Here am I, Antony!

After a night closed into the tombs outside of his village in Egypt, Antony was attacked by a multitude of demons. He lay, as if dead, on the ground. One of his kinsfolk found him in the morning and carried him into the village to the church and the people gathered around him thinking he was no longer alive. But when most of the townspeople fell asleep Antony awoke and asked to be carried back to the tomb. Once he was shut in, he lay there praying quietly, until he addressed Satan with a shout, saying “”Here am I, Antony; I flee not from your stripes, for even if you inflict more nothing shall separate rues from the love of Christ.’ And then he sang, ‘though a camp be set against me, my heart shall not be afraid.’”

Here is a picture by Salvador Dali portraying Antony bravely confronting all of the temptations and demons sent his way as he is protected by the cross of Christ! Are the beasts legs like sticks because they are nothing but "strawmen" when faced with the power of Christ?!

After the event in the tombs, Antony asked the Lord, “’Where wert thou? Why didst thou not appear at the beginning to make my pains to cease?’ And a voice came to him, ‘Antony, I was here, but I waited to see thy fight; wherefore since thou has endured, and has not been worsted, I will ever be a succor to thee, and will make thy name known everywhere.” Having heard this, Antony arose and prayed, and received such strength that he perceived that he had more power in his body than formerly, And he was then about thirty-five years old.’

Antony then went out into the desert and lived in solitude for twenty years in a cave with nothing but bread and water. And many heard of him and wanted to imitate his way of life. So, they came to him.

“Then for the first time he was seen outside the fort by those who came to see him. And they, when they saw him, wondered at the sight, for he had the same habit of body as before, and was neither fat, like a man without exercise, nor lean from fasting and striving with the demons, but he was just the same as they had known him before his retirement, And again his soul was free from blemish, for it was neither contracted as if by grief, nor relaxed by pleasure, nor possessed by laughter or dejection, for he was not troubled when he beheld the crowd, nor overjoyed at being saluted by so many. But he was altogether even as being guided by reason and abiding in a natural state … And thus it happened in the end that cells arose even in the mountains, and the desert was colonized by monks, who came forth from their own people, and enrolled themselves for the citizenship in the heavens.”

-Taken from Life of St Antony, written by Athanasius between 356 and 362. For the full text, click here: Life of St Antony.

Here is the monastery of St. Antony today, home to many Coptic Christians still speaking the Coptic language. Is is the oldest monastery in the world, built in the 360's.

Here is another picture of the exterior:

And here is a picture inside Antony's cave where he lived for 40 years of his life.