 |
Saint Anthony the Abbot, also known as Anthony the Great, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Fire, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite was born at Qumans, a village on the left bank of the Nile, approximately 251 AD, and died in the Thebaid Desert on January 17, 357. |
St. Anthony is celebrated on the day of his death, 17 January, in what was one of the most heartfelt celebrations in the rural communities, deeply connected with pre-Christian cults and traditions.
Actually, Anthony had little or nothing to do with the rural world: indeed, he was a hermit and among the most rigorous ascetics in the history of early Christianity, the founder of Christian monasticism and the first abbot.
Though he led a hard life, full of deprivation, Anthony was very long-lived: death (which he had predicted) took him at the age of 105, on the 17th of January 355 (or 356), in his hermitage on Mount Qolzoum. On his tomb, now the object of veneration by the faithful, a church and a monastery were built; his relics were brought to Constantinople in 635, then to France between the 9th and 10th centuries.
Comments (0)