the life of Anthony, which as you recall from last week in the Vitae Patrum, belongs in Book 1 of the Vitae Patrum, along with all of his other lives of the fathers. And this life of Anthony is probably the most important of the lives of the fathers in that Book 1. We'll take a look at the life by Athanasius. and then the biography of Anthony that we find according to that life, and then we'll go on to the doctrine of monastic life that we find in the life of Anthony. And so first of all, a little bit about Anthony, just the historical information. He was born in 250 at Coma in Middle Egypt. Now you see on this map Here's Coma, right here, which is considered Middle Egypt.

[01:05]

The northern part, around the delta, is considered Lower Egypt, and the part then where Pecomius would be, up around the cataracts, is Upper Egypt. So we speak of Lower and Upper Egypt. These barnwrights are in the middle, but really belongs to Lower Egypt mentality, as we will see. Anthony died in 356. He was 105 years old when he died. Now, information concerning him comes especially from the life of Anthony written by Saint Athanasius in the year 357, which is one year after Anthony's death. And Athanasius is the Archbishop of Alexandria up here in Lower Egypt at the Delta. Anthony's existence is attested to by other documents besides this life by Athanasius. For instance, he's mentioned in the Apothekma De Patrem, or the Sayings of the Fathers, and as you read the Sayings of the Fathers later on, you're going to come up to sayings where it says, Abba Anthony said, or this is the Anthony of the Desert.

[02:18]

He's also mentioned in the Lousiac History, which we're going to take a look at later, And he's mentioned in the history of the monks of Egypt, which is by Rufinus, as we saw, I think it's Book 2 of the Vitae Patrum. He's mentioned in Sozomun's church history and also in the letter of Saint Jerome. So he's attested to by a number of ancient documents. His life is found in Patrologia or the Greek Patrology of Me, in volume 26. There's also a Latin translation in Latin Me, in PL 73. And then, as you know, we have the English translations by Mayer and ancient Christian writers. in the early Christian biographies of the Fathers of the Church, Incorporated. It's in this Wallace Budge, the Syriac tradition of the life of Anthony.

[03:21]

And there's a very fine book out by Louis Bouyer called The Life of Anthony, in French, which is a critique and analysis of the whole life of Anthony. He calls it an essay on the spirituality of primitive monasticism. I'm in the process of reading that right now. There's also a so-called Rule of Antony, which is found in the Greek Petrology of Mean in Volume 40. But this is not authentic and has merely been drawn from his writings or from his life and from the Apothegmata. I don't know for sure how ancient this rule is, but it is based on his life, and I don't know too much about the history of the rule. It was in existence by the ninth century, we know that, but when exactly it was written, we're not so sure. With that brief background, we'll go more particularly into the life of Anthony by Athanasius.

[04:28]

First of all, looking at the literary form and then the contents. the authenticity and historical value, a little bit about the spiritual doctrine in general, and then its popularity. With regard to the literary form, and always a literary form is important for understanding these documents because the author is saying something rather important by literary form. This is the same technique that we have in sacred scripture. It's not enough just to know the content of the scripture, but the literary form in which something is found is extremely important for understanding. As, for instance, the book of the Apocalypse. This has always been a very problematic book in scripture study. The literary form is an apocalyptic form, and so this right away tells you or cautions you about how to interpret numbers and places and names. And if we don't appreciate that literary form, there's going to be a total misunderstanding.

[05:34]

of what the book of the Apocalypse or Revelations is trying to say to us. So it's the same way with the life of Anthony. The literary form is important to understand what Athanasius is trying to do. It is in a literary form of an encomium. That is, it's a narration in which a hero is warmly and highly praised. So it's a praise of the hero. Now, using these encomiums, which is an ancient literary form, and we find it especially in Greek philosophy and Greek history, you find the nationality, the parentage, a little bit about the education and youth of the hero, and then an alluberation of his good qualities. So it's really a song of praise. You recall at the end of the book of Ben Sirach, which we've been reading at the Office of Readings, we have this encomium of the ancient fathers. It goes through all of the ancient fathers of Israel and gives them a song of praise, and usually in very flowery language.

[06:39]

In this writing, this encomium by Athanasius, the author wants to show that his hero, Anthony, is a model for others as they seek perfection in the ascetic life or what we would call the monastic life. So what he's really doing is presenting his hero as a model, and he's going to say this specifically, that Anthony is a model for monks. This life of Anthony may have had its model in the lives of the Greek philosophers. And if you recall the Greek philosophers, many lives of them written, especially there's a life by Plotinus on the life of Porphyry. This was famous in early centuries. and the life of Anthony is very similar in form to this life of Porphyry by Plotinus. Thus it may be that Athanasius, in writing this life of Anthony, is trying to show that Anthony is

[07:46]

just as good as Porphyry, the Greek philosopher, and he even goes so far as to say he's better than a Greek philosopher. So right away you see that one of the things he's doing, Athanasius, is writing against Greek philosophy and the praise of Greek philosophy or its position that Greek philosophy was supposed to bring a person to beatitude, to happiness. Athanasius is saying maybe that Greek philosophy is not what's going to bring you this perfection, but rather look at Anthony. This is the one you really come to happiness, to beatitude. But whatever its model, the life of Anthony was the earliest form of Christian biography, what we would call hagiography. The word hagiography comes from the two Greek words hagios and graphos, which means holy writings. And then you have this whole corpus of hagiography. The dialogues of Greek, these are Greek, for instance, in the 6th century, 7th century, are hagiography.

[08:55]

And there's a particular type of writing in this hagiography. And so that Antony's life, which was really the first of this, becomes sort of the norm or the outline, the skeleton, for future writings of Christian biography. So in turn, it became the model for the lives of the saints, as for instance, Jerome's life of Paul, which is in the Vitae Patrum, or Jerome's life of Hilarion, And, as I mentioned, Gregory's life of Benedict in the second book of the Dialogues. Would hagiography then be a literary form that's on right after it caught on? Right, but then you have to make a distinction. We still have hagiography today, but the type of hagiography we write today is much different than this early century's hagiography. When you speak of hagiography, you usually mean this early literature about holy men and holy women. And if you've read a number of these lives, you see that they all fit into the same pattern, sort of stereotyped.

[10:02]

You just plug in the name and the dates and the places for somebody, but they're all doing pretty much the same thing. So that takes care of the literary form. of the Life of Anthony by Athanasius. Now we'll look just briefly at the contents. What do we find when we read this Life of Anthony? There's a prologue and 94 chapters. And what you find in this prologue and 94 chapters are details of Anthony's life as well as monastic doctrine. So you have a little bit about life and it is on the skeleton of his life that Athanasius presents the monastic theory or doctrine of Anthony. The outline basically follows Anthony's progressive path in asceticism. And what you discover as you follow the timeline in the life of Anthony is that Anthony keeps withdrawing further and further.

[11:02]

So he withdraws from his own home to the tombs in the village, from the tombs in the village to the desert, and then deeper into the desert, and constantly there's sort of thrust deeper and deeper within to the desert. So it's a movement into, a withdrawal movement. This is interesting because the name anchorite comes from the Greek anachoresis, and anachoresis means to withdraw. The whole theme of withdrawal is very strong in the life of Anthony. Now, I would just mention to you at this point that this is a theme which we don't find so strong in cenobitic literature. It is eremitic in its basis, that is, the hermit who withdraws. The Cenobite doesn't emphasize this anachoresis, this withdrawal. Renunciation, yes, but not withdrawal. There's a section from chapter 16 to 43, which is one-fourth of the total of the whole life

[12:10]

which is an address given to monks by Anthony. And so this is an extremely important section. Anthony is talking to his monks, or the brothers who have put themselves under his supervision. And in this section, from chapters 16 to 43, is really where you find the core of his monastic life and his doctrine. Here we find the discussion of the meaning of monastic life, the purpose of asceticism, and the virtues to be practiced. Now, I'm intrigued and wondering whether or not it isn't this core section of the life of Anthony which may be the basis for the so-called rule of Anthony. I'd like to make that sort of analysis and see if this isn't what they've taken out and regularized. In this section, Anthony's demonology is presented very strongly. And in this section, then, the criterion for the discernment of spirits is given.

[13:14]

John Quaston, in Volume 3 of his Patrology, page 148, gives the following brief outline of the contents of the life of Anthony. He divided it into seven sections, and I think it's a pretty good outline that you get a general idea of what's there. The first section is from chapter 1 to 15. That basically is a narration of the birth, youth and call of Anthony until the time when he goes into the desert. and becomes a father and teacher of monks. So it sets the stage. Everything in his early life up to the point where he becomes a father of monks. Immediately follows section 2, the address to the monks, chapters 16 to 43, which I've mentioned is, you could consider, the real core, the center of the life of Anthony with regard to his doctrine on monasticism.

[14:24]

The third section is from chapter 44 to 71. This has got a number of different elements in it. Basically, it's his longing for martyrdom, his visits to the brothers along the Niles, his many miracles and visions, and his loyalty to the faith against the Aryans. Now, that point is important. Anthony's loyalty to the orthodox faith against the Aryans. Right away that tells us that here Athanasius may be using Anthony for his own arguments. You recall that Athanasius is a defender of orthodoxy against Aryanism. And here he has somebody, a hero, that he can use to be polemic against the Arians. And this is important because part of the purpose of the life of Anthony is to show that Jesus Christ, God-man, is the one who is victorious over the devil in his body and in his divinity.

[15:28]

And so he's using this almost as a Christological treatise, the life of Anthony. Now, we've got to remember this when we read the life of Anthony, that Athanasius is doing this, and he's saying that the best argument against the Arians is Anthony and the life of Anthony, which tells us something about the meaning of ascetic life or monastic life. It is an example of the victory of orthodoxy. If you want orthodoxy, look at how Anthony lived, what he did. Then we have the fourth section is chapter 72 to 80, which is a practical discussion on wisdom against the Greeks on idolatry. Here we will get the classical argument of reason versus faith. What is the relationship between reason and faith? So here we have a very early Christian treatise on this problem of Christian faith versus human reason, very similar in a way to Paul's letter to the Corinthians, the first letter of the folly of the cross against the wisdom of this world.

[16:46]

Then we have just chapter 81, which is Constantine's letter to Anthony. And if I'm not mistaken, Anthony writes a letter back to Constantine. Chapters 82 to 93 are prophecies and his death. And then finally, an epilogue, chapter 94, which is an admonition to the monks by Athanasius to read the life of Anthony. But that's the basic content. When you read the life of Anthony, unless you have some idea of where you're going, you can get all bogged down in the tombs with all the demons. So this may help you a little bit to see what's in that life and what to expect. The next point is with regard to the authenticity and the historical value of this life of Anthony. Gregory Nadzienzus, one of the Cappadocians, a friend of Basil of Cappadocia, wrote a panegyric of Athanasius in 379.

[17:54]

A panegyric is sort of a eulogy at somebody's death. It comes from the two Greek words, pan perikos, I think those are the two Greek words, which means all the works. So it's a praise of everything somebody has done in their life and it's usually given at somebody's death, the panegyric. And in this panegyric of Athanasius, He mentions the life of Anthony as one of his writings. So notice that's 379. That's 20 years after the life of Anthony has been written. So Gregory Nazianzus recognizes that this man, Athanasius, did write this life of Anthony. Even Jerome attributes the life to Athanasius in his book, De Viris Illustribus. And that book by Jerome was written in 392. Also, Jerome mentions a Latin translation by Evadrius at the same time in this book.

[18:58]

So, already within the century, we find outside references to this life of Anthony, and to the Latin translation, which is already in existence. This is 379, when Evagrius wrote his Latin translation? No, well, somewhere around there. Evagrius wrote within 20 years after. They haven't dated it specifically. I think sometimes they give the date of 374. I think Jerome, in 392, and he knows that this Evagrian translation is already in existence. So you see, all of these dates help us see that it's very early, people recognize it, and that it's being translated into Latin. Actually, there were two translations into Latin within 20 years after it was written. One by Evagrius and one by an anonymous author. We don't know who translated it. Athanasius puts two long arguments in the mouth of his hero Anthony. This chapter 16 to 43, which we saw, is a discourse to monks and is a summary of the ascetic doctrine of Anthony.

[20:04]

And then another long discourse from chapter 72 to 8, which is an apologia addressed to Greek philosophers. And this is really pretty Athanasian. Both of these sections are rhetorical compositions and reflect the mind of the author, Athanasius. Now, here's where the question of authenticity comes in. Were these main sections merely Athanasius speaking, or did they have a foundation in this man called Anthony? Now, there's no reason to deny that they reflect and mirror Anthony's thought, because Athanasius spent some time in the desert in his exiles with Anthony. He was very close to Antony, so Antony would have had an effect upon him, and vice versa. So even though this is Athanasius' writing, it could very well reflect Antony's ideas, especially if it's true with regard to the address to the monks. But always we have the question, is this Athanasius' idea of monasticism, or is it really Antony's idea?

[21:08]

That doesn't make much difference, because it's very early, both of them. Was Athanasius a monk before he was a bishop? Not specifically, no. Not in the sense that we would call him a monk. But he was, I suppose, an ascetic and was very interested in the ascetic life. But what is a monk? I mean, he never had vows anywhere. There was nothing like that in those days. But he lived in the desert for a while, especially after India's exile. But I don't think he had any intention of following this movement into the desert to live there. He's pretty much a clerical man all his life. For instance, at the Council of Nicaea before he's bishop, which the Council of Nicaea is the one that condemned Arianism, he was a deacon who went with, I think it was Theophilus at the time, to the Council of Nicaea. So he's pretty much in that kind of a circle most of his life. Anthony's struggles with the demons, which have always been a question whether this is historical or not, and as you read this psychedelic picture which you are presented with, are very similar to the recorded experiences of other Christians.

[22:23]

For instance, in our own times, you may be familiar with the Curé des Arts, St. John Vianney, who had his rapon, we used to throw the potatoes at him and knock him out of bed and do all sorts of things. And this, historically verifiable, if you believe St. John V&A, and many of the things that Anthony experienced are very similar to what other saints have recorded in their own life. And so we can't just say that all of this demonology in the life of Anthony is mere fantasy, or merely explained because of psychological problems. Now, we have to grant that the narration is filled with symbols and images, but there's some basis in reality for what's going on here. Before we look at the ancient and medieval popularity, a little brief look at the spiritual doctrine of Antony, especially as it comes up in chapters 16 to 43, which is that central core section, which is the address to the monks.

[23:35]

Now, remember, it's difficult to separate the ideas of Anthony from those of Athanasius, but no matter who is predominant here in thinking, we're seeing a fourth-century concept of the ascetic life. That's really the important thing. Athanasius uses this occasion to express his own opinions concerning the perfect life or the ascetic life. But Athanasius was well acquainted with the monks of Egypt and had been influenced by their ascetic ideas. At the beginning of this discourse, Anthony insists on perseverance and the vanity of earthly goods. He says that the soul is naturally oriented to good, and that the ascetic life aims at ensuring the natural state of man. This is a theme which is going to come up over and over again in the early fathers, and especially like in the Cappadocian fathers, that what the Christian is doing through asceticism is returning to paradise.

[24:41]

Maybe this is the reason the Syriac tradition calls this Vitae Patrum collection, the Paradise of the Fathers. I don't know for sure why they call it the Paradise of the Fathers. You have this theme of the return to paradise, and through eradication of vices and denial of sin, one goes back into the same position that Adam enjoyed in his familiarity with God. And so we find this in the life of Anthony, in this section, that the ascetic life really aims at putting man in his perfectly beautiful, balanced, natural state. Now, don't confuse supernatural and natural. I don't want to get into that argument. But just the beauty of the first man. And so you following the ascetic pattern will be what you were, what man was, what you should have been. You will be living in paradise. Also, this is an explanation for the Desert Fathers always taming wild animals, even in the desert.

[25:47]

See, the desert has become the paradise, because it is here where animals are tamed, where people live in harmony, where you have that pristine beauty, and one of the things we find in the life of Anthony that Anthony, after he spent 35 years in complete solitude, appears one day, all the teeth in his mouth, radiant with joy, like a young man. All of this beauty that comes out in the ascetic life. For the Greeks, in order to gain this perfection, this beatitude, one was a philosopher. Now, Athanasius was saying, it's not through Greek philosophy that you're going to find beatitude. the perfection of your natural life, but it is through an ascetic way of life. Now a good means of progress in asceticism is to imitate those who excel in one or the other virtues. So we have people that we are to imitate in our ascetic way of life.

[26:50]

The grand adversary of the monk in this asceticism in trying to become the person that he should have been and is called to be is, of course, the devil. And thus monastic life, the ascetic life, is a constant struggle against the devil, because the devil suggests evil thoughts and he tries to terrorize the monk by extraordinary fantasies. Just as he destroyed man in paradise, and caused all of the disruption of natural beauty, so now when man is trying to regain that, the devil's going to be there trying to destroy him. But in reality, the devil is very weak and can be conquered because Jesus Christ is victorious. The monk must then, above all, pray. and must constantly fortify himself with the sign of the cross. This beautiful teaching in the early monastic life and in early spirituality, the power of the sign of the cross.

[27:57]

When you're tempted, you make the sign of the cross because the devil can't stand to see that sign made. And this is a sign of the victory of Jesus Christ. And then, of course, the monk must fast and lead a regular and disciplined life. All of the ascetic practices have as their purpose to combat the devil and to show the victory of Jesus Christ. In this context, then, with the battle of the devil, we find the discernment of spirits. The devil can often appear as an angel of light, and he can even inspire the monk to spend time in prayer. And Anthony says we must be very careful about this deception of the devil. The good spirits will produce joy, tranquility, and confidence. But here we have the beginning of that whole theme in Christian spirituality of discernment of spirits. But notice it's in the context of the devil's fight, the monk's fight against the devil in his trying to regain

[29:07]

the natural perfection. Please remember I'm saying natural and I'm not contrasting it with supernatural here. Then we look at the ancient and medieval popularity of the life of Anthony. The life of Anthony enjoyed a great popularity and was influential already in antiquity, as we know from the various historical testimonies concerning Anthony. He was not the first to leave his family and live in solitude, as far as we can tell, but his example became contagious, and with the publication of his life, people began flocking in a way to the desert as they had never flocked before, in imitation of him. And so Anthony became the master of the anchoritic life, and monks began to gather, even before his death, around him. Because he was well-known even before he died, he became very popular, and very well-known all over the Mediterranean.

[30:11]

Now these monks lived a semi-eremitic life, coming together for instructions and the celebration of the Eucharist. Athanasius was twice exiled in the West before the death of Antony. In 336 he was exiled to Trier, which is in modern Germany, and then later on he was exiled at Rome, Milan, and again visited Trier. He probably took some monks from the desert with him on this exile, and thus he also visited Athanasius in Alexandria during the persecution. And Athanasius had spent time in the desert with Anthony during some of his exiles. So these men were certainly related to one another and knew one another. And so Athanasius could well inform the West about Anthony. Now, according to the prologue, Athanasius wrote the life of Anthony for monks in foreign parts.

[31:14]

And what this means is monks in the West. Evagrius translated the life of Anthony into Latin around 370, and even before that it had been translated by an anonymous author into Latin. Thus we see that within 20 years after its composition, it could already be read in modern-day France or in Gaul, and it was being read there. The Life of Anthony became the literary forerunner of Jerome's Lives of Paul and Hilarion, and we know from the Confessions of Augustine, written around 397, that one of the deciding factors in his conversion was the reading of the Life of Anthony. We read in Book Eight of the Confessions. Then when I told him, Ponticianus, that I spent a great deal of effort in reading of scriptures, he began to tell me the story of Anthony. the Egyptian monk, whose name was famous among your servants, but up to then was unknown to us."

[32:17]

So here's Augustine in 397, 40 years after the life is written, reading it and being greatly influenced by it. And as you know, Augustine will go on to set up a certain type of monastic life in Hipple, Probably the most popular aspect of Anthony, in relationship to culture, is the rich imagery and symbolism which we find in his writings, especially in the Temptations by the Devil, which have become a favorite theme for medieval artists. There's one of the books in the Horizon series which shows pictures of various presentations of this life of Anthony. I think one of the famous ones is Hieronymus Bosch. I don't know if you've ever seen that picture of his life of Anthony, or the temptations of Anthony.

[33:18]

just gruesome animals, just really psychedelic. You'd think a person was on a trip or something. Hieronymus Bosch, I think, is 16th or 17th century. I'm not sure when it is, but he's one of those Renaissance painters. And throughout the Middle Ages, you can go through and you can find a lot of triptychs or diptychs displaying the life of Anthony. It would be a very good project to try to find all of these pictures that have been produced over the centuries of the temptations of Anthony in the tomb. because it's been a very popular thing for artists, just as the apocalypse was in the New Testament, because you find this rich, rich imagery and rich, rich symbolism, and your mind can just go wild on it, and the artists have loved to do that. We come now to the second major part of the presentation. That first part was the life of Anthony by the Athanasius. Now we come to the biography of Anthony, which we find according to this list of Anthony by Athanasius.

[34:23]

What is the life which we find in this book called The Life of Anthony? As I mentioned to you, the timeline in Athanasius' Life of Anthony is a line of deeper withdrawal and progressive entry into the depths of the desert. And so what we find is a progressive advance of Anthony into ascetical practices. The further Anthony goes into the desert, the more ascetical he becomes. These two things are co-related. His penetration into the desert is parallel with and dependent upon his penetration into the depths of ascetical life. and one of them merely is the external manifestation, you might say, of this deep internal ascetic withdrawal and presence to God. Born in 250 at Coma in Middle Egypt, he lived a quiet life with his parents, who were well-to-do Christians.

[35:29]

This is interesting because when we get to Pocomius, we see Pocomius didn't come from a Christian family, but from a pagan family, where Anthony comes from a Christian family. He enjoyed a simple life at home, but he wasn't too much on school. He didn't like the official school or education. He wasn't much for that. When he was 18 to 20, his parents died, and they left Anthony with the care of his one sister. Six months later, on his way to church, he was thinking about how the apostles left all to follow Christ, and how the episodic church had held all things in common. So he's going to church and he's thinking about this. And when he gets to church, he hears this gospel text proclaimed. Go sell all you have and follow me. Matthew 19, 21. And so he went out and he sold his property, but kept just enough to keep his sister in some sort of comfortable existence.

[36:36]

Then he went back to church one day and he heard another gospel text and it said, Be not solicitous for the morrow, Matthew 6, 34. And then he gave away everything and put his sister in a convent. Because you see, the next text it said, Don't worry about tomorrow. Get rid of everything. And so he did. And then he began living an ascetic life near his home. Now this would have been around 270 A.D. After his initiation into the ascetic life, in which he imitated and learned from other ascetics, notice he's learning from people who are already living the ascetic life, Anthony withdrew to live in the abandoned tombs at some distance from the village. Usually in antiquity the tombs were outside of the village itself. There's where you had the cemeteries. Anthony withdraws and goes to these tombs and he lives in these tombs.

[37:38]

In this retreat, he had his first confrontation and struggle with the demons. What we notice in antiquity, these monks are always going to tombs to live. Now this tells us something about our mentality. A tomb is the reign of death. The reign of death is the reign of the devil, of Satan. You go to where Satan is in control, into his royal domain, and there you confront him. which tells us why they're going to tombs and why they're going to pagan temples, because a pagan temple is the same thing. It's the domain of Satan. And you go there where the devil has his standard flying, and you confront him with the victory of Jesus Christ. But see, the whole thrust of their life then is to show this victory of Jesus Christ, which is a very inspiring attitude towards what monastic life means. He spent his time in the tombs fighting the temptations of the flesh and the attacks of the demons.

[38:44]

So he had internal disturbances, temptations of the flesh, and the demons externally attacking him. He remained in the tombs until he was 35 years old. That is, until about 285. So that would have put him in the tombs from the time that he began his ascetic life until the time that he left the tombs would have been about 15 years that he would have spent in this kind of life. Then he left the retreat of the tombs and moved to the right side of the Nile to the outer mountain at Pispir. See, here is his coma on the map. Now he's moving over to the right side of the Nile and this place called Pispir, which is called the outer mountain. and there he occupied a deserted fort. Pispera is on the east bank of the Nile, about 50 miles south of Memphis. The Nitrian Desert, which is the place where you find the fathers of the desert for the sayings of the father, lay to the northwest across the Nile, directly south of Alexandria.

[39:56]

Now to the south of Hericiopolis. On both sides of the Nile lay the great desert of the Teviad, which where Pachomius is going to be, the home of later Egyptian monasticism or Cenobitism. Now, Anthony remained here at Pisper in solitude for 20 years, or until about 305, when he was 55 years old. So now he remains in a deeper solitude for 20 years. Then his friends came to him and begged him to be their spiritual father. So after this rather long life in solitude, people come and say, please be our spiritual father. And it is in this context, then, that Anthony gives his long discourse on the vocation of a monk, on demonology and the discernment of spirits, that chapter 16 to 43, which is the core of his life. But see, he's already had a lot of experience in demonology and in the discernment of spirits, and so he's prepared now to tell other people what he's experienced.

[41:02]

During the persecution of Maximandiah in 311, Anthony left the desert to go into Alexandria to minister to the confessors in the mines and in the prisons. And Anthony expressed a great desire himself to be a martyr, but this was denied him. After the persecution was over, Anthony returned to his solitary cell in order, as he says, to live the daily martyrdom of a monk. Now, we'll go into this theme of martyrdom a little later. Sometime later, about 313 A.D., so about the time of the Peace of Constantine, Anthony withdrew even further into the desert to what you call the Inner Mountain. This is Mount Khorzim, which lies in the open desert on the South Kahala Plateau, approximately 100 miles southeast of Cairo, 75 miles east of the Nile, and 20 miles west of the Red Sea.

[42:09]

Sometimes it's also called, well, it's also called Mount Anthony at times. This mountain, with the ancient monastery of Saint Anthony, is still called the Der Mar Antonios. And here Anthony spent his time in prayer and meditation and cultivated a small garden. See what he's done though. He's constantly penetrated into the recesses of the desert, from the outer mountain into the inner mountain. Now, Anthony left this retreat on regular trips to visit and console his spiritual sons, because many people were gathering around him, and already the Nitrian Desert was growing up, and the Steep and the Desert of the Cells, and these people called Anthony their spiritual father. Apparently, he would leave the inner mountain and come over into that area to talk to the men, or they would go talk to him. It was during this period that Anthony became famous as a wonder worker and a healer of bodies and of souls.

[43:11]

He has now become a spirit-filled man in the fullest sense of the word, and he's become a teacher, a doctor, and a healer of souls. And then in this context we find that discourse to pagan philosophers, chapters 72 to 80. So it's at the perfection of his life when he talks to the pagan philosophers, also his correspondence with the emperor Constantine, and his repeated insistence on orthodoxy, this contrast against Arianism. So it's at the perfection of his life Now, he's really orthodox in every sense, that he can combat these people. He died in 355-356 at the age of 105. And then, according to Athanasius, who wrote his life one year later in 357, Anthony was already well-known in his lifetime in Spain, Gaul, Rome, and Africa. So he was well-known throughout the Mediterranean world.

[44:16]

And Kisbir had become the center of solitary life in Egypt. Are there any observations or questions up to this point before we go into the novel, Doctrine? Yes. Is there a sort of symbolism, or is it something special about this letter from Constantine? Or is it just showing his popularity, how well he was known? One of the things, I don't recall what the letter is about, but one of the things it shows the master of the universe, Constantine, the emperor of the whole world, would write to this unknown man in the desert? Why should somebody be concerned, somebody like Constantine, who has everybody at his disposal, write to Anthony? Which tells us something about Anthony's popularity. It's very similar, as we'll see later on, in Syria. The Syrian ascetics became the confidants and, to a great extent, the powers behind the throne. These emperors would not do a thing which they thought that these stylites would not like.

[45:24]

The ascetics had that much popularity and control over situations, which tells us something about, I suppose, political influence of monasticism. Anthony was not trying to be politically influential. And yet his very way of life brought him this political involvement and orthodox involvement, the problem of fighting against the Aryans, all of these things. Anthony, what his main trust is to withdraw, to get away from society. And what we find is society following him. And the more he withdraws, well, he has to withdraw because every time he goes someplace, people just flock to him. So, yeah, well, get out of here and go somewhere else. And there they flock to him again. But the great influence that these people in the desert had upon the contemporary society, and even politically, which is a paradox and something which I think we should reflect upon.

[46:33]

That's interesting. Maybe talking about what it says relevantly to us today is, we will be a greater impact socially, politically, by being what we are and who we are to be, rather than trying to dabble openly and publicly in politics. Now, maybe that's a prejudicial statement, but that's the way I read the old texts. Anthony didn't, he wasn't interested in the court, and yet people, you know, the side defense in the court had less influence on Constantine, possibly, than Anthony. Certainly in Syria that's the case. Which should warn us that it's the whole question of Christian witness. Christian witness is authentic and will be powerful. and make its impact, not because it tries to be witness, but because it tries to be what it is, Christian.

[47:40]

And then it will witness. And I think the more you try to be a witness, and wave banners, and put up signs, and be over-concerned about your witness aspect, the less successful you may be. I think I've mentioned to you this woman in Rome, the Camaldolese recluse, This woman is probably one of the best-known women in Rome, and I know she's known in a number of monasteries throughout the world because of the contact with people of St. Anselmo, just knowing that she lived there. Never had any contact with anybody, except the person who gave her communion in the morning. But yet she was well-known, and people would walk by there and make a comment, well, in there lives the recluse. And she probably is better known than many of the people in the Roman Curia, some unknown archbishop who thinks he's very important.

[48:42]

And this woman, who has no overt contact, probably has a greater witness value just because of being what she is. Like someone said, when the world finds a great man, It beats a pair to his door. approach in Africa and in South America was to go places where there wasn't too much to be done. I think I remember a place in Africa especially where it was either the Trappists or the French Benedictines founded a monastery because it was so isolated. And pretty soon tribes just approached this place and started settling around it because this became a holy place and they wanted to be around it. And they didn't have to go to the people. Once they established themselves for what they were, the people just came to them. Yeah, I read where there was a cry for contemplatives to go to India, where there was a lot of more contemplative religions, you know, where they sat more still and prayed a lot more, because they thought that would have a better impact for missionary activities than people who, you know, were trying to start some new hospitals and go out among the people.

[50:06]

When we get to Syrian monasticism, which we're going to take to, I think you'll be surprised at the impact that these Syrian monks, with their rather severe attitude towards society and the world, had upon society. That they were really the centers of learning. They were sort of like islands of comfort and refuge in this massive misery of people. And yet, they didn't start out with the idea, well, let's go to the ghetto. I guess I'm being a little prejudicial here, but I'm saying that maybe we have to rethink some of our ideas about what we can contribute to society. And our greatest contribution to society, in my estimation, is to be honest to who we are. And being honest to who we are, we will have a tremendous impact upon our culture.

[51:08]

We don't have to try to find out what our impact should be, to manufacture witnessing. It's just a little prejudicial point I have about spirituality, I suppose. And I think that we find in the life of Anthony the foundation for this. It's amazing that this man, Constantine would write to him and he would write to Constantine. Now, whether this is historically true, of course, is another question. And then the same way with the life of Anthony, with regard to pagan philosophy, all of this search that the pagans have made for happiness and beatitude, Athanasius tells us Anthony found it by not looking for it in a way, by trying to follow Jesus Christ and die with Jesus Christ He found the greatest peace and happiness, and he was... Another thing I suppose that comes up here is that, you know, the Greeks have always been sort of seen as people who emphasize body cult and health.

[52:17]

Anthony comes out of the tombs after 35 years with all the teeth in his mouth, radiant with joy, healthy as a man, and he was already a hundred years old or something like that, healthy as a man in the prime of life. And maybe here again Athanasius is trying to say something. Fasting isn't going to hurt you. It's good for you. And that's the way we translate it today. Real ascetic life is not going to hurt you. It's going to perfect you for what you are. This comes to a point that the other night they brought up in the spiritual talk about the meaning of asceticism in Christian life. And I started to see that asceticism is allowing man to be the beautiful person that he really is. And there are techniques to allow this. Fasting is one of these techniques. Fasting is not something which is contrary to our nature, but is something which is life-giving to who we are.

[53:22]

And this, I think, throws a whole perspective of asceticism in another light. We're not destroying our nature, but we are allowing our nature to blossom in its fullness through proper asceticism, to bring out the beauty of what is there. Maybe this is said without too much balance in the whole thing of asceticism, but I really feel that, like Anthony and the other people, asceticism was not something which destroyed their humanity. but brought their humanity to the fullness of its perfection and its beauty. We will continue next time then on the doctrine of monastic life according to the life of Anthony. We're going to be asking certain questions of the life of Anthony and see what kind of answers we can find from it. Just what is monastic life from this life? Any questions or observations?

[54:25]

I'm just asking, but today, you know, you hear so much the idea of being yourself. And how do you relate this to, you know, asceticism and being yourself? Does asceticism enable you to really be yourself? Is that in the best sense of the word? Well, what do you think they mean today by being in the self? Well, yeah, I'm afraid that I think what they mean today is do whatever you want to do and don't hurt yourself in any way. Just be yourself without too much discipline. Just be free. I think the ancient idea of freedom and of being who you really are is a very disciplined approach to life, and it is only through this severity, seeming severity, that one comes to the person that they really should be. The goal is sought in both modern and in ancient times.

[55:28]

The method has been quite different. I don't see the method today being too successful. People are saying, I want to be myself, and so they become libertines or just do anything they want to do. And this takes also into the whole idea of the monastic freedom and a monastic rule, as we'll see in Pocomius. Pocomius says that the meaning of a monastic rule is to bring the monk to freedom. And that doesn't mean that he's free to do whatever he wants to do, but it means he has the freedom to be who he really should be, and can then flower in the fullness of his life. It's the mystery, I suppose, of the Gospel. Unless you lose yourself, you will not find yourself. And that's the thing, I'm afraid, that contemporary approach to self-fulfillment doesn't look at. It isn't dying to yourself that you will find life. That's the point I don't see that our contemporary approach has been too successful on.

[56:33]

I may be too prejudicial on this. Are you talking about contemporary society, the world, or you mean monastic context? Both. Because we're greatly influenced by the wide society. and we look down, I think in general there's a real problem today with monastic asceticism because we have a very negative approach to it and we think it is destroying something which is good and beautiful whereas I think the ancient concept was it's not destroying a thing but it's bringing to fruition what is latent or laying dormant within us. First time you hear anybody mention ascetics are And the first reaction to, say, the death of fathers, where there was something psychologically unsound. Yeah. And even today, you know, anybody who becomes known a person's, you know, performing ascetical practices, well, he's being, like, there's something psychologically wrong with him, and he's just not doing it the way... He's a masochist.

[57:40]

Masochist, yeah. And you find this all the time. I've got to admit to you that when I was a novice and a cleric, Father Andrew may remember, but I gave Anthony and the Desert Fathers holy hell. I just couldn't... I thought they were platonic, that they were biased, that they were just really destructive of the beauties of creation. As you can see, I suppose I've had some little bit of a conversion with regard to that. At my present stage of understanding, one of my favorite books is the life of Anthony. Maybe it's because I've learned to appreciate myth and symbol and fantasy a little bit more, but also because I see that the core of the life of Anthony, as we will see when we go into the monastic doctrine, is Jesus Christ. And to cut through all of this other stuff, to see where he's really going to, and then it becomes so beautiful.

[58:43]

Jesus Christ. I think before we quit, I should tell the sisters who all's here so they know who's been talking. I have to remind you that... When Sister Anne-Marie wrote, she said, because at that time she thought Novice Mike was the only one here, that she was very thankful to Novice Mike that they could participate in these lectures and so they said to remember that they would remember you, especially in their prayer for your generosity. So I'd like to tell them also that now in the lectures is Father Hugh and Brother Joe The sisters have said that they're going to eventually send some tapes back for discussion. So maybe, I don't know how well handled that, but maybe we can all answer their questions together or something of that sort. It's a very practical thing because, you know, like at the Academy all the time where you're constantly tempted, you know, to want to sort of get out or in the ghetto and do things, you know.

[59:50]

And yet, I suppose, really, it's not so much that they expect that of you as, like you said, to be really and truly yourself, and if you really love Christ according to your vocation, that that becomes clear to others. Because you can, it seems to me, dilute it if you, you know, say, go into, like, you know, some communities still go right into the inner city. It seems to me that it's kind of doing what you had mentioned. And try to lose your identity in doing it. And that's why I'm convinced that the most important thing is to... identify yourself and be honest and true to what you are and these things will take care of themselves. I guess it's the same message with Christianity.

[60:48]

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