Saint Anthony, Abbot, January 17

St. Anthony, Abbot, January 17

Saint Anthony of Egypt

The life of Saint Anthony (the authorship of which same is ascribed to Saint Athanasius) hath the following items regarding him who is venerated as the first Abbot of monks. Anthony was an Egyptian, the child of noble and Christian parents, whom he lost while yet very young. On one occasion he heard read in church this passage of the Gospel : If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor : and he straightway took these words as addressed to himself personally, and therefore distributed all his possessions to the poor. Since he was about to enter the field of battle against Satan, he first gave heed to the examples set by all those who were eminent for any grace, and strove to copy them. * He was excelled by none in watchfulness and self-restraint, and continual study of the Holy Scriptures. He had such a loathing of hereticks and schismatics, specially Arians, that he would never go near them. He slept lying on the ground. He took nothing with his bread but salt, and drank only water. He never ate or drank before sunset, and often abstained from food altogether for two days at a time. Very often he passed whole nights in prayer. And being so valiant a soldier of God, he was attacked by the devil with divers temptations. * He betook himself to the deserts round about Egypt, where many disciples became monks under his direction. Day by day the attacks of the fiends became more violent, but day by day his strength grew greater to strive against them. At length he came to mock at their powerlessness, saying : Satan is afraid of good men’s prayers and fasts, but above all for their warm love of our Lord, the mere Sign of whose holy Cross is enough to put him to flight. He became such an object of dread to the devils, that many persons tormented by them were delivered by calling on his name. Moreover, the fame of his holiness was so spread abroad that Constantine the Great and his sons wrote to him to commend themselves to his prayers. In the hundred and fiftieth year of his age, having roused up great numbers to follow his example, he passed to heaven, on January 17^th, in the year 356.

Collect:

Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, that the prayers of thy holy Abbot, blessed Anthony, may commend us unto thee, that we, who have no power of ourselves to help ourselves, may by his advocacy find favour in thy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint Anthony the Great, First Abbot of Monks, January 17th

Saint Anthony the Great

INTROIT. Os justi. Ps. 37.THE mouth of the righteous is exercised in wisdom, and his tongue will be talking of judgement: the law of his God is in his heart (alleluia, alleluia). Ps. ibid. Fret not thyself because of the ungodly: neither be thou envious against the evildoers. V. Glory be.

The Collect.
GRANT, we beseech thee, O Lord, that the prayers of thy holy Abbot, blessed Anthony, may commend us unto thee: that we, who have no power of ourselves to help ourselves, may by his advocacy find favour in thy sight. [Through]

The Epistle. Ecclesiasticus 45:1b-5a
1. He was loved of God and men, whose memorial is blessed.
2 The Lord made him like to the glorious Saints, and magnified him, so that his enemies stood in fear of him.
3 By his words he caused the wonders to cease: he made him glorious in the sight of kings, and gave him a commandment for his people, and shewed him his glory.
4 He sanctified him in his faithfulness and meekness, and chose him out of all men.
5 He made him to hear his voice, and brought him into the dark cloud, and gave him commandments before his face, even the law of life and knowledge.

GRADUAL. Ps. 21. Thou hast prevented him with the blessings of goodness: and hast set a crown of pure gold upon his head. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest him a long life: even for ever and ever.
Alleluia, alleluia. V. Ps. 92. The righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree: and shall spread abroad like a cedar in Libanus. Alleluia.

Saint Paul the First Hermit, Confessor

January 15, Saint Paul the First Hermit, Confessor
  　

According to an ancient book, edited by Saint Jerome, the life of this Paul, the first Hermit, and the model of all others, was on this wise. He was a native of the Lower Thebaid in Egypt. At the age of fifteen he lost both his parents, and to serve God in quietness, betook himself to a cave in the desert, where was a palm 

St.Paul the Hermit

tree, on the fruit of which he lived, and of whose leaves he made his raiment until he attained the age of 113 years. At that time Anthony, being himself ages ninety years, received a command from God to go and see him. And thus they met without knowing one another’s names ; but after mutual salutations, they fell straightway into a long discourse concerning the kingdom of God. Now it so happened that a raven had for sixty years brought Paul every day half a loaf, but on this day while they spake together he brought a whole one. * When the raven had flown away, they asked a blessing, and ate together, sitting by a spring. When they were refreshed, they returned thanks, and afterwards spent the whole night praising God. At the break of day Paul felt the approach of death, and desired Anthony to go and fetch, for his winding-sheet, a cloak which Athanasius had given to this same Anthony. On his way back from his journey, Anthony saw in a vision the soul of Paul ascending to heaven, surrounded by choirs o9f Angels, and accompanied the Prophets and Apostles. * when Anthony reached the cell of Paul, he found there the dead body of the Saint, which he wrapped in the cloak of Athanasius ; and then he immediately began to chant the Psalms and hymns ordained by Christian tradition. Whereafter, having no spade to dig a grave, two lions came racing from the desert as though to attend the burying, and scratched a hole big enough to hold a man’s body, shewing meanwhile such signs of grief as their nature alloweth. When they were gone away, Anthony put the holy body in this hole, covered it with earth, and arranged it like a Christian’s grave. But he took away for himself Paul’s tunic, which he had woven out of the palm-leaves somewhat after the manner of basket-work, and this tunic Anthony was in the habit of wearing the great days of the Passion and Pentecost as long as he lived. The date of holy Paul’s death is set at the year 342.


O God, who makest us glad with the yearly feast of thy Confessor Saint Paul the Hermit, mercifully grant that as we now observe his heavenly birthday, so we may follow him in all virtuous and godly living, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Collect: