boyish speed, could announce this gathering of ours and our words spoken against them, to those dwelling far away, before the report of anyone here present? What I say to you can be made clear by examples. from natural swiftness, If someone has begun to set out from the Thebaid or from ^a town of some region, and the demons have seen him walking on the road, they can, by the swiftness mentioned, predict his coming.

Likewise also concerning the customary flooding of the Nile, when they have seen many rains in Ethiopia, from which the river, swelling, is accustomed to overflow beyond its banks, they run ahead to Egypt and announce the coming of the river. But men too, if they had ^a nature of such great speed, would easily report this. 2 Kings 1:13, 34. For just as the watchman of Blessed David, ascending to the summit of an elevated place, seeing from ahead those who were coming before those who were on the ground, reported not uncertain things about the future, but about those who had begun to come; so also the demons, considering all things with sleepless care, report to one another with swift course.

[46] often false, But if it should happen by chance that by God's will things begun do not come to their end -- that is, if ^a traveler should turn back from the middle of the road, or if clouds suspended in the air should be carried to another quarter of the sky -- then the error of the deceivers is revealed together with that of those who believed them. These were the beginnings of paganism; by these deceits of soothsayers, oracles were once believed at the shrines of demons: which, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when silence was imposed upon them, fell silent, and lost their captives. Who (I ask) considers ^a physician to possess divine knowledge from his observation of diseases, when he examines the burning of an anxious soul from the pulse of the veins with the light touch of his fingers? nor should they be extolled with divine honor. Who venerates with the honor of majesty ^a helmsman who seeks the course of his navigation among the stars of heaven? Who does not praise ^a farmer, when he discourses on the dry heats of summer or the winter abundance of rain and cold, rather for his experience than consecrating him with the name of God?

[47] But, to grant for ^a moment that the demons report true things, answer me: what is the fruit of knowing things to come? Useless to ^a Christian. Has anyone ever been praised for knowing these things, or punished for not knowing them? In this each one prepares for himself either torments or glory, according to whether he neglects or fulfills the commandments of the Scriptures. None of us took up this life in order to have foreknowledge of the future, but in order that, obeying the precepts of the Lord, he might begin to be ^a friend instead of ^a servant. We must take care not to foreknow what is coming, but to fulfill what has been commanded; nor should we demand this as the reward of ^a good way of life, when we ought rather to ask our helper the Lord for victory against the devil. But if someone should willingly desire to know the future, let him have ^a pure heart: for I believe that ^a soul serving God, if it perseveres in that integrity in which it was born, can know more than the demons. Such was the soul of Elisha, which saw powers unknown to others.

a Thyraeus, one of our authors, discusses this question at length in De locis infestis par. 60.

b In the Greek exemplar, these are described in ^a continuous series without an invective apostrophe to the demons.

c MS. Ripat. exerens.

d Martinus Delrio, one of our authors, in vol. 3 of Disquisitiones Magicae lib. 6, cap. 2, sect. 3, quaest. 3, recommends these two remedies of Saint Antonius against sorcery, and explains them at length; and from him Rosweyde here.

e On the Nile and its nature and its flooding, after innumerable ancients, our Johannes Baptista Scortia discussed most learnedly in two books published at Lyons in 1617.

f On this silence, one should read Eusebius lib. 5 of Praeparatio Evangelica cap. 8; Prudentius Apotheosis verse 503; Suidas under Augustus; Nicephorus lib. 1 of the Ecclesiastical History cap. 17; and others.

g Sozomenus transcribed the same passage from here, lib. 1, cap. 13.

CHAPTER VIII.

Precepts on the discernment of spirits.

[48] Now I shall explain to you the remaining deceits of the demons. They are accustomed to come at night, feigning themselves Angels of God, praising zeal, admiring perseverance, promising future rewards. When you see them, arm both yourselves and your dwellings with the sign of the Cross, and they will immediately dissolve into nothing: Demons are to be put to flight by the sign of the Cross. for they fear that trophy on which the Savior, stripping the powers of the air, made them ^a spectacle. They are also accustomed to torment their limbs with various contortions, and to thrust themselves impudently before our eyes, so that they may shake the mind with terror and the body with horror. But in this also, faith secure in God puts them to flight as feeble mockeries.

[49] Now the discernment of good and evil spirits is not difficult, and is revealed thus by God's gift: The aspect of the holy Angels is lovable and tranquil, for they do not contend nor cry out, The tranquil aspect of good spirits. nor will anyone hear their voice: but hastening quietly and gently, they pour joy, exultation, and confidence into hearts; for with them is the Lord, who is the fountain and source of gladness. Then our mind, not turbid but gentle and calm, is radiated by the light of Angels: then the soul, burning with desire for heavenly rewards, breaking free (if it could) from the dwelling of the human body and unburdened of mortal members, hastens to heaven with those whom it sees departing. So great is their kindness that if anyone, on account of the condition of human fragility, should be terrified by their wondrous brilliance, they immediately remove all fear from the heart. Thus Gabriel spoke with Zacharias in the temple; and the Angels, when they announced the divine birth of the Virgin to the shepherds, and those who kept watch over the Lord's body, showing themselves to the secure minds of those who saw them, commanded them not to fear. Luke 1:13; 2:9; Matthew 28:5. For fear is struck not so much from the terror of the soul as often from the sight of great things. But the countenances of the wicked are fierce, their sounds horrible, their thoughts sordid, the countenances of the wicked are fierce: their applause and movements those of undisciplined youths or robbers: from which immediately fear is struck into the soul, numbness into the senses, hatred of Christians, sorrow and weariness of monks, remembrance of their own, fear of death, desire for wickedness, weariness of virtue, dullness of heart.

[50] the former produce security of soul, If therefore, after ^a fear conceived with horror, joy should follow, and confidence in God and ineffable love, let us know that help has come: for security of soul is the sign of the present majesty. John 8:56. For thus also the Patriarch Abraham, seeing God, rejoiced: and John, when he sensed that Mary had arrived, who bore in the sacred hospitality of her womb the parent of all things, leaped, not yet born, into joy. Luke 1:41. But if the fear that was struck should remain, the latter produce permanent dread. the one who is seen is an enemy: for he does not know how to comfort, as Gabriel comforted the fearful Virgin; nor does he command that he not be feared, as the messenger Angels consoled the shepherds; rather he doubles the terror, and drives men to prostrate themselves before him even to the deep pit of impiety. Thence the wretched paganism, ignorant of the Lord's prohibition, falsely considered the demons to be gods. But the Lord did not suffer the Christian peoples to be ensnared by these deceits, and in the Gospel he repelled the devil who boldly presumed for himself the principality of all things, saying: "Get behind me, Satan." Matthew 4:10. For it is written: "You shall adore the Lord your God, and him alone shall you serve." Deuteronomy 6:13. The power of these words has been granted to us as well: for he spoke such things so that the likeness of the temptations of our Author might be broken by his words.

[51] I also admonish you, my dearest ones, to be more concerned with life than with signs. Let none of you who performs these things either swell with pride himself, or despise those who cannot perform them. Examine rather the manner of life of each one: The power of miracles is not to be sought. in this life it is fitting both to imitate what is perfect and to fulfill what is lacking. For to work signs is not the power of our littleness, but of the Lord's power, who said in the Gospel to his disciples who were glorying: "Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you, but that your names are written in heaven." Luke 10:20. For the writing of names in the book of life is the testimony of virtue and merit; but the expulsion of Satan is the gift of the Savior. Whence to those who will glory not in the labors of life but in prodigies, saying: "Did we not cast out demons in your name, and in your name do many mighty works?" Matthew 7:22. the Lord will respond: "Amen I say to you, I do not know you: depart from me, you workers of iniquity." For the Lord does not know the ways of the wicked. Therefore let us most earnestly ask that we may be worthy to receive the gift of discerning spirits: so that, according to the judgment of the Scriptures, we may not believe every spirit. 1 John 4:1.

a Delrio, one of our authors, explains this teaching of Saint Antonius at greater length in vol. 2 of Disquisitiones Magicae lib. 4, cap. 1, quaest. 3, sect. 6; and from him Rosweyde here.

b Others read saltationibus dancings.

c Similar things, and perhaps even somewhat clearer, about the deceits of demons, Saint Ignatius, the Founder of the Society of Jesus, teaches in the Rules for the discernment of spirits.

d In Greek: Hekastou de tēn askēsin katamanthanetō tis, kai ē mimeisthō, kai zēloutō, ē diorthousthō. "Let each one learn the practice of each, and either imitate and emulate, or be corrected." He inculcates this precept at greater length in the Apophthegmata num. 34.

CHAPTER IX.

The foregoing instructions confirmed by the examples of Antonius's temptations.

[52] I had wished to finish my discourse already, and to suppress in silence whatever had happened to my humble self: but lest you think that I have mentioned things in vain that could not occur, therefore (though I become foolish, yet the Lord, who is the inspector of the secret mind, knows that I do this not for the sake of boasting, but for the sake of your profit) I shall recount ^a few things out of many. How often they attempted to extol me with excessive praises, when they received curses from me in the name of the Lord? Saint Antonius repels the demons by contempt, How often they predicted future increases of the river Nile, when they heard from me: "And what does this matter to your concern?" How often, threatening like armed soldiers, they surrounded me with scorpions, horses, beasts, and various serpents, and filled the dwelling in which I was, when I on the contrary sang psalms: by psalmody, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will glory in the name of the Lord our God." Psalm 19:8. And immediately by the mercy of Christ they were put to flight. At ^a certain time, moreover, coming with immense light, they said: "We have come, Antonius, to offer you our brilliance." And I, closing my eyes, because I disdained to look upon the light of the devil, prayed, and quicker than ^a word the light of the wicked ones was extinguished. After ^a few months, when they sang psalms before me and conversed among themselves about the Scriptures, I, as if deaf, did not listen. They once shook my monastery, and I with immovable mind besought the Lord. Often they hurled noises, often dances, often hisses: and as I sang psalms, their sounds were turned into tearful voices.

[53] by spitting, Do you believe, little children, what I am about to tell you? I once saw the devil, tall of body, who dared to call himself the power and providence of God, and said to me: "What do you wish to be given to you by me, Antonius?" But I, spitting most vigorously into his face repeatedly, armed myself entirely in the name of Christ and rushed upon him: and immediately that one, towering in appearance, vanished in the midst of my very hands. When I was fasting, he also appeared to me as ^a monk: and offering bread, he urged me with these words to eat and to grant some indulgence to this poor body: "You too," he said, "are ^a man, and surrounded by human frailty: let your labor rest ^a little, lest illness creep upon you." by recourse to Christ. Immediately I recognized the lurid face of the serpent: and when I fled to the customary defenses of Christ, he vanished, slipping away like smoke through ^a window. He also frequently set ^a trap of gold for me in the desert: which he offered so that he might ensnare me either by the sight or contaminate me by the touch. Often also I do not deny that I was beaten by the demons. Romans 8:35. But I sang thus: "Nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ." At the sound of this voice, raging against one another, they were put to flight not by my command, but by the Lord's, who says: "I saw Satan falling from heaven like lightning." Luke 10:18; 1 Corinthians 4:6. Therefore, little children, mindful of the Apostle's word, I have transformed these things in myself, so that neither the terror of demons nor any weariness might dissolve your purpose.

[54] But since for your benefit I have become foolish by recounting many things, and I desire to impart to you knowledge of this matter, which no one who hears it should doubt to be true: A demon once knocked at the door of my monastery; going out, A demon stretched up to the very heavens, I saw ^a man of enormous height, his head stretched up to the sky. When I asked him who he was, he said: "I am Satan." And I said: "What do you seek here?" He replied: "Why do the monks blame me in vain? Why do all the Christian peoples curse me?" And I said: "They do so justly: for they are frequently troubled by your snares." But he said: "I do nothing, but they themselves disturb one another. For I have become wretched. I ask you: Have you not read: 'Because the swords of the enemy have failed unto the end, and you have destroyed their cities'?" Psalm 9:7. "Behold, I now have no place, I possess no city, he unwillingly confesses the power of Christ, I now have no weapons: through all nations and all provinces the name of Christ resounds: even the solitudes are crowded with choirs of monks. Let them, I beg, protect themselves, and let them not lacerate me without cause." Then I, marveling with joy at the grace of God, spoke thus to him: "I do not ascribe so new and so unheard-of ^a statement to your truthfulness, which is nothing. For since you are the head of deception, you were compelled to confess this without ^a lie. For truly Jesus has utterly undermined your strength, and stripped of your Angelic honor, at the utterance of the name of Jesus he vanishes. you wallow in filth." I had scarcely completed my words, and that one, towering in appearance, was cast down by the naming of the Savior.

a Thyraeus, one of our authors, discusses excellently all such diabolical vexation.

b In Greek to monastērion, which should be understood of the deserted fortress, in which he lived alone for twenty years. Thus Saint Jerome in the life of Saint Paul the Hermit calls the cell where he lived alone, and the inner mountain where Saint Antonius was with two disciples, monasteries. On the monastery of ^a single monk, see Cassian Conferences 18, cap. 6, and we elsewhere.

c Some MSS: "Spitting most greatly into his face repeatedly." In Greek: Egō de tote mallon enephysēsa kat' autou. "But I then breathed more strongly against him." Evagrius seems to have read eneptusa, "I spat upon."

d A most elegant homily of Saint John Chrysostom proves that no one is harmed except by himself.

e Andrew, Bishop of Caesarea, sermon 12 on the Apocalypse: "The former strength of the devil," he says, "after Christ suffered was diminished and as it were broken; as he was not ashamed to confess to Blessed Antonius himself, showing that that word of the Prophet was fulfilled in himself: 'The swords of the enemy have failed unto the end.'"

f Saint Hilarion, seeing by ^a diabolical illusion ^a chariot brought with blazing horses rushing upon him, when he had called upon Jesus, before his eyes by ^a sudden opening of the earth all the pageant was swallowed up. Saint Jerome in his life.

CHAPTER X.

Peroration and fruit of the Exhortation.

[55] What hesitation, then, O little children, can any longer remain? What trepidation shall endure further? What storm of theirs shall be able to uproot us? Let the souls of each be secure: let not the imagination fashion vain dangers; let no one fear that, having been snatched up by the devil, he can be carried to precipices. John 14:20. Let all anxiety be driven out: for the Lord, who has laid low our enemies, remaining, as he promised, in us, has fortified us against the various assaults of Satan. Behold the devil himself, who exercises such devices with his satellites, confesses that he can do nothing against Christians. Now let it be the concern of Christians and monks The demon is not to be feared; that through their inactivity they do not furnish the demons with strength. For whatever they find us and our thoughts to be, they are accustomed to present themselves to us in the same way. And if they find some seed of evil thought and fear in our hearts, like robbers who occupy deserted places, they heap up the terrors already begun, and cruelly pressing upon us, they punish the unhappy soul.

[56] But if we are joyful in the Lord, and the desire of future goods kindles us; if we always commit all things to the hands of God, who is conquered by confidence in God, no demon will be able to approach for the purpose of assailing us: rather, when they perceive hearts fortified in Christ, they will return in confusion. Thus also the devil fled from Job, who was firm in the Lord: and he ensnared the most unhappy Judas, stripped of faith, in the chains of captivity. There is, therefore, one method of conquering the enemy: spiritual joy, the presence of God, spiritual joy, and the constant remembrance of ^a soul always thinking of the Lord: which, expelling the mockeries of the demons like smoke, will pursue the adversaries rather than fear them. For Satan is not ignorant of the future fires, and he knows the copious conflagrations of the raging Gehenna.

[57] But that my discourse may now be concluded, I mention this at the end: When any vision presents itself to you, boldly inquire who he is and whence he has come: and without delay, and bold security in questioning them. if it shall be ^a revelation of the Saints, the Angelic consolation will turn fear into joy. But if it shall be ^a temptation offered by the devil, it will vanish at the inquiries of ^a faithful soul: for it is the greatest sign of security to ask who someone is and whence he comes. Joshua 5:13. Thus also the son of Nave, by questioning, recognized his helper; nor could the enemy escape Daniel when he inquired. Daniel 10.

[58] After Antonius had made an end of speaking, with all rejoicing, The disciples solidly instructed by Antonius, in some the desire for virtue blazed up, in others ^a weak faith was restored, from the minds of others false opinions were driven out, from the senses of others the kindling of empty terrors was expelled: and at the same time all, now despising the snares of demons, marveled at so great ^a grace of discerning spirits in Antonius, which he had received by the Lord's gift. Therefore on the mountain the monasteries were like tabernacles, full of divine choirs of those singing psalms, reading, and praying: and his discourse had kindled in the minds of all such an ardor of fasting and vigils, they practice every kind of virtue. that with desire for the hope to come, they labored with constant zeal for mutual charity and the showing of mercy to the needy: and they seemed to inhabit ^a certain boundless region and ^a town separated from worldly society, full of piety and justice. Who, beholding so great ^a host of monks, who, seeing that manly assembly of concord, in which there was no one who did harm, no whispering of ^a detractor, but ^a multitude of those practicing abstinence and ^a contest of good offices, would not immediately burst forth in this exclamation? Numbers 24:5 and 6. "How goodly are your dwellings, O Jacob, your tabernacles, O Israel, like shady groves, like ^a paradise over rivers, like tabernacles which the Lord has fixed, like cedars beside the waters!"

[59] While these things were thus carried on, by which the zeal for ^a blessed life daily increased, Antonius, remembering the mansions placed in heaven, and despising the vanity of the present life, as if all the things he had already accomplished were small, separated from the Brethren, devoted himself to his training. Saint Antonius lives apart, And whenever the human condition compelled him to indulge the body with either food or sleep, or other necessities of nature, he was seized with ^a wondrous shame that such narrow limits of the flesh should constrain so great ^a liberty of the soul. He serves the necessities of the body with shame. For frequently while sitting with the Brethren, the memory of spiritual food drew him away from the food that had been set before him. He ate, however, as ^a man, sometimes alone, sometimes with the Brethren. And while he did these wondrous things (as I said before), with confusion of soul he urged that diligence must be greatly applied to the body, saying that the body should not be utterly destroyed, lest the work be dissolved against the will of the Creator: and for this reason all zeal should be devoted to the soul, lest, overcome by bodily vices, it be thrust into the eternal darkness of hell; rather, claiming the dominion granted to it in the flesh, it should raise its dwelling, like the Apostle Paul, to the third heaven. And he asserted that this was commanded by the Savior, in the words: "Be not anxious for your soul what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor for your body what you shall wear, for the Gentiles seek these things: but your Father knows that you need all these things. Matthew 6:31. Seek therefore first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you."

a Others read obsident besiege.

b On these, Saint John Chrysostom, homily 8 on Matthew cap. 2: "If anyone now should come to the solitudes of Egypt, he would see the entire desert worthier than any paradise, and innumerable hosts of Angels shining in mortal bodies." Similar things are found in Saint Epiphanius lib. 3, heresy 80, and others. Consult sections 3, 7, and 15 in the Prolegomena.

c Thus Saints Hilarion and Pachomius lived separately from the Brethren.

CHAPTER XI.

Desire for Martyrdom. Miracles.

[60] When these things had been accomplished, as the most impious persecution from the insane fury of Maximinus was devastating the Church, On account of the persecution of Maximinus he seeks Alexandria, when the holy Martyrs were being led to Alexandria, he too left his monastery and followed the future victims of Christ, saying: "Let us go to the glorious triumphs of the Brethren, so that we ourselves may either do battle, or watch others fighting." And indeed he was already ^a Martyr in love, but since he could not hand himself over voluntarily, and was united with the Confessors placed in the mines or in prisons, with great freedom and care he exhorted those entering before the Judge not to deny the Lord, subdued by the terror of the wicked. He strengthens the Martyrs, And already exulting over those crowned by sentence, as if he himself had conquered, he accompanied them to the place of blessed bloodshed.

[61] Wherefore the Judge, moved by the constancy of Antonius and his companions, commanded that absolutely no monk should either attend the trial ordered to leave the city, he does not obey: or remain in the city. And indeed on that day it pleased all the others to hide: but Antonius, fearless, scorning the order of the persecutor, washed his tunic. And on the next day, standing in ^a certain elevated place, girded with ^a shining garment, he provoked the advancing Judge by his very appearance, he displays himself to the Judge: burning with desire for martyrdom: and he showed us that the spirit of contempt for suffering and death must persevere in Christians, to such an extent that he was saddened; because martyrdom was not given to one willing to suffer for the name of God. But the Lord, who was preparing ^a teacher for his flock, preserved Antonius: so that the institute of monks (as indeed came to pass) might be strengthened not only by his prayer but also by his presence. Nevertheless, he was never separated from the footsteps of the holy Confessors, but bound to them by anxious care and the bonds of charity, he suffered the prison more by being excluded.

[62] But after the storm of the persecution had subsided, and the blessed Bishop Petrus had already been crowned for the glory of martyrdom, he returns to the desert: he returned to his former monastery, and merited the daily martyrdom of faith and conscience, wearing himself out with more severe fasts and vigils: wearing ^a garment of haircloth within, and skins on the outside, A Martyr by reason of his strict rule of life. never washing his body, never washing the dirt from his feet, unless necessity compelled him to cross through water. Indeed no one ever saw the body of Antonius naked before he died.

[63] At ^a certain time, moreover, when he had removed himself from the eyes of all and, having closed the monastery, admitted absolutely no one, Martinianus the military commander, whose daughter was shaken by the attacks of an unclean spirit, knocking at the door, begged him to come to the aid of his child, and going out, to pray to God for his daughter. He liberates ^a demoniac, But he was by no means willing to open the door; looking down from above, however, he said: "O man, why do you seek my help? I too am mortal and ^a companion of your weakness: but if you believe in Christ, whom I serve, go and pray to God according to your faith, and your daughter will be healed." Immediately he believed and departed: and invoking Jesus, he brought back his daughter in good health.

[64] Many other wonderful things also the Lord worked through him, and deservedly: for he who promised in the Gospel, "Ask, and it shall be given to you," having found one who was worthy to receive his grace, did not deny his power. Matthew 7:7. and many others. For many of those afflicted, sleeping before his monastery with the entrance closed, were healed through him by faithful prayers to Christ.

a Rosweyde and others, and the English Greek exemplar: Maximiani. But Baronius vol. 3, year of Christ 310, num. 19, with the Bavarian Greek exemplar: Maximini. On this matter we shall treat on November 26, when there will be discussion of Saint Peter of Alexandria.

b At that time, in the illustrious martyrdom accomplished at Alexandria in the presence of Saint Antonius, Peter the Bishop, and his companions Faustus, Didius, Ammonius, Phileas, Hesychius, Pachomius, Theodorus, and 660 others suffered. At the same time also Saint Potamiena the Virgin was killed, about whom Palladius writes in the Lausiac History cap. 3, as narrated by Isidore the Presbyter, who had received the account from Saint Antonius, perhaps an eyewitness, while he was in Alexandria.

c The Acts of Saint Peter the Bishop: "The Tribune, seeing not only people of various ages, but also illustrious men, religious monks, and Virgins, remaining in the custody of prison; he dealt quietly and moderately with the holy man, as to how he might strike Blessed Peter, cast out without the shedding of anyone's blood, just as the sentence of the tyrant Maximinus also made clear."

d Some editions interpose: "that is, his scapular." In this way Hoeschelius here renders ependytēn. On this, more fully in the Prolegomena section 15.

e Saint Ephraem, cited in section 9 of the Prolegomena, writes the same things. But in section 15, these garments are discussed more fully.

CHAPTER XII.

Retreat to the inner desert. Temptations.

[65] That multitude of those coming was ^a source of weariness to him, robbing him of his desired solitude. Fearing therefore lest the copious granting of signs should either exalt his own spirit, or compel others to think more of him Through fear of glory and honor he prepares to flee. than they saw in him, he resolved to go to upper Thebaid, where no one would recognize him. And having received bread from the Brethren, he sat upon the bank of the river, watching for the passage of ^a boat. While he was considering such things, ^a voice was made to him from above, saying: "Antonius, where are you going, and why?" And he, fearlessly, as if he recognized the customary voice of the speaker, responded: "Since the people do not allow me to rest, for this reason I have judged it best to go to upper Thebaid; especially since things are demanded of me which exceed the virtue of my littleness." And the voice said to him: "If you go to the Thebaid, and proceed to the pastoral regions (as you intend), you will endure ^a greater and double labor. He is divinely directed to the inner desert: But if you truly desire to rest, go now to the inner desert." And when Antonius said, "Who will be able to show me the place of the birds? For I am ignorant of the regions," immediately the one who was speaking pointed out to him the Saracens, who were accustomed to come to Egypt for the purpose of trading. Approaching these Saracens, Antonius asked that they take him along with them into the desert. No one objected, but receiving him as ^a companion sent by God, they embraced his company.

[66] And after ^a journey of three days and nights was completed, he found ^a very lofty mountain, at the base of which ^a spring of sweet water flowed, and ^a small plain encircled the entire mountain, which was planted with very few palm trees, and those neglected. Antonius embraced this place, as though it were offered to him by God. He inhabits the second mountain: For this was the one that the speaker had shown him while he sat on the bank of the river. And first indeed, receiving bread from his companions, he remained alone on the mountain, with no other person living with him: for recognizing the place as if it were his own home, he possessed it. The Saracens also, seeing his confidence, gladly brought bread to him by the route he preferred for their passage; and he was also refreshed by the solace of the palms, though moderate, yet of some comfort.

[67] Thereafter, when the Brethren, having learned the location, carefully sent food as sons to ^a father; Antonius, seeing that on account of his own sustenance ^a burdensome labor was imposed on many; He sows grain for his yearly sustenance: and sparing the monks even in this, asked one of those who came to bring him ^a hoe and an axe and some grain. When these were brought, going around the mountain, he found ^a small plot suitable for cultivation, to which water diverted from above could flow: and there he sowed: and thenceforth laboring at his yearly bread, he rejoiced that he lived in the desert without troubling anyone, from the work of his own hands. He cultivates vegetables for guests: But when again some began to come even there, he took pity on their weariness, and cultivated vegetables in ^a small patch of ground, so that those coming after ^a harsh journey might be refreshed with some solace.

[68] The beasts that came there for water grazed upon this refreshment for the Brethren and the small harvest: seizing one of them, he said to all: "Why do you harm me, having been harmed by me in nothing? Depart, and in the name of the Lord, do not approach here any longer." Who would believe that, after this warning, as if in fear, he drives away harmful beasts by ^a word, the beasts never again approached that place? Thus, while Antonius sought the impenetrable mountains and the interior of the desert, devoted also to prayers, the Brethren who entered could barely, with great entreaties, persuade him to deign to accept olives, legumes, and oil, which they supplied after some months, and to relax somewhat for his elderly age.

[69] Oh, how many struggles he experienced living there! Truly, according to what is written, his wrestling was not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, as we learned from those who came to him. Ephesians 6:12. For they reported tumults and the voices of ^a crowd, and the sounds of weapons, and that they had seen the entire mountain full of ^a multitude of demons; and they saw him openly resisting the enemies as if facing them and vigorously wrestling. Yet he also refreshed those who came with his encouragement, and on bended knees, he prostrates the army of demons: with the weapons of prayer he laid low the entire army of Satan. It is indeed worthy of admiration that in so immense ^a solitude, ^a single man was not terrified by the daily encounters with demons, nor yielded to the diverse ferocity of so many beasts, whether four-footed or serpents. Psalm 124:1. Rightly David sang: "Those who trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Sion; he shall not be moved forever." Maintaining an immovable and tranquil firmness of soul, he both put the demons to flight and, as it is written, made peace with the beasts. Job 5:23. But the devil also, as the aforementioned Prophet says, watching him, gnashed his teeth: and he, by the help of the Savior, persevered safe from all snares. Psalm 34:16. On ^a certain night, therefore, while the watchful Antonius was beseeching the Lord, the devil assembled such great herds of beasts into his monastery that he saw around himself all the wild animals of the desert. And when they threatened with their gaping jaws to bite his body, he understood the devices of the enemy, he puts to flight beasts sent against him by ^a word, and said: "If power against me has been granted to you by the Lord, devour what is granted: but if you have come here at the impulse of demons, depart as swiftly as possible, for I am ^a servant of Christ." And so it happened, and at the voice of his command, the entire multitude of beasts fled, as if struck by ^a rod of majesty.

[70] Not many days after this had passed, another battle arose with the same enemy. While he was working (for he always labored so that he might repay some small gift to those who came, in return for what they had brought him), someone pulled the cord or string of the basket he was weaving. Rising at this motion, he saw ^a beast bearing ^a human face down to the waist, which from there ended in ^a donkey. After seeing it, and with the Cross signed on his forehead. painting the banner of the Cross on his forehead, he said only this: "I am ^a servant of Christ; if you have been sent against me, I do not flee." No space intervened, and immediately the monstrous apparition with its troop of satellites, quicker than ^a word, fled, and falling in mid-course was extinguished. Now this death and destruction of the repelled prodigy was the common ruin of the demons: who, laboring with all their effort, were unable to lead Antonius from the desert. Wonders more wonderful than these followed.

a MS. Ripat. congestio.

b On the twofold Thebaid, section 1.

c In order to sail to upper Thebaid. Saint Athanasius did the same in the life of Saint Pachomius.

d In Greek Boukolia. Saint Jerome in the life of Saint Hilarion says that those places in Egypt are called Bucolia, Bucolia. because there was no Christian there, but only ^a barbarous and fierce nation. Boukolia different from these, in Heliodorus, which Buculus in the life of Saint Mark, not far from Alexandria; whence the Bucolic soldiers in Capitolinus on Marcus Antoninus, as in the Onomasticon of Rosweyde.

e He describes that mountain, rising about ^a thousand paces high, Saint Jerome in the life of Saint Hilarion, cited in section 2.

f In Greek: prophasei artou, "on the pretext of bread," namely of carrying it.

g In Greek: dikellan kai pelekyn kai siton oligon, "a hoe, and an axe, and ^a little grain." Rosweyde: "a hoe with an axe and grain": and he notes that bis-acutum double-edged is used absolutely for ^a bipennis, Bis-acutum. or double-edged axe, or ^a rustic implement that cuts on both sides. In the life of Frontonius, monks are said to carry to the desert small seeds of vegetables, and axes and small hoes. To Saint Hilarion after the death of Antonius, the disciples showed the hoe which he had used for digging the earth for many years. Thus Saint Jerome.

h "This pool," they say, "he constructed with much sweat for irrigating his little garden." Strabo, lib. 17, sets forth ^a similar industry of the Egyptians in retaining water after the flooding of the Nile.

i Saint Jerome in the life of Saint Hilarion narrates these things thus: "After Saint Hilarion and Isaac had come into the little garden: 'Do you see,' said Isaac, 'this little orchard planted with small trees and green with vegetables? About three years ago, when ^a herd of wild asses was devastating it, he ordered one of their leaders to stand, and striking its sides with his staff: "Why," he said, "do you eat what you have not sown?" And from that time, except for the water to which they came to drink, they never touched either the small trees or the vegetables.'"

k Rosweyde: quis non credat? who would not believe?

l MS. Rip. oratu.

m Trichina. Some MSS: sportellam trilicinam; some editions tritiam or triciam. Perhaps called tricina from tricae, or trichina trichinē, as if ^a cord woven from hair. In Greek: seiran tou ergou, "cord of the work."

CHAPTER XIII.

Visitation of the former monasteries.

[71] No great time had passed after these things, and the man of so many victories was conquered by the prayers of the Brethren. For being asked by the monks He departs to visit the Brethren: to deign to visit them, he set out with them, with water and bread loaded upon ^a camel: because nowhere, except at the place of the monastery from which they had drawn, could potable water be found along the arid way. But in the middle of the journey, the supply of drinking water failed. The heat was extreme, the burning intolerable; all things threatened death. They went around and sought at least ^a pool collected from rains: absolutely no remedy occurred, nothing at all for salvation. He and others suffer from thirst on the journey: The camel, as if about to perish, was itself burning and was released; the breast of the burning one was scorched, and the thirst grew fiercer with despair. The distress of the Brethren traveling with him moved the old man, and most vehemently saddened, he groaned. Then fleeing to the customary aids of prayer, he withdrew ^a little from them: and there on bended knees, he stretched out his suppliant hands to the Lord. He obtains ^a spring by his prayers through divine power: Without delay, at the first tears of the one praying, ^a spring burst forth bubbling in the place of prayer, and there their thirst was quenched, and their parched limbs were refreshed, and they watered the camel from full waterskins. For it had happened by chance that the camel, wandering through the desert while dragging its rope, was held at ^a certain stone by the tying of that rope.

[72] He is received by the monks: At last, the journey completed, he arrived at the monks who had invited him. Then indeed all came out to meet him as to ^a father, and vying with one another, they rushed to his kisses and embraces. He rejoices at their progress and at his sister's: Antonius rejoiced at their fervent purpose: and with all rejoicing at his arrival, bringing, as it were, gifts from the mountain, he imparted spiritual nourishment. He praised the zeal of the elders, encouraged the new ones. Seeing also his sister, now an old woman, ^a Virgin, and the teacher of other young women, he was lifted up with wondrous exultation. Thenceforth, as if he had long been absent from the desert, he returns to the mountain. he hastened back to the mountain.

[73] Now many were coming to him, and even those afflicted by demons, compelled by the necessity of their affliction, dared to penetrate the desert; Exhortation to the monks. consoling them, and commanding the monks in common, he said: "Believe in Jesus faithfully: keep your mind pure from evil thoughts, your flesh from impurities, and according to the divine Scriptures, do not be seduced by the fullness of the belly: hate vainglory, pray most frequently, sing psalms in the evening, and morning, and at midday, and revolve the commandments of the Scriptures. Proverbs 24:15. The memory of the Saints is an incitement to virtue. Remember the deeds that the Saints have done, so that the memory of their example may incite the spirit to virtue and restrain it from vices." He also urged that the saying of the Apostle should be retained by constant meditation, in which he says: "Let not the sun set upon your anger." Ephesians 4:26. He interpreted this as meaning not only that the sun should not set upon anger, but also upon all the sins of men; so that neither the moon by night nor the sun by day should ever depart as witnesses of our sins.

[74] He also admonished them to be mindful of that precept which says about these matters: "Judge yourselves and prove yourselves": so that, making an account of day and night, Examination of deeds day and night. if they had detected ^a fault in themselves, they should cease to sin: but if no error had deceived them, persevering, they should press forward rather in their undertaking, than, puffed up with arrogance, either despise others or claim justice for themselves, according to the words of the aforesaid Teacher saying: "Judge not before the time": they ought rather to reserve judgment for Christ, to whom alone hidden things are open. 2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Romans 2:16. There are (as it is written) many ways that seem right to men, but their ends look toward the depths of hell: often we cannot understand our own sins, often we are deceived in the reckoning of our deeds: one thing is the judgment of God who sees all things, who judges not from the surface of bodies, Rash judgment is to be avoided. but from the secrets of minds. Proverbs 14:12 and 16:21. It is right, moreover, that we should have compassion on ourselves, and bear one another's burdens: so that, leaving examination to the Savior, we ourselves might look into our own consciences by judging ourselves.

[75] He also said that there is ^a great path to virtue if each one would either observe what he does, It is useful for virtue to reveal all one's thoughts to others. or report all the thoughts of his mind to the Brethren. For no one can sin when he is about to report to another whatever he has sinned; and he would be ashamed to bring shameful things into public. Indeed, no one who sins dares to sin in the presence of another: even if he does sin, he avoids ^a witness to the sin, preferring to lie and deny, and to increase the old offense with the new offense of denying. Therefore, as if before our eyes, he said, we are confounded both in thought and in deed, if we do all things that are to be reported: but much more so, if we faithfully write out our sins and arrange them in order. Then the notation of offenses will seem to be before the eyes of the Brethren. We shall fear the wax tablets conscious of sin, and the very letters will accuse us: and just as those who mingle their bodies with prostitutes are confounded in the presence of others, so also we shall blush at the letters, if we do these things. Let us walk this path of virtue, and subjugating our bodies to our minds, let us crush the pernicious snares of the devil.

a In MS. Ripat. Non is absent.

b MS. Ripat.: "For it happened that the rope, wound around ^a stone, held it."

c In Greek: Kai autos de hōsper ephodia pherōn apo tou orous exenizen autous tois logois, kai metedidou tēs ōpheleias. "And he himself, as if bringing provisions from the mountain, entertained them with hospitable words and made them partakers of profit." MSS. and ancient codices have exenia; on this see the Onomasticon of Rosweyde.

d MS. Rip. hortatur.

e Saint Chrysostom, homily 8 on Matthew, shows that even women excelled in this kind of holy philosophy. This is evident from Saint Basilissa, January 9. Saint Pachomius also built ^a monastery for his sister and other Virgins at this time, and wrote ^a Rule.

f The same instruction of Saint Antonius is found in Sozomenus lib. 1, cap. 13.

g Rosweyde: Si timebimus If we shall fear; who rightly restored ceras conscias wax tablets conscious of sin from the MSS., whereas the older editions had maculas conscientiæ stains of conscience.

CHAPTER XIV.

Liberation of the possessed. Knowledge of the absent.

[76] With such encouraging words he incited both the monks who came to him to zealous application, and he sympathized with those who suffered, Saint Antonius liberates many demoniacs, and the Lord through Antonius liberated many of them. Never, however, was he either puffed up to glory on account of the health of those cured, or did he murmur in sadness over bodies still possessed: rather, always remaining of the same spirit and countenance, he gave thanks to God; always with the same countenance and spirit. urging the afflicted to bear more patiently the chastisement by which they were vexed; for this medicine was not the work of Antonius or of any man at all, but of God alone, who gave health to whom he wished and at whatever time he wished. Thus by his consolation he taught both the afflicted to bear their temptation with equanimity, and those already liberated to give thanks not to him but to God.

[77] But ^a certain Fronto, from among the Palestinians, who was afflicted by ^a most hostile demon (for the demon was tearing his tongue with his teeth, and striving to extinguish the light of his eyes), went to the mountain and begged the blessed elder to pray to the Lord for him. Antonius prayed, He predicts and obtains health for ^a certain man. and said to him: "Go, and you will be cured." When he was incredulous, and violently remained there against the command, Antonius repeated the same words,

saying: "You cannot be cured here: go forth, and as soon as you have set foot in Egypt, the mercy of Christ will overtake you." At last he believed, and set out: and upon seeing Egypt, according to the declaration of the elder, which the Lord had revealed to him while praying, the attack of the enemy ceased.

[78] A certain Virgin, moreover, who was from Busiris, ^a city of the Tripolitanian region, was laboring with unheard-of and grievous diseases. For the discharge of her nostrils, the tears of her eyes, A Virgin overwhelmed by various diseases, the putrid humor of her ears, falling to the ground, were immediately turned into worms. The affliction was increased by ^a body dissolved with paralysis, and she had eyes turned against nature. Her parents, carrying her, when they learned that monks were going to Antonius; believing in the Lord, who in the Gospel had commanded the persistent flow of blood to stop by the touch of his hem, begged that they might take on the pitiable company of their daughter. Matthew 9:20. When those monks refused to bring her all the way to Antonius, the parents remained outside, with their feeble daughter, at the dwelling of the blessed Confessor and monk Paphnutius, who, she arrives at the cell of Saint Paphnutius, with one eye gouged out for Christ under the persecutor Maximianus, greatly gloried in such disfigurement of his body. Therefore the monks arrived at Antonius: and when they prepared to report about the girl's illness, the words of the elder preceded their report: and he explained the entire cause of her infirmity and of the journey as far as Saint Paphnutius, as if he himself had been present. When the monks asked him that the parents with their daughter be allowed to enter, he did not consent, but said: "Go, and you will find the girl, she is liberated by Saint Antonius while absent. if she is not dead, cured." And he added: "No one should come to my humble self, because the granting of cures is not of human mercy, but of Jesus Christ, who is accustomed to provide assistance everywhere to those who believe in him. Wherefore she too, for whom you petition, has been liberated by her own prayers: and when I prayed to the Lord, the present knowledge of her health was granted to me." He spoke, and the girl's recovery followed his words. For going outside to Blessed Paphnutius, they found the daughter healthy and the parents rejoicing.

[79] Not many days after these things, when two Brethren going to Antonius ran out of water on the journey, and one had died of thirst, while the other lay on the ground awaiting death; Antonius, sitting on the mountain, quickly summoned to himself two monks He knows while absent that ^a Brother is tormented by thirst, who happened to be found there: and urgently ordered them to take ^a flask of water and set out on the road that leads to Egypt, and said: "One of the Brethren coming here has just passed to the Lord; the other, unless you help him, will be added to him: for this has just been revealed to me while praying." Thus he spoke; and has him revived. and the monks, hastening according to his command, found the dead body and buried it in the earth, and revived the other and joined him to their company. The distance of the journey was one day's travel. Perhaps someone may ask why Antonius did not speak before the first one died? An argument entirely unfitting for Christians: because it was not the judgment of Antonius but of God, who both rendered whatever sentence he wished concerning the one who had departed, and deigned to reveal the matter concerning the one who was thirsting. This alone is wonderful in Antonius, that sitting on ^a most remote mountain, with ^a watchful heart, he knew all things placed far away, with the Lord revealing them.

[80] At another time again, when he was sitting on the mountain and suddenly raised his eyes to heaven, he saw ^a certain soul, He sees the soul of Ammon carried to heaven, with Angels rejoicing at its approach, going toward heaven. Astounded by the novelty of this spectacle, he called the choir of Saints blessed: and he prayed that knowledge of the present event might be revealed to him. And immediately ^a voice was made to him, saying that this was the soul of Ammon the monk, who dwelt at Nitria. Now Ammon was an elderly man, who had perseveringly lived in holiness from his youth to old age. The place where Antonius was sitting was separated from Nitria by ^a journey of thirteen days. When the monks who had come saw him marveling, they besought him and he announces this to the Brethren. to declare the cause of his joy. To whom he said that Ammon had just departed: whom they knew very well because of his frequent visits to Antonius, and because of the fame of the signs granted to him by the Lord. Of these this one thing also must be told: It was once necessary for him to cross the river called the Lycus, swollen with sudden waters: and he asked Theodorus, who was with him, to withdraw ^a little from his sight, so that they would not see each other's nakedness of body. Ammon, ^a lover of modesty, Theodorus withdrew: nevertheless he himself was ashamed even to undress. But while he was thinking, ^a divine power transported him to the other bank. And again Theodorus, himself also ^a man devoted to God, crossing to the elder, began to wonder that he had crossed the river so quickly. beyond the Lycus he is divinely transported. When he observed no moisture on his feet, no traces of water in his garments, he asked him to explain so incredible ^a transport as ^a father to his son. When Ammon refused to tell what had happened, he embraced his feet, and swore that he would not let go until he told him what he was concealing. The elder, therefore, seeing the Brother's determination to prevail, exacted from him in turn that he should not reveal this to anyone before his death: and thus he confessed that he had suddenly been transported to the other bank, and had not at all set his feet in the waves: declaring that this was the privilege only of the Lord's body, and of those to whom he himself, as to the Apostle Peter, should grant it, that the human body might stand upon the lightness of the waters. Matthew 14:28. These things Theodorus did not tell within the promised time; after Ammon's death he reported them. The monks, moreover, to whom Antonius had spoken about the death of Ammon, noted the day: The truth of Antonius's vision is recognized. and when Brethren from Nitria came thirty days later, inquiring, they found that Ammon had fallen asleep on that day and at that hour when the elder had seen his soul being carried: both parties therefore marveled at the purity of mind in Antonius, how knowledge of ^a thing done so far away had immediately been brought to him.

a MS. Ripat. Palatinis.

b MSS. S. Maximini and Ripat.: "Who was from the Tripolitanian region, from the city of Busiris." There was also another city of Busiris in Egypt outside the Tripolitanian region, which some identify with Thebes, Busiris city. or Diospolis Magna, in the Theban or Diospolite Nome, as Rosweyde observed here.

c On this Saint Paphnutius we shall treat with the Roman Martyrology, September 11.

d Theodoret lib. 1, cap. 7: with the right eye gouged out. Rosweyde incorrectly says "with both eyes gouged out."

e Whether Maximino should be read here, we shall discuss September 11. The description of Saint Paphnutius is absent from the Greek codex, perhaps interwoven by Evagrius or another, to distinguish him from other Paphnutii.

f Thus the MSS; but Rosweyde reads præscientia foreknowledge.

g MSS. almost everywhere Ammon, indeclinably; and in Greek Amoun and Ammoun. The same author relates in the Life of Saint Pachomius concerning Ammon; Rufinus, Saint Ammon. Palladius, Socrates, and Sozomenus, cited in section 9, Nicephorus lib. 8, cap. 41, and others. He is venerated on October 4.

h Rufinus writes the Nile. But with Saint Athanasius, Sozomenus, Nicephorus, and Palladius name the Lycus, who adds: "This river Lycus I once crossed with fear by pontoon; Lycus river. it is ^a canal and derivation of the great Nile." Nicephorus also calls the Lycus ^a canal.

i On him we have treated January 7.

CHAPTER XV.

The gift of healing. The state of souls.

[81] Archelaus also, ^a Count, when he found him on the outer mountain, asked him to pray for Polycratia, who was in Laodicea, an admirable Virgin devoted to Christ. The virgin Polycratia is cured, while absent, by the prayer of Antonius. For she was suffering terrible pains of the stomach and side, which she had contracted from excessive fasts and vigils, and she was utterly enfeebled in her whole body. Antonius prayed: and Archelaus noted down the day on which the prayer had been made. He returned to Laodicea and found the virgin in good health. Inquiring about the day of her recovery, he found that the time of the healing corresponded with his notation. And all were amazed, recognizing that at that time the Lord had freed her from her pains, when Antonius, praying for her, had invoked the goodness of the Savior.

[82] Often also he predicted before the days and months the arrivals, causes, and times of those coming to him. For some were drawn by the sole desire of seeing him, others by illness, All return from Antonius rejoicing. and some by bodies possessed by demons; yet no one

ever complained of the vexation or detriment of the laborious journey: all returned filled with spiritual food. But he directed that this admiration should not be attributed to his own praise, but to the Lord, who had granted knowledge of himself to men in proportion to the capacity of their mortality.

[83] At ^a certain time, moreover, when he had gone out to the outer monasteries and had been asked by the Brethren to pray in ^a certain boat with monks who were setting out, he boarded and alone of all perceived ^a most foul odor. All asserted that this was the stench of salted fish and preserved meats placed in the boat. Antonius alone senses the stench of ^a demon: But he affirmed that he sensed the stench of another thing. While he was still speaking, ^a young man possessed by ^a demon, who had previously hidden himself near the keel of the boat, suddenly cried out. When he was immediately cured through Antonius in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, he liberates the possessed. all understood that the stench had been that of the devil.

[84] Another man also, of noble rank among his own people, was brought to him possessed by ^a demon, oppressed by such great madness that he did not know he was in the presence of Antonius, and was even eating the waste of his own body. likewise another. Wherefore the elder, asked by those who had brought him to pray to the Lord for him, was so moved by the young man's misery that he remained awake all night with him, laboring against the madness of the sufferer. But when dawn was already breaking, and the possessed man, attacking Antonius, had pushed him violently, those who had brought him began to be angry that he had done injury to the elder. To whom Antonius said: "Do not ascribe another's fault to the wretched young man: that fury belongs to the one who possesses, not to the one possessed. And the enemy rushed into this audacity in his grief because the Lord commanded him to go to ^a dry region; and this attack upon me was the sign of Satan's expulsion." After these words there was no delay: the young man, recovering his senses and giving thanks to God, recognized where he was, and embraced and kissed Antonius with all his affection.

[85] There are innumerable other signs of this kind, which we have often learned from the concordant report of the monks. Yet not so much wonder should be applied to these: for much more do the things that follow exceed the condition of our frailty. About the ninth hour, when he had begun to pray before his meal, he felt himself caught up in the spirit, and carried aloft by Angels: with the demons of the air preventing his passage, the Angels, contradicting them, began to inquire Caught up on high by Angels, he is vainly detained by demons, what was the cause for detaining him, since there were no crimes in Antonius. When the demons strove to recount his sins from the beginning of his birth, the Angels closed their slanderous mouths, saying that they should not narrate sins from his birth, which were already put to rest by the goodness of Christ: but if they knew any from the time when he had become ^a monk and accused impudently: and had consecrated himself to God, they were permitted to bring them forth. The demons accused him of many things, lying impudently: and when proofs were lacking for the deceivers, the way of ascent was opened free for Antonius. And immediately returning to himself, in the place where he had begun to stand, he saw himself once more to be what he had been.

[86] Then indeed, forgetting food, from that hour he passed the night in groaning and lamentation, reflecting within himself on the multitude of human enemies, and the wrestling of so great an army, restored to himself he laments: and the laborious journey through the air to heaven, and this saying of the Apostle in which he says: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the prince of the power of this air," who, knowing that the powers of the air always tempt, wrestle, and contend for this purpose, that we might not have free passage to heaven, he exhorts his followers to battle: exhorted them, admonishing: "Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day: so that the enemy may have nothing evil to say about you, and may be confounded." Ephesians 6:13. But let us remember the saying of the Apostle, who declares: "Whether in the body or outside the body, I do not know: God knows." 2 Corinthians 12:2. And Paul indeed was caught up to the third heaven, and there, having heard ineffable words, descended; Antonius, however, was raised up to the air, and after the wrestling appeared free.

[87] taught by God He also had ^a gift of this kind: If, sitting on the mountain, he was ignorant of some matter, and sought within himself the knowledge of it, it was revealed to him by the Lord while praying: and he was, according to what is written, taught by God. John 6:45. Indeed, when this topic was discussed among the Brethren, and they diligently inquired of him how the soul conducted itself after the burden of the body, and what place was granted to it after its departure, the following night ^a voice from above, calling his name, Isaiah 54:12. said: "Antonius, arise, go out and see." And rising up, he went out: for he knew whom he ought to answer. And raising his eyes to heaven, he saw ^a certain tall and terrible being, raising his head to the clouds: He sees the state of souls after their departure. he also saw certain winged beings desiring to raise themselves to heaven, and that one with outstretched hands preventing their passage: of whom some he seized and dashed to the earth, while others he strove to retain in vain, and grieved when they flew over him to the heavenly regions: and the vanquished and the victors produced the greatest joy mixed with sorrow. And immediately ^a voice was made to him, saying: "Observe what you see." And then, with his heart illuminated, he began to understand that it was the ascent of souls, and the devil preventing them: who both retained for himself those who were guilty, and was tormented by the flight of the Saints, whom he could not deceive. Incited by these examples of visions, he daily grew toward better things. Nor indeed did he indicate to the Brethren what had been revealed to him for the sake of boasting; but when, praying constantly, he praised the help of God, he was compelled by those who questioned him to declare it: nor did his pure soul in Christ wish to conceal anything from his spiritual children, especially since the narration of such signs both ministered love to their purpose and showed the fruit of labor.

a The addition of "daughter of Publius" is found in Surius and the old editions; which is absent from the MSS. and the Greek exemplar, as Rosweyde also notes, num. 74.

b We suspect this Laodicea to be the one of Coelesyria, nearer to Egypt than the others.

c MS. Ripat. notitiam.

d In Greek: Ichthyn einai kai tarichon en tō ploiō, kai toutōn einai tēn osmēn. "That there was ^a fish and preserved meat in the boat, and that the smell was from these." Tarichum. Tarichum, which the translator retained, is ^a salted food or something preserved in salt. MS. Ripat., Surius, and the old editions read piscium salsorum et caricarum salted fish and dried figs. Carica is ^a type of fig which Pliny, lib. 13, cap. 5, attributes to Syria.

e Rosweyde: procidens falling forward.

f Saint Pachomius recognized the heresy of those present from the stench.

g The following passage, citing Saint Athanasius, is also reported in the Syntagma of Georgius Hamartolus, or Logotheta, De statu morientium num. 3, rendered into Latin by our Raderus, and published for the third time with the Viridarium Sanctorum and the Aula sancta.

h Hieronymus Platus, one of our authors, lib. 1, De Bono status religiosi cap. 13, asserts that the first fruit of religious life is that Indulgence at the entrance to Religious life. those who enter it obtain full and complete remission of all sins whatsoever which they had committed in secular life. Moreover, Cardinal Bellarmine, vol. 4, in his Judgment on the Lutheran Book of Concord, falsehood 22, concludes from this rapture of Saint Antonius that there seems to be ^a certain similarity between Baptism and the entrance to religious life; and just as in baptism all penalty due to sins is remitted, so also in the taking up of monastic life, something occurs in ^a proportionate way. This is excellently confirmed by the same authors and by Rosweyde here, with the testimonies of the ancient Fathers, the examples of Saints, and the teaching of the Scholastics.

i MS. Ripat. and S. Maxim. ad aerem.

k Paschasius lib. 7, De Vitis PP. cap. 19, num. 4, and Palladius lib. 8, cap. 27, narrate this vision in almost the same words.

CHAPTER XVI.

Reverence for the clergy, hatred of heresy.

[88] He defers to the Clergy. He never broke his patience when stirred by sudden anger, nor raised his humility into glory. For compelling all clerics, even down to the lowest rank, to pray before him, and also submitting his head to bishops and presbyters for ^a blessing, as ^a disciple of humility. He seeks ^a blessing with bowed head. And when deacons came to him for the sake of profit, while he discussed for their assistance in their presence, he placed them before himself for praying to the Lord, not being ashamed himself also to learn. For he also frequently questioned those with whom he was: and if he had heard something necessary from them, he confessed himself aided.

[89] He also had ^a great grace in his countenance, and had received even this admirable gift from the Savior. For if

anyone, not knowing him, He is recognized by the joy of his countenance. wished to see him among ^a multitude of monks, without anyone pointing him out, he would pass by the rest and run to Antonius, and he recognized the purity of soul from the countenance, and through the mirror of the body he beheld the grace of the holy mind. For always bearing ^a cheerful face, he clearly showed that he was thinking of heavenly things, as Scripture says: "When the heart rejoices, the face flourishes; when it is in sorrow, it is saddened." Proverbs 15:13. Thus also Jacob recognized his father-in-law Laban plotting snares against him, saying to his daughters: "The face of your father is not as yesterday and the day before." Genesis 31:5. Thus Samuel recognized David: for he had joyful eyes and teeth as white as milk. 1 Samuel 16. Similarly Antonius was recognized: for always maintaining the same face in prosperity and adversity, he was neither elated by favorable circumstances nor broken by adverse ones. For he was both lovable in countenance and admirable in purity of faith.

[90] He never mingled with the communion of schismatics, knowing their ancient depravity and transgression. He never bestowed even friendly words upon the Manichaeans or other heretics, He avoids heretics and schismatics. except only those which could recall them from the error of iniquity; declaring that the friendships and conversations of such persons were the perdition of the soul. He likewise detested the Arians, telling all that they should not even approach near them. For when certain Arians came, having found their most faithless sect upon examination, he drove them from the mountain, saying that the words of these people were far worse than serpents.

[91] He goes to Alexandria, Moreover, when the Arians once lied that Antonius believed as they did, amazed at their audacity and moved by the anger of just indignation, and being asked by the bishops and all the Brethren, he went down to Alexandria; and there he condemned the Arians in ^a public discourse, he publicly condemns the Arians, declaring that this was the last heresy and the precursor of the Antichrist; and he preached before the people that the Son of God was not ^a creature, not from non-existent things, but was proper to, and of one substance with, the Father; lest he should seem rather ^a creature, or an adoption, or ^a mere appellation: saying it was impious even to conceive in the mind "There was ^a time when he was not"; since the Word of God, who is God forever, is coeternal with the Father, because he was born from that Father who always is. Whence he said: "Let there be no fellowship between you and the Arians. 2 Corinthians 6:14. For what partnership has light with darkness? You, believing faithfully, are Christians: they, calling the Word, that is, the Son, who is from God the Father, ^a creature, are separated from the Gentiles by no distance, who serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Believe me, the very elements are angry, and all creation, according to the Apostle's saying, groans against the Arian fury, because it sees its Lord, through whom all things were made and in whom all things exist, being classed with itself." Romans 8:22.

[92] How greatly this preaching of so great ^a man strengthened the people in faith cannot be expressed. For they rejoiced that ^a heresy hostile and inimical to Christ was being anathematized by ^a pillar of the Church. Then no age, no sex remained at home. I say nothing of the Christians; the pagans also, and even the priests of idols, flocked to the church, He is called the Man of God. saying: "We pray to see the Man of God," for this was the name given to Antonius by everyone. They also longed to touch at least the hem of his garment, believing that even the touch would greatly benefit them. How many were then freed from diabolical possession and various infirmities? He confirms the faith by miracles. How many spoils were snatched from the idols? How many also, drawn back from the error of the Gentiles, were joined to our flock? So many certainly that those converted from the superstition of idols in the space of ^a few days surpassed the whole year's crowd of believers. He converts the Gentiles. Furthermore, when his companions tried to push back the rushing multitude, thinking the crowd of people would be tiresome to him, he said with ^a tranquil spirit: "Is this gathering greater than the throngs of demons? Is the multitude of those paying respect more numerous than the companies of our wrestlers on the mountain?"

[93] It happened also that, while we were accompanying him as he departed near the gate, ^a certain woman cried out from behind, saying: "Wait, Man of God, my daughter is tormented by ^a most savage demon: wait, I beseech you, wait, lest I too, falling, should perish." Hearing this, the admirable elder, admonished by us and himself willing, paused ^a little. And when, with the woman approaching, the girl lay cast down, he silently prayed to the Lord Jesus: and at the naming of his name, the unclean spirit immediately departed. He heals ^a demoniac. The girl was well, the people praised God, the mother was in joy. But he himself rejoiced because he was returning to his beloved solitude. He was indeed very wise, and had this admirable quality in himself, that although he had not learned letters, he was most ingenious and most prudent.

a These ranks, distinguished into major and minor sacred orders, are so called because the ascent is made step by step from the lowest to the highest. Thus the First Council of Braga, canon 38: "Let ^a layman arrive at the priesthood, instructed through the ranks."

b The Arians were called Ariomanitae because they were seized by Arius's mania, or frenzy.

c Saint Jerome, epistle 33 to Castrutius, and Rufinus below in the Apophthegmata num. 40, write that Saint Antonius was brought to Alexandria by Saint Athanasius for the purpose of refuting the Arians.

d In Greek: eis kyriakon, which signifies ^a temple dedicated to the worship of Christ. Thus the first day of the week, or of the sun, for the same reason began to be called Dominica, or Kyriakē. Dominicum, kyriakon. Some believe the German word Kirche or Kercke, which means church, was derived from this word. Rosweyde, Surius, and others printed ad Dominicum imperium to the Lord's command, which is not satisfactory, and imperium was absent from MS. Ripat. Above num. 17, the dwelling of the village is translated, whereas in Greek to tēs kōmēs kyriakon would be read as "the temple of the village": or if perhaps ^a public building had not yet been assigned for carrying out sacred rites, certainly some principal house is meant, such as perhaps was that of his parents; or the village praetorium. For such buildings are called even by our people Heeren-huysen, kyriakoi oikoi, lord's houses.

e In Greek: kai ton Christon onomasantos ēgerthē, "and when he had named Christ, she arose." Surius, Rosweyde, and others: "at his threatening." Better "at his naming" nominationem, as MSS. Ripat. and S. Maxim. have, that is, as soon as he named Christ Jesus.

CHAPTER XVII.

Disputation with Philosophers.

[94] At some time indeed two pagan Philosophers came to him, thinking they could deceive Antonius. He was at the outer mountain. When he saw them, he understood from their countenance that they were pagans: and going forth to them, through an interpreter he began to speak thus: He argues ingeniously with the Philosophers. "Why were wise men willing to trouble themselves with so long ^a journey to ^a foolish man?" When they said that he was not foolish, but even exceedingly wise, he shrewdly responded: "If you came to ^a fool, your labor is superfluous: but if you think me to be wise and to possess wisdom, it is good that you should imitate what you approve, for it is fitting to imitate good things. If I had come to you, I would imitate you: but since you have come to me as to ^a wise man, become as I am, Christians." The Philosophers departed, marveling at both things: both the sharpness of his intellect and the expulsions of demons.

[95] He also bound other worldly wise men in the same way, who wished to ridicule him because he was ignorant of letters, with this reasoning, saying: "Answer me, what came first, He shows that one can be wise without knowledge of letters. the mind or letters? And which is the origin of the other? Does the mind arise from letters, or do letters arise from the mind?" When they asserted that the mind was the author and inventor of letters, he said: "Therefore whoever has ^a sound mind does not need letters." Who among those present would not have exclaimed after this contest, since even those who were defeated were astonished, admiring such great sagacity of mind in one unlearned in letters? For he was not, as one who had lived in the solitude and mountains and spent his entire life there, rough and rigid, but agreeable and affable, bringing forth speech, according to the Apostle's precept, seasoned with divine salt, so that he lacked envy and was loved by all. Colossians 4:6.

[96] Among these things, as if it were not enough for paganism to have been overcome twice, men blinded by every cloud of worldly prudence came to him ^a third time, and most learned of all in the estimation of their arts and in all the studies of philosophy. When they demanded from him an account of the faith which we have in Christ,

and strove to mock him about the divine cross by the cunning interrogation of sophisms, he was silent for ^a little while, his voice checked, and first pitied their error; then through the interpreter, who was accustomed to express his words most carefully in the Greek language, He explains the mystery of the Cross and the incarnate Word. he began thus, saying: "What is more beautiful, what more honorable, to worship the cross, or to assign adultery, parricide, or incest to those whom you worship, when in the former there is contempt of death, the mark of virtues: in the latter shameful religion, the teacher of obscenity? What is better to say, that the Word of God, remaining as he was, assumed ^a human body for our salvation, so that by the fellowship of mortality he might raise us to heaven and make us participants of the heavenly nature; or, as you yourselves assert, that the draught of the divine mind should bow its head to worship earthly things, and enclose the heavenly name in the forms of cattle and serpents? With what mouth do you dare to ridicule the belief of Christians, who say that Christ the Son of God, without detriment to himself, both began to be what he was not and remained what he had been; when you yourselves, dragging the soul down from the heavens, are accustomed to bury it not only in the bodies of men but even of serpents and cattle? Christian belief testifies that its God came for the salvation of the world: He ridicules the Pythagorean transmigration of souls. but you, preaching an innate soul, transfer it back and forth. The Christian faith, which venerates the omnipotence and clemency of God, consequently says that the incarnation was possible for God, yet in such ^a way that his condescension did not empty his dignity: but you who boast that the soul flowing from the most splendid fountain of God has fallen shamefully, you who dare to assert that it is mutable and convertible after its diminishment, you now also profane with impious tongue that nature which is the mistress of the ages, through the indignities of the soul. For the image, which according to you retains the natural likeness of its author, having one and the same substance from which it flows, consequently transmits its own humiliations and injuries to its origin. Therefore consider that the indignities of souls, through your blasphemy, redound to the father (as you call him) of them."

[97] "The Cross of Christ our Lord and God is here cast in our teeth. I ask, what obscenity of religion is this? Is it not rather to endure the cross or any kind of death patiently, inflicted by wicked men, than to weep for the wandering and uncertain journeys of Isis in search of Osiris? He assails the shameful deeds and turpitudes of the false gods. Be ashamed, I beseech you, of the plots of Typhon: be ashamed of Saturn's flight and most cruel devouring of his children. Blush at the parricide of Jupiter and his incest: blush at his rape and his intercourse with women and boys. He, as your poets invent, to satisfy the fury of his monstrous lust, gave forth soft groans of love: he flowed into the bosom of Danae -- both lover and price himself: he, ^a tuneful bird, sought the embraces of Leda: he, raging against his own sex, defiled the royal boy by means of his servant birds. These are the things you believe, these you worship, these are the ornaments of your temples. Weigh our words, I beg, with ^a fair judgment for your salvation. He binds the Philosophers with ^a dilemma. Are all things in the books of the Christians to be believed, or nothing? If nothing, then you do not even recognize the name of the Cross, which you attack. If all things are to be believed, why, when in the same books the resurrection is joined to the cross, do you tear at the divine passion with ^a foolish tongue, and not immediately join to it the sight of the blind, the hearing of the deaf, the walking of the lame, the cleansing of the leper, the sea serving its God as he walks, the flights of demons, the resurrection of the dead, and the return of the deceased from the underworld? All these things are inserted in the divine Scriptures which you challenge, and in the same volumes are contained the praises of majesty and the disgrace of death. Wherefore, having cast aside the hatred with which you are imbued, you will immediately find that Jesus is both the true God, and that for the sake of human salvation he assumed ^a frail nature."

[98] "Tell us, however, if you are not ashamed, of your religion. But what forms of worship can wretched error report from such great foulness and folly of things? Unless perhaps (as I hear) you assert that the fables, obscenities, cruelties, vanities, and deaths of your gods are allegorical, covering them with allegorical veils: He refutes the allegories of pagan fables. the rape of Libera as the earth; Vulcan half-lame and weak as fire; Juno as the air; Apollo as the sun; Diana as the moon; Neptune as the seas; and Jupiter, the prince of lusts, as the ether. Nor after this impudence of excuse do you accept God, but creatures, with the Creator despised. But if the beauty of the elements has drawn you to their worship, it was fitting to keep measure; and it was proper to marvel at them only, not to worship them, lest the veneration of the work be an injury to the Creator. For according to this perverse reasoning which you follow, the honor of the architect migrates to the house, the skill of the physician will be conferred upon the remedies, and the merits and praises of all artisans will be transferred to their works. What do you say to these things, so that we may know what shameful confession of the 'ridiculous cross' you have?"

[99] When at this disputation the philosophers turned their eyes upon one another and murmured among themselves, Antonius, smiling, again said through the interpreter: "For it seems exceedingly difficult to every work when, having trampled upon the just and entire course of the matter, the merits of labor are attributed to the things made rather than to the makers. The elements indeed, as I have mentioned, prove their own servitude by their very appearance. But since by dialectical observation you collect whatever you consider necessary, compel us also by this artifice to affirm our religion. Answer me: How is the knowledge of God more manifestly proven, by ^a collection of words, or by the operation of faith? And which is more ancient, the operation of faith, He teaches that knowledge of God is proven by operation, or disputation proceeding through arguments?" When they responded that operation is firmer than words, and that this is clear knowledge of God, he also agreed that they had spoken well; because the operation which descends from faith generates the affections of the soul, but dialectical disputation takes the origin of its opposition from the artifice of those who compose it. "When therefore," he said, "someone has the operation of faith firmly fixed in his soul, the composition of words will be superfluous, by which you attempt to uproot the belief conceived in our mind, and yet you are often unable to explain our understandings. Thus the works of the mind are more solid than the fraudulent conclusion of sophisms."

[100] the power of the Cross to be measured by deeds, "We Christians do not have the mystery of our life stored up in the wisdom of the world, but in the power of faith, which has been given to us by God through Christ. The order of things that are daily accomplished commends the truth of my speech: for us, unlearned and ignorant of your literature, the words of God alone suffice for the knowledge of God. Behold, we, drawn from so many flocks of paganism, are daily propagated throughout the entire world: but for you, after the coming of the Lord, the knotty tricks of sophisms have failed. Behold, we, teaching the simple faith of Christ, have conquered idolatry, and by the preaching of the ignominious Cross, gilded temples have fallen. If you can, show us by what weaving of words you have persuaded anyone to prefer paganism to Christ. Throughout all the lands the true Son of God, Christ, is acknowledged. The eloquence of the sophists avails nothing, the disputation of philosophy can do nothing against the multitude of believers. We name the Crucified, and all the demons, whom you worship as gods, roar, and are driven from the bodies they possess at the first sign of the Lord's Cross. Where are those fabulous oracles? Where are the incantations of the Egyptians? What have the spells of the magicians accomplished? Certainly all those things were devastated when Christ thundered from his Cross to the world. paganism has collapsed, Yet you, passing over the hosts of the debilitated, attempt to ridicule the glorious death of Jesus."

[101] "But what of the fact that paganism, never shaken by royal persecution, indeed dear to the world and supported by human protections, has already collapsed? We, the servants of Christ, the more we are pressed, the more we rise and flourish. Your images, once enclosed within decorated walls, have already collapsed with age. But the teaching of Christ, which seems to you folly and sport, although it has endured the tyrannical persecutions of pursuing emperors, and that the force of Evangelical teaching prevails. although it has been assailed by various terrors, is nevertheless contained by no region of the earth, prohibited by no border of barbarous nations. When has so great ^a splendor of divine knowledge shone forth? When have so many virtues come together at once? Continence in marriage, virginity in the Church. The glorious constancy of the Martyrs for their Lord flourishes: the Cross of Christ is the beginning of all these things."

[102] "Meanwhile, among so many choirs of virtues, you stretch the nets of syllogisms, and attempt to cover the true light of things with dark arguments; behold we, as our Teacher said, persuade not in pagan persuasion, but in the most open faith, which is accustomed to anticipate the affirmation of words. 1 Corinthians 2:4. For there are present persons afflicted, tormented by demons." When he had brought them into the midst, he repeated his words, He challenges the sophists to cast out demons. saying: "Now, with your collections and whatever maleficent incantation you wish, expel your gods, as you think them: but if you cannot, submit your conquered hands, and flee to the trophies of Christ, and immediately the power of the majesty will attend upon the faith of the Crucified." He spoke, He liberates demoniacs by the sign of the Cross. and invoking the name of Jesus, when he had pressed the life-giving sign in the sacred number of the Trinity upon their foreheads, together with the expelled demons the vain wisdom of the philosophers present was confuted. For they were struck with amazement, astonished at ^a man in whom, after so great ^a genius, ^a divine abundance of signs also flowed. But he, ascribing all things to Christ, who had healed them, used ^a reciprocal address, and said: "Do not think that I have given them health: Christ performs these miracles through his servants. Believe also yourselves, and you will see that ^a faith devoted to God, not the vain inflation of eloquence, merits such signs. Take refuge in the law of the Crucified, and imitate us his servants: and content with this limit of knowledge, seek henceforth no arguments of worldly folly." When Antonius had spoken thus far, the philosophers, struck with wondrous amazement, departing from him with an honorable salutation, confessed that his company had greatly profited them.

a Rosweyde: superiore upper. But Surius and MS. Ripat.: exteriore outer. And in Greek: en tō orei tō exō. On the outer and inner mountain, see the Prolegomena section 2.

b Isaac is called the interpreter of Antonius in the life of Saint Hilarion. Subsequently it was Cronius, in Apophthegmata num. 49. Consult section 14 in the Prolegomena.

c Synesius alludes to this passage in De Dione, or De vitæ instituto, and his scholiast, although Amous is incorrectly read for Antōnios. Rosweyde here, num. 89, compares the words of each at greater length.

d Baronius, year of Christ 328, num. 10, considers these to have been Platonic Philosophers, who said that the soul was an emanation and substance of the divine mind; where he magnificently extols this reasoning of Saint Antonius.

e MS. Ripat. sopire. The foolish Pythagorean metempsychosis is refuted everywhere by our Philosophers.

f Isis. Isis, goddess of the Egyptians: whose husband and brother Osiris was dismembered by his brother Typhon. Giraldus treats of these in the Historia Deorum syntagma 8 and 12, as he does of Saturn, Jupiter, and the Castors born of Leda, syntagma 2, 4, and 5; on Danae, Arnobius lib. 5 and 7, and others.

g MS. Ripat. interpellastis.

h On these allegorical veils, see Saint Augustine, De Civitate Dei lib. 4, cap. 10 and lib. 7, cap. 16; Arnobius lib. 3 and 5; Clement lib. 10 Recognitiones cap. 8; Fulgentius Placiades; and among the more recent authors, copiously, Natalis Comes in the Mythologiae.

i MS. Ripat. confusio. In Greek: Ei axion ti chleuēs ho stauros echei. "If the cross has something worthy of mockery."

k This entire sentence, up to "The elements," is absent in MSS. Ripat. and Maxim. and also in the Greek.

l MS. Ripat. complexionem. In Greek: di' apodeixeōs logōn, "by demonstration of arguments."

m On the temple of Jupiter that was overthrown, whose walls and pavement gleamed with silver panels (or, as others have it, golden ones), and whose vaults sparkled with the purest gold and pearls or precious stones, we have spoken on January 9 in the Acts of Saints Julian and companions, cap. 12.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Letters of the Emperors to Saint Antonius. The foreseen affliction of the Church.

[103] It is remarkable in that man that ^a person placed at the farthest limit of the world should be celebrated both by the favor of Princes and by every royal court. For Constantine Augustus, and his sons Constans and Constantius, learning of such things, frequently sent letters to him as to ^a father, He receives letters from Constantine and his sons: begging him to gladden them with reciprocal writings. But he, remaining the same kind of man as he had been even before the letters came to him, was not moved by the greeting of Princes, and as if the letters had not been received, he said to the assembled monks: "The kings of this world have sent letters to us; what wonder should Christians find in this? For although their dignity is different, nevertheless the condition of being born and dying is the same. he does not esteem their favor highly, These things are to be revered with all veneration, those things are to be retained with the whole affection of the soul: that God wrote ^a law for men, that he enriched the Churches through his own Son with his own words. What business do monks have with the letters of Kings? Why should I accept letters to which I do not know how to render the customary courtesies of ^a greeting?" Therefore, when urged by all the Brethren to refresh the Christian Kings with his letters, lest they be exasperated by his silence, he wrote back suitably to the letters received. First he praised them he writes salutary things to them. for worshipping Christ, then he urged salutary things, that they should not think royal power ^a great thing, lest, swelling with the power of the present flesh, they should not know themselves to be men, and forget that they were to be judged by Christ: finally he urged clemency toward their subjects and justice, and care for the poor, and testified in his letters that Jesus Christ was the one eternal King of all ages. Receiving these letters, the Princes rejoiced most vehemently. The holy reputation of Antonius also burned among all, so that they wished to be called his sons. For his great affability with visitors had turned the devotion of all toward him.

[104] After the Gentiles had been refuted, the Kings admonished, and the Brethren had been relieved by his consolation, He returns to his accustomed rigor. he returned to the inner mountain and to his accustomed rigor: and there, often walking about and sitting with those who entered, he was struck with wonder, as is written in Daniel: and after intervals of time, he responded to what followed, so that it was understood that he had seen certain secrets of revelation. Daniel 4:16. For while situated on the mountain, foreseeing things that were being done far away in Egypt, he narrated them to Bishop Serapion, who was stationed there.

[105] A lamentable vision follows, to be mourned with every fountain of tears. For while the Brethren were sitting around him and he was working, he fixed his eyes intently on heaven, groaning and sighing: and after some interval, he trembled with exceeding pain from the revelation that had begun: and immediately, his knees fixed, he prostrated himself before the face of God and prayed that by his clemency he would avert the future crime. He foresees the affliction of the Church by the Arians, Tears followed the prayer, great fear seized those present: they begged him to explain the vision of so great ^a calamity. Sobs seized his voice, his tongue was hindered by weeping, and in the midst of his effort, his speech was interrupted by groaning. At length, with mournful outcry, he said: "It would be better, O little children, to forestall the impending sin by ^a swift death." Beginning thus, he was again conquered by tears, and among his anguished sighs, at last providing his chest with ^a voice, he said: "A certain great and unprecedented abomination threatens all ages. The Catholic faith will be overthrown by ^a great storm, and men, like beasts of burden, will plunder the holy things of Christ. For I saw the altar of the Lord surrounded by ^a multitude of mules, who with repeated kicks of their hooves were scattering everything. This is the cause of the groans you have heard. And the voice of the Lord was made, saying: 'My altar shall be made abominable.'" Nor was there delay; inflicted two years later. the fulfillment followed the vision: for after two years the savage madness of the Arians broke forth. Then there were plunderings of churches, then profanation of divine vessels, then sacred ministries were polluted by the defiled hands of pagans, then the aid of pagan workmen was enlisted against Christ, and Christians were compelled to go to church bearing palm branches (which is the mark of idolatry in Alexandria), so that they might be believed to be the people of the Arians. What ^a crime! The mind shudders to recount what was done: the modesty of virgins and matrons was violated, the blood of Christ's sheep,

shed in Christ's temple, bespattered the venerable altars: the baptistery was polluted according to the will of the pagans. Nothing was lacking from the truth of the vision, as the event showed, because the indiscipline of the kicking mules was the impiety of the Arians.

[106] But this sadness was consoled by the prosperity of the following revelation, and he said: "Do not, little children, give yourselves entirely to grief: He predicts the serenity of the Church that will follow. for as the Lord has been angry, so he will again have mercy, and the Church will quickly recover its adornment: and you will see those who preserved the faith of the Lord during persecutions shining again with their accustomed brilliance. The serpents will return to their dens, and the religion will be propagated more widely: only see that the sincerity of your faith is not stained by the Arian plague. This is not the doctrine of the Apostles, but of the demons and their father the devil: on account of which, through the stupidity of beasts of burden, their spirit, similar to that of cattle, has been expressed."

[107] Thus far Antonius. But it is not fitting for us to doubt that so great ^a miracle could be portended through ^a man. Matthew 17:20. For it is the promise of the Savior, who speaks thus: "If you have faith as ^a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain: 'Be moved,' and it shall be moved, and nothing shall be impossible to you." And again: "Amen, amen I say to you, whatever you shall ask the Father in my name, he will give you. John 16:21. Ask and you shall receive." For he himself, promising now the subjection of demons, now the cure of various infirmities to his disciples and the entire flock of believers, He works miracles by his prayers, said: "Freely you have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8. Did Antonius heal by the command of his own power? Did he consider what he had done to be of his own ability? It was by prayers, not by commands, that demons and diseases yielded, and at the naming of Christ our God all things were always accomplished. Let no wise man ascribe the wonder of the healings to Antonius, but to the Lord Jesus, who, displaying his customary benevolence toward his creatures, even now graciously exercised it through his chosen servant. and by the merits of his life. Antonius only prayed, and on account of the merits of his life the Lord granted all things.

a Constantine the Great died in ^a suburb of Nicomedia, on the very day of Pentecost, in the year of Christ 337.

b Constans, born in the year of Christ 320, was killed in the year 350.

c Constantius, surviving both brothers Constantine and Constans, died near Tarsus on November 3, 361.

d Baronius, year of Christ 328, num. 7, discusses these letters, but in what year they were written is not established.

e Others: fragrabat.

f Saint Serapion, Bishop. Saint Serapion, Bishop of Thmuis, is venerated on March 21. That he was dear to Saint Antonius is written by Saint Jerome in Catalogus illustrium Ecclesiasticorum Scriptorum cap. 99.

g Saint Chrysostom, homily 8 on Matthew cap. 2, and Sozomenus lib. 6, cap. 5, recall this vision, whose words we have given in the Prolegomena. Nicephorus lib. 10, cap. 43, and others.

h Sozomenus says "in his sleep"; Nicephorus says "in dreams"; but incorrectly.

i Alfonsus Pisanus, one of our authors, lib. 1, De Actis quae Concilium Nicaenum antecesserunt, reports this vision of Saint Antonius transcribed in full from here, and adds to it another vision granted to Saint Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, from the acts of his martyrdom. But he errs in the reckoning of time, since this was revealed to Saint Antonius long after the martyrdom of Saint Peter, and even after the Council of Nicaea held in the year of Christ 325. The persecution of the Arians foreseen by Saint Antonius, when: On the other hand, Symphorianus Campegius in his epistle to Dallus, prefixed to the letters of Saint Antonius, asserts that the scandal of the Church foreseen in the spirit was that to come through Julian the Apostate, from Christian to become pagan. Sozomenus lib. 6, cap. 5 says: "Not only in those things which, as is probable, happened to the Church in the times of Constantius, was the prediction of the monk Antonius fulfilled, but there remained also those things which were later done under Valens." But the two-year period assigned here is the year of Christ 341, when in the 5th year of Constantius, as Saint Jerome teaches in his Chronicle, ^a council was held at Antioch for the dedication of the basilica of Constantine; in the fifth year after the death of Constantine, as Sozomenus reports lib. 3, cap. 5, and Socrates lib. 2, cap. 5, who assigns the Consuls as Marcellus (for others Marcellinus) and Probinus. In this council, after the expulsion of Saint Athanasius, Gregory the Cappadocian, an Arian, was substituted for him, who invaded that Church with great slaughter by military force, with the aid of Philagrius the Prefect. Baronius refers this to the following year, 342.

k Athanasius himself describes the destruction inflicted at that time in his epistle to the Orthodox, corresponding to what is narrated here: "Flames were cast upon the churches and baptisteries. There was therefore great mourning, wailing, and lamentation throughout the city. The citizens bore what was being done with indignation, cried out to the Governor, protested violence, because holy and uncontaminated Virgins suffered nefarious things with their bodies stripped bare, and if they resisted more stubbornly, the danger of death threatened them, how immense. monks were trampled underfoot and expired, others were condemned to the treasury, others were slaughtered with swords and clubs, others departed badly treated with wounds and blows. Upon the sacred table (alas!) what impiety and crimes were committed? For one could see them sacrificing birds and pine nuts, extolling their idols with praises, hurling insults and verbal abuse against our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Son of the living God, burning the sacred books of the Scriptures which they found in the churches: into the sacred baptistery (O heavens!) Christ-killing Jews and godless pagans entered with no reverence, and performed such turpitude of words and deeds with their bodies stripped bare that it is shameful and abominable to relate. Nor were impious men lacking, emulators of the most bitter persecutors, who seized upon virgins and continent persons, dragged and ravished them, and compelled them to blaspheme and deny the Lord, and who struck down and trampled underfoot those who refused to do so."

CHAPTER XIX.

Patronage of the afflicted.

[108] Often, however, and against his will, he was brought by the Brethren to the outer mountain. And when the Judges, who could not go to the inner monastery because of the harshness of the journey, and because of the multitude of followers and the dreadful solitude, sought by entreaty to enjoy his presence and could not obtain it, because he most painfully bore the vexation of journeys; they sent to him On account of aiding the wretched he goes to the Judges: those in chains, whom either guilt or the public authority had confined, knowing that such persons could not be despised by Antonius: overcome by their weeping, he was drawn to the outer mountain, recognizing that his labor would be useful to the wretched: and he urged the Judges he reminds them of their duty: who had invited him to place the fear of God before hatred and favor in pronouncing sentence, and that they should not be ignorant of what is written: "With whatever judgment you shall judge, by that same shall you be judged": yet in the midst of his words he remembered his beloved solitude. Matthew 7:2. Therefore, after the forced presence, which the prayers of the commander and, what is more true, the weeping of the wretched had extorted, after his salutary admonitions, after commending the prisoners, he commends the prisoners, and even the release of some, when the commander asked him to grant his presence somewhat more generously, he said that he could not remain there longer, using the fitting analogy that, just as fish drawn out of water soon die on dry land, so also monks who are delayed among secular people are immediately dissolved by human conversations. "For this reason," he said, he hastens to the inner mountain. "it is fitting that, as fish hasten to the sea, so we should hasten to the mountain, lest by our delaying, some forgetfulness of our purpose should follow." The commander, marveling at so great wisdom in the man, passed ^a just and true judgment about him, saying: "That he was truly the servant of God, and that in so rustic ^a man there could never have been so great ^a wisdom, unless he were governed by divine love."

[109] Furthermore, when Balacius, who under Nestorius, the Prefect of Alexandria, was the Duke of Egypt, ^a man most zealous in supporting Arian iniquity, so persecuted the Church of Christ that in his insane spirit he had virgins and monks stripped and beaten in public, Antonius sent him ^a letter, A letter rebuking Balacius the Arian: the substance of which is this: "I see the wrath of God coming upon you; cease to persecute Christians, lest the wrath seize you, which already threatens you with imminent destruction." The wretched man read the letter and laughed, and spitting on it, threw it on the ground: and inflicting many injuries upon the bearers, he commanded these things to be reported to Antonius: "Since you have such great care for monks, the discipline of my authority will also extend to you." But immediately punishment overtook the one who threatened, and after five days, divine vengeance restrained his unbridled mouth. For he rode out to the first post-station of Alexandria, which is called Chaereum, with the aforementioned Prefect of Egypt, Nestorius. They were carried by horses; he predicts the punishment of the insolent: and among all of them, Balacius kept the gentlest ones, which were his own. When the horses, therefore, were playing with each other as usual, the gentler one, on which Nestorius was riding, with ^a sudden bite

threw Balacius to the ground, and thus lunging at him, tore and gnawed his thighs, so that he was immediately carried back to the city and died on the third day: and all recognized that the fulfillment of the threats predicted by Antonius had most swiftly followed, with the fitting end of the persecutor accomplished. As for the rest, Antonius admonished all who came to him with wondrous modesty, that they should forget the dignity of the world and seek the blessedness of ^a more retired life. If any, however, were oppressed by ^a greater power, he incites all to ^a more perfect life. and could not obtain justice, he defended them so earnestly that he himself seemed to suffer the injury on their behalf. The eloquence of that excellent elder was useful to many: many, leaving behind great riches and higher rank of military service, clung to his way of life. And to comprehend infinite matters in ^a brief discourse, Christ had granted ^a good physician to Egypt. Who did not exchange sadness for joy in the presence of Antonius? Who did not turn anger into peace? A physician to all of Egypt, Who did not temper the grief of bereavement at his sight? Who, having cast aside the sorrow of the poverty by which he was burdened, did not immediately despise the opulence of the rich and rejoice in his own poverty? Which monk, after weariness, was not reinvigorated by his encouragements? Which young man, kindled by passions, did not become ^a lover of chastity from his admonition? especially ^a spiritual one; Which person afflicted by the devil returned without ^a remedy? Who, distracted by the thoughts of the enemy, did not return with ^a serene spirit, the blind tempest having been calmed? For he knew by what affliction each one labored, and recognizing the discernment of spirits from the merits of his life, he applied the remedy of words as the wounds required. Whence it came about that after his teaching, all the snares of the devil were exposed. Many betrothed girls also, at the sight of him, withdrawing almost from the very bridal chamber, took their seat in the bosom of their mother the Church. What more? People from the entire world flowed to him, indeed to the entire world. and the variety of all nations desired to see this most warlike man against demons. No one complained that he had come there in vain: for all, the commerce of their labor was delightful and pleasant. For the fatigue of the journey brought back the reward of provision, as the effect of the matter proved. For after his death, as if struck by the common wound of bereavement, each one mourned his own parent.

a Archisterium. Archisterium: to Rosweyde, the inner and principal cell of Antonius. In the Life of Saint Euphrasia, the women's monastery is said to have one hundred and thirty architria. The Life of Saint Walburga: "the atrium of the holy archisterium and the cemetery adjacent to the archisterium." The Life of Saint Willibald: "the archisterial ridge." Paulus Langius in the Chronicle of Citizense, year of Christ 1469, names the Burhfeldense archisterium. Papias: "Archisterium, in Greek, monastery." Was perhaps askētērion training-place read, and gradually corrupted thus? Socrates lib. 4, cap. 18: ta en Aigyptō askētēria isōs ek makrōn tōn chronōn elabe tēn archēn. "The training-places in Egypt perhaps took their beginning from ^a long time ago." Whether in some Glossaries sterion means "station" and archos means "chief," and thence archisterion, let others consider whether these are genuine words and used in pure Greek.

b The same saying of Saint Antonius is reported by Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 2, num. 1, and under the name of Moses in lib. 3 De Vitis Patrum num. 109.

c Pelagius: interioris custodiae of the interior guard. In Greek: mē epilathōmetha tōn endōn, "lest we forget those things which are within."

d Nestorius the Prefect was written to by the Emperor Constantius. Saint Athanasius produces ^a double epistle, one in the epistle to those leading the solitary life, in which he again mentions Nestorius the Prefect, the other in Apologia 2. The Metaphrastes cites this in the life of Saint Athanasius, Nestorius the Prefect. in which it is inscribed Nestoriō Augustaliō; in which way he is also named in the life of Saint Athanasius by an uncertain author. Baronius, year of Christ 349, num. 21, when he had recited the epistle of Constantius to him from Apologia 2 of Saint Athanasius, adds: "These things to Nestorius, whose mention is made in the Acts of the Arian persecution of the Alexandrian Church: he was also in magistracy at the same time, lending his aid to the Arians." But it is doubtful whether he was Prefect of Alexandria or of Egypt, as is said below, at this time; or whether he later succeeded Philagrius, whom Saint Athanasius in his book to those leading the solitary life, where he recalls this history, calls the Prefect of Egypt, not Nestorius; and in the Greek exemplar he is only named below as the companion of Balacius on the journey, and perhaps by anticipation is called Eparchos tēs Aigyptou.

e In Greek Statēlatēs: Duke, or Prefect of the military. In the epistle to those leading the solitary life, he is thus described: Posoi te alloi monazontes emastidzonto kathezomenou Grēgoriou meta Balakiou tou legomenou Doukos; posoi Episkopoi ekoptonto? "How many other followers of the monastic life were flogged, with Gregory sitting as judge together with Balacius, called the Duke? How many Bishops were beaten?" where the translators, even in the Greek-Latin Commelinian and Parisian editions, substituted Philagrius for Gregory.

f In the cited epistle, the letters are said to have been sent to Gregory the pseudo-Bishop: "Therefore whenever Father Antonius wrote from the mountain, just as piety is an abomination to the sinner, so he abominated the letters of the Saint."

g In the same epistle: "He once handed over ^a letter of Antonius written to himself to Duke Balacius to be spat upon and thrown away."

h MS. Ripat. rigoris. In Greek: ēdē kai se meteleysomai, "I will also now pursue you."

i Mansio. Mansio, in Greek monē, ^a fixed and established place for resting on ^a journey. Thus below in Apophthegmata num. 51, from Palladius cap. 28: "Paul the Simple passed through eight stations."

k Saint Gregory Nazianzen, oration 21, in praise of Saint Athanasius, places Chaereum on the Nile, ^a day's journey from Alexandria.

l In the cited epistle, he is said to have been bitten by his own horse, on which he sat, which twisted its neck back and bit him in the thigh, and threw him off. Rosweyde, because of this discrepancy, expresses doubt whether this epistle was written by Saint Athanasius. Baronius, year of Christ 342, num. 24, thinks this happened through the error of copyists. Could not Saint Athanasius have later examined the history more carefully, and having been informed by someone about the circumstances not correctly expressed, have given ^a fuller and more correct account of the same in the life of Saint Antonius? Although the horse was also Balacius's, on which Nestorius was riding. Rivetus exaggerates that contradiction, which however is really of little moment.

m Others: consenuerunt they grew old. In Greek: emeinan tō christō parthenoi, "they remained virgins to Christ."

CHAPTER XX.

Final instructions to the Pispirian monks.

[110] What the end of his life was, it is worthy both for me to commemorate and for you to hear with desire: for this too was in him worthy of imitation by all. According to his custom, he came to visit the brethren who were on the outer mountain, and there, learning from divine providence of his own death, he began thus: "Hear the final judgment of your father, little children, He predicts his own death to the Brethren: for I do not think that we shall see each other again in this world. The condition of nature compels me, after one hundred years, which I exceed by five, to be now released." Having spoken thus, he saddened the hearts of his hearers: groans and tears followed the mournful words. They all embraced him, as if he were already about to depart from the world. But he, as if leaving behind foreign things and about to set out for his own fatherland, with great joy directed them he gives them his final instructions. that sloth should not steal into their way of life, but as though about to die daily, as he had previously said, they should guard their souls from sordid thoughts, and turn all their emulation toward the Saints: to the Meletian schismatics, however, they should not even approach. he commends faith and traditions. "For you know," he said, "their ancient perversity." "Nor should you join in communion with the Arians, for their impiety is now manifest to all." To these things he also added that no Christian, when he saw the powers of this world fighting for the wickedness of the Arians and Meletians, should depart from the truth of Christ in terror: that defense was mortal, and the deceptive phantom could not long endure. "Wherefore," he said, "the pious faith in Christ must be preserved, and the devout tradition of the Fathers, which you have learned from the reading of the Scriptures and from the frequent admonition of my humble self."

[111] When the discourse was finished, the Brethren detained him most earnestly, desiring to be adorned by the glorious end of the Father. But he refused for many reasons, which he indicated even by his silence, but especially on account of the presumed custom of Egypt. For it is the custom of the Egyptians to wrap the bodies of nobles and especially of blessed Martyrs in linen, and not to deny the customary attention to the funeral: but not to conceal them in the earth, rather to preserve them placed upon beds at home. This honor rendered to the departed, the vanity of inveterate custom handed down. He censures the inveterate Egyptian funeral custom. About this, Antonius often entreated bishops to correct the people with an ecclesiastical attestation; and he himself more severely admonished laymen and women, saying that this was neither legitimate nor pleasing to God: since the sepulchers of the Patriarchs and

Prophets, which endure to our times, refuted these practices. He also commanded that the example of the Lord's body should be considered, which was placed in ^a tomb, enclosed with ^a stone until the third day of the resurrection. And by these arguments he exposed the vice concerning the dead in Egypt, even if the bodies were holy, saying: "What can be greater or holier than the body of the Lord, which we know was buried in the ground according to the custom of other nations?" Matthew 27:60. This just persuasion uprooted the ingrained error of many, and having placed the corpses in the earth, they gave thanks to the Lord for good instruction. Fearing therefore the aforementioned custom, lest they should fall into the same error also with regard to himself, He returns to the inner mountain. quickly bidding farewell to the monks who had gathered, he returned to his beloved dwelling of virtue.

a In Greek: Eimi gar engys etōn pente kai hekaton, "for I am nearly one hundred and five years old."

b Meletius, ^a Bishop of Egypt so named, was convicted of many crimes, and especially that he had sacrificed to idols, and was deposed by Saint Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, who later became ^a Martyr, in ^a common synod of bishops. Wherefore, slandering Saint Peter and his successors Achillas and Alexander, he stirred up ^a schism, to such an extent that his successors were called Meletians instead of Christians. Meletians. Thus Saint Athanasius in Apologia 2. Saint Epiphanius, heresy 68, Theodoret lib. 4 Haereticarum fabularum cap. 10, and other more recent authors also treat of them.

c Pachomius on his deathbed gave the same warning: "Let there be no fellowship between you and the followers of Meletius, or of Arius, or of Origen, or others opposing the precepts of Christ."

d Pomponius Mela, Sextus the philosopher, Lucian, Silius Italicus, and Cicero, cited by Rosweyde here, num. 131, attest this inveterate custom. Cicero's words in Tusculan Disputations 1 are: "The Egyptians embalm the dead and keep them at home." Cassian, Conferences 15, cap. 3, relates the origin and cause of this custom from the account of Abbot Nesterotus: "This custom," he says, "was introduced to the Egyptians by the flooding of the Nile, because since the entire breadth of that land, like an immense sea, is accustomed to be covered by the usual eruption of waters for no small period of the year, so that no means of travel is provided to anyone except by the conveyance of boats, the bodies of the dead, embalmed with fragrant ointments, are stored in elevated cells."

e Saint John Damascene, cited by Rosweyde num. 132, considers that Saint Athanasius, and therefore Saint Antonius, to apathon ethos tōn Aigyptiōn katargēsai boulomenon, "wished to abolish the absurd custom of the Egyptians." The same is said in ^a manuscript catena on Luke collected from the Greek Fathers, which existed in the Palatine library, as reported among the fragments of the works of Saint Athanasius by Petrus Felckmannus of Corona, who supervised the Commelinian press in the Greek-Latin edition of Saint Athanasius in the year of Christ 1600, and proves the words to be those of Saint Athanasius. But that they did not achieve what they desired, we gather from Saint Augustine, sermon 120 on various subjects, which is the first treatise on the resurrection of the dead, cap. 12, where he says that bodies so dried and made bronze-like by the Egyptians are called Gabbarae.

CHAPTER XXI.

Preparation for death. Death. Burial.

[112] After ^a few months, moreover, when no small infirmity had disturbed his elderly limbs, he called to himself the two Brethren, whom he had trained there for fifteen years, separated by ^a small distance, His final words to his disciples. and who had already begun to minister to him in his old age, and said: "I indeed, little children, according to the words of the Scriptures, am walking the way of the Fathers: for the Lord now summons me, now I desire to see heavenly things: but you, O my beloved, I admonish, do not suddenly lose the labor of so long ^a time. Joshua 23:14; 3 Kings 2:2. Consider that today you have just begun your religious study, and that the strength of your begun purpose should increase. The religious person must think of himself as just beginning. You know the various snares of the demons; you have seen both their fierce assaults and their effeminate forces. Aspire to Jesus, and fix the belief of his name in your minds, and all demons will be put to flight from ^a sure faith. The name of Jesus drives away demons. Remember also my admonitions, and daily reconsider the uncertain condition of life, hanging in the balance, and the heavenly reward will be granted to you without delay."

[113] Schismatics and heretics are to be avoided. "Avoid also the poisons of schismatics and heretics, and follow my hatred toward them, because they are the enemies of Christ. You yourselves know that I never had even ^a peaceful word with them, because of their depraved will and their stubborn war against Christ. In this, however, be more diligent, that you keep the precepts of the Lord, so that after your death, the Saints may receive you, as friends and acquaintances, into eternal tabernacles." Luke 16:9.

[114] "Think on these things, be wise in these things, ponder them again: and if you have any care for me, if any memory of ^a father, if you repay reciprocal affection to me, let no one carry my remains to Egypt, He forbids the pomp and glory of ^a funeral. lest the body be preserved in vain honor, lest the customs which, as you know, I have censured be observed around me. For this reason above all I have returned here. Therefore you, cover me with earth; you, hide the poor body of your father, and keep this command of your old man as well: that no one besides your love should know the place of my tomb. I trust in the Lord that at the necessary time of the resurrection, this poor body will rise incorrupt. But let the division of my garments be this: He makes his testament. Give to Bishop Athanasius the sheepskin and the worn cloak on which I lie, which he himself had brought to me new. Let Bishop Serapion receive the other sheepskin: you keep the haircloth garment; and farewell, my beloved: Antonius departs, and will no longer be with you in this present world."

[115] He dies joyfully, in the presence of Angels. He had finished his words, and when his disciples kissed him, extending his feet ^a little, he looked upon death with joy: so that from the joyfulness of his countenance, the presence of the holy Angels who had descended to carry his soul was recognized. Gazing upon these, as if seeing friends, he breathed out his soul, and was added to the Fathers according to the order of the Scriptures. The disciples kept his commands, wrapping the body as he had instructed and covering it with earth: and no one from that time until this day, except them, knows where it is buried. But the legatee of the blessed Antonius, who had merited to receive the worn cloak with the sheepskin by his command, Athanasius embraces Antonius in the gifts of Antonius. embraces Antonius in the gifts of Antonius: and as if enriched by ^a great inheritance, he joyfully recalls through the garment the image of holiness.

a Amathas and Macarius: these were the ones discussed in section 5 of the Prolegomena.

b The service of one was to provide him water, as mentioned in num. 2. Saint Jerome in the life of Saint Paul, January 10, alludes to this service in num. 14: "When two disciples, who had been accustomed to minister to him for ^a long time already, came to meet him (Antonius)," etc. But how is he said by Saint Athanasius to have taken them on only fifteen years before his death, when Saint Jerome asserts they had been accustomed to minister for ^a long time already, when Saint Antonius visited Saint Paul at ninety years of age, num. 8, that is, fifteen years before his death? We have said there in the Prolegomena that Saint Jerome speaks perplexedly, while he seems to imply that Saint Paul went into the desert at the sixteenth year of his age, during the persecution of Decius against Christians, which was carried into many martyrologies, and thus he died only in the year of Christ 347, aged 113 years, when the disciples had been serving Saint Antonius for seven years; which is rightly called ^a long time, since it is almost half of those 15 years. But when he says Saint Antonius went to Paul at ninety years of age, he perhaps used ^a round full number, neglecting the smaller number that grew beyond it; which interpreters observe often happens in Sacred Scripture, as you will learn from canon 19 of the Prolegomena of our Jacques Bonfrère.

c MS. Ripat. repensatis. Surius: repræsentatis. Others: rependatis. Rosweyde: repræstatis, which word he shows was used in the Pandects of Florence, lib. 19, Tit. 1, de actionibus empti et venditi, L. 47 Lucius; and lib. 35, Tit. 1, ad Senatusconsultum Trebellianum, L. 22 Mulier.

d He had received two from Athanasius: one with which he wrapped the body of Saint Paul the Hermit, the other which he returned to him. When Saint Athanasius brought these is uncertain, since he visited him many times. Baronius assigns the year 328, but this was refuted above in section 8 of the Prolegomena.

e Thmuis in lower Egypt, as said before.

f Saint Jerome in the life of Saint Hilarion gives the reason: from the account of the disciples Isaac and Pelusianus, lest Pergamius, who was the wealthiest man in those parts, having taken the body to his estate, should build ^a martyrium. On the sacred buildings customarily erected for Martyrs, Ammianus treats in lib. 22, and we often elsewhere in the Acts of the Martyrs.

g Thus Saint Antonius on the solemn days of Easter and Pentecost always wore the tunic of Paul.

CHAPTER XXII.

Epilogue of Saint Athanasius.

[116] This was the end of Antonius's life, these the beginnings of his merits: which, although I have narrated in ^a rather brief discourse, as I said, nevertheless from these things you can perceive how the man of God progressed from childhood to old age: and that, always trampling all doubt, Antonius always consistent in his purpose, he never yielded anything to weariness or to his advanced age; rather, maintaining the constancy of his purpose, he neither changed his clothing, nor washed his feet, nor pursued softer food: and he preserved the keenness of his eyes, the number of his teeth, with bodily vigor intact to the last, although they seemed somewhat worn with age, as well as the strength of his gait and the firmness of his whole body, against the laws of nature by the grace of his merits, so that his flesh appeared more cheerful than that of pampered bodies, which are fostered with baths and luxuries.

[117] This also, brethren, that his love and fame flew through all provinces, which was commended neither by the eloquent speech of disseminated books, nor by the disputation of worldly wisdom, nor by nobility of birth, nor by the infinite accumulation of wealth; by the benignity of Christ, to what is it to be ascribed by the mouth of all, except to Christ, whose gift this is? Who, foreseeing the spirits devoted to his majesty, demonstrated ^a man concealed in almost another world and placed among such great solitudes widely and broadly celebrated. to Africa, Spain, Gaul, Italy, Illyricum, and even to Rome itself, which is the head of cities, as he had promised in the beginning. This is the benignity of the Creator, who is accustomed to ennoble his servants even against their will, so that possible virtue may be shown by the examples of the Saints not to be beyond human nature, and so that the best may be impelled toward the imitation of the blessed life by the fruit of labor.

[118] The reading of this life is recommended to monks. Therefore take great care, Brethren, to read this book: so that, having learned the faithful life of sublime Christians and monks, they may know that our Savior Jesus Christ glorifies those who glorify him, and that to those who serve him, he grants not only the kingdoms of heaven, but also here, to those who desire to hide in the very secrets of the mountains, the nobility of fame: namely so that they themselves may enjoy the praise of their merits, and others may be provoked by their examples. But if it should be necessary, read it also to the Gentiles, so that they may thereby recognize that our Lord Jesus Christ is not only God, the Son of God, but also that to those who diligently worship him and faithfully believe in him, he has given this power, to trample upon and cast out the demons, whom they think are gods -- deceivers of men, of course, and artificers of all corruption.

a Saint Ephraem, in his work On Attending to Yourself, cap. 10, teaches that these things were also written by Saint Athanasius. "And again," he says, "Saint Athanasius says: And if these things are small compared to his virtue, nevertheless from them it is possible to consider and estimate what kind of servant of God Antonius was: since from his youth to such an age, he always preserved an equal zeal in his exercises, and neither, broken by old age, did he use more delicate foods, nor because of the weakness of his body did he change the habit of his clothing. Or if perhaps he dipped his feet in water, yet in all things he remained uninjured: for he even kept his eyes uninjured and intact, and seeing correctly. And not to pursue individual details, he himself appeared much more illustrious and brilliant, and more vigorous in strength, than all those who use varied foods and baths and diverse garments." Was the codex of Vossius defective, since here it reads "he did not wash his feet," while the other translates "if perhaps he dipped his feet in water"? He also omits the detail about the number of teeth preserved to the very end.

b Palladius cap. 28, in Apophthegmata num. 58: "Such ^a manner of leading ^a rigorous life Antonius undertook even in those days, as he had when he was at the beginning of his youth."

c Staff of Saint Antonius. In the life of Saint Paul it is said: "the old man, sustaining his weakened limbs with the guidance of ^a staff": which words indicate one traveling abroad; or certainly they were added because monks were accustomed to carry ^a staff, as Cassian reports, lib. 1 Institutes cap. 9, and thus Saint Antonius is customarily painted equipped with ^a staff.

d Blessed Peter Damian, lib. 6, epistle 17 to the monk Ariprandus, on the foolishly learned and wisely unlearned, says splendidly: "Antonius does not engage in rhetoric, yet conspicuous throughout the whole world, he is read, so to speak, in living letters." And Saint Theodore the Studite, catechetical sermon 43, on Saint Antonius and the Martyr Thaddaeus: "Saint Antonius," he says, "who was unlettered, was more learned than the learned," etc. His learning is discussed in section 14 of the Prolegomena.

e Saint Jerome, epistle 23 to Paulinus on the instruction of ^a monk, teaches that Antonius never saw Jerusalem.

f There is added in Mombritius: "Saint Antonius was laid to rest on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of February," which, added by him or another, is absent from the remaining printed and handwritten codices. On the day of his birthday we have treated in the Prolegomena, section 12.

EPILOGUE OF EVAGRIUS THE TRANSLATOR.

Therefore we beseech the prudent who wish to read this writing that they may grant pardon if we were unable to express the force of the Greek language, translating it into the Latin tongue; although we did this against our own intention. But it was not as if begrudging that we were unwilling to do it, but knowing well how great ^a weakness Greek speech sustains when translated into Latin, we nevertheless preferred that the Greek discourse suffer this than that those who could read the Greek discourse, however interpreted, be defrauded of the divine profit. May God Almighty, who cooperated with so great ^a man for the doing of such things, also cooperate with us for imitating him at least in part, so that in all things his name may be glorified through our teacher and exhorter, and our redeemer and savior, our Lord Jesus, with the Holy Spirit, to whom is glory and perpetual power, forever and ever.

a Rosweyde added this epilogue from ^a single MS., and prudently doubts whether the name of Evagrius can be maintained, since it does not seem comparable with the Prologue.

APOPHTHEGMATA AND CONFERENCES

And other materials pertaining to the Life of Saint ANTONIUS, From Cassian and the Lives of the Fathers.

Antonius the Great, Abbot in the Thebaid (Saint)

BHL Number: 0000

From the Lives of the Fathers.

CHAPTER I.

Renunciation of the world.

[1] A certain Brother, renouncing the world and giving what he had to the poor, A monk should not retain money: but retaining ^a few things for his own purposes, came to Abbot Antonius. When the elder had learned of this, he said to him: "If you wish to become ^a monk, go to that village, buy meat, and place it on your naked body, and come here thus." And when that Brother had done so, dogs and birds tore his body. When he had arrived at the elder, he asked whether he had done what he had told him. When he showed his lacerated body, Saint Antonius said: "Those who renounce the world and wish to retain money -- behold, thus attacked by demons, they are torn apart."

[2] Abraham: "I shall set before you not my own opinion on this matter, but the judgment of Blessed Antonius, by which he so refuted the laziness of ^a certain Brother, who was growing torpid in the manner you describe, that he also cut through the knot of your proposition: nor should he cohabit with friends: for when someone (as I said) came to the aforesaid man and said that the anchoritic discipline was not particularly admirable, declaring it to be of greater virtue if ^a person, rather than being placed in the desert, should practice the things of perfection among men, Blessed Antonius inquired where he himself lived. And when the man said he dwelt near his relatives, and that by their provision he was freed from all care and anxiety of daily work, and gloried in devoting himself without any distraction of spirit solely to reading and prayer without interruption; Blessed Antonius again asked: 'Tell me, son, are you saddened by their losses or adverse circumstances, and do you likewise rejoice in their prosperity?' He confessed himself to be ^a participant in both. To whom the elder said: 'Know that in the world to come you will also be reckoned according to the lot of those in whose partnership of gain or loss, joy or sorrow, you are shaken in this life.'"

[3] Nor was Blessed Antonius content with this opinion, but entering upon ^a still larger field of disputation, he said: "This way of life, and this most tepid state, not only afflicts you with the detriment I mentioned (though you yourself do not feel it, saying in ^a way according to that parable of Proverbs, 'They struck me but I felt no pain, and they mocked me, but I knew it not': or that which is said in the Prophet, 'Strangers have devoured his strength, and he himself knew it not') -- namely, that each day, changing your mind according to the variety of circumstances, they continually drag you down to earthly things; but also, that they defraud you of the fruits of your hands and the just reward of your own labor, not allowing you, supported by the provision of these things, to prepare your daily sustenance with your own hands according to the rule of the blessed Apostle, let him obtain sustenance by the labor of his hands, which he, proclaiming his final precepts to the leaders of the Ephesian Church, while even occupied with the sacred studies of Evangelical preaching, recalls that he had provided not only for himself but also for those who were hindered by necessary services around his ministry, saying: 'You yourselves know that these hands have ministered to my necessities and to those who are with me.' Proverbs 23:35; Hosea 7:9; Acts 20:34. Which however, in order to show that he did it as an example for our benefit, he says elsewhere: 'We were not idle among you, nor did we eat anyone's bread for free, but in labor and toil, working night and day, so that we would not be ^a burden to any of you: not because we do not have the right, but to give ourselves as ^a model for you to imitate us.'" 2 Thessalonians 3:7 etc.

[4] "And therefore, although the resources of our parents were not lacking to us, we nevertheless preferred this nakedness to all wealth, and chose to prepare the daily nourishment of our body with our own sweat rather than to be supported by the carefree provision of our parents, by the example of Saint Antonius; postponing that idle meditation on the Scriptures and that unfruitful insistence on reading which you extol, to this most laborious poverty; which we would undoubtedly most gladly have pursued, if Apostolic authority had transmitted this to be more useful either by their examples, or if the institutes of the elders had wholesomely established it. Know, moreover, that you are afflicted by no less ^a detriment from this than from that which we mentioned above: because although you have ^a healthy and robust body, you are sustained by the charity of others, which is justly allotted only to the weak. not to be sustained by the charity of another's labor: For indeed every kind of human being, except only that kind of monks who live by the daily labors of their own hands according to the precept of the Apostle, expects the charity of another's labor. Whence not only those who glory in their parents' estates, or the labors of their servants, or the revenues of their lands, but even the kings of this world are certainly sustained by charity. For this is what the definition of our forebears holds: Whatever is consumed for the necessities of daily sustenance, which has not been produced and obtained by the work of our own hands, must be reckoned as charity, according to the Apostle, who utterly forbids the aid of another's generosity to the idle, saying: 'He who does not work, let him not eat.'" 2 Thessalonians 3:10. "With these words, Blessed Antonius, having used them against ^a certain person, instructed us also by the example of his teaching."

a Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 6, num. 1; and Rufinus lib. 3, num. 68.

b Rufinus adds: "because of the meat being seized, they tore him apart with their teeth as well as their claws," etc.

c Cassian, Conference 24, cap. 11 and 12. This entire Conference 24 is inscribed under the name of Abbot Abraham. Of the same, an outstanding encomium is found in Conference 15, cap. 4 and 5, where two miracles of cures performed by him are narrated. Gazaeus learnedly distinguishes him from Saint Abraham the Syrian, who is venerated March 16.

d Others: diuturni of long duration.

e The Vulgate edition: "They beat me, but I did not feel pain: they dragged me, and I did not perceive it."

f The Vulgate: inquieti restless.

g That is, he is sustained by the charity of others. Thus also Kings live by agape, that is, by the help and support of others. Thus agape for the office of charity, or alms, or assistance provided to neighbors, especially the poor, was used by Tertullian, Ad Martyras; Cyprian lib. 3, Testimonia cap. 3; Cassian Conference 16, cap. 14; cited by Gazaeus. The expression agapas poiein to perform charitable deeds is frequent in Saint Ephraem, and below num. 47 and 48 it is translated into Latin as bona dilectio good love and perfecta caritas perfect charity. The ecclesiastical agape is something different, which Baronius discusses at length, vol. 1, year of Christ 57, and we often elsewhere.

CHAPTER II.

Penance. Patience.

[5] A Brother asked Saint Antonius, saying: "What shall I do for my sins?" He replied: "Whoever wishes to be freed from sins will be freed by weeping and lamentation; Let him blot out sins with tears, let him obtain heavenly gifts: and whoever wishes to be built up in virtues is built up through the weeping of tears. The very praise of the Psalms is lamentation. Remember the example of Hezekiah, King of Judah, as it is written through Isaiah the Prophet, who by weeping not only received his health, but also merited an increase of life of fifteen years; and the army of the approaching enemy, namely of one hundred and eighty-five thousand, through the irrigation of his tears, the power of the Lord laid low in death. Isaiah 38:5 and 6. Saint Peter the Apostle, by weeping, recovered what he had committed in denying Christ. Mary, because she watered the feet of the Lord with tears, merited to hear that she had chosen the best part. The holy fear of the Lord itself remains forever and ever."

[6] Abbot Antonius said to Abbot Pastor: "This is the great work of ^a man, let him acknowledge his fault before God. that each one should place his own fault upon himself before the Lord, and expect temptation until the last time of his life."

[7] Abbot Antonius once heard about ^a certain young monk, that he had performed ^a certain sign of this kind on the road, that is, when he had seen certain elders making ^a journey and struggling to walk, he commanded the wild donkeys to come and carry them until they should arrive at his dwelling: and those elders reported this to Abbot Antonius. Abbot Antonius said: "This monk seems to me to be like ^a ship laden with all kinds of goods, Saint Antonius foresees and deplores the fall of ^a monk. about which it is uncertain whether it can reach port." And after some time, suddenly Abbot Antonius began to weep and to pull his hair and mourn. When his disciples saw this, they said to him: "Why do you weep, Father?" And the elder replied: "A great pillar of the Church has just fallen." For he said this about that young monk, and added: "Go to him, and see what has happened." Therefore his disciples went and found that monk sitting on his mat and weeping for the sin he had committed. When he saw the disciples of the elder, he said to them: "Tell the elder to beseech God that only ten days' respite be given me, and I hope to make satisfaction to him." And within five days he died.

[8] A certain Brother was praised by monks before Abbot Antonius: but when he came to him, He tests perfection by patience. he tested whether he could bear insult: and when he learned that he could not, he said to him: "You are like ^a house which is indeed adorned on the front, but from behind has been plundered by robbers."

[9] To Abbot Ammon, Blessed Antonius prophesied, saying: "You have much progress to make in the fear of God." And leading him out of his cell, he showed him ^a stone and said to him: "Go, this is the measure of it, and insult this stone, and ceaselessly strike it." When he had done this, Saint Antonius asked him whether the stone had answered him. And he said: "No." To whom Abbot Antonius said: "You too are destined to arrive at this measure, that you consider no injury done to you."

[10] Certain Brethren came to Abbot Antonius and asked him to hear ^a word through which they might be saved. He said to them: "You have heard the Scriptures, and you know what is sufficient for you from Christ." But they pressed that he himself also deign to say something to them. Then he said to them: "The Gospel says: 'If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.' Matthew 5:39." But they said they could not do this. The elder replied: "You cannot offer the other? various degrees. Then at least endure it if he wishes to strike the same one again." But when they testified that they could not do this either, the elder said: "If you cannot do this, do not return evil for what you have received." And when they repeated the same words they had said before, Abbot Antonius said to his disciple: "Go, prepare them food to eat, for you see that they are very weak." And he said to them: "If indeed you cannot do this, and you do not wish to do the other, what do you seek from me? As I see, prayer is necessary for you, through which your weakness may be healed."

[11] A certain Brother asked Abbot Antonius, saying: "What must I observe to please God?" The elder replied: "Keep what I tell you. companion virtues. Wherever you go, always have God before your eyes, and whatever work you perform, take examples from the divine Scriptures; and in whatever place you settle, do not move from it too quickly, but remain patiently in the same place. Keeping these three things, you will be saved."

a Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 38, num. 1.

b Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 15, num. 2. Saint Ephraem Apophthegmata 3, or whoever is the author of the Apophthegmata of the Fathers, which were rendered into Latin by Gerard Vossius and appended to volume 2 of his works. Saint Poemenius, or Pastor, is venerated on August 27; see section 6 in the Prolegomena.

c In Greek: hē ergasia, "work, exercise."

d In Ephraem, from the translation of Vossius: "that he may cast before God the error by which he is burdened."

e Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 8, num. 1.

f Matta: ^a mat woven from rushes. Gregory of Tours, lib. De Vitis Patrum cap. 11. On the bed of Antonius, see section 15 in the Prolegomena.

g Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 8, num. 2; and Rufinus lib. 3, num. 88.

h Rufinus: "You are like ^a building which, although it has an ornate entrance, is nonetheless stormed through the back doors by robbers."

i Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 9, num. 3; Appendix to the Lives of the Fathers cap. 20, num. 8, where he is called Ammona, and later made Bishop. Saint Athanasius in his epistle to Dracontius mentions Ammonius, and his companion Serapion, as bishops who came from the ranks of monks. We think this is the one who is here trained by Saint Antonius.

k Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 6, num. 2; John lib. 6, libel. 4, num. 11.

l John here reads "left"; incorrectly.

m John: "at least bear patiently on the one."

n The same: "do not wish to strike more than to be struck."

o The same: "prepare broth"; that is, ^a thin soup or liquid food.

p Rufinus lib. 3, num. 108; in Saint Ephraem Apophthegmata 2; Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 1, num. 1.

q Pelagius: "apply the testimony of the sacred Scriptures." Saint Ephraem: "confirm it above all by the testimony of the divine Scripture."

CHAPTER III.

Temptations. Discretion.

[12] Abbot Antonius said: "He who sits in solitude and is quiet Temptations are rarer for the solitary; is delivered from three wars: that is, of hearing, of speaking, and of sight: and he will have battle against only one, that is, of the heart."

[13] Abbot Antonius said again: "God does not permit wars to be stirred up in this generation, and for the weak: because he knows that they are weak and cannot bear them."

[14] At ^a certain time, two Philosophers, hearing the fame of Blessed Antonius, went to him. When they had had certain questions among themselves, the Philosophers, despising Saint Antonius as an unlearned man without letters, returned from him. But wishing to disturb him -- if they could do nothing more -- even from his cell, by magical tricks and the circumvention of demons, they sent against him the most wicked demons for attack, they are repelled by the sign of the Cross impressed on forehead and breast, struck by this envy and malice, because many men daily gathered to him as to ^a servant of God. But when, as he now impressed the sign of the cross upon his breast and forehead, now humbly applied himself to prayer, not even the most savage demons dared to approach him, they returned to those who had sent them without effect. by prayer, Then they sent others again, as though more powerful. And when they too returned exhausted, they sent still other demons, no less powerful and violent, against the soldier of Christ, who prevailed in absolutely nothing, as Antonius manfully resisted. Therefore all such great snares of theirs, sought by every magical art and necromancy, accomplished nothing, so that through these things they most clearly proved the great power inherent in the profession of Christians, upon whom those so fierce shades were unable not only to harm Antonius, but not even to disturb him for ^a moment from his dwelling. Therefore, struck with amazement at this wonder, the Philosophers immediately came to Saint Antonius, revealed to him the magnitude of their attacks, and the causes and snares of their malice. They promptly asked to become Christians. And when he inquired from them the day of the attack they had unleashed, they indicated it: and Blessed Antonius asserted that he had been assailed by the most bitter stings of thoughts at that very time.

[15] Abbot Antonius said: "There are some who wear down their bodies in abstinence; and by discretion, but because they did not have discretion, they have become far from God."

[16] At ^a certain time many elders gathered to Blessed Antonius, who was dwelling in the region of the Thebaid, for the purpose of inquiring about perfection and for the sake of ^a conference. When the conference had been prolonged from the evening hours until dawn, the question of discretion consumed the greatest part of the night. For ^a very long time they inquired among themselves which virtue or observance could keep ^a monk unharmed from the snares of the devil, or certainly lead him to God by ^a straight path and with firm step. When each one offered his opinion according to the capacity of his own mind, and some placed this in the pursuit of fasts and vigils, others in nakedness and contempt for possessions, others judged the more remote life and the secrets of the desert, and some defined that the duties of charity, that is, of hospitality, should be pursued above all, because these are bestowed with pious zeal upon the Brethren and strangers; and when they had contended in this pious contest, and already the greatest time of the night had been consumed, at last Blessed Antonius responded to all, saying: "All these things that you have said are indeed necessary and useful for those who thirst for God: but to attribute the principal grace to these things, the innumerable falls and experiences of many Brethren do not permit us. which preserves from ^a fall, For we have often seen Brethren keeping these observances deceived by ^a sudden fall, because they did not maintain discretion in the good they had begun. Nor is any other cause of their fall detected except that, less instructed by their elders, they were in no way able to attain the understanding of this discretion, which teaches the monk always to walk the royal road, and permits him neither to exceed the measure by excess of continence nor to turn aside to vices. In all things therefore that we do, discretion must be placed first. For it is most manifestly declared that no virtue can be perfectly either completed or maintained without the grace of discretion." And when Antonius had said these things, it was determined by the judgment of all that discretion is what leads ^a monk with firm step, undaunted, to God, and perpetually preserves the aforementioned virtues unharmed. and is the mother of virtue. For discretion is the mother, guardian, and moderator of all virtues.

a Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 2, num. 2.

b The same, libel. 10, num. 4.

c Cassian lib. 4, De Vitis Patrum cap. 55, from his Conference 8, cap. 18 and 19. Where these things are narrated by Abbot Serenus, under whose name Conference 7 and 8 are inscribed. On him, see De Vitis Patrum lib. 4, cap. 50; in Photius, Bibliotheca section 197; and Peter of Natalibus lib. 3, cap. 48, on February 23.

d Absent from the Conference, but it suits the shades well enough, which often signify demons, often the souls of the dead.

e Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 10, num. 10.

f Cassian lib. 4, De Vitis PP. cap. 42, from Conference 2, cap. 2, where these things are narrated by Abbot Moses, under whose name Conference 2 is inscribed.

CHAPTER IV.

Humility. Mortification.

[17] Likewise Blessed Antonius reported that he had seen all the snares of the enemy stretched over the entire earth, Humility passes through the snares of the devil. and when he had said with ^a sigh: "Who will be able to pass through these?" he heard ^a voice saying to him: "Humility alone passes through, Antonius; which the proud are in no way able to touch."

[18] Likewise when Blessed Antonius was praying in his own cell, ^a voice came to him saying: "Antonius, you have not yet arrived at

the measure of the tanner who is in Alexandria." Hearing this, the elder rose in the morning and, seizing his staff, hurried to the city of Alexandria. And when he had entered to the designated man, that man, seeing so great ^a man, was astonished. The elder said to him: "Tell me your works, for on account of you I have come here, leaving the desert." He replied, saying: "I do not know myself to have ever done anything good: let him esteem himself worse than all others. whence also, rising in the morning from my own bed, before I sit down in my work, I say that this entire city, from the least to the greatest, enters the kingdom of God on account of their righteous deeds; but I alone, on account of my sins, shall enter eternal punishment. I repeat this same saying from the sincerity of my heart in the evening before I rest." Hearing this, Blessed Antonius replied: "In truth, son, like ^a good craftsman sitting in your house in peace, you have obtained the kingdom of God; but I, like one without discretion, having spent all my time in the solitude, have not yet attained the measure of your word."

[19] A Brother asked Abbot Antonius, saying: "What does it mean for ^a man to esteem himself as nothing?" and like ^a beast of burden: He replied: "To esteem himself similar to irrational beasts of burden, for the reason that they judge nothing, as it is written: 'I have become like ^a beast of burden before you, and I am always with you.'" Psalm 72.

[20] Some elders once came to Abbot Antonius, and Abbot Joseph was also with them. Abbot Antonius, wishing to test them, raised ^a discussion from the holy Scriptures. And he began to ask the younger ones what this or that word meant. let him confess his ignorance: And each one answered as he could. But he said to them: "You have not yet found it." After them he said to Abbot Joseph: "How do you say this word is to be understood?" He replied: "I do not know." And Abbot Antonius said: "Truly, Abbot Joseph alone has found the way, who answered that he did not know."

[21] Abbot Pambo asked Abbot Antonius, saying: let him distrust his own justice. "What shall I do?" The elder replied: "Do not be confident in your own justice: nor be repentant about ^a past thing: and be continent of your tongue and your belly."

[22] Blessed Antonius used to admonish his disciple, saying: "Abhor your belly, Of what things the appetite must chiefly be restrained. and the necessities of this world, and evil desire, and honor, as one absent from this world, and you will possess rest."

[23] Abbot Antonius said: "I consider that the body has ^a natural motion mixed into it, which does not operate when the soul is unwilling, but is only signified in the body, Threefold bodily motion. as if an impassible motion. There is also another motion from the fact that the body is nourished and fostered by food and drink, from which the heat of the blood incites the body to action. On account of which the Apostle says: 'Do not be drunk with wine, in which is luxury.' And again the Lord in the Gospel, commanding his disciples, said: 'Take heed lest your hearts be weighed down with surfeiting and drunkenness.' Ephesians 5:18. There is also ^a certain other motion, coming in those who strive in their way of life, from the snares and envy of demons. Luke 21:34. Therefore it is fitting to know that there are three bodily motions. One indeed is natural; another from the fullness of foods; the third from demons."

[24] A Brother asked Saint Antonius: "How does God promise good things to the soul through the constancy of the Scriptures, Why is the mind prone to transitory and unclean things: and yet the soul does not wish to remain in good things, but inclines toward transitory, perishable, and unclean things?" He replied: "To this is joined what the Psalmist says: 'If I have seen iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.' Do you not know that when the belly has been filled with food, great vices immediately boil up? Psalm 65:18. Which our Savior foretold through the Gospel: 'It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles ^a man's soul; but the things that come out of the heart are what plunge ^a man into destruction.' Matthew 15:11, 19. See what he said first: evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. Because he who has not yet tasted the sweetness of heavenly things, so as to seek God with his whole heart, for this reason returns to unclean things; he who could rightly say: 'I have become like ^a beast of burden before you, and I am always with you.'"

[25] Some Brethren came to Abbot Antonius to report to him the apparitions they saw, and to learn from him whether they were true or whether they were being deceived by demons. Now they had ^a donkey with them, and it died on the road. When therefore they came to the elder, he anticipated them, saying: "How did that donkey die on the road?" They said to him: "How do you know, Father?" And he said: "The demons showed me." They said to him: "And we came for this very reason, to ask you, because we see apparitions, and they often turn out to be true, lest perhaps we err." And the elder satisfied them, taking the example of the donkey, showing that these things are done by demons. Then ^a certain man came who was hunting wild animals in the forest, sometimes relaxation is honestly needed, and he saw Abbot Antonius rejoicing with the Brethren, and it displeased him. The elder, wishing to show him that it is necessary sometimes to relax for the Brethren, said to him: "Put an arrow in your bow and draw it": and he did so. And he said to him: "Draw again": and he drew. And again he said to him: "Draw still more": and he drew. The hunter said to him: "If I draw beyond measure, the bow will break." Abbot Antonius said to him: "So it is also in the work of God: if we stretch the Brethren beyond measure, they quickly fail. It is necessary, therefore, from time to time to relax their rigor." Hearing this, the hunter was moved to compunction, and profiting greatly from the word of the elder, he departed; and the Brethren, strengthened, returned to their place.

[26] Abbot Antonius said: "If ^a monk labors for ^a few days and then relaxes again, and again labors and then neglects; not negligently, he accomplishes nothing, nor will he possess the perseverance of patience."

[27] When Abbot Antonius the Saint was once sitting in the desert, his mind fell into weariness and confusion of thoughts, and he said to God: "Lord, I wish to be saved, and my thoughts do not permit me, and must be renewed by various exercises. what shall I do in this tribulation? How shall I be saved?" And rising up ^a little, he began to go outside, and he saw someone who seemed to be himself, sitting and working; then rising from his work and praying; and again sitting and making ^a plait from palm leaves, and then again rising to pray. And it was an Angel of the Lord sent for the correction and guidance of Antonius. And he heard the voice of the Angel saying: "Do this, and you will be saved." And hearing this, he took great joy and confidence. And doing thus, he found the salvation he sought.

a Rufinus lib. 3, num. 129; Saint Ephraem Apophthegmata 4.

b Ephraem: "Humility will separate them, and they will not touch it."

c Rufinus lib. 3, num. 130; Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 15, num. 2.

d Thus Paschasius. But Rufinus has "goldsmith." Aside from this, the words of both are the same.

e Saint Martin of Dumium in the Appendix to the Lives of the Fathers num. 53.

f Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 15, num. 4.

g Joseph was ^a companion of Saint Poemenius, or Pastor, as is read in lib. 5, libel. 10, num. 29, and throughout the Lives of the Fathers.

h Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 1, num. 2; Saint Martin of Dumium in the Appendix num. 54.

i Dumius: "do not think about transitory things."

k Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 26, num. 4.

l Pelagius lib. 5, cap. 5, num. 1; Saint Ephraem Apophthegmata 7.

m In Greek, in Saint Ephraem: apathēs kinēsis, ^a motion free from disturbance and passion, as Vossius translates it.

n The Vulgate edition: "Take heed to yourselves, lest perhaps it be weighed down," etc.

o Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 40, num. 1.

p Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 10, num. 2.

q Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 27, num. 1.

r Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 7, num. 1; Rufinus lib. 3, num. 105; Saint Ephraem Apophthegmata 1. The author of sermons to the Brethren in the desert under the name of Saint Augustine, sermon 27, writes something similar about Saint Antonius.

s Saint Ephraem: "subject to torpor and various darkness of thoughts." Rufinus: "tempted in spirit by acedia and entangled in various thoughts."

t In Greek, in Saint Ephraem: tas seiras. Vossius translates "chains"; Rufinus "cord." See the Onomasticon of Rosweyde.

v Ephraem: "sent to guide, instruct, and protect Antonius." In Saint Augustine it is thus read: "Antonius heard: Antonius, do you desire to please God? Pray; and when you cannot pray, work with your hands, and always do something. Do what is in you, do what you can, and the help of the holy one will not fail you."

CHAPTER V.

Love of God. Pure intention.

[28] "And that you may perceive the effect of true prayer, I shall set before you not my own opinion, but that of Blessed Antonius: Saint Antonius prays the entire night, whom we know to have sometimes persisted in prayer in such ^a way that, while he was frequently praying in the same ecstasy of mind, when the sunrise began to pour in, we would hear him proclaiming in the fervor of spirit: 'Why do you hinder me, O sun, who already rise for this purpose, that you may draw me away from the brightness of this true light?' in ecstasy: He also had this heavenly and more than human saying about the end of prayer: 'Prayer is not perfect,' he said, 'in which the monk understands either himself or the very fact that he prays.'"

[29] Abbot Antonius said: "I no longer fear God, without servile fear, but I love him, because love has cast out fear."

[30] Abbot Ammon came from the place of Nitria to Abbot Antonius, and said to him: "I see that I sustain greater labor than you, and how is your name greater among men than mine?" he loves God. And Abbot Antonius said to him: "Because I also love God more than you."

[31] Blessed Antonius often said: "Unless the baker were to cover the eyes of the animal, it would consume the reward it received. So also we, by God's dispensation, receive guidance, One should not be proud of good works: so that we may not be able to attend to the good things we do; lest, calling ourselves blessed, we might be puffed up and lose our own reward. For also on account of this, when we are left to sordid thoughts, it is necessary that we foresee only this: that we condemn ourselves and our own judgment, and that the sordid things within us may obscure that small good work of ours. For ^a man is never good, even if he desires to be good, unless God has dwelt in him: for no one is good except God alone. But it is right that we always sincerely accuse ourselves. For when someone does not reproach himself, he loses his own reward."

[32] Blessed Antonius used to say to his disciple: "If you have adopted silence, How virtue is to be practiced. do not think that you are practicing virtue, but confess yourself unworthy to speak."

[33] Abbot Antonius, failing in his contemplation of the depth of God's judgments, made ^a petition, saying: "Lord, how is it that some die in ^a short time of life, The judgments of God are not to be scrutinized. and others come beyond decrepit old age? And why are some in want, while others are enriched with wealth? And how are the unjust wealthy, while the just are pressed by poverty?" And ^a voice came to him, saying: "Antonius, attend to yourself; for these are the judgments of God, and it does not befit you to know them."

[34] For this is an ancient and admirable saying of Blessed Antonius: that ^a monk who, after the cenobitic way of life, strives to attain the heights of ^a more sublime perfection, and having grasped the test of discretion, is already able to stand by his own judgment and to arrive at the summit of the anchoretic life, should by no means seek every kind of virtue from one person, however eminent. The virtues of others are to be imitated. For one is adorned with the flowers of knowledge, another is more robustly fortified by the understanding of discretion, another is grounded in the gravity of patience; one is distinguished by the virtue of humility, another by that of continence; one is adorned with the grace of simplicity: this one surpasses others by magnanimity, that one by mercy, this one by the pursuit of vigils, that one by taciturnity, another by the zeal of labor. And therefore ^a monk desiring to store up spiritual honey ought, like ^a most prudent bee, to gather each virtue from those who possess it most intimately, and carefully store it in the vessel of his own heart: nor should he examine what less someone has, but only contemplate and studiously pluck what virtue he possesses. For if we wished to borrow all from one, either with difficulty or certainly never will suitable examples for imitation be found.

a Cassian, Conference 9, cap. 31, where Abbot Isaac narrates these things. The first part is excerpted from there in lib. 4 De Vitis Patrum cap. 55 at the end.

b That is, he thinks of nothing other than God. Let him who can grasp it, grasp it, and give thanks to God.

c Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 17, num. 1; Saint Ephraem Apophthegmata 5.

d The same Pelagius, ibid., num. 3. This is the same Saint Ammon whose soul Saint Antonius saw being carried to heaven, as related in the Life, cap. 14.

e Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 15, num. 1; Rufinus lib. 3, num. 128; Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 15, num. 80, under the name of an unknown elder.

f Pelagius adds: "of the animal going around the millstone; the animal would turn," etc.

g Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 32, num. 1.

h Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 15, num. 1.

i Cassian lib. 5, Institutes cap. 4; Saint Athanasius above in the Life, num. 6 and 8.

CHAPTER VI.

Love and instruction of neighbor.

[35] It happened once that ^a Brother in the community of Abbot Elias fell into temptation, and having been expelled from there, he went to the mountain to Abbot Antonius. And when he had remained some time with him, he sent him back to the community from which he had come. But they, seeing him, again expelled him; and he similarly went to Abbot Antonius, saying: "They did not wish to receive me, Father." Receiving the penitent, The elder therefore sent word to them, saying: "A ship suffered shipwreck at sea, and lost the cargo it was carrying, and with labor the empty ship has been brought to land. You therefore wish to sink on land the ship that has been rescued?" And they, recognizing that Abbot Antonius had sent him back, immediately received him.

[36] It happened that ^a certain Brother fell into fault in ^a cenobium: and while he was being rebuked by the others, he set out for Abbot Antonius. And the Brethren followed him, wishing to bring him back, and began to reproach him with his faults. But he denied having committed the fault. There was found there Abbot Paphnutius, whose surname was Cephalas, who related this unheard-of parable in the assembly of the Brethren: "I saw," he said, "a man on the bank of ^a river sunk in the mud up to his knees: but when some came to pull him out with an outstretched hand, they sank him up to his neck." he saves his soul, Then Blessed Antonius said about Blessed Paphnutius: "Behold ^a man who can truly save souls." By which words the Brethren were moved to compunction, doing penance, and they recalled to the cenobium the one who had departed.

[37] He said again: "Life and death come from our neighbor: for if we gain our brother, we gain God: and gains God. but if we scandalize our brother, we sin against Christ."

[38] A Brother said to Abbot Antonius: "Pray for me." And the elder replied: "Neither I will have mercy on you, nor God, unless you have been solicitous for yourself and have asked God."

[39] A certain Brother asked Blessed Antonius, saying: "What is detraction, and what is judging another?" He replied: How one detracts from or judges ^a neighbor. "Detraction in all things is called every evil word which one does not dare to say in the presence of his Brother: but judging is when someone says of another: 'That Brother is ^a merchant, and greedy,' and so on. This is judging one's neighbor. You have judged his actions; this is worse than detraction."

[40] At ^a certain time, when Blessed Antonius had been brought to the city by Saint Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, for the refutation of heretics, Didymus, ^a most learned man, deprived of his eyes, went to him. And when they discussed many things from the holy Scriptures, among the other conversations they had about the sacred volumes, when Antonius admired his genius and commended the sharpness of his mind, he asked him, inquiring: Saint Antonius consoles Didymus about his blindness. "You are not sad that you lack fleshly eyes?" And when the latter was silent with shame, Antonius, questioning him ^a second and third time, at last elicited from him that he simply confess the sorrow of his spirit. To whom Antonius said: "I marvel that ^a prudent man grieves over the loss of ^a thing which ants, flies, and gnats have, and does not rather rejoice in the possession of that which the Saints and Apostles

merited. For it is much better to see in spirit than in flesh; and to possess those eyes into which the mote of sin cannot fall, than those which by sight alone, through concupiscence, can cast ^a man into the destruction of Gehenna."

[41] There was ^a certain hermit named Pior, of the ancient Fathers, whom Blessed Antonius instructed as ^a young man in the holy purpose of monks: he remained with Blessed Antonius for ^a few years. He instructs the hermit Pior, And when he was twenty-five years old, he went to another secluded place of the desert, to dwell as ^a solitary, this being also the will and consent of Blessed Antonius. And Saint Antonius said to him: "Go, Pior, and dwell where you wish: and when the Lord shall reveal to you through some reasonable occasion, you will come to me." ... His sister, being ^a widow with two sons already adolescents, sent them into the desert to seek their brother Pior. When they had gone around various monasteries searching for him, barely finding him at last, they said to him: "We are the sons of your sister, who with great desire wishes to see you before her death." But he did not accede to their petition. The young men then went to the man of God, Blessed Antonius, telling him the reason for which they had come. He sends him to his sister. Blessed Antonius sent and called him to himself, and said to him: "Why, Brother, have you not come to me for so long?" He answered and said: "You commanded me, most blessed Father, that when the Lord had revealed to me through some occasion, I should come to you, and behold, until now it has not been revealed to me." Blessed Antonius said to him: "Go, that your sister may see you." Then he took with him another monk, and went to the place and house of his sister: and standing outside near the door of the courtyard, with closed eyes, so that he would not see his sister, he stood there. But she, coming, threw herself at his feet, for she was overcome with joy. Pior said to her: "Behold, I am Pior your brother; look at me therefore as much as you wish": and after this he immediately returned to the desert to his little cell. He did this, moreover, for instructing monks, so that they might not be given license, whenever they pleased, to visit their parents or relatives.

[42] Abbot Hilarion once came from Palestine to Abbot Antonius on the mountain, He is visited by Saint Hilarion, and Abbot Antonius said to him: "Welcome, morning star, who rises at dawn." And Abbot Hilarion said: "Peace to you, pillar of light, who sustains the world."

[43] Aristaineta, the wife of Elpidius, who was afterward Praetorian Prefect, and by the noble woman Aristaineta. ^a very noble woman among her own, returning with her husband and three children from Blessed Antonius, stayed at Gaza because of their illness. For there the servants of God, all seized at the same time by ^a semi-tertian fever, were all despaired of by the physicians. The mother, wailing, prostrated herself on the ground at the cell of Hilarion, frequently crying out: "Hilarion, servant of God, give me back my children; those whom Antonius held in Egypt, let them be preserved by you in Syria."

a Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 9, num. 1.

b Rufinus lib. 3, num. 138.

c Paphnutius Cephala is praised by Palladius, who associated with him, cap. 91, because for eighty years he never had two tunics at the same time, and, taught by God (theodidaktos), he knew Sacred Scripture.

d Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 17, num. 2.

e The same, libel. 10, num. 3.

f Appendix to the Lives of the Fathers cap. 20, num. 13.

g Rufinus lib. 3, num. 218, from Saint Jerome's epistle 33 to Castrutius. The meeting of the same is reported by the same Rufinus lib. 2, Ecclesiastical History cap. 7, and Socrates lib. 4, cap. 20. In which "in the times of Valens" is incorrectly read in place of "Constantine," as said in the Prolegomena section 4, and in the Life num. 91.

h Rufinus in Ecclesiastical History: "Rejoice, because you have eyes such as the Angels have, through which God is seen, through which ^a great light of knowledge is kindled for you." To those eyes Saint Jerome alludes in the preface to the book of Didymus On the Holy Spirit, and epistle 32 to Abigaus.

i The following is absent from the epistle of Saint Jerome.

k Rufinus lib. 3, num. 31.

l Pelagius lib. 5, libel. 17, num. 4.

m Saint Jerome in the life of Saint Hilarion. Below, Aristaineta is again called the wife of the Prefect, where she was again planning to travel to Saint Antonius, unless Saint Hilarion, divinely informed of his death, had warned her about it. Ammianus lib. 23 writes that Elpidius was born in Paphlagonia and advanced to the Prefecture.

CHAPTER VII.

The training of Eulogius the Alexandrian and of another.

[44] A certain Cronius, ^a presbyter of Nitria, narrated to me: "When I was," he said, "a young man from the beginning, and because of anguish and sadness of spirit I had fled from the monastery of my Archimandrite, wandering I arrived at the mountain of Saint Antonius. Now Blessed Antonius was sitting between Babylon and Heraclea in ^a vast solitude, To the monastery of Pispir come Cronius, which extends toward the Red Sea, about thirty miles from the river. When therefore I had come to his monastery, which is near the river, in which his disciples Macarius and Amathas were sitting, in the place which is called Pispir, who also buried him when he died, I waited five days to meet Saint Antonius. For he was said to come to this monastery sometimes after ten days, sometimes after twenty, and sometimes after five, as was expedient for the benefit of those who came to the monastery. Therefore various Brethren had gathered, for various reasons: and Eulogius the Alexandrian among whom was also Eulogius, an Alexandrian monk, and with him another man maimed in his limbs; and they had come for such ^a reason."

[45] "For fifteen continuous years, the one who was mutilated was kindly cared for by him as by ^a father, a man mutilated in his limbs and agitated by ^a demon so that he was washed, anointed, fostered, and carried in the hands of Eulogius, and was indeed kept beyond his own dignity, but was tended suitably for his disease. But after fifteen years ^a demon invaded the mutilated one, wishing to deprive Eulogius of his commandment and purpose, and the mutilated man of his sustenance, and of thanksgiving to God; and he stirred up sedition against Eulogius, and began to pursue him with many insults, to such ^a degree that he now attacked him with curses. When the demon had thus made him savage, afterwards Eulogius betook himself to the neighboring monks and said to them: 'What shall I do? The mutilated man has driven me to desperation.' They said to him: 'Why?' And he said: 'He afflicts me grievously; nor do I know what to do. Shall I cast him off? But I gave my right hand to God, and I fear. Shall I not cast him off? But he treats me badly day and night. I do not know what to do.' They said to him flatly: bringing him by boat. 'The Great One still lives' (for thus they called Saint Antonius); 'go up to him, placing the mutilated man in ^a boat: and bring him to the monastery, and wait until the Great One comes from his cave, and refer the judgment to him; and whatever he tells you, stand by his decision. For God will speak to you through him.' Eulogius complied with their words, and coaxing the mutilated man, when he had placed him in ^a pastoral boat, he went out of the city by night and brought him to the monastery of the Great Antonius's disciples."

[46] "Now it happened that on another day the Great One came in the late evening, as Cronius narrated, clothed in ^a leather cloak. He entered therefore into his monastery, Saint Antonius inquires from Macarius the condition of the guests, and it was his custom to address Macarius and question him: 'Brother Macarius, have any come here?' Macarius would respond: 'They have come.' The Great One would then ask: 'Are they Egyptians or Jerusalemites?' Now the Great One had given him ^a sign, saying: 'When you see that some have come who have less weighty business, say: "Egyptians are present." But when you see that some have come who are more devout and somewhat more thoughtful, say: "They are Jerusalemites."' The Great One therefore asked as usual, saying to Brother Macarius: he receives them with food 'Are the Brethren Egyptians or Jerusalemites?' Macarius answered, saying: 'It is ^a mixture.' When therefore Macarius said 'They are Egyptians,' and with exhortation: the Great One would say to him: 'Prepare lentils for them, and give them something to eat,' and he would make one prayer for them and dismiss them. But when he said 'They are Jerusalemites,' he would sit through the entire night and tell them those things which pertain to salvation."

[47] "Sitting therefore that evening, the Great One summoned all. And although no one had told him what name the scholar had, when it was late evening, he called him, saying: 'Eulogius, he knows Eulogius by divine revelation, Eulogius, Eulogius.' And when he had called three times, and the scholar Eulogius had not responded, thinking that someone else was being called by that name, the Great One said to him: 'I am speaking to you, Eulogius, who have come from Alexandria.' Then Eulogius said to him: 'What do you command, I ask?' The Great One said to him: 'Why have you come here?' Eulogius replied, saying: 'He who revealed my name to you also revealed the matter for which I have come.' Saint Antonius said to him: 'I have learned why you came; but say it before the Brethren, so that they too may hear.' Commanded therefore by the Great One, Eulogius he commands him to report the reason for his coming: said before all: 'I found this mutilated man cast out and neglected in the marketplace; and having pitied him, I prayed to God to give me the grace of endurance toward him, and I took him up. I also gave my right hand to God that I would care for him in his illness, so that I might be saved through him, and he might be sustained by me. Now it is fifteen years since we have been together, as all things have been revealed to your holiness. But I know not what evil I have done to him; after so many years he torments me exceedingly, and I had intended to cast him out, he himself driving me to this. For this reason I have come to your holiness, that you may advise me what I should do, and pray for me; for he afflicts me grievously.'"

[48] he rebukes both Eulogius and the mutilated man, "The Great Antonius said to him in ^a grave and stern voice: 'Would you cast him off, Eulogius? But he who created him does not cast him off. If you cast him off, God will raise up someone better than you who will take him in.' Eulogius was silent and was frightened when he heard these things. Leaving Eulogius, the Great Antonius began to lash the mutilated man with his tongue, and to cry out to him: 'O mutilated one, stained one, unworthy of earth and heaven, will you not cease fighting with God and irritating your brother? Do you not know that it is Christ who ministers to you? How dare you speak these things against Christ? Was it not for Christ's sake that he enslaved himself to your service?' When he had also restrained him with reproving words, he dismissed them. And when he had conversed with the Brethren about what was necessary for each one, he again came to Eulogius and the mutilated man, and said to them: 'Do not linger anywhere, O Brethren, but go in peace, and do not separate from each other, and warns them of their impending death. having laid aside all vexation which the demon has cast upon you: and with good love return to the cell in which you have lived for ^a long time; for God is about to send for you. For this temptation was stirred up against you by Satan, because he knows that you have already come to the end, and that you are about to receive crowns from Christ, each through the other. Let you therefore think of nothing else. For if the Angel comes and does not find you in the same place, Both die. it will happen that you will be deprived of your crowns.' Quickly therefore, hastening, they entered and came to their cell, with perfect charity; and within forty days Blessed Eulogius died, departing to the Lord, and within three more days the one who was mutilated in body but firm and strong in soul also died, who likewise commended his spirit into the hands of God."

[49] "When therefore Cronius had spent some time in the region of the Thebaid, he went down to the monastery of Alexandria, and it happened that the fortieth day of the death of Blessed Eulogius was being celebrated by the brotherhood, and the third day of the mutilated man's death. Cronius testifies under oath to these events, When therefore Cronius had learned this, he was astonished, and taking the Gospel so that those listening might believe, he placed it in the midst of the Brethren: and he swore to them, narrating the foreknowledge of the Great Antonius concerning these things, and about all that had happened, saying: 'I was the interpreter of these words, their interpreter. since Blessed Antonius did not know Greek: but I knew both languages, and I interpreted for them -- for the blessed ones henceforth through the grace of Christ, that is, for Eulogius and the mutilated man, in Greek, what was said by the Great One; and for the Holy, Blessed, and Great Antonius himself, in Egyptian, what was said by both.'"

a Palladius lib. 8, cap. 25 and 26. On Cronius, see Rufinus lib. 2, De Vitis PP. cap. 25; and Paschasius lib. 7, cap. 19, num. 3, narrates the same about Eulogius.

b On this place, see the Prolegomena section 2, as also on the disciples Macarius and Amathas, section 5. Cronius seems to have set out from Babylon to the mountain of Saint Antonius, and returned from there to Heraclea, and therefore places it between both cities, including the circuit he made.

c Paschasius: "who was tormented by elephantiasis."

d The same: "he placed him in ^a coastal boat."

e The same: "make them ^a feast, and let them take food." Palladius in Greek: poiēson autois phakon, kai dos autois phagein.

f He is called ^a scholar of the liberal disciplines by Palladius.

g Paschasius adds: "in the darkness."

h In Greek: lelōbēmene, pepēlōmene. Paschasius: "Leper, horrible with mud and filth." pēlos means mud. The Venetian MS. in Rosweyde num. 63: lelōbēmenon kai pepērōmenon, "mutilated and maimed." The old translator of Palladius: "Leper, grown old in evil days."

CHAPTER VIII.

The training of Paul the Simple.

[50] The holy servant of Christ Hierax, and Cronius, and many others of the Brethren narrated those things which I am about to relate: that ^a certain Paul, ^a rustic farmer, remarkably innocent and simple in his ways, Paul the Simple, having left his wife on account of adultery, had married ^a most beautiful woman, but one of depraved morals, who for ^a very long time sinned and escaped his notice. But once, returning unexpectedly from the field, and entering his house, he found them perpetrating shameful things, with providence leading Paul to what was conducive for him: and when he had seen her with the one with whom she had the habit of fornication, he laughed honestly and decorously, and exclaimed to them, saying: "Very well, very well; truly I have no concern for her. By Jesus, I will not take her back any more; go, have her and her children; for I am departing, and I will become ^a monk."

[51] Having said nothing to anyone, he passed through eight stations, and went to Saint Antonius, and knocked at the door. Saint Antonius came out and asked him: "What do you want?" Paul said to him: "I wish to become ^a monk." Antonius replied: At sixty years old he asks to be admitted among the monks: "An old man of sixty cannot become ^a monk here; but rather go to the village, and work, and lead ^a working life, giving thanks to God. You cannot sustain the afflictions of solitude." The old man responded and said: "If you teach me anything, I will do it." Antonius said to him: "I have told you that you are old and cannot be ^a monk; go. But if you wish to be ^a monk, enter ^a cenobium, where there are many Brethren who can bear your weakness. For I sit here alone, he is rejected by Saint Antonius, eating at intervals of five days, and that while hungry." With these words therefore he was driving Paul away. But when he did not admit him, Antonius closed the door and for three days did not go outside because of him, not even for his necessities. But the old man persisted, not departing. On the fourth day, when necessity pressed him, he opened the door and went out: and when he saw Paul again, he said to him: "Go away, old man, why are you troublesome to me? You cannot stay here." Paul said to him: "It is impossible that I should die anywhere but here." When Antonius had looked at him and seen that he carried nothing necessary for sustenance -- no bread, no water, nothing else -- and had already persevered fasting for the fourth day, he thought to himself lest perhaps he die, he is admitted: since he was not accustomed to fasting, and stain my soul; therefore he admitted him.

[52] Then Antonius said to him: "You can be saved, if you have obedience and do what you hear from me." Paul answering said: "I will do whatever you command." He is exercised in obedience, And Antonius undertook such ^a manner of leading ^a rigorous life even in those days, as he had when he was at the beginning of his youth. Therefore, testing his mind, Antonius said to him: "Stand and pray in this place, until I go in and bring you something to work on." Entering the cave, he observed him through the window remaining in that place, in labor, motionless for an entire week, while he was scorched by the heat. Coming out after the week, when he had moistened branches from the palm trees, he said to him: "Take these, and weave rope as you see me do." The old man wove fifteen arm-lengths by the ninth hour, with great labor. But when Antonius saw

what he had woven, it did not please him, and he said to him: "You have woven badly; unweave it and weave it again" -- though he had already been fasting for seven days, and he was of advanced age. He afflicted him so greatly for this reason, so that the old man, becoming weary, might flee from Antonius and the monastic life. But he both unwove and rewove the same branches with great labor, because they had been crumpled from the first weaving.

[53] When therefore the Great Antonius saw that he had neither murmured, nor become dejected, nor turned his face away at all, nor become even the slightest bit angry, he was moved to compunction on his account. in fasting, And as the sun was setting, he said to him: "Dear father, do you wish that we eat ^a morsel of bread?" Paul said to him: "As it seems good to you, Father." This too again moved Antonius, that he did not immediately rush at the announcement of food, but left the decision to him. "Prepare the table then," he said, and he obeyed. Antonius brought bread and placed on the table four biscuits of six ounces, and moistened one for himself (for they were dry), and three for him. Antonius sang ^a psalm that he knew: and when he had sung it twelve times, in prayer, he prayed twelve times, so as to test Paul also in this. But the old man prayed together with him, more readily and eagerly than the Great Antonius himself. For he preferred, as I think, to feed on scorpions rather than to live with an adulteress. After the twelve prayers, the Great Antonius said to Paul: "Sit," he said, "and do not eat until evening; but only attend to the food." When evening came and Paul had not eaten, Antonius said to him: "Rise, pray, and sleep." And he, leaving the table, did so. In the middle of the night he woke him for prayer, and extended the prayers until the ninth hour. And when the table was again set, and he had again sung and prayed, on meager fare, in the late evening they sat down to eat. When therefore the Great Antonius had eaten one biscuit, he touched no other. But the old man, eating more slowly, still held the small biscuit he had taken. Antonius therefore waited until he had finished, and said to him: "Eat, dear father, one more small biscuit." Paul said to him: "If you eat, I will eat too; but if you do not eat, in vigil, neither will I eat." Antonius said to him: "It suffices for me, for I am ^a monk." And he said: "It suffices for me too; for I also wish to become ^a monk." He rose again and made twelve prayers and sang twelve psalms. And after the prayers of the first sleep, they slept ^a little, and again they awoke to sing from midnight until daybreak.

[54] in pilgrimage, Then he sent him out to traverse the solitude, saying to him: "Come back after three days." When this had been done, and certain Brethren had come to him, Paul observed Antonius to see what he wished him to do. And he said to him: in silence, "Keep silence as you minister to the Brethren; and taste nothing until the Brethren have set out on their way." After the third week had been completed since Paul had not eaten, the Brethren asked him: "Why are you silent?" and in various labors. When he did not respond, Antonius said to him: "Why are you silent? Speak with the Brethren." And he spoke. Once when ^a jar of honey had been brought to him, Antonius said to him: "Break the vessel and let the honey be poured out." And so he did. And again he said to him: "Gather the honey again with ^a shell, without introducing any impurities." And again he ordered him to draw water the entire day. And again, when he had torn apart his garment, he ordered him to sew it together. So great, then, was the obedience this man possessed, that the grace was given him from God, namely, to cast out demons. In all things he obeys without murmuring. After therefore the Great Antonius saw that the old man had readily followed in everything in the manner of leading his life, he said to him: "See, Brother, if you can thus continue from day to day, remain with me." Paul said to him: "I do not know whether you can show me anything more; for the things I have seen you do, I also do easily and without labor, with God giving me his aid."

[55] Then Antonius said to him the next day: "In the name of Jesus, behold, you have become ^a monk." When the Great and Blessed Antonius had sufficiently and abundantly ascertained that the soul of this servant of Christ was exceedingly perfect in all things, He dwells in ^a cell removed from Antonius. after certain months, with the grace of God lending its aid to Blessed Antonius, he then made him ^a cell three or four stones' throw from his own. And he said to him: "Behold, by the power of Christ, with his aid, you have become ^a monk: remain henceforth apart, so that you may also make trial of the demons." When therefore the most Simple Paul had dwelt by himself for one year, he was also deemed worthy of the grace against demons and against every kind of disease, perfectly conducting himself in the virtue of his discipline.

[56] He becomes famous for miracles. On ^a certain day, therefore, ^a young man who was exceedingly grievously vexed by ^a demon was brought to Blessed Antonius, having ^a principal and most savage demon, who even pursued heaven itself with curses and insults. When therefore the Great Antonius had observed the young man, he said to those who were leading him: "This is not my work; for against this order of demons, namely the principal one, I have not yet been granted the grace: but this is the grace of Paul the Simple." Going therefore, the Great Antonius led them to the well-tested Paul, An energumen brought by Antonius and said to him: "Father Paul, cast out this demon from this man, so that he may return healthy to his home and glorify the Lord." Paul said to him: "But what about you?" Antonius said to him: "I do not have leisure; there is something else I must do." And leaving the boy there, the Great Antonius returned to his own cell. When therefore the innocent old man had risen and poured forth an efficacious prayer, he said, provoking the demoniac: "Abbot Antonius said: 'Come out of this man.'" But the demon cried out with insults and curses, saying: "I will not come out, you glutton, old man, trifler." Taking therefore his sheepskin, he beat him on the back, saying: "Come out; Abbot Antonius said so." he liberates him. But the demon pursued Paul and Antonius with curses: "You gluttons, grown old in sloth, insatiable, who are never content with what is your own, what do you have in common with us? Why do you exercise tyranny against us?" At length Paul said to him: "Either you will come out, or I will go and tell Christ, and he will make it woe for you," etc.

[57] When Thais had been thus enclosed for three years, Abbot Paphnutius took pity, and soon went to Abbot Antonius, to inquire of him whether God had forgiven her sins or not. When therefore he had arrived At the prayer commanded by Antonius, and subtly narrated so great ^a case to him, Abbot Antonius, summoning his disciples, commanded that they all keep vigil that night and persist in prayer individually, so that God might declare to one of them the reason for which Abbot Paphnutius had come. And so, when each had withdrawn the place prepared for Thais is shown to Paul. and prayed without ceasing, Abbot Paul, the chief disciple of Saint Antonius, suddenly saw in heaven ^a couch adorned with precious garments, which three Virgins with bright faces were guarding. When therefore Paul himself said: "This bounty belongs to no other than my Father Antonius," ^a voice was made to him: "It is not your Father Antonius's, but it is the place of Thais the courtesan."

a We shall illustrate these things more fully on March 7, the day on which Saint Paul the Simple is venerated: here, lest anything be missing from the Acts of Saint Antonius, we excerpt what pertains to him. These are written by Palladius lib. 8, cap. 28, and Rufinus lib. 2, De Vitis PP. cap. 31, but more briefly.

b Rufinus: "for the whole day and the whole night."

c Acts of Saint Thais, who is venerated October 8, where more about Paphnutius.

ON THE FIRST AND SECOND TRANSLATION OF THE RELICS OF SAINT ANTONIUS.

Antonius the Great, Abbot in the Thebaid (Saint)

From various sources.

[1] The sacred body of Blessed Antonius, discovered by divine revelation under the Emperor Justinian, was brought to Alexandria and buried in the church of Saint John the Baptist, [The body of Saint Antonius discovered by divine revelation and translated to Alexandria,] as the Martyrologies of January 17 record: the Roman, Bede's, Usuard's, Ado's, Rabanus's, Notker's, Bellinus's, and others both manuscript and printed. The same is reported by Isidore of Seville, ^a near-contemporary, in his Chronicle; Bede in his book on the Six Ages of the World; Freculphus, vol. 2, Chronicle lib. 5, cap. 22; and others. Justinian assumed the Empire in the consulship of Mauortius, year of Christ 527, 172 years after the death of Saint Antonius, and held it for 38 years and 8 months. Therefore Saussaius in the Supplement to March 17, and Octavius Pancirolus, Region 2 of the City, Church 44, are incorrect in holding that the body of Saint Antonius lay hidden for only one hundred and sixty years. The readings from the proper offices of the Antonian Order cited below are closer to the truth, in which it is reported that the body remained in ^a hidden place of the desert for one hundred and seventy years. But in what year of Justinian it was found, authors do not agree, under the Emperor Justinian. and thus Baronius notes in his Martyrology that it is not possible to determine freely to whom one should chiefly assent. Ado in his Chronicle assigns the year of Christ 527, at the beginning of Justinian's reign. Aymarus Falco in the history of the Order of Saint Antonius, of which more below, part 2, cap. 4, says that it is established by the consensus of all ecclesiastical writers and historians that the body was found in the second year of the Emperor Justinian. The Westminster chronicler in the Flores Historiarum, Sigebertus in his Chronicle, and the author of the MS. Florarium under February 15 and June 11, hold that the discovery occurred in the year of Christ 529, the third year of Justinian. The Readings and Pancirolus support these, and perhaps Saussaius, because they believe that he died in the year of Christ 359: for if you add 170 to that year (even though the scribe carelessly wrote only 160), you get 529. Marianus Scotus in his Chronicle, year of Christ 531, fifth year of Justinian, after the Consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, notes this translation: to which Baronius prefers to assent, at that year, num. 27. Cuspinianus defers it to the year of Christ 541.

[2] Moreover, one day is assigned to the Revelation of the body, another to the Discovery; The Revelation is celebrated on June 27, the former indeed from ancient times, as Falco above attests, on June 27 (Thus the Cologne Martyrology and the Carthusian supplement to Usuard at Cologne: "On this same day the Revelation of Saint Antonius, Abbot and Confessor.") the latter on June 11. The same Martyrologies: The Discovery on June 11 and 13: "On this same day the Discovery of the body of Blessed Antonius, Abbot and Confessor." More fully on that day, the German Martyrology. In the MS. Florarium, the revelation, discovery, and translation are all ascribed to that one day: "On this same day the body of Blessed Antonius the Abbot was discovered by divine revelation and translated to Alexandria, in the year of salvation 529." Maurolycus on June 13 records the discovery and the second translation, when it was carried to Constantinople. Saussaius also adds ^a third: "On this same day the discovery of the body of the most holy Anchorite Antonius, surnamed the Great, which was brought from Egypt to Constantinople, and thence to Gaul, was deposited at Vienne in the basilica famous throughout the world bearing his name, which is also the head of ^a religious order, The first Translation on February 15. and rests there with fitting honor." To the first Translation, February 15, in the MS. Florarium, is thus dedicated: "The Translation of Saint Antonius, Abbot and monk, in the year of salvation 529." In Bede's Calendar, the memory of Antonius is inserted on April 9.

[3] The second translation, when that divine pledge was carried from Alexandria to Constantinople, Galesinius records on June 12: [The second Translation on June 12, of the body carried to Constantinople as the Saracens occupied Egypt,] "At Constantinople, the Translation of Saint Antonius the Abbot," which, as he adds in the Notes, was first celebrated in the year of Christ 670. Ferrarius criticizes Galesinius on June 13, as though the relics had not been in Constantinople but had been brought directly from Egypt to Vienne: but the documents which he himself cites to the contrary, from the monastery of Saint Antonius at Vienne, clearly support Galesinius. In the Antonian Readings, the relics are said to have been translated to Constantinople after the defection of the Egyptians from the Constantinopolitan Empire, with the Saracens occupying Arabia. Theophanes lib. 18, cap. 64, 65, and 66, writes that Bosra and other cities of Arabia were seized by the Saracens in the 24th year of the Emperor Heraclius, under Heraclius, year of Christ 633; the following year Damascus was captured, and Egypt was subdued. In the previous year Heraclius, leaving Syria and sinking into despair, carried the precious wood from Jerusalem to Constantinople. It appears that certain Alexandrians or the Emperor's procurators and prefects, following his example, fled to Constantinople with the sacred treasure in which these relics of Saint Antonius were held: whether, however, during the lifetime of Heraclius is not entirely certain. The words of the readings persuade it, and the fact that in the following years under the same Heraclius, all of Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia, with the seizure of Jerusalem, Antioch, and Edessa, fell to the Saracens. Heraclius died on March 11, year 641. Constantine, born to him from his first wife, succeeded him, or his successors, and was poisoned four months later by his stepmother Martina, so that she might reign with her son Heracleonas: when they were expelled in the sixth month, the son of Constantine, Constans, took the helm. In the year of Christ 668, his son Constantine Pogonatus succeeded him, an eminently Catholic and pious man; under whom Galesinius above dates the translation of these sacred relics, or at least they were first honored with public cult; perhaps under Constantine Pogonatus; and therefore this was considered by some as ^a new discovery and confused with the earlier one, which had occurred in the time of Justinian.

[4] Gabriel of Podio-Herbaldi, or, as others write, Putherbaeus, commonly called Du Pugherbault, in the History of the Saints of Aloysius Lipomanus translated into French, adds to the Life of Saint Antonius that his body was found by the agents of the Emperor Constantius, confused with the first discovery: and carried to Constantinople, thence translated to Vienne, to ^a monastery built by the son of Saint William, whose festival is celebrated on the Ides of June. On which day Maurolycus writes: "Likewise the discovery of the body of Blessed Antonius the Abbot, which was carried from Egypt to Constantinople in the time of Constantine. Thence it was translated to Vienne in Gaul by Jacobinus, the son of Saint William the Count." But on June 11, the German Martyrology: "Likewise the Discovery of the body of Saint Antonius, ^a most celebrated Abbot, which in the time of Constantine was brought from Egypt to Constantinople, with many miracles performed on the journey, and with ^a demon cast out from the daughter of the Constantinopolitan Emperor. To this place then came ^a certain Count, surnamed Jacobinus, the son of Saint William, from Gaul, who received the sacred body as ^a gift and carried it to Vienne in Gaul, on the very same day on which it had been found. Where the same to this day is celebrated by innumerable miracles." There exists ^a history of this Translation set forth at length in ^a MS. of the Hieronymite clergy of Utrecht, also printed in the Belgian language at Zwolle in the year of Christ 1490, in German at Cologne about the same time, and in other old Passionaries or Legendaries. However, although many things in it undoubtedly correspond to the truth, which the writer himself or others received from Greeks or Egyptians regarding the revelation and discovery, yet the writer seems not sufficiently acquainted with the events and times; and to have explained corruptly what he could not properly achieve by truthful narration, and to have attempted to supply by his own invention what he could not attain. Omitting these things, therefore, Falco himself in cap. 8 embraces the second translation in ^a few words, and he believes it occurred later:

[5] "When, after the fall and decline of the Roman Empire, the province of Egypt had long obeyed the Constantinopolitan Emperors, as narrated by Aymarus Falco. at length the Egyptians, weary of the avarice or pride of the Greeks, as historians relate, around the year of the Lord's Incarnation seven hundred and four, defected from the Constantinopolitan Empire to the Saracens. Although this had been done on the law and condition that each might live without molestation in his own sect, yet many ecclesiastical men and cultivators of holy religion, dreading the principality and dominion of the infidels, and being quite certainly persuaded that the Church of God would suffer grievous things from the Saracens in the future, sailing from Alexandria, with the holy relics they had with them, crossed over to the Constantinopolitan Emperor, to whose jurisdiction they had formerly been accustomed to obey. The same Emperor, having received them kindly, treated them most humanely, and assigned them ^a place of dwelling. But I find great variety among writers on this matter, some reporting that the holy relics brought from Alexandria were deposited in the greater or Patriarchal church of Constantinople, that is, in the temple of Hagia Sophia: others on the contrary asserting that they were placed not within the city but in ^a certain suburban place near the same city. To me it seems indeed closer to the truth that those religious men brought from Egypt were by no means aggregated with the clergy of the Constantinopolitan Church, and even less that the relics brought by the Egyptians were given to the greater Church, but rather that they were specially preserved by the same Egyptians, in the place assigned to them by the Emperor."

ON THE THIRD TRANSLATION.

Antonius the Great, Abbot in the Thebaid (Saint)

[6] The Third Translation is that by which this precious treasure was brought from Constantinople to Gaul. It is described by an author sufficiently ancient, who seems to have lived before the institution of the Antonian Order, History of the Third Translation, of which more presently, since he does not mention it: yet he professes to have received from the account of others what he writes. The same Utrecht MS. presented it. We append various items from the Antonian History of Aymarus Falco.

[7] To this Translation the day of March 17 is consecrated in the MS. Florarium, the Cologne Martyrology, the Carthusian supplement to Usuard at Cologne, festival on March 17. and the German Martyrology. The Readings, which we shall recite below, agree. On which day Saussaius in the Supplement to the Gallican Martyrology: "In the territory of Vienne, at the river Furania, in the arch-monastery of the Antonian Order, the reception of the body of Saint Antonius the Great, the Abbot, which was first buried in an unknown place of the Thebaid and lay hidden there for one hundred and sixty years; but at length, discovered by divine providence, was translated first to Alexandria, then to Constantinople, then to Gaul, and in that monastery, which was erected and dedicated in honor of that most holy Confessor, was deposited with great honor." And it is, as the same author writes on January 17, the everlasting glory and unconquerable protection of Gaul. Ferrarius on June 13: "At Vienne in Gaul, the translation of the body of Saint Antonius the Abbot." But some earlier event is celebrated on that day.

[8] This Translation is said in the Readings to have been made when Lothair II Under Lothair, King of France, the relics were brought was reigning. He succeeded Louis IV Transmarinus as King of France in the year of Christ 954, and died in 986. He is called the second in respect to Lothair the Emperor, King of Italy, Austrasia, Provence, and Upper Burgundy; whose son Lothair ruled more narrowly within Lotharingia alone, and therefore is omitted here in the series of Rulers or Kings of Burgundy, of which the province of Vienne was then ^a part, as Andreas du Chesne teaches in the History of the Counts of Albon and Dauphins of Vienne, cap. 1. And so John Gerson, in ^a sermon delivered about Saint Antonius at the Council of Constance, vol. 1 of his works, exclaims: "O happy, I would say, is the region of Vienne and Burgundy, which is adorned by the venerable relics of the most sacred body of Antonius!"

[9] Jocelinus, or Jacelinus (who in Maurolycus and the German Martyrology is Jacobinus) brought those relics from Constantinople: and this is agreed upon by all. But who that Jocelinus was is not equally clear. In the Readings he is called Count of Vienne. By Pancirolus, ^a Great Baron of the province of Vienne. By Miraeus, from the Antonian history, Lord of the Castle of Albencian and of Mota Saint-Didier. By Baronius, descended from the stock of the Counts of Poitiers. Son of Count William. By Putherbaeus, Maurolycus, and the German Martyrology above, the son of Saint William. By Antonio Vincenzo Domenecco in the history of the Saints of Catalonia on August 30, on the Translation of Saint Agnes (of which we treat January 21), William son of William. In the history of the Translation he is called the son of Count William, who is believed to be one of the warriors who, for the good merit of the life he is said to have led in his monastery, is called Saint William. By Falco below he is surnamed Cornutus. Perhaps this William was William Tow-Head, sixth Count of Poitiers and Duke of Aquitaine, who this is. third of that name? He, after the deaths of his wives Agnes and Adomalda, became ^a monk in the monastery of Saint Cyprian in the suburban territory and died in extreme old age, around the year of Christ 1020, as John Bouchet, lib. 3, Annals of Aquitaine cap. 1, and Claudius Robert in the Abbey of Saint Cyprian narrate. We shall treat of the various Williams on February 10.

[10] Their descendants: Similarly, there is controversy about the descendants and heirs of Jocelinus. According to Aymarus below, num. 12, the inheritance of Jocelinus, who died without children, devolved by right of kinship to Hugo Desiderius, ^a man distinguished by nobility. Hugo is by others called Guigo and Gigno. Baronius, vol. 11, year of Christ 1089, num. 18, citing Aymarus, calls this Guigo the son of Jocelinus; he would have done better to say great-grandson, or great-great-grandson, or at least heir; since below in the history of the Translation, num. 5, both Jocelinus himself and his descendants afterward for many cycles of years had the relics carried with them wherever they went. And num. 6, Guigo, who claimed those relics as if by hereditary right, following the example of his fathers, carried them around wherever he went. These facts confirm and require the chronology already established for the body's arrival, requiring easily ^a span of ^a hundred years between Jocelinus and Lothair the King and Guigo.

[11] This Guigo, moreover, may perhaps have been the one from whom Andreas du Chesne derives the genealogy of the Counts of Albon, or of the Castle of Albencian, of whom Guigo, founder of La Motte. and of the Dauphins of Vienne, who was afterwards ^a monk at Cluny under Saint Hugh the Abbot, about whom we treat at the life of that Saint on May 1; or else another of the same stock, from whom Guigo II the Fat was descended: unless he is rather Guigo the Fat himself, who is read in the life of Saint Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble, on April 1, to have devoutly honored Saint Hugh in times of tranquility, and to have caused him not ^a few nor small difficulties when he resisted most invincibly for justice, wherefore ^a great trial was held between them in the presence of the Archbishop of Vienne, who afterwards became Pope Callistus, etc. The same Archbishop, as Aymarus attests below, num. 16, consecrated the church of La Motte erected by Guigo, under whom the Order of Saint Antonius also took shape. On the ancestors of Guigo, du Chesne presents various opinions.

[12] But the entire body of Saint Antonius was not brought from Constantinople to Gaul by Jocelinus. For in the year of Christ 1231, Relics of Saint Antonius at Bruges, Lambert, Provost of the collegiate Church of Saint Mary at Bruges, obtained ^a part of the arm of Saint Antonius, and various relics of other Saints, and brought them from Constantinople to Bruges, as is read in the records of the same Church. Jacobus Meyerus, lib. 8, Annals of Flanders, testifies to the same about the relics of Saint Antonius alone, at the year of Christ 1231: "Lambert, Prelate of the Church of Blessed Mary of Bruges, brought home from Constantinople ^a part of the arm of the Lord Antonius."

[13] The beard of the same is preserved in the parish church of Saint Cunibert at Cologne, at Cologne, and is carried about, famous for the annual miracle of sweating, to ^a fixed place in the city, as is mentioned on January 13 in the life of Blessed Godfrey, num. 57, in the Prolegomena; and Erhard Winheim testifies to this in the Sacrarium Agrippinae, Church 35. In the same city, in the Church of the Antonian Order, among various relics, ^a notable part of the hand of Saint Antonius is religiously preserved in ^a particular chapel dedicated to him, as the same Winheim, Church 17. The Cathedral Church of Tournai has some of his relics, at Tournai, as John Cognatus narrates in the history of Tournai, lib. 3, cap. 36. at Antwerp Here at Antwerp in the professed house of the Society of Jesus, we preserve two particles of the relics of the same Saint Antonius, at Rome: as is evident in the archive of this house, letters FF and EEE. At Rome some temples of Saint Antonius are adorned with his relics, as Octavius Pancirolus attests, of which the principal one is that of the Antonian Order, Region 2, Church 40, celebrated for the hairshirt of Saint Antonius. In others, besides particles of bones, some leaves of ^a garment woven from palms are preserved, which, received at the death of Saint Paul the Theban, Antonius wore on more solemn days. The rest of this garment is preserved in the Antonian monastery, and is thus described by Aymarus, cap. 7:

[14] "There is to be seen to this day, together with the most holy relics of the said body, ^a certain worn garment, the garment at Vienne. extremely deteriorated by age, which some think was that of Paul the first hermit, although most believe it was rather that of Antonius. What the material is or what kind, cannot easily be discerned. The color is very similar to smoke, the weave is artful, the surface externally flat; but on the inside, long and protruding little barbs produce ^a shaggy and hairy appearance. At the back, near the neck, it has ^a sewn-on shield shape. It is closed on all sides, with no slit or opening showing, except for inserting the head. Moreover, the edge of the garment itself is seen to be folded over all around the bottom, lest the weave, dissolving through wear, should become frayed. The most Christian King of the French, Francis the First of that name, having recently seen this very cloak, judged it to be of palm material, to which judgment many have assented. Antiquity, however, takes away certainty of the matter from those who look upon it."

HISTORY OF THE TRANSLATION,

from the Offices of the Antonian Order published at Rome in 1592.

Antonius the Great, Abbot in the Thebaid (Saint)

From Various sources.

[1] When Blessed Antonius, at the age of one hundred and five years, had departed from life, two disciples, to whom he himself had given orders, buried his body according to the Father's arrangement, lest it be kept unburied in the Egyptian manner, The relics of Saint Antonius first to Alexandria, in ^a hidden place of the desert, where it remained unknown for one hundred and seventy years. But by the will of God, who had proposed to make the memory of his servant celebrated throughout the entire world, his body, divinely discovered during the reign of Justinian the Younger, was translated to Alexandria, and there, interred in the church of Saint John the Baptist, it began to be honored by the concourse of the people and the vows of the faithful. Then, after the defection of the Egyptians from the Constantinopolitan Empire, then to Constantinople, with the Saracens occupying Arabia, Christian inhabitants, carrying away various relics of Saints from Alexandria lest they fall into the hands of the infidels, brought the body of Blessed Antonius to Constantinople, and, kindly received by the Emperor, placed it in an old church not far from the city. And this indeed was the second translation of the holy body.

[2] In the course of time, when Lothair the Second was reigning, as the terrible plague of the sacred fire was raging widely through the western regions and could be extinguished neither by medical art nor by any human aid, the Lord, pitying the afflictions of his people, thence brought to Vienne who had once given ^a good physician to Egypt, willed that the relics of the same most holy Father be transferred from the eastern shores to the province of Vienne, so that he might heal the western parts as well. by Count Jocelinus; For at that time Count Jocelinus of Vienne, ^a man distinguished for piety and military service, had traveled to Jerusalem with many nobles and fellow countrymen for the purpose of fulfilling ^a vow; and when, having completed his vow, he traveled through those eastern regions, he carefully inquired in what place the relics of Blessed Antonius might be found, whether divinely admonished (as is reported) or moved by pious devotion toward the holy Father Antonius, because shortly before, having implored his aid, he had recovered from ^a fatal illness: and he learned that they had long since been translated to Constantinople and were preserved there. Therefore, eager to hasten, although the roads were blocked by troops of enemies, yet relying on divine grace and the patronage of Blessed Antonius, he overcame every difficulty of the journey and arrived safe at Constantinople with his entire retinue. The Emperor received them honorably because of the nobility of their race.

[3] Meanwhile, Jocelinus, having been informed that the relics of Blessed Antonius, for whose sake he had undertaken this difficult journey, were being preserved in ^a certain nearly abandoned church, less than fittingly because of the poverty and scarcity of ministers, humbly approached the Emperor and asked that he be permitted to carry them to the province of Vienne in Gaul, accompanied by the ministers of that Church: which he easily obtained, with divine grace supporting him in obtaining so great ^a gift. Deposited at La Motte Saint-Didier. Joyful therefore, and having achieved his wish, endowed with the sacred gift and favored with ^a prosperous voyage, he returned to his homeland. And while he sought ^a place worthy in both veneration and majesty for depositing so great ^a treasure, meanwhile he undertook no expeditions without the sacred relics, which always succeeded prosperously for him through the merits of Blessed Antonius. When peace was at last obtained by war with neighbors and foreigners, he applied himself to the task of building ^a temple in honor of so great ^a name, and for the deposition of the sacred relics. The place that seemed suitable to him was the town then called La Motte of Saint-Didier, where the first foundations of that august temple of Saint Antonius of Vienne, which is seen today, were laid, when previously there was only ^a small chapel dedicated to Blessed Mary. From this, both that principal temple and the town of La Motte of Saint-Didier, changing their name, received the name of Saint Antonius. Whence the Antonian Order, begun from these origins, emerged by ^a favorable propagation to the supreme glory of Almighty God, and ... for the poor suffering from the sacred fire throughout the entire world.

a The author of these readings seems to give the name of Justinian to the elder Justin: for Justinian II was Rhinotmetus, the son of Constantine Pogonatus, who lived at least 150 years after that translation of Saint Antonius.

THE SAME HISTORY

from the old Utrecht MS.

Antonius the Great, Abbot in the Thebaid (Saint)

BHL Number: 0613

From manuscripts.

PROLOGUE.

[1] Since, by the Lord's favor, we have the life of Blessed Antonius, composed for the instruction of the faithful in an eloquent discourse by Athanasius of blessed memory, Archbishop of the Alexandrian Church, to the Brethren of the desert, to be read, it is worthwhile that it also be recorded in writing how his venerable body came from the borders of the Thebaid to our shores, The body of Saint Antonius hidden in an unknown place, and by what persons so great ^a treasure could be brought from such distant provinces. It perhaps seems impossible to some that what is read to have been buried below the desert of the aforesaid region in an unknown place by only two disciples, and unknown to all others as long as they lived, should afterward have been unearthed and translated thence by miracles. But nothing is impossible to God.

[2] Therefore one must consider that the Lord Jesus Christ, just as is read in the text of the blessed man's life, having overcome the conflict with the demons, appeared to him visibly, and showed how holy he was, and promised that he would make him named throughout the whole world. And indeed the merciful Lord, divinely illuminated just as he then promised him in few words, now deigns to fulfill it in manifold deeds. For as miracles increase day by day, so also does his fame among the peoples. But these are your gifts, Lord Christ. Matthew 5:15. For, as you yourself said in the Gospel, you do not permit the burning and shining lamp, your blessed servant the man Antonius, to be hidden in ^a secret place, but to be placed upon the candlestick which is in your house, that is, in ^a more eminent place, so that he may give light to all.

[3] with very many miracles. For thus, Lord, day by day you glorify him so greatly that from the most remote lands and regions you send some who are ill, who cannot be freed from the conflagration of the fire of Gehenna unless they have first lain upon the sacred clod of his body, and with devout mind have sought his aid. But after worshipping you and imploring his assistance before his sacred relics, and having devoted themselves to be his servants forever, they soon depart freed within the ninth day, or dying in quiet peace, they pass from this laborious life in the Lord. For he has also been seen to have healed quite ^a number of others impeded by various infirmities many times, and even to have restored the present life to some who had died. On the other hand, some who attempted to claim for themselves something in the possessions of his servants, or who contrived to withhold some vow they had promised him, he has been seen very often to have set ablaze with the aforesaid burning of the fire of Gehenna, either themselves or their cattle: because divine vengeance, demanded by the merits of his saints, is inflicted upon whoever has presumed to do fraud or injury to those who pertain to him. Because this is seen to happen so often that it is not within our capacity to describe; let us rather turn our pen to those things which we have proposed to narrate about him. Preserving the truth, therefore, let us set forth according to our ability what we have heard.

NARRATIVE.

[4] Count William, who is believed to be one of the warriors who, for the good merit of the life he is said to have long led in his monastery, is called Saint William, had ^a certain son named Jacelinus, not unworthy of his father's integrity: who, when he had reached manly age, Jacelinus goes to Jerusalem and Constantinople, sought Jerusalem for the purpose of prayer. When this pilgrimage had been faithfully completed, turning aside to the court of the Constantinopolitan Emperor, he found very great favor with the Emperor himself and all his soldiers. And when he had stayed there for many days and was dear to all, at length desiring to return home and revisit his own, he approached the Emperor to ask for leave. But the Emperor, greatly delighted by the presence of the good young man, kept deferring the granting of this leave he requested; and amicably begged him to remain with him. But when he could no longer retain him, he ordered him to take from his treasures whatever pleased him. He obtains from the Emperor the relics of Saint Antonius, But he, not desiring gold or silver or anything of that kind, asked for and received only the casket in which the body of Blessed Antonius lay, although the Emperor preferred to bestow any other gift upon him, because he had very great confidence in Blessed Antonius, and venerated and loved him greatly, and poured forth many prayers before him. Nevertheless he did not wish to deny it to him, because he refused to accept all other gifts.

[5] Receiving it therefore gratefully as the greatest gift, bidding farewell to all, he brings it prosperously to Gaul: he began to return in haste with his company, trusting meanwhile in the protection of the most sacred body which he was carrying, that he reckoned nothing adverse could harm him anywhere at all. And indeed, as the Lord says, that all things are possible to him who believes, nothing sad befell them on that journey, although they passed through barbarous nations, he and his descendants carry them about in their expeditions: but they returned to their home healthy and vigorous. Mark 9:22. From this it certainly happened that both he himself and his descendants afterward, for many cycles of years, had them carried with them wherever they went, and nowhere wished to leave them behind. For they trusted so greatly in his guidance that they suspected nothing sinister could steal upon them, but hoped that all things they undertook would proceed prosperously, as long as they had him on the road. And therefore, wherever they were going to set out, as I said, they always had them carried before them, and wished to go before them even in military expeditions. Which, although it is not to be doubted that they did from devotion, the Lord Pope nevertheless deemed it unseemly and rash ... when it came to his notice that such persons were carrying about such great and sacred relics of the Confessor.

[6] Therefore, when ^a certain one of them, who was called Gigno Desiderius, Guigo, at the Pope's urging, claimed those same relics as if by hereditary right, and following the example of his fathers carried them wherever he went, the Supreme Pontiff took care to command that he should by no means presume to carry them with him henceforth, but that he should entrust them to be preserved to whatever

abbey of religious men fearing God he wished. Hearing this command, the excellent man did not delay to obey; but having convened ^a council with his friends, men who were considered to be of good conduct and reputation, he committed the relics to their care for preservation. In order to have them in his own territory, he gave them he builds ^a monastery at La Motte for their preservation, ^a certain wooded place, which from its natural situation was called La Motte, to be cultivated and for ^a monastery to be built, where they might be preserved honorably. In this he bestowed such great support upon them until the matter itself came to completion. He also gave other lands with seven churches, and the tithes pertaining to them, in perpetual right, from which the inhabitants of the same monastery might have sufficient food and clothing. and ^a hospital, He also conferred another place situated not far from there, in which ^a house of almsgiving, that is, ^a hospital, should be built, within which the poor of Christ and all who were burned by the aforesaid fire of Gehenna might come to implore the aid of Blessed Antonius and be received gratuitously. Furthermore, lest any of those who would succeed him by hereditary right should wish to claim anything for themselves in the aforesaid donations, or should be able to raise any legal challenge, he freely granted everything to be held.

[7] How devoted he was toward Blessed Antonius and all his servants while he lived in this world, pious toward Saint Antonius, and why. no human tongue, as I judge, could narrate. And not without reason. For he was truly an Israelite, who while still ^a very young adolescent, sprung from the most noble stock, nevertheless fled and spurned all the allurements of this world, all riches and honors and men, and distributed to the poor all that he could have in this land of the dying, so that he might merit to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. He who first after the holy Hermit Paul, whom he himself buried, undertook to lead the anchoretic life, and was the first in Egypt to institute the way of cenobites and monks: who very often struggled with the devil by mocking him, but was never overcome by the devil. What more? So great ^a grace did the man of God have in curing the infirmities of the sick, that no one came to him in poor health whom he did not restore to health by pouring forth prayer to the Lord. Happy therefore is this place, which is known to have so great ^a man, who had so many and so great heights of virtues and praises of renown.

[8] Let us therefore venerate him, dearest ones, as ^a pious Patron, imitating according to our ability the examples of his life: Exhortation to the cult of Saint Antonius. so that, with his holy merits supporting us, we may merit to avoid both the conflagrations of the fire of Gehenna in the present and in the future, and arriving at Christ, where he himself has arrived, we may find eternal blessedness, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with God the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

THE SAME HISTORY

from the Antonian History of Aymarus Falco.

Antonius the Great, Abbot in the Thebaid (Saint)

From Aymarus Falco.

CHAPTER I.

The occasion of Jocelinus's journey to the East.

part 2, cap. 13.

[1] When by the decree of divine disposition it was to happen that the body of the most blessed Antonius should be transferred from the Constantinopolitan parts to the province of Vienne for the aid of mortals, it happened, as we read in the written account, that ^a certain most noble and powerful Baron of the said province of Vienne, called William Cornutus, Jocelinus promises to fulfill his father's vow of going to Jerusalem: Lord of the new castle of Albencian and of La Motte of Saint-Didier, as well as of many other fortresses and places, ^a man most exercised in arms throughout his entire life, after very frequent dangers to which he had many times exposed himself in military affairs, at length moved by devotion, made ^a vow to visit Jerusalem and the sacred places of our redemption humbly and submissively. But being prevented by ^a very serious infirmity, he was unable to fulfill his purpose. Seeing this, having made ^a solemn will, he instituted his only son, named Jocelinus, as his universal heir, on the condition that as soon as possible after the death of William himself, he should gird himself for the journey of the said pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and free his father from his vow. Jocelinus himself readily promised this would be no burden. And not many days later, the same William departed from human affairs.

cap. 16.

[2] Jocelinus, although he was considered distinguished for piety, being entangled in other affairs, long deferred fulfilling the promise he had made to his dying father: yet he did not cease to commend his said father's soul to God solicitously by ecclesiastical prayers and pious almsgiving. But when, as the years passed, he seemed to have entirely put aside the memory or recollection of the undertaken pilgrimage and of fulfilling his father's vow, he defers it: we read that he was divinely rebuked by ^a remarkable event for the fault of his longer delay,

and miraculously admonished to fulfill the promise made to his father, in the following manner. Jocelinus himself was, as they say, valiant in arms and ^a most illustrious imitator of his father's glory in this matter: and the nobility of the province of Vienne and the youth devoted to arms most zealously followed him as their military leader. And so, when at that time ^a war was being waged in the borders of the Helvetians not far from the Jura mountain, and Jocelinus himself, accompanied by ^a considerable band of young men of the said province of Vienne, had gone there, ^a bloody battle was joined with the enemy, and the fighting continued fiercely on both sides until nightfall, wounded in battle, and many are said to have fallen there. Accordingly, Jocelinus, fighting manfully and bravely, having received three most savage wounds, was thrown from his horse, and lay prostrate for some time in the field: at last, carried like ^a lifeless corpse under cover of night by his men, he was placed he is brought to ^a chapel of Saint Antonius: in ^a certain old chapel there nearby, which was dedicated to Blessed Antonius, with his companions keeping ^a sleepless vigil beside him with mourning and tears, and miserably bewailing so bitter ^a fate of the man.

[3] As dawn approached, his body, to the amazement of all who were present, began to emit great sighs. For, as was later learned from the account of the same Jocelinus, at that time ^a very great multitude of demons appeared to stand before him, of whom one was striving to suffocate him by throwing ^a noose around him, while the rest were preparing in various ways to drag the same Jocelinus into Gehenna. attacked by demons, And so it was especially for this reason: that they said and alleged that he had been ^a neglector and ignominious violator of the promise he had made to his dying father. Jocelinus, however, shaken by great terror, implored the mercy of God with the greatest effort he could muster: nor did that crowd of demons press upon him any less slowly, so that he might be dragged as quickly as possible into the abyss. defended by Saint Antonius: But at last, after much assault from the malignant spirits, an aged bearded man was seen to arrive, leaning on ^a staff, at whose presence the multitude of demons, terrified, began to retreat ^a little. Therefore that venerable elder, approaching closer to the sick man, harshly rebuked the demons because in his own house and in the chapel dedicated to him they had dared to do violence to his guest and inflict injury. And so he immediately compelled them to yield that place and depart in sorrow. Then, when those had been driven away, the same blessed elder addressed the sick man with gentle words and appeared to speak these words to him: he is commanded to carry his relics to Gaul: "Do not fear, son; I am the guardian and keeper of this chapel: and I will help you as my guest and defend you from injury: but take care that you no longer defer fulfilling the promised pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but immediately gird yourself for it in fulfillment of your father's vow. And in return for the health obtained for you, you will render me this gratitude: that you take care to have the relics of my body transferred from the eastern parts to these western shores when you return. For in these western parts, Christ the Lord has henceforth arranged that I shall be venerated more excellently."

[4] When this had been said, the vision itself disappeared, and the sick man, to the wonder of all who were present, began with groans and sighs to stretch his hands toward heaven. he is healed: And not long after, when his wounds had been treated and his health recovered, he returned safe to his home. Whether this is true or fictitious, God himself knows. I confess indeed that this has been recorded not in authentic writings but in certain private documents: wherefore I leave that very narration to be approved or disapproved at anyone's discretion.

a These are taken from the second part of the Antonian history of Aymarus Falco, retaining his own words, omitting only those which seemed less necessary for our purpose; with the chapters from which each passage is transcribed noted in the margin. He used the documents of the Antonian house, but he does not seem to have had the history of the translation which we have given, since he greatly diverges from it in the time of the translation.

b Learn from this the sincerity of the writer. Whoever narrates events more assertively than he received them does not deserve credence. We consider it the duty of ^a faithful historian to declare whence he learned what he commemorates, unless he himself observed it. For this reason we often give the style of the ancients, even if rough and unpolished.

CHAPTER II.

The pilgrimage of Jocelinus. The relics obtained.

cap. 17.

[5] With affairs at home duly arranged for the time, Jocelinus, accompanied by ^a considerable company of noble men, sought Jerusalem by ^a maritime route, he sets out for Jerusalem; and most devoutly visited the places consecrated by the most sacred mysteries of our Redemption. In what year this was done, because I have not found it written or reported by anyone, I am by no means able to assert with certainty while maintaining historical fidelity: but as far as I can reach by conjecture, and plausibly measure from the subsequent course of events, I believe this happened around the one thousandth and seventieth year of the Lord's Incarnation. Having therefore most devoutly visited the Lord's Sepulcher and other venerable places in memory of the Savior, the aforesaid Jocelinus carefully inquired in what part the body of Blessed Antonius was held: and he learned, as report had it, that the holy relics of that most blessed body had long since been translated to the city of Constantinople and were preserved there. However, the journey to those parts at that time seemed little safe, and it was reported that most savage wars were being waged there and various fluctuations of affairs prevailed. But Jocelinus, terrified by no peril of circumstances, hoping that divine grace and the protection of Blessed Antonius would be everywhere present to him, resolved to betake himself there immediately, and setting aside all delay, decided to proceed to Constantinople.

cap. 19.

[6] Having therefore completed the visitation of the holy places in Judea, Jocelinus decided to proceed to Constantinople, where he had learned the body of the most blessed Antonius was hidden. And although, with affairs in turmoil there, the journey seemed little safe, yet hoping that the Divine clemency and the protection of the most holy Antonius would always be present to him, he sailed there with his companions, thence to Constantinople; and having landed there, immediately greeted the Emperor, by whom he was most kindly received. For Jocelinus himself was conspicuous for his appearance and the nobility of his manners, and most skilled in the arts of both war and peace. Furthermore, the Emperor considered it most necessary, especially when affairs were troubled, to acquire and unite the assistance of all, even foreigners, for the strengthening of the foundations of his rule. Nor was he ignorant that the Gallic nobility had always been illustrious in military affairs and most ready for undertaking wars. Moreover, the report was that certain maritime preparations were being made at that time in Basilia and Italy. pleasing to the Emperor, Therefore the Emperor received the said Jocelinus and his companions with great favor and treated them most humanely. Jocelinus indeed and his companions, in order to achieve the fulfillment of their desire, and also delighted by the singular humanity of the Emperor, remained with him for some time. And not idly indeed, but with many distinguished deeds accomplished both at home and in military service, they were held in the greatest esteem.

[7] When, moreover, Jocelinus himself and his companions, for the sake of devotion, frequently went to the old church in which the holy body of Blessed Antonius was hidden, and had observed that the place itself was almost abandoned because of the tumults of wars, or that in peacetime only it was guarded by ecclesiastical men who were laboring under ^a scarcity of all things, they easily persuaded those same religious men to transfer themselves with the holy relics to Gaul, to better and safer seats, where ^a most beautiful and convenient place would be assigned to them, and where they themselves would be held in greater esteem and veneration than in Greece. he obtains the relics of Saint Antonius And since only the Emperor's consent was lacking for this matter, Jocelinus ardently approached the Imperial Majesty and humbly asked for this as the highest gift: and with Divine grace, as is probable, aiding him in obtaining it, and with the pious favor of Blessed Antonius himself supporting him, he obtained what he desired.

cap. 20.

[8] Joyful therefore with the gift of so great ^a treasure, Jocelinus, having given thanks to the Emperor, and taking up the sacred relics,

as well as some ecclesiastical men, returned by ^a prosperous voyage and ^a happy course to the Province of Vienne, where he was received with great joy and exultation of all. he carries them to Gaul, I know that some have written that Jocelinus received this holy gift not from the Emperor but from the Emperor's own son: which seems to me not at all probable. But whether he obtained it from the Emperor himself or from the Emperor's son, it is established with most certain faith that the said holy body was translated by the same Jocelinus to the Province of Vienne by divine disposition. Which is attested not only by the reports of trustworthy writers, but also by the letters and diplomas of very many former Roman Pontiffs, Emperors, and Kings, and was finally declared consistorially by the Holy Apostolic See.

a Why we have not chosen to follow this conjecture of his is indicated above: we nevertheless praise his sincerity.

b Whether Aymarus means by the name Basilia Scandinavia and other northern provinces, or, closer to Byzantium, ^a city or region of Scythia, we do not guess: the name Basilia is found to have been used by the ancients in both senses.

CHAPTER III.

The Church of Saint Antonius constructed.

cap. 25.

[9] After the illustrious man Jocelinus, enriched with the most worthy treasure of the holy body, arrived at the province of Vienne by divine benignity, he was pressed by no small solicitude and care to look for ^a place where he might deposit this divine gift to be honorably preserved, he carries them in military expeditions. and to establish for it ^a suitable seat and fitting place. But meanwhile, wherever he went, he carried the relics of the holy body, to such an extent that he would not even set out for battles and military tumults without the said holy body. For at that time most bloody wars were being waged in Gaul.

[10] But when peace had been obtained from the wars, Jocelinus, urged (as they say) by the command of the Pontiff, applied his mind to building ^a Church in honor of the most Blessed Antonius, in which he might afterward deposit the relics of the holy body. For this purpose the place deemed suitable was the town of La Motte, of which he held temporal dominion and jurisdiction. For at that time the place itself was frequented by inhabitants and graced by the residences of many noble families: although some, led by error, think that the place was then wooded and uncultivated; which is shown to be by no means true by the most ancient documents. Nor is it true, as some have thought, that this same place was once called La Motte-Fangias. For the place of La Motte-Fangias is situated about four miles from this other place of La Motte, beyond the river Isere, At La Motte of Saint-Didier he begins to build ^a temple for Saint Antonius. and the diversity of the places is undoubtedly proven by the most ancient documents. And so that town was not called La Motte-Fangias, but rather La Motte of Saint-Didier. At that time there was, in the place where the greater Church of Saint Antonius is now situated, as ancient writings report, ^a parish church dedicated to Blessed Mary, in which the right of patronage and of presenting ^a suitable Rector pertained to the same Jocelinus. In this auspicious place, therefore, since the parish church that was then built there seemed very small, the said Jocelinus, having convened many nobles of the above-mentioned province, along with the Archbishop of Vienne, relying on their counsel and aid, as well as the support of all the people, is believed to have laid the foundations of the principal temple or greater Church: in such ^a way, namely, that the new church itself should face roughly the equinoctial sunrise, whereas the other, which had been there before, was turned toward the north: by which it happened that the one extended across the other. The ancient parish Church was nevertheless by no means demolished at that time, but still remaining intact, it was enclosed within the circumference of the new one, which was more spacious; and these were the beginnings of the greater temple, before the venerable body of Blessed Antonius was deposited there.

cap. 26.

[11] Jocelinus, although from the beginning he pursued the work begun most fervently, being however distracted from time to time by other cares, or because he was importuned by the prayers of very many churches to have the said holy relics deposited with them, began to act tepidly about the work itself. And although by the decree of ecclesiastical authority he was forbidden to retain the holy body in ^a profane place, yet he was little expediting the matter. In the midst of these things, however, seized by ^a severe illness, he ended his life by an unexpected death.

[12] Guigo Desiderius carries the relics to wars, When he had died without children, his inheritance devolved by right of kinship to Hugo Desiderius, ^a man distinguished by nobility. He too, as ancient documents report, having taken possession of the relics of the holy body, carried them with him wherever he went; and placing his confidence not only of peace but also of war in the power of the Saint, he displayed the bier of the blessed body widely in camps and bloody battles. Although this was done not without the affection of devotion, just as we read that the sons of Israel sometimes carried the Ark of the Covenant in battle, yet that this should be done at the nod and will of ^a secular man was entirely to be disapproved. But since at that time the matter concerned the defense of the fatherland, and, as I judge, the salvation of the entire people, it was perhaps excusable before God, since it was done with ^a holy and pious confidence, not with rash levity.

cap. 27.

[13] At that time the holy Roman Church was led by Urban, the second of that name, who, pitying the profanation of the Lord's Holy Sepulcher and the sacred places, as well as the trampling and enslavement of Christians in the eastern parts, urged especially by Peter the Hermit, betook himself to Gaul to stir up the souls of the faithful, and announced ^a general council at Clermont. This most blessed Pontiff, therefore, while traveling through the province of Vienne, learned that the venerable body of the most holy Antonius was being handled indecently in the hands of secular and military men, and was being carried about everywhere. Wherefore, having investigated the matter, he prohibited Hugo Desiderius, by Apostolic authority and under the censure of anathema, the Pope forbidding this, from presuming to do such things henceforth: but that he should as soon as possible deposit that most holy body decently and honorably in some religious place.

cap. 28.

[14] Having therefore received the Apostolic command, Hugo Desiderius began to restore the work long since begun by Jocelinus at La Motte, with great popular support. He restores the church of Saint Antonius and deposits the relics there: But since this could not be completed or finished so promptly, in the meantime he built ^a small chapel of light material at the position of the principal altar, and there he placed the relics of the said holy body, having assigned custodians who would receive the offerings and pious donations of the faithful, to be dispensed for the work of building at the discretion of Hugo himself. Accordingly, the place itself with the aforesaid relics always existed in the power of secular persons in this manner; although the same place, being adjacent to the aforementioned parish church, was known to pertain to that same church. But Hugo himself was of such great power and authority that no one dared to contend about this, or to oppose or resist him in any way. Wherefore the matter continued thus for some years: and that sacred place was usurped and held by secular persons, contrary to the form of law.

cap. 29.

[15] After some years had passed, Hugo Desiderius, touched by ^a scruple of conscience, and recognizing how unfitting and incongruous it was that the place with the sacred relics should be disposed or administered at his own, He establishes ^a Benedictine Priory there, rather than at ecclesiastical discretion, he summoned monks of the Benedictine Order from the monastery of Saint Peter of Montmajour, who held certain nearby benefices and Priories, and delivered and handed over the place itself (with guardianship reserved for himself and his successors in the future) and assigned it under certain conditions: and from that time ^a regular Priory of the Order of Saint Benedict began to exist in the same place, whereas before it had been ^a secular parish church.

cap. 30.

[16] Since, moreover, the aforesaid transfer, being made of an ecclesiastical matter by ^a secular person, was considered of little legal efficacy unless the consent of the Diocesan or the Supreme Pontiff were added, it seemed best to obtain confirmation of the said transfer from the Church of Vienne. This is confirmed by ecclesiastical authority: Since this could not be had by any means unless the vice of the usurpation formerly committed by secular persons was first purged, the matter was at last settled in such ^a way that before all else the place itself should be restored to the said Church of Vienne. When this had been done, the Vicar and Chapter of that Church, assenting to the wish and will of Hugo, granted the Church of Saint Antonius which was being built, as well as the old one comprehended and enclosed within the greater one as previously mentioned, and likewise also the churches of Saint Didier in the castle, and of Saint Marcellinus and of Saint Hilary, to the aforesaid religious men. There exist on this matter authentic letters of Huntardus, Bishop of Valence and also Vicar of Vienne while the Archiepiscopal See was vacant, in which that venerable Bishop, among other things, wished all the faithful of Christ to be asked, and furthermore, by the authority in which he functioned, he enjoined upon all that the place itself should be held in the greatest honor and reverence on account of the relics of so great ^a Patron. The same was later confirmed by his authority by Hugo, Archbishop of Vienne of blessed memory, as authentic writings declare, while Urban the Second was still governing the Roman Church.

a In Claudius Robert he is Gontardus, who writes that Urban II was received as ^a guest by him when he was proceeding to the Council of Clermont.

CHAPTER IV.

The Church dedicated by Callistus II.

cap. 37.

[17] When Urban II had departed from human affairs, Gelasius succeeded him, who, fleeing the persecution of the Emperor Henry, betook himself to Gaul and died at the monastery of Cluny. When he had been given ecclesiastical burial, the Cardinals who were there elected Guido, Archbishop of Vienne, Callistus II, Pope born (as historians relate) from the lineage of the Kings of France, England, and Germany, and brother of the Count of Burgundy, as Roman Pontiff; who was unwilling to accept the Pontificate until he had the consent of the Cardinals in Rome and of the Roman people. This most blessed Pontiff therefore, moved by sincere devotion toward the same Saint, immediately after his promotion went to visit the body of the same gracious Confessor, and most dutifully consecrated he consecrates the church of Saint Antonius, and dedicated the new church in which it rested, granting in perpetuity ^a plenary indulgence of all sins committed and remission of sins to all those visiting the same church on that day in hope of obtaining pardon. The decree of this dedication is read in the archives of the same church under this form:

[18] "Our Lord Jesus Christ, remaining before the ages, one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, at the end of the ages made true man from ^a true mother, deigned to open the entrance to heavenly life for all who believe in him with true faith and worthy works, through the mediation of his human nature. Who also, as ^a sign of his great piety, granted to his Apostles, created of the same earthly matter as ourselves, and supported by no excellence of carnal wisdom or dignity, the power of binding and loosing sins, saying to Blessed Peter the Apostle, in the person of the universal Church: 'To you I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you shall bind shall be bound, and whatever you shall loose shall be loosed.' We therefore, though unworthy, acting in his place, have consecrated the church, venerable for the body of the blessed Confessor Antonius, to the praise and name of the holy and undivided Trinity, and the honor of Blessed Mary ever Virgin, under the patronage of so great ^a Patron, on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of April. To all therefore who flee to it in hope of obtaining mercy, we desire and grant salvation, Apostolic blessing, and remission of sins, if they repent from the heart, by the authority of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. But invaders and violators of the cemetery, or of the property of the monks and clerics serving God in it, He adorns it with indulgences: and of other persons pertaining to it, we place under the excommunication of anathema, separated from all of Christendom, he excommunicates invaders. until they come to satisfaction and restore what they have wrongfully seized. Guigo Desiderius with his sons was present as ^a supporter and confirmer of this decree, who placing his hand beneath ours by right of oath, confirmed that he would exercise no invasion or violence in the future upon the possessions of the monks or clerics of the Church: and if by chance he should do so, he would amend it within fourteen days upon being warned: and would keep the boundaries assigned to the cemetery inviolate both for himself and his heirs. The Bishop of Ostia, John of Cremona, and our Cardinals were present. G. Prior. B. Chaplain. D. Canon of Romanensis, etc. Soferde B. Priest. Nantelmus. Gago. P. Provincial. G. Raschas. with the remaining Clerics and laymen. In the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and nineteen from the Incarnation."

CHAPTER V.

The Church enriched. The relics transferred.

cap. 41.

[19] Some have written in certain private commentaries that Hugo Desiderius, Various possessions donated to the Church of Saint Antonius by Guigo, temporal Lord of the places of La Motte and Castelnuovo, donated seven churches and assigned most ample revenues to the monks: which is by no means true. For he only handed over to them the place and the building of the new church, begun and unfinished, together with the right of patronage of the old parish church, which remained enclosed and comprised within the circuit of the new building, that is, the greater church; and likewise the right of patronage of the Church of Saint Didier. To these were added by Guntard, Vicar of Vienne, the churches of Saint Marcellinus and of Saint Hilary, with the confirmation of Archbishop Guido subsequently following. and by others, Thereafter the noble Bernard of Eschanagnes gave and donated the church of Blessed Mary of Montanea with the tithes of the same place, authorized by the same Archbishop Guido. Furthermore, ^a certain noble man named Constantine gave the chapel of Chapaysia. Nantelmus of Montlucid, together with Pontius Rufus, conferred the church of the place of Vinais and the fourth part of the tithe of the same place. Moreover, Ardenchius of Vinais gave the church of Saint John, called "frumentalis," and the ninth part of the tithe. Finally, Peter Sofreys is read to have conferred the part he held in the churches of Vinais and Montlucid. These donations were said to be made of churches, although the aforesaid nobles held in them only the right of presenting ^a suitable Rector when ^a vacancy occurred. The donation of these churches was afterward confirmed by Apostolic authority by Pope Lucius III, and likewise by Innocent III, with the churches of Roybon and Quinceuo added. and by the sons of Guigo.

[20] The aforementioned Guigo Desiderius is also read to have donated the place in which the Abbatial house is now situated, as well as the adjoining vineyard. He also conferred certain privileges on the same Church. Franco and Mallenus, sons of the same Guigo, are found to have conferred certain tithes on the aforesaid Church. Moreover, Mallenus himself added certain vineyards. For he had arranged his affairs (as is written) in such ^a way that each year he would bestow something from his resources on the same Church on the feast of the Revelation of Blessed Antonius. For that day was then made more illustrious by frequent miracles. Also, moved by pious devotion, William, Archdeacon of the Church of Vienne and son of the said Guigo, is read to have donated to the Church of Blessed Antonius the place of Condaminanes. and Franco, ^a noble man. At the same times, Franco, ^a man distinguished by nobility, going to Jerusalem to implore the mercy of God, bestowed many temporal goods

on the said Church: and at last, having returned from the same pilgrimage, he dedicated himself to Christ in the same Church under the regular habit. Moreover, very many other noble men, kindled by the fervor of devotion, are read to have conferred not ^a few goods on the same Church during those times.

cap. 42.

[21] When the noble and powerful Guigo Desiderius perceived that the works of piety toward the poor mutilated by the sacred fire were being performed with great fervor of devotion by Gaston and his companions and confreres, noting that they did not have ^a sufficiently large and suitable place for this, and wishing himself to become ^a participant in the merits, The Almshouse built. he bestowed ^a house, which was thenceforth called the Almshouse, with sincere devotion and pious affection, for so holy ^a work. Some, however, report that by him was conferred not the house built, but merely the place or ground on which the house was afterward built. Which opinion seems more probable to me, especially because in the appendix of the old Martyrology and in certain other places we read that the larger hospital was built by Stephanus the Priest. Which Stephanus indeed is read to have departed from human affairs in almost the same year as Guigo Desiderius himself, that is, one thousand one hundred and thirty. In some writings, however, I have noted that the house of the Almsgiving is what the house in which the Brethren resided is called, and not that in which the poor were placed. The house of the Brethren's residence was near the church of Blessed Mary, which was called "of the Alms," situated on the northern side and adjoining the vineyards; in which now granaries, the winepress, the council chamber, and the library are seen.

cap. 38.

[22] When Gelziard was Prior of the Church of Saint Antonius, as is proven by the testimony of ancient documents, by the authority of the most blessed Pope Callistus II, with very many men of great authority and nobility convened, The relics of Saint Antonius transferred to ^a new casket; the bier or ark or ancient casket, brought from Constantinople, was opened with due veneration and in public view, with the strictest guard applied, and the venerable body of the most holy Antonius was found in it, together with ^a certain garment which some thought was that of Paul the first hermit. Therefore, with the individual bones of the body counted one by one, on the table of the greater altar, the holy body itself was transferred to ^a new casket, which ^a man of the highest religion and sanctity, Sofredus, Prior of Les Ecouges, living most devoutly and religiously under the Carthusian order, had fabricated with his own hand and by simple craftsmanship from cypress wood. The greater and principal house of the Carthusians was then called the Priory of Les Ecouges.

par. 3.

[23] When Falco Mathione was Master of the Almshouse...

[6] John Gerson, Chancellor of Paris, in ^a sermon delivered at the Council of Constance, vol. 1 of his works, marvels at the manifold cures of the sacred fire that occurred: "With how many miracles," he says, "in life, Innumerable cures. with how many benefactions and acts of assistance after death has Antonius shone forth, especially in this certain special prerogative, that he drives the sacred fire from bodies, as ^a sign that, when invoked, he cools in hearts the more pernicious fire of lustful concupiscence! Let the one tempted by the burning of this infernal fire cry out: O holy Antonius, help me." He assigns the same reason in vol. 4, sermon 3 on Saint Antonius: "It is easy to believe," he says, "that Saint Antonius received ^a special grace from God for healing the bodily fire in the limbs of the sick, because he so conquered the spiritual fire of wicked carnality." And looking to the multitude of miracles, in the first sermon delivered before the Duke of Burgundy, he asserts that he does not recite his most proven miracles, because he would say nothing new, since they are most well-known throughout the entire world. Aymarus Falco: "In this very year," he says, "in which we wrote these things, that is, the year of Christ 1530, we knew, with God as witness, that very many suffering from that dire disease, having implored the patronage of the same Saint, and having washed or sprinkled the place of the disease with that wine in which the relics of the sacred body had been dipped, were restored to their former health." Saussaius commemorates these on June 13: "At Vienne in the basilica famous throughout the world bearing his name, which is also the head of ^a religious order, the body of Saint Antonius rests with fitting honor, and shines with perpetual and gracious prodigies of heavenly assistance received, for those whose limbs the sacred fire consumes."

Section II. Miracles in Belgium and Germany.

[7] Chapel of Saint Antonius near Bailleul: Near Bailleul, ^a town of Flanders, ^a very celebrated concourse to Saint Antonius was accustomed to take place for the purpose of driving away the plague of the fiery disease, which in the year of Christ 1626, when the disease was once again raging in the surrounding area, was renewed, not without the comfort of very many, with ^a confraternity or brotherhood of Saint Antonius erected there and approved by Pope Urban VIII in the same year on June 26, and enriched with ^a most ample indulgence of penances. The chapel that is frequented there pertains to the Benedictine monks of the monastery of Saint John, which was once at the walls of the Morini, or the city of Therouanne, thence transferred to Bailleul, then to Ypres. Concerning it and the miracles recently produced there, Peter Ramerus, ^a religious of the same monastery, published ^a book: in which he testifies that forty persons who had been seized by the sacred fire were healed by the aid of Saint Antonius; very many miracles performed there. and indeed the following had suffered in one leg: Ludovicus Wassenhoue of Ypres, Joannes Snellart of Hoghelede, Joannes de Koninck of Nordtbertkine, Carolus Vander Straet of Cassel, Simon Janssonius of Leffinge, born in the Franche-Comte, Haringus Lanckriet, Francisca vande Walle, and Joanna Mesdach of Tilelt, Francisca Bubbe and Petronilla Swinghedau of Bailleul, Maria Liteyn of Zillebeke in the territory of Ypres, Maria Caproen and Laevina Vanden Steen of Ypres. Foul ulcers and multiple decay consumed one shin of Valentinus Philippus of Artois and of Petrus Brueys of Bailleul; both shins of Matthias Lalius of Bailleul, Judocus Kemele of Bouekercke in the territory of Dixmude, Joannes Abundius the Italian, and Susanna de Raedt of Nipkercke on the river Lys: the shin and both arms of Maria, handmaid of Joannes Rabaudt, ^a citizen of Cassel; one arm of Petrus Storm of Meteren, Barbara de Sante, ^a religious of the Order of Saint Francis at Nieuwpoort, and Petronilla Swyngedau of Bailleul; but both arms of Francisca Gruson of Meteren; and the right arm with the side and shoulder of Petrus de Winck of Cassel: one hand of Petrus de Brune of Adriakerke, Joanna Bubbe of Bailleul, and Maria Vroyelinck of Cassel; both hands of Maria Werkin of Ypres; hands and feet of Catharina de Breyne, born at Comines on the Lys: one foot of Petronilla de Koninck, born in the village of Kemele, and Michaelia Velle of Bailleul: the toes of Maria Pont of Neokerke: the knee of Judoca Borrevvals of Ypres: the hips and knees of Maria Banzel of Bailleul; the right side of Maria le Mettre of Peene: the entire body of the infant Adrianus Vaerelle of Saint-Omer. Freed from the same malady, without specification of the body part which had felt the decay: Franciscus Huysman and Joannes Vermote of Tilelt. Freed from other equally dangerous diseases by the aid of Saint Antonius: from long-lasting and unknown diseases, Caecilia de Thielt of Ypres; from ulcerous and inflamed shins, Guilielmus Jonckheere of Iseghem in the territory of Courtrai, Livinus van Damme, Joannes van Ackere, and the wife of Andreas van Damme, born in Eastern Flanders, and Isabella Formanoir, ^a religious of the Order of Saint Clare at Ypres; from an incurable and unidentified pain of the arm, Margareta Laben, ^a religious of Ypres from the monastery of Nonnebossij of the Order of Saint Benedict; and finally from ^a lingering quartan fever, Joannes van Ackere of Bailleul, and Joannes Rysport, ^a noble man, and several times consul of Bailleul.

The bell about my neck she shakes, That you may know, lest harm be done, she says. My bell he bears, which you see upon this staff, And which the sick one asking, and many necks do carry.

[15] Finally, the following hymn, responsory, antiphon, and Collect or Prayer of many churches pertain to this matter, which we append below. The patronage of five heavenly saints in particular is customarily invoked against pestilence, of whom Saint Antonius is one. Saint Antonius, Patron against the plague. Hence the old hymn in the Tournai Missal: "Let this Patron be venerated, whom the heavenly throne holds, who by bestowing benefits fills the world with joy. He, giving forth ^a divine fragrance, drives away plague and languor, and like roses or lilies gives sweet scent in the Church."

[16] Hymn from the ancient Breviary of Saint-Omer.

Blessed is the city of Vienne, and blessed the people, The decrepit old man and the elder, the youth and the child, Among whom it is not doubted that he is ^a servant of God. The Lord gave to his servant ^a hand commanding over the sick, So that when he commands, by the force of nature an end is made to disease, And the infernal creeping ulcer is taken away. These things appear through their effect more clearly in this place, and other diseases. Where wondrous deeds are done more frequently through the same Saint, And it is established as most marvelous that the sacred fire is extinguished. We who are infirm, we who lie in the sins of men, We need your prayers, Father, to the Lord, That they may be freed from evil and from the bond of sins. O how many sick persons flock to his church, Imploring through him the divine clemency, And there receive the grace of health! Surround our houses with ^a wall of providence, And let not, once the obstacle of levity or negligence is removed, The death of concupiscence enter through the windows to us. Grant, O Father, to whom our mind aspires, access. And you who have restored us to life through your Only-begotten, Grant us the Spirit proceeding from both, Amen.

[17] Responsory from ancient Breviaries, of Tournai, Hildesheim, etc.

Clap your hands, O Vienna, endowed with so great ^a Patron, Whom Egypt gave to you as ^a dear pledge. He strikes and heals, he extinguishes and kindles fires, And Antonius thunders forth blazing threats.

Prayer from the ancient Roman Missal, and very many old Breviaries: Prayer of Saint Antonius. O God, who grant that through the intercession of Blessed Antonius, your Confessor and Abbot, the fiery disease may be extinguished and relief provided to sick limbs: mercifully grant that we, freed by his merits from the fires of Gehenna, may be presented to you happily in glory, whole in mind and body.

Herpes esthiomenos is an ulcer arising from an abundance of yellow bile that is thicker and more acrid. The name is derived from herpein, that is, "to creep," and esthiein, "to eat" or "to devour." Lucretius expressed the etymology and nature of it in book 6, verse 660:

The sacred fire arises, and creeping burns the body, Whatever part it seizes, and crawls through the limbs.

Section IV. Punishments upon blasphemers and other impious persons.

[18] A writer of Florentine history, and after him authors not to be despised, report A sacrilegious man consumed by the fire of Saint Antonius, that in the times of Gregory XI, Roman Pontiff, in the Italian city of Cesena, this stupendous miracle occurred. For when British troops were present there, and ^a certain one of those Britons had savagely slaughtered some small children upon the altar in ^a certain church during the very sacking of the city, and, drunk with fury, was assailing with blows of his bloody sword the image of Blessed Antonius painted on the wall, immediately ^a fire seizing and devouring his flesh invaded him in ^a horrifying spectacle. And while he was being burned with immense pains, he ran to the sea, and casting himself into the water, was there entirely consumed by fire, bones and all.

[19] Nor is what is known to have happened in our memory at the town of San Donnino, not far from Piacenza, dissimilar. For there ^a certain soldier of the French army paid the penalties of his rashness by ^a like example, another, miserably burned up by the sacred fire, while ^a very great number of the army looked on.

[20] At Rome, in the church of Saint Antonius, one may see ^a painted image of ^a burning man, another perjurer: with this inscription: Marcus of Brescia, ^a soldier, having placed his hand on the altar of Saint Antonius and committed perjury, was seized by the avenging fire of the Divinity and died on the Ides of August in the year 1573.

[21] Fragment of ^a heroic poem by the most illustrious prince Giovanni Francesco Pico, Lord of Mirandola and Count of Concordia, addressed to Saint Antonius:

--- your fame, subject to no death, Through scorched Libya and mighty Asia Passes into Europe. Your glory has flourished and will always flourish, Enclosed by no boundaries, through all the Tracts of the alternating sea, and through the farthest reaches of the world, Passing through heaven and the gods above on happy wings: And the more it is worn by the teeth of far-off age, The more it shines with the splendid flower of youth. And I recall, whenever the profane have begun To violate that fame, that they have suffered no other Greater punishments than those of the avenging smoke and pursuing flame. I shall not speak of the Aloidae, cast down by lightning After the battle of feigned Phlegra, nor of the impious Limbs of great Capaneus, smoking from the three-forked bolt. We have seen scorched limbs, and of blasphemers; and bones hanging At the doorposts of the sacred temple as ^a perpetual example. We have seen ^a whole corpse consumed of its flesh: With which it suddenly burst into flame, when the name of great Antonius was violated, and suddenly drew fires into the deepest veins, As his monstrous tongue uttered insults. So highly did the Creator of heaven and earth Esteem you, and these rewards he assigned for your spurned fame.

[22] In the year 1576, on June 11, while the Duke of Alencon, brother of the King of France, was in the town of Castillon, and the foot-guards were posted in the village called Soulci, about one mile distant from said city, three idle soldiers came upon an image of Blessed Antonius erected in stone before the doors: another French soldier, and after heaping upon it many scandalous acts, mockeries, and taunts, they armed the head of the image with ^a helmet, and its hands with ^a halberd, vomiting forth such words with execrable blasphemies: "You, if you have any power, if you have any might, demonstrate it now against us in this present moment, and defend yourself." Having said this, they attacked the image with their weapons, striking many blows. Not content with this, one of them, having discharged his musket two or three times, began to assail the image; and striking its face between the chin and the lower lip with ^a musket ball, the sacrilegious wretch tore it apart. But not with impunity: for at that very moment the impious man, crying out with ^a great wail and howling horribly, said: "I am burning all over, I am being consumed entirely," and immediately fell dead upon the ground. In his face, at the same place where he had violated the image with the ball, in retribution, the fire that avenges crimes, which filled his entire mouth, burst forth as if through an opening made for it, and shone through, devouring him even after he had already breathed out his wretched soul.

[23] The second man, however, feeling no less the hand of almighty God, also cried out and his companion: that he could not bear the force of the fire, and wishing to escape the internal torments through water, he leaped headlong into the nearest stream: yet he did not escape the presence of God. For immediately he perished, submerged and suffocated by the waters.

[24] Furthermore, the third, seeing the miserable end of his companions, beside himself and utterly lifeless, fell to the ground, and being carried to the nearest house, was burning all over with the most fervent fevers, and indeed so violent that he presented ^a pitiable spectacle of himself to all. The third tortured by fevers. Moved by his misery, his relatives, friends, and especially his Catholic fellow-soldiers fled to the church as to an asylum, and (having sought out ^a priest) offered to God the Father the sacrifice of the mediator with solemn chant before the image of Blessed Antonius, and unanimously rushing forth in crowds, both soldiers and inhabitants of the said place besought God with the greatest devotion of soul for the salvation of their wretched brother, and after the sacrifice and many prayers visited the afflicted man, and after many other prayers had been offered, the Priest sprinkled him with holy water. Immediately that wretched man, restored to himself, acknowledged his crime, called upon the mercy of God, and stretching out his hands toward heaven, with humble and great prayers confessing and accusing his error, he humbly sought the prayers of all, that they might intercede on his behalf before the most merciful God. Nor was divine mercy wanting: afterward he is restored to health. for immediately he was restored to his former health and soundness of mind, and still enjoys it to this day. These things, truly enacted in the sight of more than three thousand persons publicly, teach what reverence we owe to the venerable images of the Saints: for although there is no divinity in them, yet they continually refresh for us the memory of those whom they represent, and they spur most Christians to praise the glorious works of God in his Saints, and to implore their pious patronage. Moreover, any insult inflicted upon them redounds upon the servants of God, indeed upon the common Lord: who, though he may seem to be silent here for ^a time, will nevertheless not always be silent.

[25] In that Geuzen year of 1566, when throughout Belgium iconoclasts were everywhere raging against the venerable images of the Saints, at 's-Hertogenbosch it happened that certain persons cut to pieces the image of Saint Antonius with swords, an axe, and hatchets, so as to destroy it by fire on the public road. But what happened, the impious did not endure with impunity: for immediately they were seized by that plague, Other sacrilegious and blasphemous persons punished at 's-Hertogenbosch: which we Christians have long called that of Saint Antonius (because the pious have often experienced his patronage with God for driving it away), and over the entire body of each of them that pestilential fire bubbled up like grains of pepper: the wretches betook themselves home; their companions, terrified by their affliction, abandoned the pyre in trepidation. The wretches were consumed throughout their entire bodies by so fierce and voracious ^a conflagration that on the next day they breathed out their impious souls and left behind funereal corpses marked with stigmata of various colors, blue, green, and black. This is so well known throughout the entire vicinity that we have not only heard very many persons concordantly depicting the history of this event to the life, adding even the names of both the sacrilegious men and their family members; but we have also seen the testimony of ^a public Notary, neither unworthy of trust nor obscure.

[26] It is established by the public talk of many and by published writings, and there are still living today men most worthy of trust, who have related to us, that at that very time when tumult was raging at Goes in Belgium, and when Count Guillaume of Montigny, brother-in-law of Prince William of Orange, was demolishing the Franciscan monastery near Emmerich, which had once been religiously founded, as is said, by the ancestors of that same Count (of which demolition, continuing successively for several months, I myself saw the final acts), ^a certain man deranged by the new doctrines had come and, after all the statues, images, and altars had already been devastated and overthrown, had found still remaining there ^a statue of Saint Antonius: which he immediately seized with an insolent hand and dashed to the ground, and trampled with his feet, and harassed in every way he could. It happened, however, that ^a certain Catholic woman was standing by, another in Zutphen. who, addressing the man, said: "What has Saint Antonius done to offend you, that you so disgracefully abuse his statue?" He immediately burst into this insolent speech: "What are you chattering to me about Saint Antonius? If he has any force or virtue, let him declare it." And without delay: immediately this blasphemer against the Saint was seized by the sacred fire, which they call that of Saint Antonius, and was scorched over his entire body; and at last, entirely consumed by the sacred fire through God's vengeance, he breathed his last.

ORDER OF SAINT ANTONIUS.

Antonius Magnus, Abbot in the Thebaid (Saint)

From Various Sources.

CHAPTER I.

The origin and insignia of the Order.

[1] The rise and progress of the Antonian monastic community, as Renatus Choppinus terms it in book 1 of the Sacred Polity, title 2, article 8, is neatly narrated by Brother Aymarus Falco, Preceptor of the house of Bar-le-Duc dedicated to Saint Antonius, History of the Antonian Order. in his Antonian History composed in four books, from the archive of the principal Antonian monastery and from various ecclesiastical writers scattered about. Falco pursued this history down to the year 1530 and dedicated it to Antonius de Langeac, the Viennese superior. Let him who wishes more consult it; here it will suffice to have sampled ^a few things. The beginning of the order was occasioned by the illustrious and nearly innumerable miracles, the origins of which Aymarus himself narrates thus, part 2, chapter 33, though not as things known to him with the most certain faith.

[2] Gasto, freed from ^a grave illness by the aid of Saint Antonius: A certain most noble man of the province of Vienne, named Gasto, very distinguished for his piety, while laboring under ^a most grave and perilous infirmity, by which he was deprived of the sensation and function of nearly all his limbs, commended his welfare as earnestly as he could to the nurturing Confessor of God, Blessed Antonius, by most frequent prayers and vows: and for the purpose of fulfilling his vow, he sent his son Girinus, or Girondus, to the body and church of Blessed Antonius himself. And without delay: he obtained the desired health by the divine benefaction.

[3] Not long afterward, Girondus himself contracted ^a disease, by which he was vexed and worn down for ^a very long time, then his son, and as the illness grew worse day by day, he was believed to be on the point of death. Seeing this, Gasto, persuading himself that his endangered son could be helped by no art of physicians, humbly and devoutly took refuge in the divine suffrage of Blessed Antonius. Therefore, contemplating human misery and the calamity of this life, he persuaded his ailing, or rather dying, son that both of them, with all their substance, should perpetually devote themselves to Blessed Antonius, a vow made by both to serve Saint Antonius perpetually: if the sick man should be restored to his former health through his intercession. After this vow was made by them, the sick man began to feel somewhat better.

[4] That very night, therefore, when Gasto had given himself to sleep, he seemed to see in his sleep the most blessed Antonius, addressing him with these words: "What is it, Gasto, that you and your son are so anxious before God for this miserable life, the Saint appearing to the father, which is ceaselessly tossed by innumerable waves and perpetual storms? Why do you not rather seek the stable dwelling of the heavenly fatherland? And for preparing it, make your prayers and vows? But since it has so pleased the Divine goodness, behold, through my intercession, the grace of health has been granted to your son, just as Christ formerly bestowed upon you through me the desired recovery. Be therefore henceforth faithful to the most high Giver of graces: and serve him in fear, and rejoice in him with trembling: embrace discipline, lest the Lord be angry, and you perish from the right way. and accepting the vow, I moreover, accepting the vow made by you, receive you as my own sons. But concerning the goods offered to me by you, I will and command that in this place there be perpetually provided to those wretches who are burned and mutilated by the fiery disease and sacred fire, whom poverty oppresses and the force of disease by Divine judgment causes to waste away, and commanding them to serve the sick: and who, received by no one, lie pitiably in the streets to the horror of onlookers, the comfort of pious assistance and charity: I commend them to your care. For by these works of charity the way to heaven will assuredly be prepared for you."

[5] Having heard these words, Gasto himself was endeavoring to give thanks to the same divine Father in the best ways he could: and, having received encouragement, he promised that he would do what was commanded. But he said he was doubtful, since such ^a great multitude of the sick flowed there, whether his resources would be adequate for so great ^a burden, and whether they could in any way suffice for it. Then the divine Father himself, extending to Gasto ^a staff, and emboldened by the sign of the flowering Potentia, or crozier. which he seemed to carry and which appeared fashioned in the manner and figure of ^a potentia, or of the letter or sign Tau, commanded him to fix it in the ground. When Gasto had done so, the staff seemed immediately to grow and spread into ^a great tree, whose branches, spreading in every direction to ^a great extent, displayed ^a wondrous abundance of flowers and fruits. Under the tree itself, very many poor, sick, and mutilated persons were seen, who were refreshed by the shade and fruit of the tree. Then ^a hand, or right hand, seemed to come forth from heaven, pouring down ^a blessing from above, and extending from on high an infusion of heavenly favor. When the astonished Gasto was gazing at this admirable vision, the blessed old man said to him thus: "Behold, in the root of piety and the foundation of charity you shall, by my favor, plant ^a tree which will spread its branches far and wide: and from its fruit the poor shall be sustained. There is one thing above all that I wish to be cultivated and observed: charity toward the poor of Christ. I most earnestly desire that you be devoted to this care and solicitude, as well as those who shall hereafter be my sons in their place." Having said this, the vision itself vanished.

[6] On the following morning, he who had lain nearly lifeless, not without the greatest wonder of all, appeared beyond hope restored to his former health; and on the next day, on which the feast of the Revelation of Blessed Antonius was celebrated, he entered the church unharmed, to the amazement of all, for the purpose of rendering thanksgivings. Whence that same day was from then on held in greater celebration at the aforesaid place. The aforementioned Gasto and Girondus, moved by that miracle and the divine admonition, immediately dedicated themselves and their possessions to the exercise of works of piety, and following the figure of the staff exhibited by Saint Antonius, Others join them. they adopted, as tradition holds, the sign of the potentia on their garments. To this most holy resolution, not long after, moved by devotion, about eight God-fearing men joined themselves: and for the fulfillment of these same holy works, they concordantly entered into ^a most pious society and brotherhood among themselves. This is also recorded in these verses:

With eight Brothers joined to Gasto's vow, This Order was begun for the work of piety.

[7] He then confirms this from the figure of the ancient seal thus: "No light argument for the origin of this memorable religious order is furnished to us by the type or character of the old seal, which this holy society and brotherhood is found to have used from the very beginning of the same religious order. Seal of the Order. For in it there appears the likeness of ^a secular man, with head bare or uncovered, and wearing ^a short tunic reaching only to the knees, who with his right hand extended seems to receive and hold the sign of the Tau, as if offered to him from above by someone; with the other hand raised on high, as in the likeness of one marveling or being astonished. Then in the same place, from the upper part, as if proceeding from heaven, is seen the figure of ^a hand bestowing ^a blessing. Silvester Maurolycus exhibits the figure of this seal in an illustration in book 1 of the Ocean of Religious Orders, where he narrates the same things from this source."

[8] Aymarus continues, and reports the opinions on the origins of the sign of the Tau: Some think that the true sign of this religious order is the figure of the Greek letter called Tau, Mystical explanation of the Potentia: and they assert that this sign was divinely given to this order: because in the Prophet Ezekiel it is read to have been, and to be, most efficacious. For Ezekiel himself spoke thus in ^a vision: "Pass through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and mark Tau upon the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are done in the midst of it." And he said to the six men who were coming from the way of the gate that looks toward the north: "Pass through the city following him, and strike: let not your eye spare, nor have pity: slay the old man and the young man, and the maiden, the little child, and women, even to utter destruction. Ezekiel 9:4. But upon every man on whom you shall see the sign of Tau, do not kill him, and begin from my sanctuary." O wondrous and terrible vision, and immense unheard-of virtue of this sign Tau! Truly, therefore, the religious order is to be venerated which was divinely distinguished by that sign as its own emblem from the very beginning of its origin.

[9] There are some, however, who think that the above-mentioned Gasto and Girondus, after they had devoted themselves to the duty of piety and the sustenance of the poor, mutilated, and helpless, another. voluntarily adopted for themselves the sign of the Potentia, so that by that very sign they might profess and publicly testify that they wished to be ^a staff and support for the sick, and that they had perpetually devoted and fervently applied themselves to relieving the feeble and mutilated who were scorched by the sacred fire. For the Potentia is ^a staff adapted for supporting the mutilated, or the feeble and the lame: so called in common speech because it sustains the powerless. Therefore this same sign seems by no means unfitting for the same order, which was specially instituted for the sustenance of the sick and those mutilated by the sacred fire. These events took place around the year of Christ 1095, as Baronius reports, When the Order began. volume 11, number 54; Claudius Robertus in the Gallia Christiana; Nicolaus Crusenius part 2 of the Monasticism of Saint Augustine, chapter 18; Antonius Sanderus book 1 on the Illustrious Antonii; and Joannes de Lieuvre in the Antiquities of Vienne, chapter 40; when Guido presided over the metropolis of Vienne, who was afterward called Pope Callistus II.

CHAPTER II.

General Masters. Abbots.

[10] This society was at first ^a kind of secular confraternity for the exercise of acts of Christian charity: but gradually, having risen to ^a higher state, it obtained the custody of the body of Saint Antonius, lived under the Rule of Saint Augustine, and was confirmed by many Roman Pontiffs. After Gasto's death, Masters of the House of Saint Antonius. Stephanus, ^a priest conspicuous for his piety, was elected by the votes of the Brothers as Master or Preceptor of the hospital or alms-house of Saint Antonius. Then, as listed by Claudius Robertus from the Antonian history, there followed Nantolinus, Sofredus, Guilielmus Rufus, Petrus Soffredus, Bruno, Falco, Stephanus, Falco Matthionis, Guilielmus Soffredus, Pontius Ruffus, Jocelinus de Turre, Guilielmus de Pernanco, Guilielmus de Bonis, Guilielmus Daniel or Ruffus, and Stephanus Aymo; who (after the Benedictines had been removed from the monastery of Montmajour, to which the Priory of Saint Antonius had still pertained) was created Abbot there by Boniface VIII on the fifteenth of the Kalends of June in the third year of his pontificate, the year of Christ 1297.

[11] The Constitution of Boniface, or the diploma, is extant in volume 1 of the Bullary, and begins: "In the disposition of the ministers of the Church." We insert here the portion from section 3, because it confirms the Translation of the relics of Saint Antonius and the miracles: "Because we deem the same Priory worthy, or rather obligatory, to be elevated with fitting honors, on account of the reverence for Blessed Antonius himself, whose glorious merits are more clearly known throughout all the Churches established in the breadth of this world, and whose body, as widespread fame has transmitted to posterity, and the innumerable miracles which the Lord continually works there through the same Saint plainly show, United to the Priory of Montmajour, rests in the Priory itself — we have raised the same Priory to an Abbey, on the advice of the aforesaid Brothers and by the same fullness of power, with ^a certain number of Canons or Brothers established therein. And so that every occasion of dissension and rivalry might be cut off from it, we have entirely subjected and united to the Abbey the aforesaid hospital, with all its members in whatever parts of the world they may be situated, and their appurtenances and rights. By Apostolic authority we decree that the place itself, which was previously called ^a Priory, made an abbey, should be and hereafter be called an abbey, and that those who preside over it should always obtain the name and dignity of Abbot, and should govern the abbey itself and the said hospital united to it simultaneously in perpetuity, any constitution or custom to the contrary notwithstanding; and they should no longer be called Masters or Lords, but only Abbots of the monastery of Saint Antonius. To whom all the Brothers of the hospital and of the same members, whom we wish henceforth to be called Canons or Brothers of the monastery of Saint Antonius, should humbly obey and attend in all things: and that in the same monastery of Saint Antonius and the hospital and in the same members, the Rule of Blessed Augustine should be observed, and that according to it the said Abbot and Canons or Brothers should be bound to live in perpetuity. Moreover, both the Abbot and the aforesaid Canons or Brothers should wear the habit with the sign T, which they call the Potentia, in honor of Blessed Antonius himself, always and everywhere, according to the accustomed usage of the Hospital. Likewise, the monastery itself, with the aforesaid hospital and all its members and goods existing everywhere, and the Abbot, Canons or Brothers of the same, both present and future, we have decided to exempt entirely from all jurisdiction, power, Immediately subject to the Pope. subjection, and dominion of any Archbishop, Bishop, and Ordinary whatsoever; decreeing that all these things should be subject immediately to the Roman Pontiff alone."

[12] After Aymo, the Abbots down to our own times have been: Pontius Aleracus, Abbots of that place. Guilielmus Mitte, Petrus Lobetus, Pontius Bernardus, Gerento de Castro-novo, Hugo de Castro-novo, Falco from the noble family of Montcanut in the Dauphine, Arbaudus Grandivallensis, Joannes de Polleyo, Humbertus de Brione, Benedictus de Monteferrando, Joannes Jognetus, Antonius de Brione, Antonius Rupemoranus, Petrus de Area, Theodorus de Sancto Chamundo, Antonius de Langiaco, Ludovicus de Langiaco his brother, Ludovicus de Langiaco nephew of both predecessors, Antonius Tholosanus, and Antonius Brunel de Grandmont. Of these, Theodorus de Sancto Chamundo published the letters of Saint Antonius, concerning which see the Prolegomena to the Life, section 14. He lies buried at Pont-a-Mousson in Lorraine, in the church which now belongs to the Society of Jesus, having died in the year of Christ 1527.

[13] Very many monasteries of the same institute have been erected throughout Gaul: Aquitanian, Monasteries of this Order elsewhere, Celtic, and Belgian, as well as in Italy, Spain, Germany, and other provinces of the Christian world, whose Prefects are called by the proper and particular name of Preceptors. In Belgium only one now survives, at Maastricht. At Rome, Falco and after him Miraeus relate, also at Rome: at the initiative of Aymo, the first Abbot of Vienne, Boniface VIII assigned the basilica of Saint Andrew to the Antonians. But it is established that already long before, ^a hospital dedicated to Saint Antonius existed, from the Life of Saint Francis, chapter 3, where he is said to have been found by the servants of Pope Innocent III near the Lateran in the hospital of Saint Antonius. Pancirolus, however, claims that at that time it was still called Saint Andrew's, and that Saint Bonaventure wrote "hospital of Saint Antonius" because when he was composing the Life of Saint Francis it had already been consecrated to him. Saint Bonaventure died about twenty years before Boniface VIII was elevated to the Pontificate. From this monastery (whenever it may have begun) there is always one member of the order of the most blessed Father Antonius who, following the Roman Curia, collects scraps from the Pope's table as alms for the poor, and serves as the proper parish priest, and as it were the Pastor of all those who are called by the vulgar term Courtiers. So says John Gerson in his sermon on Saint Antonius delivered at the Council of Constance. Concerning the Apostolic privileges of the Antonian order, not ^a few things have been set forth by Oldradus the Jurist in his Responses 211, 293, and 321; by Chassanaeus part 4 of the Catalogue of the Glory of the World, consideration 65; and especially by Renatus Choppinus in the Sacred Polity, and in various places of the books of the Monasticon. Concerning the religious of this Order, John Gerson pronounced admirably in the work cited above: "O happy are they who have merited to be dedicated in the religious and particular service of so great ^a Father."

[14] Miraeus writes in Origins of the Monasteries, book 1, chapter 5, from Aymarus, that James, King of Jerusalem and Sicily, Kings distinguished by the Potentia. as ^a sign of the protection he had assumed and his affection for this order, commanded in the provisions of his will drawn up in the year 1423 his heirs and successors in perpetuity to wear hanging from their neck the symbol of the Antonian Order, that is, the Potentia, or the mark T, of pure gold, together with ^a small bell.

CHAPTER III.

Another Order of Saint Antonius in Egypt and Ethiopia.

[15] Concerning the other Order of Saint Antonius, which he himself instituted and formed, and which Saints Macarius, Amathas, and others propagated, as was said above, there is scarcely anything to add; all ancient records having been either destroyed by barbarian devastation, Monks of Saint Antonius in Egypt, or lying hidden among those wastes, once most sacred, now no less horrible for their very desolation than for the obstinate perversity of the Coptic clergy in defending the Eutychian heresy, combined with the greatest ignorance. Metaphrastes, however, in the Life of Saint John the Almsgiver on January 23, number 6, mentions Anastasius, Prefect of the great mountain of Antonius, who, with Theodore Bishop of Amathus and Gregory Bishop of Rhinocorura, was sent by Saint John to the Persians, to ransom the Christians who had been carried off into captivity after the capture of Jerusalem by Chosroes. This occurred around the year of Christ 614, as we shall say in that place. That the Catholic religion and true piety flourished at that time among the Antonians can be inferred from this close relationship of Anastasius with Saint John and the embassy he undertook. Otherwise, that they had previously been entangled in errors is clear from the Life of Saint Fulgentius on January 1, chapter 12, number 25, to whom, when he said he was going to travel to the farthest desert of the Thebaid region, Eulalius Bishop of Syracuse replied: "The lands to which you desire to go have been separated from the communion of Blessed formerly heretics, Peter by perfidious dissent. All those monks, whose marvelous abstinence is proclaimed, will not share with you the sacraments of the altar." But they were restored, converted, under the most holy Patriarchs Eulogius, John, and others, to the right faith.

[16] The same monks (since in most parts of the world the Christian religion was either first planted or at least stabilized and restored by monks who sought not their own interests but those of Jesus Christ) are believed to have strengthened the faith brought by the Apostles to Upper Ethiopia, which they now call Abyssinia, as it was declining with the passage of time, and to have erected various monasteries in those lands. When, however, both the Egyptians and the Abyssinians relapsed into heresy, relapsed. we nowhere read. For what Ludovicus de Urreta writes in his Ethiopian History, Ludovicus de Urreta criticized. that the Abyssinians were never infected by any heresy, never separated from the Roman Church and the Roman Pontiff, but had most perfectly preserved the Christian faith as they had received it from the Apostles to the present day; and that the monks had never departed from the laws and institutions of the great Antonius, but still flourished in all the works of sincere religion and Christian virtues — this is so ridiculous and absurd that it does not even deserve refutation; although Nicolaus Godignus of our Society has nonetheless amply refuted it, because Urreta also seemed to have cast some insult upon the most holy man Andreas Oviedo the Patriarch, and other most religious priests of our Society, by his ill-considered writing: so that we wonder that some have so rashly followed Urreta.

[17] Indeed, whether the monks who are now found in Abyssinia are descended from the Antonians is by no means certain. For as Alphonsus Mendez, Monks of Abyssinia, heretics. Patriarch of Ethiopia, writes in his letters dated 1626, they acknowledge two founders of their institute: Abbot Eustachius and Thecla Haymanot, that is, "the plant of faith," who are recorded as having lived around the year 1200; although there is ^a tradition that long before, nine monks came from Rome, each of whom built ^a monastery bearing his name in the province of Tigre. Be that as it may, those Abyssinian monks have for eighty years chiefly opposed the efforts of our men, lest Ethiopia either return to communion with the Roman Church or remain in the communion it had attained, as the same Patriarch testifies; although not ^a few of the monks themselves were taught sounder doctrine by him and his companions.