Life of Antony by Athanasius

Life of Antony by Athanasius

Life of Antony by Athanasius

INTRODUCTION

Athanasius probably¹ wrote the Life of Antony during a period of exile in the desert when he was forced into hiding with the monks in the years following Antony’s death in 356. Athanasius, who had attended the Council of Nicaea as a young deacon in 325 and had been bishop of Alexandria since 328, had already spent two periods of exile in Trier and Rome: in fact he was to spend about seventeen years of his episcopate in exile for he repeatedly fell victim to the hostilities and intrigues of the Arians, against whom he continued to fight in order to uphold the Christian beliefs worked out at Nicaea until his death in 373.

Athanasius’ portrait of Antony depicts the tension in the life of a man who desired solitude above all else but was forced to adopt the role of a spiritual adviser and healer by the people who were drawn to him because of the special status his extraordinary way of life gave him: Antony’s determination to turn to the desert, away from people and from the things of this world, made him all the more attractive to them. Such tension does not however detract from the fact that the Antony we come to know in this biography is a ‘holy hero’,² outstanding in his spiritual achievements but also in his humility and simplicity.

In his preface to the Life of Antony Athanasius indicates that he is responding to a request from ascetics overseas for information about Antony’s life; at the end of the work he also expresses the view that it may be valuable to non-Christians, too, by showing them that Jesus Christ is God and that those beings whom they worship as gods are but demons and deceivers over whom the Christian God has power. But it has been suggested that Athanasius’ portrait of Antony is not so much an accurate picture of the historical Antony but an expression of Athanasius’ thought, based on earlier accounts of Antony, and intended as a ‘tool for achieving political unity’.³ It has also been claimed that the Life of Antony was intended as a piece of anti-Arian propaganda,⁴ like so many other of Athanasius’ works: not only is Antony shown as an ally of the orthodox bishops in the struggle against heresy, but Athanasius insinuates aspects of Nicene theology at every possible opportunity. This may be the case, but it is nevertheless also true that later readers were less concerned with the niceties of Nicene theology than with the spiritual themes which are relevant to all those seeking to draw near to God by means of a life of asceticism.

Whatever the attractions, the Life of Antony certainly appears to have become an immediate bestseller, and to have remained one throughout the Middle Ages.⁵ Translations were soon made and by the end of the fourth century the work had been mentioned by many contemporaries, both in the east and west.⁶

The most famous translation was that made into Latin by Evagrius, which provides the text for the translation in this volume. Evagrius of Antioch (not to be confused with his contemporary, the monk Evagrius of Pontus) came from a high-ranking family and started his career as a government administrator. By 362 he had left his secular career, was ordained and accompanied Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli, back to Italy,⁷ where he spent about ten years. He seems to have been a man of some influence at the time: Jerome praises him for his success in combating Auxentius, the Arian bishop of Milan, who had driven Martin, later bishop of Tours, out of Milan;⁸ Evagrius assisted Damasus ⁹ in becoming pope in 367 after a disputed papal election and successfully intervened with the emperor on behalf of a woman wrongly condemned for adultery.¹⁰ Returning to Antioch in about 373, he was soon visited by Jerome, with whom he had struck up a close friendship while they were both in northern Italy. Jerome stayed with Evagrius at his estate called Maronia, some twenty-five kilometres outside Antioch,¹¹ before going off into the Syrian desert where Evagrius visited him regularly, bringing letters from friends.¹² It is possible that it was at this period that Evagrius undertook the translation of the Life of Antony. Certainly it is likely to have been written before 374 when Innocentius, the friend of Jerome and Evagrius to whom the work is addressed, died.

Meanwhile, Evagrius was forced to take sides in the Meletian dispute which had been rumbling on at Antioch since 360 and which would not be finally resolved until after Evagrius’ death.¹³ As a result of the extreme sensitivity regarding Arian doctrines at this time, it had happened that different factions in the church at Antioch had elected different bishops and neither faction would give way. Gradually the matter became an issue for the whole Church, with the east largely supporting bishop Meletius while the west – and Evagrius – supported bishop Paulinus. When Meletius died in 381 while chairman of the Council of Constantinople, it was hoped that everyone could be induced to support Paulinus, but unfortunately Meletius’ supporters elected a successor, Flavianus. The same occurred in 388 at Paulinus’ death: in fact the dying Paulinus took canon law into his own hands and on his own authority consecrated Evagrius as bishop of the old-Nicene minority which continued to refuse to accept Flavianus: in this way the schism was prolonged even further. We know nothing of what Evagrius achieved during his episcopate. Jerome mentions him as still living in 392,¹⁴ but there is no mention of him later than that date.¹⁵ It may be that he lived on until 398, for one of John Chrysostom’s first acts when he became bishop of Constantinople in that year was to write to the pope at Rome to ensure that Flavianus would now be recognized as the sole bishop of Antioch.

Evagrius’ later fame was to depend on his translation of the Life of Antony, although in fact his whole life was spent in the company of the great men of the fourth century, involved in important events, and he is mentioned in the writings of Libanius, Basil of Caesarea¹⁶ and Ambrose of Milan as well as those of Jerome. Of him Jerome writes, ‘If I were to suppose that I could give an account of all the work he has done on Christ’s behalf, I should indeed be foolish.’¹⁷

The Life of Antony offers a chronological account of the whole of Antony’s life from his infancy until his death. In chapter 3, after making provision for his sister, Antony withdraws to a place not far from his native village, where he leads a life of manual work and prayer, occasionally visiting other ascetics to learn from them. In chapter 8 he moves further afield, choosing to live enclosed in a tomb where he can continue his painful struggles with the devil. Here he stays until the age of thirty-five when he moves on into the desert (chapter 11) and finds a deserted fort (12) which is to be his home for the next twenty years. During this period he rarely leaves the fort and is seen by hardly anyone. It comes as a surprise to all when he comes out of the fort after twenty years of solitude and hardship and is seen to be as youthful and physically fit as before. Chapters 16–43 are devoted to Antony’s speech of spiritual advice, given to those who come to visit him at the fort. Chapter 46 tells of Antony’s visit to Alexandria during the persecutions of Maximin Daia. On returning to the fort he realizes that he can no longer find there the peace he desires. His decision to move to the Upper Thebaid is thwarted by a voice from heaven advising him to move further into the desert (49). In chapter 50 he reaches the Inner Mountain, which will be his home for the rest of his life. Athanasius then relates certain episodes in Antony’s life which provide evidence of his spiritual power and wisdom and of his great fame. Chapters 89–93 tell of the end of his life and the manner of his death, while in the final chapter the author once more addresses the monks at whose prompting the work was written. Antony’s struggles with the devil are principally described in the earlier part of the work, before his long speech, while those miracles which Athanasius mentions occur in the second half, miracles such as the healing of Martinianus’ daughter (48), of Fronto (57) and the girl from Busiris (58). But it is not primarily Antony the wonder-worker whom we see in Athanasius’ biography, unlike for example the Benedict of Gregory’s biography: any miracles that occur are clearly depicted as the work of God. It is instead Antony’s wisdom that is emphasized, together with his prophetic abilities, his calmness and spiritual strength – all of which are dependent on his close relationship with God. These are what set him apart and serve as an inspiration to all.

Evagrius’ prologue to his translation

Evagrius the priest sends greetings in the Lord to Innocentius, his dearest son.

A literal translation made from one language to another conceals the meaning, like rampant grasses which suffocate the crops. As long as the text keeps to the cases and turns of phrase, it is forced to move in an indirect way by means of lengthy circumlocutions, and it finds it hard to give a clear account of something which could be succinctly expressed. I have tried to avoid this in translating, as you requested, the life of the blessed Antony, and I have translated in such a way that nothing should be lacking from the sense although something may be missing from the words. Some people try to capture the syllables and letters, but you must seek the meaning.

Preface

Bishop Athanasius to the monks abroad:

Brothers, you have entered the most noble contest, striving either to equal the monks of Egypt or to outdo them in striving after moral perfection by means of rigorous self-discipline. Indeed, there are already numerous monasteries in your part of the world, the word monk is very familiar, and everyone will rightly be impressed by this intention of yours: may God grant you the fulfilment you desire in your prayers. You asked me to write to you about the life of the blessed Antony, for you wish to know how he started out and what he was like before he made his holy commitment, as well as what the end of his life was like and whether those things are true which rumour has spread abroad concerning him, so that you might be able to undertake to emulate him and follow his example. It is therefore with great joy that I have undertaken what you asked. Indeed, the very act of remembering Antony is of enormous profit and benefit to me and I am sure that you, listening in wonder, will be keen to follow his commitment: for to know who Antony was offers us the perfect path to virtue.

In short, therefore, you should believe everything that those who talk about him claim, and consider that you have heard only the least remarkable of all the very remarkable things he did. For I am convinced that they cannot know everything, since even I, in answer to your request, will be unable to give an account which accurately conveys his merits, however much I reveal in my letter. You, too, must diligently question all those who sail from this country¹ so that by means of their individual reports of what they know, you may obtain a full account which is in keeping with such a great name and worthy of it. After reading your letter, I wanted to invite some monks to come here to me, in particular those who used to visit Antony frequently, so that I might gain more information and thus be able to send you greater gifts. But seeing that the sailing season was coming to an end and the letter-bearer was in a dreadful hurry, I have hastened to note down for you those things I myself know (for I visited him often) and those I learned from the person who spent a good deal of time with him for the purpose of supplying him with water.² In the case of both these sources, I am concerned about the truth: I do not want anyone to hear too many things in case this might make him sceptical of the miracles; on the other hand I do not want anyone to hear anything less than is warranted by Antony’s merits, in case it would make him consider this man unworthy of a miracle despite his great reputation.

Life of Antony

1 (1) Antony, then, came from Egypt, the son of well-born and devout parents. He was brought up so carefully by his family that he knew nothing apart from his parents and his home. While he was still a boy he refused to learn to read and write or to join in the silly games of the other little children; instead he burned with a desire for God and lived a life of simplicity at home, as it says of Jacob in the Bible.³ He also often went with his parents to church but did not fool around as little children tend to nor did he show a lack of respect as young boys often do; instead he concentrated on what was being read and put the useful precepts into practice in his way of life. He was never a nuisance to his family, as children usually are because of their desire for a variety of dainty foods. He did not long for the pleasures of more delicate food: he was content with just what he was given and asked for nothing more.

2 (2) When he and his little sister were left completely on their own after the death of their parents (Antony being then about eighteen or twenty years old), he took good care both of his house and of his sister. But before six months had passed it happened that while he was on his way to church as usual, he came to think of how the apostles had rejected everything to follow the Saviour⁴ and how many people, as it says in the Acts of the Apostles, had sold their possessions and brought the proceeds to lay at the apostles’ feet for distribution to those in need.⁵ What great hope was stored up for these people in heaven!⁶ Turning these things over in his mind, Antony entered the church. It happened that just at that moment the Gospel passage was being read in which the Lord says to the rich man, If you wish to be perfect, go and sell everything you possess and give it to the poor and come, follow me and you will have treasure in heaven.⁷

When he heard this, Antony applied the Lord’s commandment to himself, believing that it was as a result of divine inspiration that he had first remembered that incident and that this passage of Scripture had been read out for his sake. He immediately went home and sold the possessions he owned. He possessed 300 fertile arourae⁸ of the highest quality which he shared out among his neighbours to prevent anyone bearing a grudge against him or his sister. All the rest of his possessions, which were movable goods, he sold, and having made no small profit from them he gave it to the poor, keeping a little for the sake of his sister who seemed more vulnerable on account of her sex and age.

3 (3) On another occasion when Antony had gone to church and heard the Lord saying in the Gospel, Take no thought for the morrow,⁹ he distributed also the rest of his wealth to the poor. He was not content to stay at home but entrusted his sister to some faithful virgins of good repute to be brought up according to their example, while he himself, now released from all worldly ties, eagerly entered upon a harsh and arduous way of life. But monasteries were not yet so numerous in Egypt and there was no one at all who was familiar with the remote desert: anyone who desired to benefit himself in the service of Christ would settle at no great distance from his own village. Now there was on a neighbouring estate an old man who from his earliest youth had led a solitary life. When Antony saw him, he was keen to emulate him in goodness. At first, when he started out, Antony lived in places which were at a relatively short distance from home but later on, if he heard of anyone engaging in this disciplined life, he would go out and search for him like a wise bee. He would not return to his own dwelling until he had set eyes on the one he longed for and then when he had, so to speak, obtained the gift of honey, he would go back home. After beginning in this way, his resolve grew stronger by the day until he reached the point where he no longer thought of his family wealth or of his relations but focused all his longing and attention on what he had undertaken and worked with his hands, for he was aware that it says in the Bible, He who does not work, will not eat¹⁰ The money he earned from his work he gave to the poor, apart from what he needed to buy bread, and he prayed often, for he had learned that one should pray to the Lord without ceasing.¹¹ He also listened attentively to the Scriptures so that nothing should slip from his mind. He preserved all the Lord’s commandments, keeping them safe in his memory rather than in books.

4 He led his life in such a way that he was loved by all the brothers with pure affection. He obeyed all those whom he visited in his eagerness to learn and absorbed their various individual gifts – striving to imitate the self-restraint of one, the cheerfulness of another; emulating the gentleness of one, the nocturnal devotions of another, the assiduousness in reading of another; admiring one who fasted, another who slept on the bare ground and praising the endurance of one and the compassion of another. He kept in mind the love they all showed one another and he would return to his own place refreshed by every aspect of their virtues. There he would think all these things over and strive to imitate the good points of each of them. He was never provoked to anger, not even against those of the same age: the only fire that burned in the heart of that exceptional man was that of his determination to appear second to none in the deeds I have mentioned. And he did this in such a way that although he surpassed all others in glory, he was nevertheless dear to them all. For when his neighbours and those monks whom he often visited saw Antony, they called him God’s friend. To adopt the terms of a natural relationship one might say that some loved him as a son, others as a brother.

5 (4) While Antony was busy with these things which caused everyone to love him, the devil, an enemy of the word Christian, could not bear to see such outstanding virtues in a young man and so he attacked him with his old wiles. First of all he tried to see whether he could drag Antony away from the form of life to which he had committed himself: he made him remember his possessions, his sister’s protection, his family’s high status. He tried to awaken in him a desire for material things or for the fleeting honours of this world, for the pleasures of different kinds of food and all the other attractions which belong to a life of indulgence. Finally he reminded Antony of how difficult it is to attain the goal of virtue and the very hard work involved in achieving it; he also reminded him of the weakness of the body and the length of time needed. In short he created the greatest confusion in Antony’s thoughts, hoping to call him back from his proper intention. But when, as a result of Antony’s prayers to God, the devil realized that he had been driven out by Antony’s faith in Christ’s sufferings, he seized the weapons with which he normally attacks all young people, using seductive dreams to disturb him at night. First he tried to unsettle him at night by means of hostile hordes and terrifying sounds, and then he attacked him by day with weapons that were so obviously his that no one could doubt that it was against the devil that Antony was fighting. For the devil tried to implant dirty thoughts but Antony pushed them away by means of constant prayer. The devil tried to titillate his senses by means of natural carnal desires but Antony defended his whole body by faith, by praying at night and by fasting. At night the devil would turn himself into the attractive form of a beautiful woman, omitting no detail that might provoke lascivious thoughts, but Antony called to mind the fiery punishment of hell and the torment inflicted by worms: in this way he resisted the onslaught of lust. The devil without hesitation set before him the slippery path of youth that leads to disaster but Antony concentrated on the everlasting torments of future judgement and kept his soul’s purity untainted throughout these temptations. All these things served to confound the devil for he who thought that he could become God’s equal was now being tricked by a young man, as if he were the most wretched creature, and he who exulted and boasted against flesh and blood¹² had been beaten by a man who was made of flesh. For the Lord was helping his servant, the Lord who took on flesh for our sake and granted the body victory over the devil so that any individual who became involved in this struggle could cite the words of the Apostle, Not I, but the grace of Christ which is with me.¹³

6 At last that most hideous serpent found he was unable to destroy Antony even by this means and saw that he was always being driven back by Antony’s thoughts. So gnashing his teeth (as it says in the Bible)¹⁴ and wailing, he appeared, as was fitting, in a form that revealed his true nature: an ugly black boy prostrated himself at Antony’s feet, weeping loudly and saying in a human voice, ‘Many have I led astray, many have I deceived, but now I have been defeated by your efforts as I was by other holy people.’ When Antony asked him who it was who was saying this, he replied, ‘I am the friend of fornication. I have used many different kinds of shameful weapon to attack young people and that is why I am called the spirit of fornication. How many of those who were determined to live chastely have I tricked! How many times have I persuaded those who were starting out hesitantly to return to their former foul ways. I am the one who caused the prophet to reproach the fallen, saying, You have been led astray by the spirit of fornication,¹⁵ and in truth it was I who made them fall. I am the one who has often tempted you and always I have been driven away.’ When the soldier of Christ heard this, he gave thanks to God and strengthened by greater confidence in the face of the enemy, he said, ‘You are utterly despicable and contemptible, for both your blackness and your age are signs of weaknesses. You do not worry me any longer. The Lord is my helper and I will exult over my enemies.’¹⁶ And immediately, at the sound of Antony’s singing, the apparition which had been visible vanished.

7 (5) This was Antony’s first victory over the devil or rather the first sign of the Saviour’s power in Antony, the Saviour who had condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law should be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.¹⁷ But this one triumph did not give Antony a sense of security nor did the devil’s powers fail completely, despite being shattered on this occasion. For the devil, like a roaring lion,¹⁸ was on the look-out for some means of pouncing on him. And Antony, knowing from what the Bible says that the wiles of the devil are numerous,¹⁹ maintained his commitment firm by means of skilful effort; reflecting that although Satan had been defeated in the struggles of the flesh, he could mobilize more deadly weapons against him and use new strategies. Consequently Antony subdued his body more and more, for fear that he who had been the winner in some contests should be the loser in others.²⁰ He decided therefore to impose upon himself the constraints of a more rigorous rule of life and even though everyone was amazed at this young man’s untiring dedication, he patiently endured the holy endeavour, because the long-term exertion of voluntary servitude to God would transform habit into nature.

(6) Antony endured hunger and sleeplessness to such a degree that his powers were considered incredible. He very often spent the whole night in prayer and he ate only once a day, after sunset. Sometimes he continued fasting for two or three days at a time and only took refreshment on the fourth day. He ate bread and salt and drank a little water. Regarding meat and wine I think it is better to remain silent than to say anything, since this kind of thing is not found even among the majority of monks. When he allowed his limbs some rest, he would use a woven rush mat with a cover of goats’ hair. Sometimes he would even lie on the bare earth and he utterly rejected the use of oil to anoint the body. For he used to say that it was hardly possible that the bodies of those who used such things, and especially young men’s bodies, should grow strong if they were to be softened by smooth oil. Instead they ought to use rigorous exercises to control the flesh, in accordance with the Apostle’s claim, When I am weak, then I am stronger.²¹ Antony also stated that wearing down the body’s energies in this way could revive a person’s mental powers. That was the reason why he did not measure the value of his tasks by the length of time spent, but with the love and willing servitude characteristic of a novice, he continued to maintain his desire to progress in the fear of God. Wishing new achievements to be added to old ones, he bore in mind the words of the learned man I mentioned earlier who said, Forgetting the past and growing strong in the future.²² He remembered also what the prophet Elijah said: The Lord lives, before whom I stand today,²³ explaining that ‘today’ was added in that passage because Elijah was not reckoning past time but it was as if he was entering battle each day and wished to prove himself to be what he knew was worthy in the sight of God: pure of heart and ready to obey God’s will.

8 (7) Then the holy Antony, considering that a servant of God ought to take as his model the way of life of the great Elijah and to use it as a mirror to organize his own life, moved away to some tombs situated not far from his settlement. He asked one of his friends to bring him food at regular intervals. And when this brother had shut him up in one of the tombs, Antony remained there alone. But the devil was afraid that, as time went on, Antony might cause the desert to become inhabited, so he gathered together his minions and tortured Antony by beating him all over. The intensity of the pain deprived Antony of his ability both to move and to speak, and later he himself would often tell how his injuries had been so serious that they were worse than all the tortures devised by men. But God’s providence, which never fails those who put their hope in Him, saved him. The next day the brother whom I referred to earlier arrived with food as usual. He found Antony lying on the ground half-dead and the door smashed down. He lifted him on to his shoulders and carried him back to his house in the village. When people heard about this, a large number of neighbours and relatives came running and in grief they performed the funeral rites for Antony, who was laid out in their midst. But when half the night had passed, a heavy weariness overwhelmed those who were keeping watch. Then Antony, his spirit gradually returning, drew a deep breath and lifted his head. When he saw that the man who had brought him there was awake while all the others were lying fast asleep, he beckoned to the man and begged him to carry him back, without waking anyone at all, to the place where he had been living.

9 (8) And so he was carried back and again he remained there alone as before. Since he was unable to stand as a result of the recent beatings, he prayed lying down and after praying he would say in a loud voice, ‘Look, here I am, Antony. I do not run away from your fights: even if you arrange more difficult ones, no one will separate me from the love of Christ.’ ²⁴ And he would chant these words: If they place an encampment against me, my heart will not fear.²⁵ On hearing this, the devil, the enemy of the good, was amazed that after so many beatings Antony had dared to return. He gathered his dogs together and tearing himself to pieces in his fury, he said, ‘You see how Antony is overcome neither by the spirit of fornication nor by physical pain, and on top of it all he challenges us insolently. Take up all your weapons; we must attack with greater force. Let him feel, let him feel; he must understand who it is that he is provoking.’ He spoke and all those listening to him agreed with his exhortation, because the devil has countless ways of causing harm. Then there was a sudden noise which caused the place to shake violently: holes appeared in the walls and a horde of different kinds of demons poured out. They took on the shapes of wild animals and snakes and instantly filled the whole place with spectres in the form of lions, bulls, wolves, vipers, serpents, scorpions and even leopards and bears, too. They all made noises according to their individual nature: the lion roared, eager for the kill; the bull bellowed and made menacing movements with his horns; the serpent hissed; the wolves leaped forward to attack; the spotted leopard demonstrated all the different wiles of the one who controlled him.²⁶ The face of each of them bore a savage expression and the sound of their fierce voices was terrifying. Antony, beaten and mauled, experienced even more atrocious pains in his body but he remained unafraid, his mind alert. And though the wounds of his flesh made him groan, he maintained the same attitude and spoke as if mocking his enemies. ‘If you had any power, one of you would be enough for the fight; but since the Lord has robbed you of your strength, you are broken and so you attempt to use large numbers to terrify me, although the fact that you have taken on the shapes of unreasoning beasts is itself proof of your weakness.’ And he went on confidently, ‘If you have any influence, if the Lord has granted you power over me, look, here I am: devour me. But if you cannot, why do you expend so much useless effort? For the sign of the cross and faith in the Lord is for us a wall that no assault of yours can break down.’ They made numerous threats against the holy Antony but gnashed their teeth because none of their attempts were successful – on the contrary they made fools of themselves rather than of him.

10 (9) Jesus did not fail to notice his servant’s struggle but came to protect him. When at last Antony raised his eyes, he saw the roof opening above him and, as the darkness was dispelled, a ray of light poured in on him. As soon as this bright light appeared, all the demons vanished and the pain in Antony’s body suddenly ceased. Furthermore, the building which had been destroyed a moment earlier was restored. Antony immediately understood that the Lord was present. Sighing deeply from the bottom of his heart, he addressed the light that had appeared to him, saying, ‘Where were you, good Jesus? Where were you? Why were you not here from the beginning to heal my wounds?’ And a voice came to him saying, ‘Antony, I was here, but I was waiting to watch your struggle. But now, since you have bravely held your own in this fight, I will always help you and I will make you famous throughout the world.’ When he heard this, Antony stood up and prayed; he felt so greatly strengthened that he realized he had received more strength now than he had had before he lost it. Antony was thirty-five years old at the time.

11 (10) Later, as his willing commitment caused him to grow in spiritual goodness, he went to the old man I mentioned earlier and begged that they should live together in the desert. When the old man refused, giving as his excuse his old age and the novelty of the plan, Antony went forth to the mountain alone, having lost all fear of that way of life, and attempted to open up the path to the desert which had hitherto been unknown to monks. However, not even then did his tireless adversary give up. Determined to obstruct Antony’s commitment to this way of life, the devil threw down a silver plate in his path. When Antony saw it, he recognized the cunning of that ingenious trickster. He stood still, fearless, and looking at the plate grimly, he rebuked the one who was trying to trick him with the illusion of silver, saying to himself, ‘Why is this plate here in the desert? This track is remote and there are no traces of any travellers. If it had fallen out of someone’s luggage, it could hardly have lain unnoticed – it is too large. If the person who lost it came back, he would certainly have found what had fallen out because this place is so empty. This is a product of your cunning, you devil, but you will not hinder my intention. May your silver plate go to hell with you.’ As soon as he said this, the plate disappeared like smoke from the face of the fire.

12 (11) Next Antony noticed, not an illusion as before, but a large lump of real gold lying in his path. It is not clear whether the devil put it there to deceive him or whether the heavenly power revealed it to prove that Antony could not be seduced even by real riches. We are however convinced that what appeared really was gold. Antony marvelled at the size of this piece of shining metal and quickly ran all the way to the mountain, as if he were escaping from a fire. After crossing the river, he found there a deserted fort full of venomous animals (due to the length of time it had lain abandoned and because of its solitary location). There he settled, living as the fort’s new tenant. Immediately on his arrival, a huge number of snakes fled as if they had been chased out. Antony then blocked up the entrance with stones and remained there all alone, storing up enough bread for six months (for it often lasts for a whole year without going mouldy), as is the custom among the Thebans, and with a small supply of water. He never went out and never received any visitors, even to the extent that when he took in his bread supply through the roof twice a year, he held no conversation with those who brought it to him.

13 (12) When many people, in their desire to see him and their eagerness to question him, spent the night outside his door, they heard noisy voices, as of a number of people saying to Antony, ‘Why have you moved into our home? What have you got to do with the desert? Leave other people’s property alone. You cannot live here; you cannot endure our attacks.’ At first those outside thought that some men had entered using ladders and were engaged in a dispute inside, but when they peeped in through the gaps, they saw no one and then they realized that demons were fighting Antony. They were terribly frightened and called to Antony for help. He came to the door to comfort the brothers: he begged them not to be afraid and asked them to go away. He assured them all in their terror that their fear was caused by the demons. ‘Make the sign of the cross,’ he said, ‘and depart without fear. Leave them to mock themselves.’ And so the people went back while Antony remained there unharmed, never tiring in his struggle, for the increase in his commitment and the weakness of his opponents accorded him the greatest relief in his fight and made him steadfast of mind. When there came again to the desert numbers of people who thought they would find him dead already, he sang forth from within, Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered and let those who hate him flee before him. Let them disappear like smoke and as wax melts near the fire, so let the sinners perish before God.²⁷ And he went on, All the nations surrounded me and in the name of the Lord I have taken vengeance on them.²⁸

14 (13) Antony spent twenty years in the desert in this way, remaining cut off from the sight of men. But many came to him in their desire to imitate his commitment to that way of life, together with a large number of those who knew him, and there gathered there a great crowd of people who were suffering. When they had at last managed to tear down the doors by force, Antony appeared to them with an aura of holiness as if he had emerged from some divine sanctuary. They were all stunned at the beauty of his countenance and the dignified bearing of his body which had not grown flabby through lack of exercise; neither had his face grown pale as a result of fasting and fighting with demons. On the contrary, the handsomeness of his limbs remained as before, as if no time had passed. What a great miracle! What purity of mind was his! Never did excessive frivolity cause him to burst out laughing, never did the thought of past sins make him frown, nor did the high praise bestowed on him by his admirers make him conceited. The solitude had in no way made him uncivilized and the daily battles with his enemies had not brutalized him. His mind was calm and he maintained a well-balanced attitude in all situations. Then the grace of God, through Antony, freed many people from unclean spirits and from various illnesses. His speech, seasoned with salt,²⁹ brought comfort to those who grieved, instructed the ignorant, reconciled those who were angry and persuaded everyone that nothing should be valued higher than the love of Christ. He would set before their eyes the great number of future rewards as well as the mercy of God, and he made known the benefits granted because God did not spare His own son but had given Him for the salvation of us all.³⁰ His words had the immediate effect of persuading many of those who heard him to reject human things: this marked the beginning of the desert’s colonization.

15 (14) I will not fail to mention what happened in the region of Arsinoe. For when Antony planned to visit the brothers and it was necessary to cross the river Nile which was full of crocodiles and many dangerous river animals, he and his companions crossed it unharmed and returned safely, too. After that he continued resolutely in his ascetic efforts as before and inspired many of the brothers by his teaching, so that in a short space of time a large number of monastic cells came into existence. With fatherly affection he guided the monks, both old and new, according to their age and circumstances.

16 (15) One day, when the brothers who had gathered there were asking the holy Antony to provide some guidelines for their way of life, he raised his voice with a prophet’s confidence and said³¹ that the Scriptures were sufficient for all teaching of the rule but that it would also be an excellent idea for the brothers to support each other by means of mutual encouragement. ‘And so,’ he said, ‘you should tell me, as if I were your father, what you have learned and I will reveal to you, as if you were my sons, what I have discovered as a result of my great age. But let this be the first rule, shared by all of you, that no one should weaken in the firmness of their commitment to the way of life he has chosen, but should always strive to increase his commitment to this undertaking as if he were just starting out, especially as the span of human life, compared to eternity, is very short.’ After beginning in this way Antony was silent for a while. Marvelling at God’s great generosity, he then added, ‘In this present life, things of equal value are exchanged: the seller does not receive more from the buyer. But the promise of eternal life is bought at a low price for it is written: The days of our life are seventy years or if many, eighty years; whatever remains is hard work and suffering.’³² If we have lived in God’s work for eighty or a hundred years, working hard, we will not reign for the same amount of time in the future; instead, in exchange for the years I mentioned, we shall be granted a reign lasting throughout all ages. It is not earth that we will inherit, but heaven. We shall leave this corrupt body and we shall receive it incorrupt.

17 ‘And so, my sons, do not allow yourselves to grow weary. Do not be seduced by pride in your achievement. For the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory to come that will be revealed to us.³³ No one, once he has rejected the world, should think that he has left behind anything of importance, because the whole earth, compared to the infinity of the heavens, is small and limited. Even if we renounce the whole world, we cannot give anything in exchange which is of similar value to the heavenly dwellings. If each person considers this he will immediately realize that if he abandons a few acres of land or a small house or a moderate sum of gold, he ought not to feel proud of himself in the belief that he has given up a lot. Nor should he become despondent, thinking that he will receive only a little in return. For just as someone considers one bronze drachma of no value in comparison with winning one hundred gold drachmas, so too, anyone who renounces possession of the whole world will receive in heaven a hundred times as much in more valuable rewards. In short, we must realize that even if we want to retain our riches, we will be torn away from them against our will by the law of death, as it says in the book of Ecclesiastes.³⁴ Why then do we not make a virtue of necessity? Why do we not voluntarily abandon what must be destroyed when this light comes to an end, so that we might gain the kingdom of heaven? Let Christians care for nothing that they cannot take away with them. We ought rather to seek after that which will lead us to heaven, namely wisdom, chastity, justice, virtue, an ever watchful mind, care of the poor, firm faith in Christ, a mind that can control anger, hospitality. Striving after these things, we shall prepare for ourselves a dwelling in the land of the peaceful, as it says in the Gospel.³⁵

18 ‘Let us bear in mind the fact that we are servants of the Lord and that we owe a service to Him who created us. For a servant does not reject present or future authority on account of past service and does not dare to claim that because of his past work he ought to be released from the task in hand; instead, he continues to perform the same service with unbroken commitment (as it says in the Gospel)³⁶ so as to please his master and so that his wages will not be fear and beatings. In the same way it is right for us to obey the divine commandments, knowing that He who is a just judge will judge each person where He finds him, as testified by the words of the prophet Ezechiel.³⁷ For even the wretched Judas, on account of one night’s wickedness, lost out on the rewards for all his past achievement.

19 ‘We must therefore maintain an unwavering firmness of commitment to this way of life with God as our helper, for it is written, God works for good with everyone who chooses the good.³⁸ In order to stamp on idleness, let us reflect upon the Apostle’s words when he claims that he dies each day.³⁹ Similarly, if we bear in mind the unpredictability of our human condition, we will not sin. For when we wake from sleep, we must be doubtful as to whether we will reach evening and when we lie down to rest, we should not be confident that daylight will return. We should everywhere be mindful of the uncertainty of our nature and our life and understand that we are governed by God’s providence. Not only will we not go astray nor be swept away by some flimsy desire, but neither will we be angry with anyone nor strive to accumulate earthly treasures. Instead, fearing death each day and always thinking of our separation from the body, we will trample upon all that is transitory. The desire for women will disappear, the fire of lust will be extinguished and we will pay our debts to each other, always holding before our eyes the coming of the final retribution. For a powerful fear of judgement and a terrible dread of punishment destroy the incentives of the lustful flesh and support the soul as it slips off the cliff edge, so to speak.

20 ‘I pray then that we should use every effort to press on towards this life’s goal. Let no one look behind him like Lot’s wife,⁴⁰ especially since the Lord has said that no one who puts his hand upon the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of heaven.⁴¹ To look back means to have second thoughts about your undertaking and to become entangled once more in worldly desires. I beg you not to fear the word “virtue” as if it were something unattainable. Do not think that such an endeavour which is dependent on our will is alien to you or something remote. Man has a natural inclination to this kind of effort and it is something that only awaits our willingness. Let the Greeks pursue their studies across the seas and go in search of teachers of useless literature in foreign lands. We however feel no compulsion to travel or cross the waves for the kingdom of heaven is to be found everywhere on earth: that is why the Lord says in the Gospel, The kingdom of God is within you.⁴² The virtue that is within us only requires the human will. For who can doubt that the natural purity of the soul, were it not tainted by filth from outside, would be the fount and source of all virtues? A good creator must necessarily have made the soul good. But if perhaps we hesitate, let us listen to the words of Joshua, the son of Nun, who said, Set your heart straight toward the Lord God of Israel.⁴³ And John expresses a similar idea about virtue when he says, Make straight your paths.⁴⁴ For to have a straight soul means that its original soundness is not stained by the blemish of any vices. If it changes its nature, then it is said to have gone astray, but if it preserves its good nature, then that is virtue. The Lord has entrusted our soul to us: let us keep what has been entrusted in the same state as we received it. No one can put forward as an excuse that what is born in him is external to him. Let Him who made us recognize His own creation, and let Him find His own work as He created it. Our natural adornment is enough for us: you who are human must not disfigure what divine generosity has granted you. To wish to alter the works of God is to desecrate them.

21 ‘We ought to be careful to ensure that we control the tyrannical passion of anger, since it says in the Bible, The anger of man does not work the righteousness of God,⁴⁵ and also, Covetous desire gives birth to sin and when sin is full grown it brings forth death.⁴⁶ The divine voice has recommended that we should protect our soul with unceasing vigilance⁴⁷ and lead it towards perfection with all care and effort because we have enemies who are trained to trip us up – I mean the demons whom we must fight without a truce, according to the testimony of the Apostle who says, We are not contending against flesh and blood but against the principalities and the powers of this world, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.⁴⁸ Huge numbers of them are flying through the air here; at no distance from us the enemy troops are rushing to and fro. I am not able to describe their diversity so I shall leave this task to those who are more competent than me. But I shall give a brief account, to the best of my ability, of what one needs to be aware of, namely the tricks the demons have devised against us.

22 ‘First of all we should hold firm in our minds the fact that God has made nothing that is evil and that the demons did not derive their origin from any arrangement on His part: their perversity is a fault not of nature but of the will. In fact they were good in that they were created by God, but they fell to earth from heaven by their own will. Wallowing there in the filthy mire, they introduced the wicked worship of paganism; now they are tortured by envy of us and never cease to devise every possible evil scheme to prevent us taking over the top positions they once held. But their wickedness is of various kinds and is shared out among them.⁴⁹ Some of them have reached the topmost summit of destructiveness while others seem less harmful in comparison with those who are more wicked. They have all undertaken different struggles against different causes according to the strength of their demonic powers. That is why it is necessary to ask the Lord to grant the ability to distinguish between spirits⁵⁰ so that we may see through their tricks and their efforts and raise the single banner of the Lord’s cross in confronting the unequal battle. Paul showed that he had been granted this ability when he said, For we are not ignorant of his designs.⁵¹ Following his example we too should use our own experiences to instruct each other in conversation.

23 ‘The demons are hostile to all Christians, but they especially hate those who are monks and virgins of Christ. They set traps along their paths and strive to undermine their commitment by means of irreverent and obscene thoughts, but let them not strike terror into you. For the prayers and fasting of those who have faith in the Lord cause the demons to collapse immediately, but even if they are driven back a little way, do not think that you have gained complete victory. For they have a tendency, when wounded, to rise up with even greater violence and to change their method of attack: when they have no success with dirty thoughts, they use fears to terrify, transforming themselves into women one moment, wild animals the next moment and then serpents as well as huge bodies with a head reaching to the roof of the house, and finally turning into troops of soldiers and an infinite number of different shapes. All these vanish as soon as the sign of the cross is made. When these means of deception have also been recognized, the demons begin to prophesy and to try to predict future events, but when they have been thwarted in these efforts, too, they summon the leader of their wickedness, the culmination of all evil, to assist them in their fight.’

24 (16) Antony often claimed that he had seen the devil looking as he did when the Lord revealed him to blessed Job. His eyes look like the morning star and from his mouth issue forth lamps of incense. His hair is sprinkled with flames and from his nostrils comes forth smoke, like a coal from the heat of a burning oven. His breath is like a glowing coal and a flame leaps forth from his mouth.⁵² ‘It was in terrifying manifestations of this kind that the prince of demons appeared,’ Antony explained, ‘often making great claims, as I said, and raging with his boastful and godless tongue. But the Lord triumphed over him, saying to Job, He counts iron as straw and bronze as rotten wood,⁵³ the seas as land and the depths of hell as captive and the abyss as a gallery for walking. Through the prophet the devil boasts, saying, I will pursue and overtake⁵⁴ and I will hold the whole world in my hand like a nest and I shall take them away like eggs that have been abandoned.⁵⁵ In this way the wicked one, by pouring forth deadly words, frequently ensnares some of those who live a good life, but we must not believe his promises or fear his threats for he always deceives and none of his promises are true. For if everything he says were not a lie, how is it that when he made such infinitely extravagant promises the Lord hooked him like a serpent using the hook of the cross and he was bound with a halter like a beast of burden, and tied up in chains like a runaway slave, his lips pierced by an iron ring,⁵⁶ and he was not given the chance to devour any of the faithful at all? Now he is as miserable as a sparrow caught by Christ in the net to be mocked at; now he groans for his companions who have been trodden beneath the Christians’ heel like scorpions and serpents.⁵⁷ He who took pride in the fact that he had destroyed all the seas, he who promised that he would hold the world in his hand, look at him! You have conquered him and look how he is unable to prevent me arguing with him. My dear sons, proud boastfulness must be completely rejected together with empty words. That brightness which pretends to shine is not the brightness of genuine light but is a sign of the flames with which he is to burn, for it disappears more swiftly than it can be told, taking with it the image of its own punishment.

25 ‘Often the demons sing the psalms while remaining invisible, shocking as it is to tell. In addition they recite the sacred words of Scripture with a foul mouth, for often when we are reading, they repeat the last words like an echo. They also awaken to prayer those who are asleep, so as to deprive them of sleep for the whole night. They disguise themselves as genuine monks and put pressure on many of the monks, accusing them of their former sins in which the demons themselves were their accomplices. But you must reject their accusations as well as their advice to fast and their suggestion that you should stay awake, for they are deceiving you. They assume shapes familiar to us so that they may harm us through their resemblance to virtue: they think they can more easily inject their poison and destroy innocent people by means of seemingly admirable behaviour. Finally, they claim that the monk’s task is impossibly hard, hoping that the monks might come to regard what they have undertaken as too onerous and that despair might then lead to loss of enthusiasm and loss of enthusiasm to failure of effort.

26 ‘And so the Lord sent the prophet to denounce these wretched creatures: in a powerful voice he said, Woe to him who gives his neighbour a troubled drink.⁵⁸ By making suggestions of this kind the demons seduce people from the path which leads to heaven. And so, when the Lord came to earth and the demons spoke the truth about him against their will (for they said truly, You are the Christ, the son of the living God,⁵⁹) He who freed the men who were tongue-tied shut their noisy mouths to prevent the demons mixing in the poison of error with their announcement of the truth. The Lord also wanted us to follow Christ’s example and to refuse to assent to the demons in any way, even if they persuade us of something that might be beneficial. For it is certainly not right for us, now that the Lord has granted freedom and the life-giving statements contained in the Scriptures, to accept advice on how to live from the devil who deserted his own post and feared Christ’s holy authority. And so the Lord ordered the devil to be quiet even when he was quoting from Scripture because God says to the sinner, Why do you declare my statutes and take up my covenant on your lips?⁶⁰ The demons make all kinds of pretence: often they chat with the brothers, often a host of them produce strange noises, they grab the monks’ hands, they hiss and cackle inanely, so that they might enter the Christian’s heart at the moment of sin. But when they are driven back by everyone, their wailing at last proves their weakness.

27 ‘And indeed the Lord, in that He is God and conscious of His own authority, ordered them to fall silent. We, however, should follow closely in the footsteps of the saints and walk the same path as those who saw more clearly the tricks I have mentioned and used to sing, When the sinner confronted me, I fell silent and was humiliated and refrained from saying good things and Like a deaf man I did not hear and like the dumb who opens not his mouth. And I was made like a man who does not hear.⁶¹ Christ commanded silence because he is the Lord; we must overcome the devil by not believing in him. If they force us to pray, if they persuade us to fast, we should do this not at their suggestion but because it is part of our way of life. Finally, even if they attack us and appear to threaten death, they ought to be laughed at rather than feared for they are weak and cannot carry out all their threats.

28 ‘I am aware that I have already spoken in passing about these matters, but now I must explain all this more fully because repetition brings greater security. When the Lord came, the enemy was destroyed and all his power was undermined. For this reason, when the devil sees that he has collapsed and remembers his former strength, like a tyrant who is now growing old, he attacks human wickedness. However, even when he uses thoughts and other tricks he still cannot overturn a heart that stands firm for God. For it is clearer than day that since our adversaries are not clothed in human flesh they cannot give as an excuse for their inability to overcome us that they are unable to enter because we have closed the door against them. If they had been connected to this fragile body, when the entrance was blocked, access would have been denied to them. But although, as we said, they are free from this burden and are able to penetrate what has been blocked up and to fly all through the air without hindrance, it is obvious that because of their weakness the body of the Church remains unharmed. Finally, the evil thugs together with their leader, the devil, whom the Saviour in the Gospel confirms to have been from the beginning a murderer and the father of lies,⁶² would never have been beaten despite our brave fight against them if their power had not been taken away. If I am lying, why do you spare us, Satan, you who rush around everywhere? Why are you, who are not imprisoned anywhere, unable to undermine the steadfastness of those who lead a life of virtue and who fight against you? But perhaps you love us, we whom you attempt each day to destroy? Is it credible that you are the master of goodness and that you help rather than harm those who are very good? And what can be so dear to you as to cause hurt, particularly to those who fight bravely against your evil deeds, as it says in the Bible: For devotion to God is an abomination to the sinner.⁶³ Who possesses a heart so prone to cunning? Who tries to carry out such practised wiles? We know that you are the most foul corpse; we know that we live as Christians and are safe when we clash with you because the Lord has deprived you of your strength. That is why you are pierced by your own darts because your threats have no effect. But if we are deceived, why do you attack our faith with terrifying phantoms and enormous shapes? If possibility were connected to willingness, the will alone would be enough for you. For it is a characteristic of power not to need outside assistance to deceive but to accomplish what it desires by means of its own strength. But now when you attempt to deceive, using changes of shape as in a theatre (as if you were trying to deceive naïve children by means of illusions on the stage), you prove more clearly that your strength is exhausted. Surely that true angel, sent by the Lord against the Assyrians, did not need the alliance of the peoples?⁶⁴ Surely he did not require noises or applause? Did he not rather wield his power in silence when he laid low one hundred and eighty five thousand of the enemy, more swiftly than it can be related, at the Lord’s command? But as for you, because your strength is weak, everlasting destruction attends you.

29 (17) ‘But someone may say, “Why did the devil go forth and destroy the whole house of the blessed Job? Why did he utterly destroy Job’s belongings and knock down his walls to their very foundations and build one tomb for his numerous children? Why did he finally afflict Job with a strange and dreadful sore?” Anyone who makes such an objection must listen to the other side of the argument: it was not the devil who was able to do this, but the Lord, He who grants power against us twice over, either for our glory, if He approves of us or for our punishment, if we do wrong. In fact, anyone who objects ought to understand from this that the devil could have done nothing, not even against one man, if he had not received his power from the Lord, for no one begs someone else for something which is in his own power. But why do I mention Job whom the devil was unable to overcome even when he had got hold of him? Not even against Job’s cattle nor against his sheep did he exercise his own strength without God’s permission. Thus it is written in the Gospel, The demons asked him, saying, If you cast us out from here, send us into the herd of pigs.⁶⁵ How could those who seek the death of pigs be able by their own authority to overthrow man made in the image of God and a creature so dear to the Creator?

30 ‘My dearest friends, a pure life and fearless faith in God are powerful weapons against the demons. Believe me, for I have experience of this. Satan is terrified by the nocturnal devotions, the prayers, fasting, gentleness of those who live rightly; by their voluntary poverty, their contempt for vainglory, their humility, their compassion, their control over anger, and particularly by their pure love of Christ. That most foul serpent knows that it is at God’s command that he lies beneath the footsteps of the just, for the Lord said, Behold, I have given you authority to trample upon serpents and scorpions and upon all the power of the enemy.⁶⁶

31 ‘But if they pretend that they have the gift of divination, too, and predict the arrival of some of the brothers, and if those whom they predicted would come do indeed arrive, even then you must not trust them for they are liars. That is why they anticipated those who were on their way, so that you might believe them when they made their announcement and then they could gain admittance to you when you were taken in by their deception. A Christian should definitely not think there is anything miraculous in this, since it is not only those who due to their insubstantial nature pass through everything that are able to arrive before those who are on their way: men who travel ahead with the speed of horses can also announce that others will soon arrive. They are not referring to things which have not yet begun to happen, (for God alone has knowledge of future events), but when they see the beginning of some action, they run like thieves and claim knowledge of it among those who are ignorant of it. For how many do you think there are now who could, if they were to run as fast as a boy, reveal to people far away our meeting here and our conversation directed against them, before anyone who is here has reported it? Let me use some examples to clarify what I mean. If someone sets out from the The baid or from a town in any other region and the demons see him walking on his journey, using that swiftness I mentioned, they are able to predict his arrival.

32 ‘It is the same with the annual flooding of the Nile: when they see plenty of rain in Ethiopia, which usually causes the river to become swollen and to burst its banks, they run on ahead to Egypt and announce that the river is on its way. But men, too, could easily predict this if they were able to run as fast. The blessed David’s scout went up to the top of a hill and was able to see those who were coming before the people down on the plain saw them, and announced not some doubtful future events but something concerning people who were already on their way. In the same way the demons keep a close eye on everything and then rush to report them to one another. But if it were to happen that in accordance with God’s will something that has been begun does not reach its conclusion, in other words, if a traveller turns back half-way along his journey or if the moisture hanging in the clouds is carried up to the height of heaven, then the error both of those who deceived and of those who were taken in becomes apparent.

33 ‘This was how paganism started: by means of these prophets’ tricks, the oracles spoken by the demons at the shrines used once to be believed. But at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ they were silenced and became speechless and lost those they held captive. Who, I ask, thinks that a doctor has divine foreknowledge, when from his study of illnesses he gauges the fevers of a raging soul by means of light pressure of his fingers on the veins’ pulse? Who would venerate with supreme honour a helmsman who uses the stars of heaven to find a way on his sea voyage? Who would not praise a farmer for his experience rather than sanctify him as a god if he makes predictions about the dry heat in summer or the amount of rain or the cold in winter? But if we admit for a moment that the demons do predict true things, tell me, what advantage is there in knowing what is to come? Surely no one ever wins praise for knowing these things or is punished for not knowing them? The question of whether each individual prepares for himself either torments or glory depends solely on whether he disregards the rules of Scripture or carries them out. None of us chose this way of life so as to have foreknowledge of the future but so that, obeying the Lord’s commands, he might begin to be His friend rather than His servant.⁶⁷

34 ‘We must not worry about knowing what is to come but about carrying out what we have been told to do, nor should we demand this as a reward for the ascetic life, for we ought instead to ask the Lord our helper for victory against the devil. But if it happens that anyone would like to acquire this skill, let him have a pure heart which will enable him to know the future, for I believe that the soul that serves God, if it continues steadfast in its original purity, can know more than the demons. Such was the soul of Elisha who witnessed powers unknown to others.

35 (18) ‘Now I will reveal to you other means of deception practised by the demons. They often come at night, pretending to be angels of God and praising the monks’ dedication, admiring their perseverance and promising future rewards. When you see them, protect yourselves and your dwellings with the sign of the cross and immediately they will dissolve into nothing for they fear that sign of victory by which the Saviour, depriving them of their powers of the air, has shown them up. They also often leap around, twisting their limbs in various contortions and impudently present themselves to us so as to fill our minds with terror and make our bodies shudder in horror. But in this case, too, a firm faith in God will put them to flight as if they were merely feeble jokes. It is not difficult, with God’s help, to distinguish between good and bad spirits. The holy angels are friendly and calm in appearance because they do not fight nor will they cry out nor will anyone hear their voice:⁶⁸ in fact they hurry on silently and smoothly, instilling joy, exultation and confidence in men’s hearts, seeing that the Lord is with them, He who is the source and origin of happiness. Then our mind is no longer disturbed but becomes gentle and calm, illuminated by the angels’ light; then the soul, aflame with desire for heavenly rewards, breaks out, if it is able, from its dwelling in the human body. Released from the burden of mortal limbs, it hastens towards heaven together with those whom it sees departing. Their kindness is so great that if anyone, due to human weakness, was terrified by their startling brightness, they would immediately dispel all fear from his heart. This was the case with Gabriel when he spoke to Zacharias in the temple,⁶⁹ as with the angels when they announced to the shepherds that the Virgin had given birth to God⁷⁰ and with those who kept watch over the Lord’s body:⁷¹ when these angels revealed themselves to the untroubled minds of those who saw them, they told them that they should not be afraid. For fear is not so much a product of mental terror: it is often caused by the sight of mighty beings.

36 ‘The ferocious expressions of these most wicked creatures, their terrifying sounds and vile thoughts, like the uproar and disturbances caused by lawless young men or robbers, immediately strike fear into the soul and numb the senses, producing hatred in Christians, depression and lethargy in monks, nostalgia for family, fear of death, desire for sin, lack of enthusiasm for virtue, dullness of the heart. If then the horror and trembling are replaced by joy and confidence in God and ineffable love, we know that help has arrived because calmness of the soul is proof of the presence of the holy power. For thus did the patriarch Abraham rejoice when he saw God⁷² and when John sensed that Mary had arrived (she who bore the progenitor of the universe in the guest-room of her holy womb⁷³), he leapt for joy even before he was born.⁷⁴

37 ‘But if the fear remains, it is the enemy who has appeared, since he does not know how to comfort as Gabriel did when he told the trembling Virgin not to fear and as the angels brought comfort to the shepherds. In fact he increases fear and drives people right down into the deep pit of impiety to make them bow down before him. That is why the miserable pagans, unaware of the Lord’s prohibition, mistakenly believed that the demons were gods. But the Lord did not allow the Christian peoples to be ensnared in these deceptions, He who boldly repelled the devil in the Gospel when the devil claimed dominion over everything. The Lord said to him, Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, You will worship the Lord your God and him alone will you serve?⁷⁵ The power conveyed by these words has been granted to us, too, for the Lord spoke like this so that apparent temptations should be shattered by the words of our maker.

38 (19) ‘I also advise you, my dearest friends, to be more concerned about your way of life than about miracles. If any of you performs miracles he must neither swell with pride nor look down on those who cannot manage it. Consider rather each individual’s behaviour: in this life it is proper for you to imitate what is perfect and to supply what is lacking. It is not for our humble selves to perform miracles but for the power of the Lord, who in the Gospel said to the disciples when they were boasting, Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you but rather that your names are written in heaven.⁷⁶ For the writing of names in the book of life is a testimony to virtue and merit, but the expulsion of Satan is a gift from the Saviour. That is why to those who take pride in prophetic signs rather than in the austerities of this life, and who say, Did we not cast out demons in your name and in your name did many wonderful works? the Lord will reply, Amen, I say to you, I do not know you; go from me, you who work iniquity.⁷⁷ For the Lord knows not the ways of the ungodly.⁷⁸ Let us therefore beg to deserve to receive the gift of distinguishing between spirits so that, in the words of Scripture, we may not trust every spirit.⁷⁹

39 (20) ‘I had wished to finish talking now and to be silent regarding things that have happened to my humble self. But in case you should think that I have wasted my time in mentioning things which could not possibly happen, I will tell you a few of the many things that have happened. Even if I am made to look foolish, yet the Lord who sees deep into my mind, knows that I am doing this not out of a desire to boast but for the sake of your progress. How many times have the demons tried to make me proud by praising me excessively although they received from me curses in the Lord’s name! How often have they predicted the flooding of the river Nile although I said to them, “What has this got to do with you?” How many times did they threaten me like armed soldiers and surround me with scorpions, horses, huge beasts, and different kinds of snakes which filled the house where I was living! But I countered by singing, Some are proud of their chariots and some of their horses but we take pride in the name of the Lord our God⁸⁰ and at once Christ’s compassion put them to flight. On one occasion they appeared with a great light and said, “Antony, we have come to bestow our brightness on you,” but I closed my eyes because I refused to look upon the devil’s light; I prayed, and before you could relate what happened, the light of those wicked creatures had gone out. A few months later, when they were singing in front of me and quoting to each other from the Scriptures, I pretended I was deaf and did not listen. Sometimes they shook my cell but I prayed to the Lord, my mind unmoved. Often they made loud noises, often they pranced around me and often they produced hissing sounds but I sang the psalms and then their sounds were turned to wailing.

40 ‘Do you believe, my sons, what I am telling you? Once I saw the devil standing very tall. He dared to claim that he was the power and providence of God and he said to me, “What do you want me to give you, Antony?” But I spat hard in his face and attacked him, protecting my whole self against him with the name of Christ: at once this tall figure of his disappeared just as I was about to get hold of him. While I was fasting he appeared to me as a monk and offered me bread, trying to persuade me in the following words to eat and to indulge this poor body of mine a little, “You, too, are human,” he said, “and limited by human weakness. Cease your efforts for a while, otherwise illness may snatch you away.” At once I recognized that serpent’s ghastly face, and when I sought refuge as usual in the protection of Christ, he vanished like smoke wafting through an open window. In the desert he frequently tried to trap me with gold or to defile me by making me touch it. While I was being thrashed (for I admit that I was also often beaten by the demons), I would chant words such as these, No one will separate me from the love of Christ.⁸¹ When they heard this, the demons turned on one another in their rage and were put to flight not at my command but at the Lord’s, who said, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven⁸² And so, my children, mindful of the words of St Paul, I have applied all these things to myself⁸³ so that neither fear of demons nor any weariness might weaken your commitment to this way of life.

41 ‘But since I have made myself look foolish by recalling many things for your benefit, I also want to tell you something I experienced, and no one who hears this can doubt that it is true. Once a demon knocked on the door of my cell. When I went out I saw a man of enormous height. I asked him who he was and he replied, “I am Satan.” I asked him, “What do you want here?” and he answered, “Why do the monks make false accusations against me? Why do all the Christian people curse me?” And I said, “They are right to accuse you for they are often upset by your cunning tricks.” But he answered, “I do not do anything – it is they who cause each other trouble. Rather, I am to be pitied. I ask you, have you not read, The enemy’s swords are broken for ever and you have destroyed their cities?⁸⁴ Look, I have no place to be now; I possess no city; I have no weapons now. Throughout every nation and all the provinces the name of Christ rings out and even the desert is crammed full with monks. I beg you, let them look after themselves and let them not abuse me without cause.” Then I marvelled and rejoiced at God’s grace and addressed the demon in these words, “I cannot attribute such a strange and unheard of idea to your truth which is non-existent. For although you are the master of deceit, you have been forced to admit this without lying. Truly Jesus has utterly destroyed your powers: stripped of your honours as an angel, you lie rolling in the mud.” I had hardly finished speaking when his tall figure collapsed at the mention of the Saviour’s name.

42 ‘What room for hesitation can now remain, my children? What fear can there be any longer? What whirlwind of theirs could snatch us away? The soul of each individual should now feel secure; let not idle thoughts imagine non-existent dangers. No one should fear that he could be carried off by the devil and dropped down a steep cliff. May all anxiety be dispelled, for the Lord, who has destroyed our enemies, remains in us as He promised⁸⁵ and has protected us from all Satan’s various attacks. Look how the devil himself, who tries with his henchman to practise deceit of this kind, admits that he can do nothing against Christians. Now Christians and monks ought to be concerned in case their idleness give the demons power, for the way they present themselves to us usually depends on the state in which they find us and our thoughts, and if they find in our hearts some seed of dissatisfaction and fear, like thieves who take over abandoned places, they pile up more fears and punish the unfortunate soul by making cruel threats. But if we are eager in the Lord and are inspired by a desire for future rewards, if we always entrust everything to God’s hands, not a single demon will be able to come close to try and take us by storm; instead, when they see that our hearts are fortified in Christ, they turn back in confusion. Thus the devil ran away from Job who was strengthened in the Lord but he robbed the most unfortunate Judas of his faith and shackled him with the chains of captivity. There is, then, only one means of overcoming the enemy – spiritual joy and the constantrecollection of a soul that is always thinking of the Lord. The soul that drives out the demons’ tricks like smoke will attack its adversaries instead of fearing them. For Satan is well aware of the fires to come and knows of the huge conflagration burning in hell.

43 ‘But to bring my speech to a conclusion I will just mention one final thing. When a vision appears to you, demand boldly of it who it is and where it comes from; if it is a holy apparition, the angel’s comfort will immediately turn your fear into joy. But if it is really a temptation offered by the devil, it will vanish when the faithful soul interrogates him, because to ask who he is and where he is from offers the best guarantee of safety. In this way the son of Nun recognized the one who was helping him by questioning him,⁸⁶ and the enemy, when he was questioned, was unable to hide from Daniel.’ ⁸⁷

44 When Antony had finished speaking, everyone was in a joyful mood: in some a desire for virtue flared up, in others their flagging faith revived; false opinions were driven from the minds of some while from others the groundless fears besieging them were driven out. At the same time, now that they felt contempt for the demons’ insidious attacks, they all marvelled at Antony’s great gift of distinguishing between spirits, granted to him by the Lord. (21) And so there were on the mountain monastic cells like tents, filled with divine choirs of people singing psalms, reading and praying. Antony’s speech had inspired them all with such an eagerness to fast and to stay awake to pray that in their desire for the future fulfilment of their hope, they devoted themselves unremittingly to showing mutual love and compassion to those in need. They appeared to inhabit an infinitely large area, a town removed from worldly matters, full of piety and justice. Anyone who set eyes on that multitude of ascetics, anyone who saw that heroic and harmonious community where no one caused any harm, where there was no slander from tale-bearers, but a crowd of people leading lives of restraint, competing with each other in the performance of their duties, would immediately burst out with these words, How beautiful are your dwellings, Jacob! Your tents, O Israel, are like shady groves, like a garden by the river, like tents that have been pitched by the Lord, like cedars growing beside the waters.⁸⁸

45 (22) While these things were happening, causing the monks’ commitment to a life of blessedness to increase each day, Antony was remembering the mansions set in heaven.⁸⁹ He rejected the pointlessness of the present life as if what he had already achieved was of little value and established himself at a distance from the other brothers. When his human condition forced him to allow his poor body some food or sleep or any other necessities of nature, he was overcome by an extraordinary sense of shame because the physical limitations of his poor body restricted his spiritual freedom. For it often happened that while sitting with the brothers, he would think of his spiritual food and withdraw from the meal set before him. Being human, however, he would eat, sometimes by himself, sometimes with the brothers. And while he acted in this strange way, as I said before, he would persuade them with some embarrassment that great care must be shown, for the body must not be completely starved nor should it be overfed in case it should lose its ability to work, contrary to the Creator’s will. For that reason every care must be taken to prevent the soul succumbing to bodily vices and being pushed into hell’s everlasting darkness; instead the soul should claim the authority granted to it in the flesh and raise its dwelling up to the third heaven, like the apostle Paul.⁹⁰ Antony claimed that this was what the Saviour meant when he said, Do not be anxious about your life, about what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body or what you shall wear, for this is what the Gentiles worry about. But your father knows that you need all these things. Seek therefore first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given you in addition.⁹¹

46 (23)After these events, at the time when Maximin’s most cruel persecution was raging out of control, devastating the Church,⁹² and when the holy martyrs had been taken to Alexandria, Antony left his cell and followed those who were to become victims of Christ, saying, ‘Let us go and be present at the glorious triumphs of our brothers; we shall either take part in the fight ourselves or we shall watch the others in battle.’ And indeed, in his love he was already a martyr but since he could not give himself up of his own accord and as he was ministering to the confessors in the mines and in the prisons, he exhorted with great frankness and concern those entering the lawcourt for he hoped to prevent them being driven to deny Christ by fear of their wicked persecutors. Rejoicing that the sentence given meant that they received the martyr’s crown, as if he himself was the victor, he accompanied them as far as the place where their blessed blood was to be shed. The judge was disturbed by the steadfastness of Antony and his friends and gave the order that no monk should watch the trial or stay in the city. And on that day everyone else thought it a good idea to hide, but Antony had no fear; disregarding the persecutor’s order he washed his overgarment. The next day he took up a prominent position, dressed in white, to catch the judge’s attention as he walked past, for Antony was burning with a desire for martyrdom. He demonstrated to us that Christians ought to persist in an attitude that scorns punishment and death, in that he was saddened by the fact that despite his wish to suffer for the name of God, martyrdom was not granted him. But the Lord who was preparing a leader for his flock, saved Antony so that the monastic way of life, as it developed, should be strengthened not only by his words but also by his personal example. And yet he always followed so closely in the footsteps of the holy confessors that, bound by anxious concern for them and by the bonds of love, he suffered more than they did from imprisonment even though he was locked out.

47 But when the storm of persecution had died away and the blessed bishop Peter had now been crowned with a martyr’s glory,⁹³ Antony returned to his former cell and achieved a daily martyrdom of faith and conscience, wearing himself out by means of more rigorous fasting and nightly devotions. He wore a hair-shirt next to his skin and a garment of animal skin on top, never washed his body, and never wiped the dirt from his feet except when necessity compelled him to cross through water. In fact, no one ever saw Antony’s body naked until his death.

48 (24) At one time, when Antony had withdrawn from everyone’s eyes and had closed his cell, refusing to receive a single visitor, a military officer called Martinianus, whose daughter was possessed by an evil spirit that tormented her, knocked at the door. He begged Antony to help his dear child and to come out and pray to God for his daughter. Antony had not the slightest wish to open up but he looked down from above and said, ‘Why do you ask me for help, you who are a mortal man? I too am mortal and share your weakness. But if you believe in Christ whose servant I am, go and pray to God according to your faith and your daughter will be healed.’ Immediately Martinianus believed and went away; and when he had called on Jesus, he took his daughter home, now restored to health. The Lord also worked many other miracles through Antony, and justly so, for He who promised in the Gospel, Ask and it will be given to you,⁹⁴ did not deny His power to the man He found worthy to receive it. For many suffering people came and slept in front of the closed entrance to Antony’s cell and were cured through him by means of their faithful prayers to Christ.

49 However, the arrival of so many people was a nuisance to him for they deprived him of the solitude he desired. As a result he feared that all the miracles granted to him might either make him proud or induce others to have a higher estimation of him than was warranted, and so he decided to move to the upper Thebaid where no one would know him. When the brothers had given him some bread, he sat on the bank of the river watching for a boat to come by. As he sat there, his thoughts absorbed in these matters, a voice came to him from above, saying, ‘Antony, where are you going and why?’ And he answered without fear, as though the speaker’s voice was familiar to him, ‘Since the people do not leave me in peace, I thought it best to go to the upper Thebaid, especially since things are being demanded of me which exceed my feeble power.’ And the voice said to him, ‘If you go to the Thebaid and move to the Bucolia⁹⁵ as you are planning, you will endure a greater burden, one twice as heavy as the present one. If, however, you really wish to live in peace, go now further into the desert.’ When Antony asked, ‘Who can show me that remote place, for I do not know the area?’ the speaker immediately pointed out to him some Saracens who often used to travel to Egypt for the purpose of trade. Antony approached them and asked them to take him with them into the desert. As no one had any objection they welcomed his company, accepting him as their companion as if he had been sent by God. After a journey lasting three days and nights he came to a very high mountain⁹⁶ at the foot of which there flowed a spring of sweet water; on a small strip of flat land encircling the mountain there grew a few untended palm trees.

50 Antony fell in love with this spot as if it had been offered to him by God (for this was the place indicated to him by the one who spoke to him as he sat on the river bank). He accepted some bread from his fellow travellers and he remained alone on the mountain, without any companion. He lived there as if he recognized that place as his own home. The Saracens, seeing his joyful determination, chose to travel that way to visit him and gladly brought him loaves of bread; the palm trees also offered him some, admittedly meagre, sustenance. (25) Later, when the brothers discovered where he was, out of solicitude for him they sent him food, like sons to their father. Then Antony realized that for the sake of his comfort, many were being forced to carry out onerous tasks; and so, wishing to spare the monks in this, too, he asked one of those who were coming, to bring him a two-pronged hoe and some grain. When these were brought to him he went round the mountain and found a small area suitable for cultivation which he could irrigate from the mountain spring. There he sowed some seed and then produced a crop large enough for a year’s supply of bread. He was pleased to be able to live in the desert by the work of his own hands, without troubling anyone else. But when some people again began to arrive there, he took pity on their exhaustion and grew vegetables on a small patch of earth so that the visitors might be somewhat restored when they arrived after their difficult journey. But the animals who came there to drink the water ate that small crop which was intended for the monks’ refreshment. Catching hold of one of them, Antony said to them all, ‘Why do you harm me when I have done you no harm? Go away, and in the Lord’s name do not come near here any more.’ Who would believe that as a result of this command the animals, as if they were afraid, never came near the place?

51 When Antony took possession of the impenetrable mountainous areas and the interior regions of the desert in this manner, devoting himself to prayer, the brothers who came to see him could only with difficulty persuade him, by earnest entreaty, to agree to accept the olives, pulses and oil which they brought for him after some months, and to make some concessions to his old age.

It was shocking to see what terrible struggles he underwent while he was living there. Indeed, we learned from those who visited him that he was not contending against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers,⁹⁷ as it says in the Bible, for they reported hearing loud noises and people’s voices and the clash of weapons and said they saw the mountain filled with hordes of demons, while Antony stood firm and bravely wrestled with them as if with visible enemies. But he also comforted his visitors and encouraged them, at the same time as he destroyed the whole army of Satan on bended knee, using prayers as his weapons. It is certainly remarkable that one man, living in such great solitude, should not have been terrified out of his wits by these daily clashes with the demons nor overwhelmed by the ferocity of so many different beasts, whether four-legged creatures or reptiles. Rightly did David sing, Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion.⁹⁸ Antony maintained his resolve, calm and unshaken: in this way he managed to put the demons to flight and to make the wild beasts be at peace with him, as it is written in Scripture.⁹⁹

52 But the devil, as was said by the prophet I mentioned earlier,¹⁰⁰ gnashed his teeth as he watched him, but with the Saviour’s help Antony remained safe from all attacks. So one night when Antony was staying awake to pray to the Lord, the devil gathered so many packs of wild animals outside his cell that Antony saw that he was surrounded by all the creatures¹⁰¹ of the desert. When they snarled at him, threatening to tear his body with their teeth, he understood the cunning of the enemy and said, ‘If the Lord has given you permission to attack me, I will give myself up to you for you to devour me; but if you are sent here by demons, go away as fast as you can for I am a servant of Christ.’ And so it was: at the sound of his command, all the beasts ran away as if they had been whipped by the lash of God’s power.

53 (26) A few days later another struggle took place with the same enemy. While Antony was busy (for he was always working so that he could present his visitors with some small gift in repayment for the things they brought him), someone pulled the plait or reed of the basket he was weaving. This movement made Antony stand up and he saw a creature with a human form down to the groin but whose lower body was in the shape of an ass. Seeing this, Antony made the sign of the cross on his own forehead and just said, ‘I am a servant of Christ: if you have been sent to me, I shall not run away.’ There was not a moment’s delay: at once the hideous monster fled with its attendant evil spirits, more swiftly than you could relate it, and as it rushed in headlong flight it was destroyed. The death of the monster which had been scared off and killed marked the destruction of all the demons who despite all their efforts were unable to drive Antony from the desert. These marvellous deeds were followed by many more.

54(27) Not long after these events Antony went out and he who had won such great victories was forced to yield to the brothers’ entreaties. For he was asked by the monks to agree to visit them and so he set off with them, after packing a supply of bread and water on to a camel, seeing that nowhere along the desert route could drinking water be found except in the place where his cell was, and so they had drawn their supply of water from this spring. But half-way along their journey the water supply ran out. The excessive blazing of the sun, the unbearable heat, everything threatened death. They went around searching for at least a pool of rain water, but found no relief, nothing to save them. Even the camel looked as if it was about to die of thirst, so they let it go, its throat burning with the heat and desperate with thirst. The old man was moved by the danger staring them all in the face, the brothers and himself equally, and in his distress he sighed deeply. Then taking refuge in prayer, his usual source of assistance, he withdrew from them for a short while. He knelt down and stretched out his hands in supplication to the Lord. Without delay, as soon as the tears fell from his eyes, there burst forth a bubbling spring in the exact spot where he was praying and when they had quenched their thirst and cooled their burning limbs, they filled their waterskins and then found the camel and let it drink. For it happened that as the camel wandered through the desert with the rope dragging along, the rope had got caught on a rock and the camel was held fast.

At last, his journey over, Antony reached the monks who had invited him. They all ran to meet him as if he were their father, vying with each other in their eagerness to greet him respectfully with kisses and embraces. Antony was glad to see how fervent they were in their commitment to the monastic way of life, and they were all happy at his arrival, for he brought gifts of spiritual nourishment, presents from the mountain, so to speak. He praised the rigorous self-discipline of the old monks and encouraged the new ones. When he saw his sister who had grown old as a virgin and was now in charge of other girls, he embraced her with great joy. Then he hurried back to the mountain, as if he had been away from the desert for a long time.

55 (28) There came to him now many people troubled by demons, driven by harsh necessity to dare to penetrate the desert regions. He consoled these people, while to all the monks he gave the same message, saying, ‘Have faith in Jesus; keep your mind pure from wicked thoughts and your body free from all sordidness. In accordance with the divine sayings, do not be seduced by the fullness of the stomach.¹⁰² Detest pride, pray frequently, recite the psalms in the evening and in the morning and at noon, and meditate on the commands of the Scriptures. Remember the deeds done by each of the saints so that the memory of their example will inspire your soul to virtue and restrain it from vices.’ He also used to persuade them constantly to bear in mind the words of the Apostle, when he says, Let not the sun set upon your anger.¹⁰³ Antony interpreted this as meaning that the sun should not set not only upon your anger but neither upon any human sin, in case the moon at night or the sun by day, which are witnesses of our sins, should ever disappear. He also warned us to remember that commandment which St Paul gave regarding these matters, Examine yourselves and test yourselves,¹⁰⁴ so that by keeping an account night and day, if they should discover any sin in themselves, they might cease to sin; but if no error was found, they should stand firm in their commitment to their undertaking instead of becoming swollen with pride and contemptuous of others or claiming righteousness for themselves, in accordance with the saying of the teacher I mentioned earlier who said, Do not judge before the time.¹⁰⁵ Rather they must await the judgement of Christ, to whom alone things hidden are revealed.¹⁰⁶ Many are the ways (as it says in the Bible) that seem just to men but they end with a view into the depths of hell;¹⁰⁷ often we cannot see our own sins, often we are deceived by ignorance of our deeds. The judgement of God who sees everything is different, for He judges not from outward appearances but according to the secrets of the mind. It is right for us to show compassion to one another and to bear one another’s burdens,¹⁰⁸ so that leaving judgement to the Saviour we might keep a watch on our own consciences by examining ourselves.

Antony also used to say that the path to virtue is a wide one, if each person were either to watch what he was doing or to report all his thoughts to the brothers. For no one can sin when he has to report all his sins to someone else and endure the shame of revealing his wicked deeds in public. Finally no sinner dares to sin in front of someone else; even if he does sin, he wishes to avoid a witness to his sin and prefers to lie and deny it, thereby increasing his original error by adding the error of denial. ‘And so,’ Antony used to say, ‘we are put to shame before our own eyes, as it were, in thought and in deed if we do everything with a view to giving a report of it, but much more so if we write down our sins in an orderly fashion, describing them faithfully. Then the account of our sins will be set clearly before the brothers’ eyes. If we fear that the wax tablets will know of our sins, the letters themselves prove our guilt. And just as those who have intercourse with prostitutes are embarrassed by the presence of others, so we too blush at the writing, if we do this. Let us walk this path of virtue and keeping our bodies under the mind’s control, let us wreck the devil’s destructive plans.’

56 With encouraging words of this kind he inspired those monks who came to him to pursue their life of rigorous self-discipline and sympathized with those who were suffering. Through Antony the Lord freed many of them from their sufferings, but the healing of those he cured never made him arrogant nor did he become depressed and grumble at the fact that some bodies were still possessed by the demons. Instead he gave thanks to God, maintaining always the same attitude and the same look and persuading those who were possessed to bear with greater patience the attacks tormenting them. ‘For this medicine,’ he said, ‘does not belong to me or to any other human being but to God alone who grants healing to those He chooses and at the time He chooses.’ And so by means of his advice he taught those who were tormented to bear their trials with equanimity and those who were already freed to give thanks not to Antony but to God alone.

57 (29) A man from Palestine by the name of Fronto, who was tormented by a most violent demon – it caused him to lacerate his tongue with his teeth and tried to blind him – arrived at the mountain and asked the blessed old man to pray to the Lord on his behalf. Antony prayed and said to Fronto, ‘Go, and you will be healed.’ But the man did not believe this: violently refusing to heed Antony he stayed where he was. So Antony repeated the same message to him, saying, ‘You cannot be cured here. Go away, and when you reach Egypt, Christ’s mercy will be upon you immediately.’ At last Fronto was persuaded and set off, and as soon as he saw Egypt, the devil’s possession ceased, just as the old man had promised in accordance with the Lord’s revelation to him while he prayed.

58(30) There was a young girl from Busiris, a city in the region of Tripolitana, who was suffering from an unknown and pitiable disease: when the mucus from her nose, the tears from her eyes and the pus from her ears dripped to the ground, they immediately turned into worms. Her suffering was increased by the fact that her body was paralysed and she was unnaturally cross-eyed. When her parents heard that monks were going to Antony, they took her (for they had faith in the Lord who in the Gospel had commanded the haemorrhage to cease when the woman touched His hem) and asked the monks to let their poor daughter accompany them, but the monks refused. So the parents carried her to Antony and waited outside with their sick daughter in the company of Paphnutius, the blessed confessor and monk, whose eyes had been gouged out because of his Christian belief during the persecution of Maximin¹⁰⁹ but who took pride in this physical disfigurement. And so the monks came to Antony but when they began to tell him about the girl’s illness, the old man anticipated their account and related the whole story of her illness and the journey to St Paphnutius, as if he himself had been present. When the monks asked him to permit the parents to enter with their daughter, Antony would not allow it, but said, ‘Go, and you will find the girl healed, if she is not dead,’ adding, ‘No one should come to me, insignificant creature that I am, for the bestowal of cures is not a matter for human wretchedness, but for the mercy of Jesus Christ who always gives assistance to those who believe in Him wherever they are. That is why this girl, too, for whom you ask my help, has been released as a result of her own prayers; when I prayed to the Lord, I was granted foreknowledge of her cure.’ He spoke and his words were followed by the girl’s restoration to health, for when they went out to the blessed Paphnutius the monks found the girl healthy and her parents overjoyed.

59(31) A few days later when two brothers were travelling to see Antony, their water supply ran out on their journey: one of them died of thirst while the other lay on the ground awaiting death. Antony, who was at the mountain, quickly called to him two monks who happened to be there and told them to grab a bottle of water and to hurry along the route leading to Egypt. He told them, ‘One of the brothers who is on his way here has just passed away to the Lord; the other will do so, too, unless you help him. This was revealed to me just now as I was praying.’ Thus he spoke and the monks, following his instructions, hurried off. They found the dead body and covered it with earth; they revived the other monk and carried him back (it was about a day’s journey away). Perhaps someone may ask, ‘Why did Antony not speak before the monk died?’ but this question is utterly inappropriate for Christians to ask, because the judgement did not come from Antony but from God who passed the sentence He wished on the dying man and who was kind enough to give a revelation concerning the one who was thirsty. The only remarkable thing is that Antony who was living at a mountain far away became aware of everything happening at a great distance because the Lord made it known to his ever watchful heart.

60 (32) Again on another occasion while he was living at the mountain, Antony suddenly raised his eyes to the sky and saw something that appeared to be a soul moving towards heaven, while angels rejoiced at its approach. He was amazed at this strange sight: blessing the choir of holy beings he prayed that some understanding of this matter might be revealed to him. Immediately there came to him a voice, saying that this was the soul of the monk Ammon who lived at Nitria.¹¹⁰ Ammon was a very old man who had continued in a life of holiness from his childhood to old age.¹¹¹ The place where Antony lived was a thirteen-day journey from Nitria. When the monks who had come saw Antony in a state of wonder, they asked him to explain the cause of his joy. He told them that Ammon – whom they knew very well because he had often made the journey to visit Antony and because he was famous for the miracles granted to him by the Lord – had just died.

I must just mention one of Ammon’s miracles: at one point it was necessary for Ammon to cross a river called the Lycus¹¹² which had suddenly flooded; so he asked Theodore, who was with him, to withdraw from his sight a short distance so that neither of them should see each other’s naked body. Theodore moved away but when Ammon was about to undress, he was still embarrassed by the thought of his own nakedness. While he was wondering what to do, the divine power carried him across to the opposite side of the river. Then Theodore, a man who was also devoted to God, crossed over to the old man and was amazed that Ammon had crossed the river so quickly. When he saw that Ammon’s feet were not wet and that there was no sign of water on his clothes, he asked him to explain, as a father to his son, such an incredible crossing. But when Ammon refused to say what had happened, Theodore embraced his feet and swore that he would not let him go until he revealed his secret. And so the old man, seeing that the brother was obstinately determined to get his own way, demanded in turn from him that he should not reveal this to anyone before Ammon’s death. Then he admitted that he had suddenly been carried across on to the opposite bank and that his feet had not touched the water at all. He claimed that this was just a privilege belonging to the Lord’s body and to those – like the apostle Peter – to whom the Lord granted that the human body should be able to stand on the waters that lacked solidity.¹¹³ Theodore kept quiet about this incident for the promised period of time but he made it known after Ammon’s death.

The monks whom Antony had told about the death of Ammon made a note of the day and when the brothers came from Nitria after thirty days, the monks inquired of them and found that Ammon had died on the very day and at the very hour when the old man had seen his soul being carried up. They were amazed at the purity of Antony’s mind, in that knowledge of something happening so far away had reached him without delay.

61 (33) When count Archelaus found Antony at the Outer Mountain, he asked him to pray for Polycratia, a virgin whose dedication to Christ was remarkable. She was in Laodicea at the time, suffering from the most terrible pains in her stomach and her side; as a result of excessive fasting and lack of sleep, her body was completely worn out. Antony prayed and Archelaus noted the day on which the prayer had been made. Then he returned to Laodicea and found the virgin healed. When he asked her on which day she had been cured, he found that the time of healing corresponded to the time he had noted. Everyone was amazed for they realized that the Lord had released her from her pains at the moment when Antony, in his prayer for her, was appealing to the Saviour’s goodness.

62 (34) He also often foretold, days and months in advance, the times of arrival of the many people who came to him, as well as their reason for coming. For some were drawn there by their great desire to see him, others by illness and some because their body was possessed by demons. But no one ever complained of any trouble or loss resulting from the difficult journey and they all went home filled with spiritual food. But Antony used to tell them that they should not praise him for this marvel: rather they should praise the Lord, who grants a knowledge of Himself to men according to their mortal capacity.

63 (35) On one occasion when he had gone out to the outer cells and was asked by the brothers to pray in a boat with some monks who were setting off, he climbed on board and was the only one among them to notice a most revolting smell. Everyone assured him that it was the stink of the salted and pickled fish lying in the boat. But he told them he was sure he could smell the stench of something else. While he was still speaking, a young man in the grip of a demon, who had slipped ahead beside the hull and hidden himself in the boat, suddenly cried out. Antony immediately cured him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and all the people realized that it was the devil who had given off that foul smell.

64 (36) Another man was brought to him, a nobleman possessed by an evil spirit. He was afflicted with such a degree of madness that he did not realize he was in Antony’s presence and he was even eating his own bodily excrement. And so when the old man was asked by those who had brought him there to pray to the Lord on his behalf, he felt such compassion for the young man’s wretched state that he stayed awake all night with him, striving to overcome the sufferer’s madness. But when dawn came, the possessed man attacked Antony and gave him a hard push. Those who had brought him there became angry and began to ask him why he had hurt the old man. But Antony said to them, ‘Do not blame the poor young man. This madness is caused by the one who possesses him, not by the possessed. The enemy, who was offended because the Lord ordered him to come to this dry region, attacked me in this presumptuous way. This attack on me was a sign that Satan had been driven out.’ No sooner had he spoken than the young man returned to his senses and gave thanks to God; he now recognized where he was and filled with love, he embraced Antony and kissed him.

65 (37) There are countless other miracles of this kind which we have learned about from the monks’ frequent accounts, all of which agree. But one should not be amazed by these as much as by the following ones which far exceed the weakness of our human condition. At about the ninth hour, when Antony had begun to pray before the meal, he felt himself caught up in the spirit and being carried on high by angels. But when the demons prevented them from passing through the air, the angels began to ask their opponents what the reason was for holding Antony back, when he had no faults. The demons tried to set forth his sins, going right back to the time of his birth, but the angels shut the demons’ slanderous mouths, saying that they should not recount his sins from his birth, for his sins had already been laid to rest through Christ’s goodness. But if they knew of any from the period after he had become a monk and had devoted himself to God, they might mention those. The demons, lying shamelessly, accused him of many things, but since they could not prove their lies, Antony’s way up to heaven lay open and unobstructed. Immediately returning to himself, he saw himself once more as he had been, in the very place where he had been standing. Then he forgot all about his meal and from that hour he spent the whole night groaning and lamenting, reflecting on the great number of enemies that humans have and the struggles they must endure against such a great army and their difficult journey through the air to heaven, as well as the saying of the Apostle where he states, Our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the prince of the power of this air.¹¹⁴ Paul knew that the powers of the air are always trying, by wrestling and fighting, to prevent us gaining an unobstructed passage to heaven and so he encouraged us with this advice, ‘Put on the armour of God¹¹⁵ so that your enemy, having nothing evil to say about you, might be put to shame.’¹¹⁶ Let us remember the Apostle’s words when he said, Whether in the body or outside the body, I know not, but God knows¹¹⁷ And in fact Paul was swept up as far as the third heaven, and after he had heard there words that cannot be uttered,¹¹⁸ he came down again, whereas Antony was raised right up to the heavens and after his struggle he appeared unhindered.

66 (38) Antony also possessed the following kind of gift: if, while he was living alone on the mountain, there was something he did not know and he was wondering about it, the Lord would reveal it to him as he prayed; and he was, as it says in Scripture, taught by God.¹¹⁹ Later, the brothers were holding a discussion and were earnestly questioning him as to what happened to the soul after the burden of the body had been laid down and where the soul was allowed to go after death. The following night a voice from on high was heard calling his name. It said, ‘Antony, get up. Go and look outside.’ So he got up and went out (for he knew whom he had to obey) and raising his eyes to heaven, he saw someone tall and terrifying, his head reaching as far as the clouds; he also saw some winged creatures attempting to fly up to heaven, but the tall being stretched out his arms to prevent them getting through. Some of these creatures the tall being caught hold of and threw back to the ground; others he tried unsuccessfully to hold back and seemed annoyed when they managed to fly past him up towards heaven. Those who got the better of him caused him grief but those who were beaten back gave him the greatest joy. At once a voice came to Antony, saying, ‘Pay attention to what you see.’ Then his heart was illuminated and he began to understand that these were souls that the devil was obstructing in their ascent. He realized that the devil took hold of those who were subject to him, but he was tormented by the flight of the holy ones whom he was unable to catch. Inspired by the examples offered in these visions, Antony advanced each day to better things.¹²⁰ (39) He did not tell the brothers what had been revealed to him for he did not wish to boast; but as he used constantly in his prayers to praise God for his assistance, he was forced to explain to the brothers when they asked. He did not want to conceal anything from his spiritual sons for his soul was pure in Christ, especially since the recounting of miracles of this kind was likely to stimulate their passion for that way of life and show them what the fruit of their labours might be.

67 Never was he provoked to impatience by sudden anger nor did he allow his humility to become puffed up into pride. For he urged all the clerics right down to the lowest rank to pray before he did and he also bent his head for the bishops and priests to give him their blessing, as if he were their disciple in humility. Even when deacons came to him for their own benefit he would speak to them in order to help them but when it came to praying to the Lord, he put them before himself for he was not ashamed to learn from them. In fact he frequently questioned those who were with him and if they told him something useful, he admitted that they had helped him. (40) His face bore a look of exceptional grace and he also possessed the following wonderful gift from the Saviour: if anyone who did not know him wished to see him when he was surrounded by a large number of monks, he would go past all the others and run up to Antony without anyone having to point him out. He could recognize Antony’s spiritual purity from his face and through the mirror of Antony’s body he would perceive the grace of his holy mind. For Antony always had a cheerful look which showed that his mind was on heavenly matters, as it says in Scripture: When the heart rejoices, the countenance is cheerful, but when it is in sorrow the countenance is sad.¹²¹ This was how Jacob recognized that Laban his brother-in-law was devising some plot against him and so he said to his daughters, Your father’s face is not the same as it was yesterday and the day before.¹²² This was how Samuel recognized David, for he had eyes that brought joy, and teeth as white as milk.¹²³ In the same way people recognized Antony because he always maintained the same expression in good times and in bad and was neither elated by his successes nor shattered by disasters. For his countenance made people love him and the purity of his faith made them marvel at him.

68 (41) Never did he associate with the schismatic party,¹²⁴ being aware of their long-standing wickedness and apostasy. Never did he even go so far as to bestow friendly words on the Manichees or other heretics, apart from such words alone which might serve to call them back from the error of their iniquity, for he spoke out against friendship with them and he would denounce what they said, believing that these things led to spiritual ruin. He loathed the Arians, too, warning everyone not to go anywhere near them. For when some of the Ariomaniacs¹²⁵ came to him, he questioned them carefully and found that their sect was utterly sacrilegious: so he sent them away from the mountain, saying that their utterances were far more poisonous than serpents.

69 Once when the Arians falsely claimed that Antony held the same beliefs as they did, he was amazed at their audacity and was moved to righteous indignation. He was then asked by the bishops and by all the brothers to come down to Alexandria¹²⁶ where he publicly condemned the Ariomaniacs, declaring that this was the final heresy that would herald the arrival of Antichrist. He stated openly to the people that the Son of God is not a creature, that He was not brought into existence out of non-being, but is eternal, of one substance with the Father. He must not be regarded as something created or adopted or a mere name. He said that it was sacrilegious even to think that there was a time when He was not, since God, the Word of God who is eternal, is coeternal with the Father, for He was born from the Father who exists for ever. And so he used to say, ‘You must have nothing to do with the Arians. For what fellowship can there be between light and darkness?¹²⁷ You who hold orthodox beliefs are Christians, but they teach that the Word, that is, the Son who comes from God the Father, is a creature, and so they are no different from the pagans who worship the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed for ever.¹²⁸ Believe me, the very elements are angry and the whole of creation groans, to use the words of the Apostle,¹²⁹ in the face of the Arians’ madness, because it sees its Lord, through whom and in whom all things were made,¹³⁰ being numbered among the creatures.’

70 (42) It is impossible to convey the degree to which this great man’s words strengthened the people’s faith. They rejoiced that this dangerous heresy, hostile to Christ, was being anathematized by a pillar of the church. At that time no one, of any age or either sex, remained at home. I am not speaking just of the Christians: the pagans, too, and even the priests of the idols came rushing to church, saying, ‘We beg to see the man of God’ (for this was what everyone called Antony). They crowded round him, eager just to touch the hem of his garment, in the belief that merely touching it would benefit them greatly. How many people were freed from the devil’s grip and from many different illnesses at that time! How many spoils were snatched from the idols! How many people were retrieved from pagan error and added to our flock! The number of those converted from the superstition of the idols in the space of a few days would no doubt be greater than the number of converts one would normally see in a year. And what is more, when his attendants turned the crowd away as it surged forward, because they thought that he would find this number of people a nuisance, he said calmly, ‘Surely this gathering is no larger than the hosts of demons? Surely this crowd of followers is no more numerous than the army of those with whom I wrestled on the mountain?’

71 (43) It happened that while we¹³¹ were escorting him on his way back, as we reached the gate a woman called out from behind, saying, ‘Wait, you man of God. My daughter is tormented by the most hideous demon. Wait, I beg you. Wait, for otherwise I may die in my hurry to reach you.’ On hearing this the wonderful old man stopped for a while – we did ask him to do so, but he himself also wished to. When the woman came up to him, the girl was hurled to the ground and lay there, while Antony prayed silently to the Lord Jesus: at his threats the unclean spirit immediately departed. The girl was restored to health, the people praised God and the mother was overjoyed. Antony, too, was pleased because he was returning to the solitude he longed for.

72 He was also remarkably wise: considering that he had no education it was amazing how very clever and shrewd he was. (44) On one occasion while he was at the Outer Mountain, two pagan philosophers came to see him, thinking that they could outwit him. When he saw them, he understood from their appearance that they were pagan, and going out to them he began to speak through an interpreter in the following way: why did these wise men want to put themselves to the trouble of such a long journey to visit a stupid man? When they said that he was not stupid but rather exceedingly wise, he replied pointedly, ‘If you have come to see a stupid man, your effort is wasted; but if you think I am wise and that I possess wisdom, it would be a good idea for you to imitate what you approve of, for it is right to imitate good things. If I had come to you, I would imitate you, but since you have come to me in the belief that I am wise, you should be Christians like me.’ The philosophers went away, amazed at his mental acuteness and at his ability to drive out demons.

73 (45) He used this kind of argument to check others, too, who were similarly full of worldly wisdom, people who wished to mock him because he was uneducated. He would say to such people, ‘Answer me: what comes first, mind or letters? And which is the cause of which? Does mind come from letters or letters from the mind?’ When they declared that mind was the author and inventor of letters, he said, ‘So if anyone’s mind is sound, he has no need of letters.’ Was there anyone present who did not exclaim in astonishment after this verbal contest, when even those whom he got the better of were astounded, marvelling at such great sagacity of mind in one who was uneducated? Even though he had spent his whole life living in the desert and the mountains, Antony was not boorish and lacking in grace; rather, he was pleasant and friendly and offered conversation that was seasoned with divine salt, according to the words of the Apostle,¹³² with the result that no one felt any ill will towards him and he gained the affection of all.

74 (46) Meanwhile, as if it was not enough for paganism to be routed¹³³ twice, there came to him a third time men who were blinded by the fog of all secular wisdom and who, in their own estimation, were the most learned in all branches of philosophy. When they demanded from Antony an explanation of the faith which we have in Christ and tried to trick him by means of sophisms and cunning questions concerning the divine cross, he remained silent for a while, at first pitying their error. Then he began to speak through an interpreter who used to translate his words with great care into the Greek language. He said, ‘What is more honourable, what is more proper – to worship the cross or to attribute adultery, parricide or incest to those whom you worship? In the one case, contempt for death is a sign of virtue but in the other a shameful religion is the teacher of obscenity. What is better – to say that the Word of God, remaining what He was, took a human body for the sake of our salvation, so that by sharing our mortal condition He might take us up to heaven, allowing us to share in the heavenly nature; or, as you claim, that the breath of the divine mind bows His head to worship earthly things and confines the heavenly name within the forms of cattle and serpents? How do you dare to mock the credulity of Christians because they claim that Christ the Son of God, without suffering any harm, began to be what He was not while remaining what He had been, when you yourselves derive the soul from heavenly beings but then envelop it not only in human bodies but in those of serpents and cattle? Christian belief states that its God has come for the salvation of the world, but you, while proclaiming that the soul is unborn, change from one side to another. Christian faith, respecting God’s omnipotence and mercy as it does, says that consequently the Incarnation was possible for God, but in such a way that this condescension did not cause Him to lose dignity. But you who proudly claim that the soul, issuing from the purest source of God, has shamefully fallen, and who dare to state that it is subject to change after its fall, you desecrate this nature, too, the mistress of the ages, by means of your wicked tongue and insults to the soul. For the image which according to you retains the natural likeness of its maker who has the same substance as that which flows from it, consequently sends back its own humiliation and injuries to its origin. So watch out: your insults to the soul will, as a result of your blasphemy, redound to their father, as you call him.

75 ‘At this point let us bring the cross of Christ, the Lord our God, into the argument. I ask, how is this an obscenity of religion? Is it not better to endure the cross or a death of this kind inflicted by wicked men than to bewail the unsettled and dubious travels of Isis in search of Osiris? Are you not embarrassed, I ask, by the plots of Typhon, the flight of Saturn and his most cruel devouring of his children? Blush at Jupiter’s murder of his father and his incest, blush at the rape he committed and his intercourse with women and boys. According to your poets’ stories, Jupiter gave out gentle moans of love in order to fulfil his lustful passion which was of the grossest kind: he flowed into Danae’s lap, he who was both lover and reward; he sought the embraces of Leda, singing as a swan; he violated his own sex, corrupting the royal boy with birds as his accomplices. These are what you believe, these are what you worship, these are the ornaments adorning your temples. Weigh our words with impartial justice, I beg you, for the sake of your salvation. Is all or nothing to be believed in the Christian books? If nothing, you should not acknowledge the name of the cross which you disparage. If on the other hand it is all to be believed, why do you tear apart the divine passion with your stupid arguments, when in the same books the resurrection is connected to the cross? Why do you not at once add the sight of the blind, the hearing of the deaf, the walking of the lame, the cleansing of the leprous, the sea obeying its God who walked upon it, the putting to flight of demons, the resurrection of the dead and the return from the underworld of those who were dead? All these things are included in the divine Scriptures which you falsify, and these same volumes contain the proclamations of divine power and the disgrace inflicted upon death. For this reason cast off the hatred with which you are imbued and you will immediately discover that Jesus is true God and that He took our weak nature upon Himself for the sake of human salvation.

76 (47) ‘Now tell us about your religion – if you are not ashamed to do so. But how could wretched error call such disgraceful and foolish things religious practices? Unless perhaps (as I hear) you claim that the obscene and cruel behaviour of your gods, their deceptions and their deaths are but myths and so you veil them in allegory: according to your interpretation, the rape of Libera¹³⁴ represents the earth, the half-lame and weak Vulcan represents fire; Juno, the air; Apollo, the sun; Diana, the moon; Neptune, the seas; while Jupiter, the foremost lecher, represents the sky. But after this bold attempt at a cover-up, you disregard the Creator and acknowledge the created beings, not God. But if the beauty of the elements has drawn you to worship them, you should have limited yourselves to admiring not worshipping them for otherwise the veneration of created things might imply an insult to the Creator. For according to the kind of distorted logic you use, the honour due to the architect is transferred to the building, and the doctor’s skill is attributed to the cures and the rewards and praises due to all craftsmen are bestowed instead on the products themselves. What do you say to this? We wish to know what disgraceful belief you hold concerning the cross which you consider worthy of ridicule.’

77 (48) This argument caused the philosophers to look round at one another and mutter. Then Antony smiled and spoke once again through the interpreter. ‘It seems very hard in the case of any task whenever a reasonable attitude to something is scorned and the reward for the task is accorded to the deeds rather than to the doers. Indeed sight itself proves that the elements, as I have mentioned, are in servitude. But since you are collecting all these things which are necessary, in your opinion, for dialectical proof, you force us, too, to use this ploy to affirm our religion. Answer me: how is knowledge of God proved more clearly? By means of intricate arguments or by the working of faith? And which comes first: the working of faith or debate proceeding by means of arguments?’ When they answered that the working of faith was more effective than discussion and that this offered an accurate knowledge of God, he agreed that they had spoken well, for the working which derives from faith is produced by feelings in the mind, while dialectical argument depends on the skill of those who are setting it forth. ‘And so,’ he said, ‘anyone who has faith working in his mind, will find superfluous the composition of words which you use to try and tear out the credulity rooted in our minds. Yet often you are unable to explain what we understand. Therefore the products of the mind are more reliable than the deceptive conclusions derived from sophisms.

78 (49) ‘We Christians keep the mystery of our life stored up, not in worldly wisdom, but in the power of faith which God has granted us through Christ. The daily order of events proves the truth of what I say. For us, being ignorant and lacking your learning, God’s words alone are sufficient to attain the knowledge of God. Look at all of us, we who have been taken from pagan flocks: each day we increase in number and are spreading throughout the whole world. It is undeniable that since the coming of the Lord, your complicated and cunning sophistries have failed you. Look at us, we who teach the simple faith of Christ: we have completely crushed the worship of idols. The preaching of the cross, which is despised, has caused golden temples to collapse. Show us, if you can, those who have been persuaded by your intricate arguments to value paganism above Christ. Throughout the whole world Christ has now been acknowledged as the true Son of God. Sophistical eloquence and philosophical arguments can do nothing to halt the growing number of believers. When we call on the name of Him who was crucified, all the demons roar, yet you worship them as gods; as soon as the sign of the Lord’s cross is made they flee from the bodies in which they were dwelling.

79 ‘Where are those legendary oracles now? What has become of the Egyptians’ incantations? What good did the magicians’ spells do? Everything was destroyed when Christ thundered forth to the world from His cross, and yet you fail to mention the hordes of those whose strength is broken. Instead you try to pour scorn on Jesus’ glorious death. How is it that paganism which has never been shaken by the persecutions of tyrants – indeed it was beloved by the world and was given the support of human assistance – now comes crashing down? In contrast, the more they attempt to suppress us, we who are servants of Christ, the more we rise up and flourish. Your statues were once surrounded by decorated walls, but now the passing of time has caused them to collapse. The teachings of Christ which appear to you to be foolish and trivial despite the fact that they have endured the tyrannical attempts at persecution on the part of the emperors and have been attacked by various terrifying means, are not restricted to any one area and not confined within the boundaries of any barbarian peoples. When did a brightness as great as that of the divine knowledge shine forth? When did so many virtues appear at the same time? Chastity in marriage, virginity in the Church. The martyrs’ glorious steadfastness on their Lord’s behalf shines forth: for all of them the cross of Christ provides the foundation for their life.

80 ‘While you, amidst such great companies of virtues, spread the nets of your syllogisms and try to blot out the true light of things with your obscure arguments, look how we convince not by means of the pagans’ attempts at persuasion but through the clearest faith which always precedes verbal affirmation, as our teacher said.¹³⁵ There are some here suffering from the torments of demons’ – Antony brought them forward and repeated his words, saying – ‘Now come on, use your syllogisms and any wicked spells you wish, to drive out those whom you think of as your gods. But if you are unable to do so, hold out your conquered hands in supplication and take refuge in the signs of Christ’s victory: the power of the divine majesty will immediately follow upon belief in the one who was crucified.’ He spoke and, calling on the name of Jesus, he made the life-giving mark on their foreheads three times, corresponding to the number of the holy Trinity: as a result, the demons were driven out and the foolish wisdom of those philosophers present was refuted. They were shocked and terrified by Antony to whom God was granting, in addition to such wisdom, the ability to perform miracles. But he attributed everything to Christ who heals, for he answered with these words, saying, ‘Do not think that it is I who have given these people health. It is Christ who performs these miracles through His servants. You too should believe and you will see that it is devout faith in God, rather than the empty pride that comes of clever talk, that is rewarded by such miracles. Take refuge in the law of Him who was crucified and imitate us who are His servants; content with this faith, you should not seek further arguments based on worldly ignorance.’ Antony stopped speaking and the philosophers, struck with wonder and amazement, departed from him after saying a respectful farewell, admitting to each other that their meeting with him had been of great benefit to them.

81 (50) The remarkable thing about this man was that he who lived in obscurity on the furthest edge of the world found favour with the emperors and was honoured by the whole imperial court. For the emperor Constantine and his sons Constans and Constantius,¹³⁶ on learning of these things, sent him frequent letters as if he was their father, begging him to make them happy by writing back to them. But Antony remained exactly the same as he had been before the letters arrived, and showed no excitement at receiving greetings from the emperors. He called the monks together as if he had not received any letters and said, ‘The rulers of this world have sent us letters – why should Christians be impressed by this? For although we are different in rank, yet our mortal condition is the same. What should be honoured with all due reverence, what should be held firmly and positively in mind, is the fact that God wrote the law for men and that through His Son He enriched the churches with His own words. What business do monks have with the letters of emperors? Why should I receive letters, to which I do not know how to reply with the customary formalities?’ But when all the brothers asked him to bring comfort to the Christian rulers by writing to them (for they were afraid the rulers might perhaps be annoyed at his silence), he wrote a suitable reply to the letters he had received. First of all he praised them for worshipping Christ and then gave them advice concerning their salvation to prevent them thinking that imperial power was anything wonderful and allowing the authority of the present flesh to make them swell with pride. He did not want them to forget that they were human and that they would have to be judged by Christ. Finally he strongly advised them to show compassion and justice to those who were subject to them as well as concern for the poor. In his letter he also declared that Jesus Christ is the one everlasting king of all ages. The rulers were extremely pleased to receive this letter. All people were inspired with such holy love for Antony that they wished to be called his sons, for his great kindness to those who came to see him made them all devoted to him.

82 (51) After he had confuted the pagans, advised the rulers and brought comfort to the brothers, he returned to the Inner Mountain and to the life of discipline to which he was accustomed. There, while walking around and sitting with his visitors, it happened that he would suddenly go quiet, as it is written in Daniel,¹³⁷ and after an interval of several hours he would continue with his answer: people understood from this that he had witnessed some secret revelation. For while he was at the mountain, he saw what was happening far away in Egypt and he related it to bishop Serapion¹³⁸ who was with him there. On another occasion a very sad vision appeared which caused him to weep floods of tears. For while he was working with the brothers seated around him, he began to stare intently at the sky, groaning and sighing, and after a time he began to shake with deep sorrow at the revelation: he immediately knelt down before God’s face and prayed that His mercy might avert the terrible event which was to occur. His prayer was followed by tears and a great fear gripped those present: they beseeched him to tell them what he had seen. His voice was racked by sobs, his tongue tied by tears and his attempts to speak were interrupted by groans. With a loud cry of grief he just managed to utter these words, ‘It would be better, my dear children, to die quickly to avoid the impending disaster.’ Beginning thus, he was again overcome by tears; amidst sighs of sorrow he was at last able to get these words out: ‘A great disaster threatens, one which no previous age has known. The Catholic faith will be destroyed by a great whirlwind; men, like irrational beasts, will tear apart Christ’s holy things. For I saw the altar of the Lord surrounded by a pack of asses who scattered everything by kicking repeatedly with their hoofs. This is the reason for those sighs of mine you heard: I heard the Lord’s voice, saying, “My altar will be defiled.”’ The events warned of in the vision took place only a short while afterwards, for two years later the savage madness of the Arians erupted. Then the churches were ransacked, the divine vessels were profaned, the sacred ministries were defiled by the pagans’ foul hands, and when the support of the pagan workers had been gained against Christ, the Christians were forced to go to church carrying palms (which is a mark of idolatry in Alexandria), so that they would be thought to belong to the Arians. What wickedness! The mind recoils from repeating what happened: virgins and married women were raped; the blood of Christ’s sheep was shed in Christ’s temple and spattered over the holy altars; the pagans defiled the baptistery by doing what they liked there. Antony’s vision had been accurate in every detail as later events proved, for the wild trampling of the mules represented the Arians’ wicked behaviour.

But Antony comforted them in their grief by giving the following positive revelation. He said, ‘My dear sons, do not give yourselves up completely to grief. For just as the Lord was angered, so He will again have pity. The Church will soon regain her beauty and you will see those who preserved the faith of the Lord during the times of persecution, shining once more with their former brightness. The serpents will return to their holes and our religion will spread further. Just watch that the Arian filth does not stain the purity of your faith. Their teachings do not derive from the apostles but from the demons and their father, the devil. That is why their mind, resembling that of beasts, is represented by the foolishness of asses.’

83 (52) Such were Antony’s words. We should not find it hard to believe that such a great miracle could be performed by a man. For the Saviour promised this when He said, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.¹³⁹ And another time He said, Truly, truly, I say to you, everything that you ask for from the Father in my name, he will grant to you. Ask and you will receive.¹⁴⁰ For He himself, promising His disciples and all those who believed in Him that the demons would be overcome and that many different diseases would be cured, used to say, You received freely, give freely.¹⁴¹

84 Was it by the authority of his own virtue that Antony healed? Did he think that what he had done was due to his own ability? The demons and illnesses were dispelled by his prayers, not by his commands and everything was always accomplished by calling on the name of Christ, our God.¹⁴² No one who is wise attributes the miracle of healing to Antony, but to the Lord Jesus who was displaying His usual benevolence to His creatures when He behaved kindly at that time, too, through His chosen servant. Antony merely prayed and the Lord granted everything as a reward for Antony’s virtuous life.

(53) Often – though against his will – he was taken by the brothers to the Outer Mountain. And when judges arrived who were unable to reach the inner stronghold or the harsh desert regions on account of the difficult journey and because of the large number of people accompanying them, and they asked to be allowed to see him, they were unable to get what they wanted as Antony found the disturbance caused by conversations very annoying. So they sent to him the men in chains (those who had been put in fetters as a result of some crime or by public force), knowing that Antony was unable to reject such people. Overcome by their weeping, he allowed himself to be taken to the Outer Mountain for he realized that by his efforts he could help these poor people; and he persuaded the judges who had invited him to come that they should put fear of God before hatred and favour in giving sentence. He said that they should bear in mind the words of Scripture, By whatever justice you judge, you will be judged.¹⁴³ But even while he was speaking, he was thinking of his beloved solitude.

85 And so, forced to go there by the commander’s entreaties and, to be more accurate, by the tears of the wretched prisoners, Antony gave advice which was beneficial for salvation and commended the prisoners, acquitting some of them. The commander then asked him to favour them with his presence a little longer. Antony replied that he was unable to stay there any longer, using this pleasing analogy: just as fish taken out of the water soon die on dry land, so too, monks who stay with people from the world are soon weakened by human conversations. ‘For that reason,’ he said, ‘it is proper for us to hurry back to the mountain, like fishes to the sea, for if we linger here we might forget our commitment to the monastic way of life.’ The commander marvelled at the man’s great wisdom and expressed this just and true view of him when he said, ‘Truly, this man is the servant of God for no uneducated man could possess such great wisdom unless he were guided by divine love.’

86 (54) Later Balacius, who was the commander of Egypt under Nestorius, the prefect of Alexandria, and a most committed supporter of the Arian wickedness, was persecuting the Church of Christ so violently that in his madness he would have virgins and monks stripped and beaten in public. Antony then sent him a letter, the substance of which was this: ‘I see God’s anger coming upon you. Stop persecuting the Christians or this anger, which threatens you with imminent death, will take hold of you.’ The accursed man read the letter and laughed; spitting on it he threw it to the ground. He hurled many insults at the letter-bearers and ordered them to take the following message back to Antony: ‘Since you are so concerned about the monks, you too will feel the force of my discipline.’ But he who uttered these threats was immediately punished: five days later divine vengeance curbed his unbridled mouth. For he went out as far as the first staging post outside Alexandria, called Chaereus, together with Nestorius, the prefect I mentioned earlier. They were riding on the most gentle horses of all those trained by Balacius (to whom they belonged). While the horses were playing with each other as usual, the gentler one, which Nestorius was riding, suddenly bit Balacius and knocked him to the ground. Its mouth open wide, it ripped his thighs apart and gnawed them to pieces. Although he was carried back to the city without delay, he died three days later. And so everyone realized that Antony’s threats which I mentioned earlier had swiftly been fulfilled and that the persecutor had come to a fitting end.

87 (55) Antony was amazingly unassuming when he advised others who came to him, urging them to forget secular honour and seek the happiness of a more remote life. If there were any who were oppressed by those more powerful than themselves and who were unable to obtain justice, he defended them so strenuously that he seemed to be suffering the injustice on their behalf. Many found the words spoken by this exceptional old man useful; many, who had abandoned great riches and high military rank, were eager to join him in his way of life. To sum up an infinite number of points in a brief phrase, Christ granted Egypt an excellent doctor. Whose sadness was not transformed into joy in Antony’s presence? Whose anger was not turned to peace? Was there anyone whose grief in bereavement was not allayed at the sight of Antony? Was there anyone who did not cast off his dissatisfaction with the poverty oppressing him and immediately scorn the opulence of wealth and rejoice in his poverty? What monk who had lost his enthusiasm was not invigorated by Antony’s encouragement? What young man, inflamed with desire, did not dedicate himself to chastity as a result of Antony’s advice? What person, tormented by the devil, went away without a cure? Was there anyone, distracted by the enemy’s thoughts, who did not have the mental disturbance clouding his perceptions dispelled and who did not go back home in a serene state of mind?

88 Antony was able to perceive each person’s misfortune for he had been granted the gift of discerning spirits on account of his virtuous life. He could therefore apply a cure for each disease, according to what wounds he found. And so it happened that as a result of his teachings all the devil’s traps were exposed. There were also many girls who were engaged to be married: when they saw him they turned away from the very marriage bed, so to speak, and sank into the embrace of mother Church. What more need I say? People came to him in great numbers from all over the world and all the different nationalities rejoiced to see this man fighting so valiantly against the devil. No one complained that his visit to Antony had been wasted; in fact they all found the efforts they had spent pleasurable and delightful. They received ample compensation for the tiring nature of the journey, as the outcome proved. After his death, although they all suffered the wound of bereavement together, it was as if each of them grieved for him as for his own father.

89 (56) As to what the end of his life was like, it is right that I should tell you about it and that you should hear about it, as you wish to, for this was also something concerning him which everyone else can imitate. He came as usual to visit the brothers who were living at the Outer Mountain. While he was there he learned from divine providence of his own death. He then began to speak in the following words, ‘My dear sons, listen to your father’s last thoughts; for I do not think that we will see you again in this life. Nature’s laws compel me now to be released from this life after a century, which I have exceeded by five years.’ This speech of his filled the hearts of his listeners with sorrow and his sad words provoked sighs and tears. They all embraced him as if he were now withdrawing from the world, but Antony spoke to them with great joy as if he were leaving foreign lands and was about to set out for his own country. He said that they should not allow idleness to creep into their way of life and they must guard their souls from sordid thoughts, behaving as if they were going to die each day, as he had said before. They should emulate the saints in all things and not go anywhere near the Melitian schismatics. ‘For you are aware,’ he said, ‘of their long-standing perversity; neither should you join in communion with the Arians because their impiety is now obvious to everyone.’ To these things he added that no Christian, seeing the secular powers fighting in support of the Arian and Melitian wickedness, should be frightened into departing from the truth of Christ; the heretics’ defence was that of mere mortals and this deceptive illusion could not last for long. ‘And so,’ he said, ‘true faith in Christ and the religious traditions of the fathers must be protected; this is what you have learned from your reading of the Scriptures and what I have often reminded you of.’

90 (57) When he had finished speaking, the brothers forcibly detained him for they were very keen to gain the honour of their father’s glorious end. But he protested against this for many reasons which he indicated even by his silence, but particularly because of that tradition which was taken for granted among the Egyptians. For it is customary for Egyptians to wrap in linen cloths the bodies of those they think worthy, and especially of the blessed martyrs, and to accord them the usual funeral rites; however, they do not bury them in the earth but lay them on beds at home and preserve them. Age-old custom, though pointless, has made it a tradition for this honour to be accorded to the dead. Regarding this matter Antony had often asked the bishops to put the people right by means of an ecclesiastical decree, and he himself addressed lay men and women quite sternly, saying that this was neither permissible nor pleasing to God. Did not the tombs of the patriarchs and prophets which have lasted until our day convince them of this? He told them that they should consider also the example of the Lord’s body: it was placed in a tomb which was closed with a rock until the third day, the day of resurrection.¹⁴⁴ By these means he demonstrated that this Egyptian practice with regard to the dead was wrong, even in the case of the bodies of holy men. He would argue, ‘Whose body is greater or more holy than the Lord’s? Yet we know that it was buried in the ground according to other nations’ customs.’ His reasonable argument freed many from this deep-seated error, with the result that they buried their corpses in the earth and gave thanks to the Lord that they had been well taught.

91 And so, fearing, that the monks might fall into the same error and treat his body according to this particular custom, Antony hurriedly said goodbye to those who had gathered there and returned to his dwelling, the friend of his virtue.

(58) A few months later when his ageing limbs began to be troubled by some discomfort, he summoned two brothers whom some fifteen years earlier he had established a short distance away and who had begun to look after him now that he was old. He said to them, ‘My dear sons, I am going the way of the fathers, to use the words of Scripture,¹⁴⁵ for the Lord is now summoning me and I long to see heaven. But I warn you who are closest to me not to waste in one moment all the hard work you have put in over a long period. You must think that it is only today that you have started on your life of religious endeavour and allow the strength of your commitment to grow as if it had just begun. You are aware of the many different means the demons have of deceiving you; you have seen that their attacks are savage but that their strength has been rendered powerless. Draw inspiration from Jesus and set your faith in His name firmly in your minds: then all the demons will be put to flight by the sure faith. Remember also my words of advice and the instability of the human condition; re-examine this fluctuating life each day and then the heavenly prize will be awarded to you without delay. Avoid, too, the schismatics’ and heretics’ poisons and seek to imitate me in hating them because they are the enemies of Christ. You yourselves know that I have never held a conciliatory conversation with them on account of their perverted will and the war they persistently wage against Christ. Instead you should be concerned to keep the Lord’s commandments so that after your death the saints may receive you into the eternal tabernacles¹⁴⁶ like well-known friends. Think on these things, be inspired by these things, repeat these things. And if you have any love for me, if you remember your father, if you wish to demonstrate an attitude of loving obedience, let no one carry my remains to Egypt, for I do not want my body to be preserved¹⁴⁷ for empty honours nor do I want those rites of the practice I have censured to be carried out for me. It is for this reason in particular that I have come back here. You must cover your father’s humble body with earth and bury it. Carry out also this order given to you by this old man who is yours: let no one apart from your dear selves know the place of my tomb. I trust in the Lord that this humble body will rise uncorrupt at the appointed time of resurrection.¹⁴⁸ Let my clothes be divided in the following way: please give to Athanasius this sheepskin and the worn cloak¹⁴⁹ on which I am lying, because he gave it to me when it was new. Let bishop Serapion receive the other sheepskin. You must have my hair shirt. Farewell, you who are closest to me. For Antony is departing: no longer will he be with you in the present life.’

92 (59) He had finished speaking and when his disciples had kissed him, he stretched his feet out a little and looked upon death with joy. They could tell by his cheerful expression that the holy angels who had come down to carry away his soul were present. When he saw the angels, he looked upon them as friends and breathing out his spirit he went to join the fathers, in accordance with the practice recorded in the Scriptures. His disciples carried out his orders: they wrapped his body (as he had told them to) and covered it with earth. And no one apart from them knows to this day where he is buried. The legatee¹⁵⁰ of the blessed Antony who had been deemed worthy of receiving the worn cloak and the sheepskin according to Antony’s orders, embraces Antony in Antony’s gifts: this garment causes him to remember with joy the paragon of holiness as if a large inheritance had made him wealthy.

93 (60) This was how Antony’s life ended, these were his principal virtues. Although, as I said before, I ought to have given a shorter account of them, yet these will enable you to understand how this man of God progressed from childhood to old age and how he always trampled on any doubts and never made any concessions to weariness or to his great age. Instead he maintained his commitment steadfastly: he did not change his clothes or wash his feet, nor did he request more delicate food. On account of his goodness, he retained his sharp eyesight and all his teeth (although they appeared somewhat worn down because of his old age), as well as his ability to walk, indeed the strength of his whole body, contrary to the laws of nature. In fact, his body looked healthier than those glistening bodies which are pampered by baths and luxurious living.

(61) To whom then, my brother, can we attribute the fact that his fame and love have spread throughout all the provinces, he who won fame not through the dazzling discourse of books that have been circulated far and wide nor by means of the arguments of worldly wisdom nor because of his family’s nobility nor the accumulation of great wealth? To whom if not to Christ whose gift this is? Foreseeing Antony’s devotion to His divine majesty He revealed this man who was almost hidden in another world, set in the midst of such vast areas of solitude. He revealed him to Africa, Spain, Gaul, Italy, Illyria, even to Rome itself, the first city, as He had promised in the beginning. For this occurred as a result of the Creator’s kindness, He who always raises His servants to nobility, even against their will, so that they might learn that virtue is possible and not beyond the bounds of human nature and so that all the best people might thus be impelled by the fruit of his labour to imitate his blessed life.

94 (62) Read this book very carefully to the brothers so that, when they learn about the faithful life of these outstanding monks, they may know that our Saviour Jesus Christ glorifies those who glorify Him and grants the nobility of fame to those who serve Him and who long not only for the kingdom of heaven but also wish to lead a life of withdrawal in remote mountain places. They do this so that they themselves might win praise for their virtues and so that others may be spurred on by their examples. But if it should prove necessary, read this also to the pagans so that they may in this way recognize not only that our Lord Jesus Christ is God, the Son of God, but also that to those who worship Him diligently and who believe in Him faithfully He grants the power to trample upon and cast out the demons whom they consider to be gods, but who are really deceivers of men and devisers of all corruption.

Evagrius’ epilogue to his translation

And so we beg those sensible people who wish to read this piece of writing to look benevolently if we have been unable to convey the force of the Greek text in translating it into Latin: if this is the case, then it is contrary to our intention. We were unwilling to do this translation not because we bore any ill will but because we were well aware that the Greek text, when translated into Latin, might lose its power. Yet we thought it preferable for the Greek text to be subjected to this rather than that those who would read the Greek text in some form of translation should be cheated of a profit which could make them divine. May the almighty God who cooperated with this great man to produce such things cooperate also with us to imitate him, even in part, so that his name may shine clearly among all the people through the teacher and encourager and redeemer and our Saviour Lord Jesus with the Holy Spirit, to whom is splendour and everlasting power for ever and ever.

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