January 17 - St. Antony of Egypt

­­+ The life of St Antony of Egypt (215-256) reminds us a great deal of that of St Francis of Assisi.   Both saintly men were moved by the Gospel imperative “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor.”  This Antony did with his large inheritance. While St Francis stayed in the world working among the poor, St Antony found the snares of evil in the world too much for him and, so he was moved to a solitary life of mortification and prayer – life in the desert – life we might say in the nakedness of nature, the nakedness of purity and absolute trust in God for everything - but great numbers went out to him for spiritual guidance and healing.

And so, when he was 54 he set up a series of cells nearby where his devotees could live this first “monastic” kind of lifestyle – thus making him the true and authentic founder of monasticism.

He was also active in fighting the ills that were a part of church life: especially the Arian heresy.

Antony died in solitude at age 105.

Our first reading today reminds us that if we put on the armor of God – faith in him and trust in his providential care – we can do great things for him. And of course, the gospel is the classic one which inspired a great many saints and not only Antony and Francis: “Go, and sell what you have, and give to the poor – you will then have treasure in heaven – then, come follow me.” It is in this vain that St. Francis resembled his predecessor, by telling them to go and to follow naked, the naked Christ. We are saints if we are trending towards this attitude and lifestyle this very day. We are saints of God in the making! St Antony of Egypt, pray for us!