It is interesting and informing to remember that before Constantine,
being a Christian was dangerous, unpopular, and joining the Church was
difficult and only for those most committed. Constantine made becoming
a Christian popular, politically astute, and being part of the culture
you were born in, it no longer carried the risk it once did.
Maybe like being an American, we are born here, and this particular
area of the world SHOULD be Christian. After all we don’t want Muslim
or Buddhist members of Congress, now do we? We don't want being a
Christian to mean anything, or cost us anything at all, I suppose. I
know it doesn't cost ME anything; in fact, it is a bonus for me. Ask
the Sunni guy i work with, how does he like the looks, the whispered
conversation.
Anyway after the Emperor had changed Christianity from a despised,
persecuted sect into the main State Religion, many sincere Christians
felt the need to make more of a commitment to the service of Christ,
than the State Church offered, and their longing resulted in the
beginnings of the Monastic tradition. This trend had begun before the
conversion of Constantine and the changes in Church life that came
with it, and was strongly reinforced by the new reality. Men chose
seek Christian commitment by leaving their homes and the society they
knew, going into the desert, and becoming hermits, devoting themselves
to solitude, fasting, and prayer. Antony of Egypt, often mentioned as
the founder of Christian monasticism is one of the great examples.
What we know of the life of St. Antony of Egypt comes to us from St.
Athanasius. He tells us that Antony was born of wealthy Christian
parents at Comus, Egypt in the year 250. His well to do parents died
when he was around eighteen or twenty, leaving him with a younger
sister to care for.
As Athanasius tells us, about six months after his parents death,
Antony stopped in a Church and heard the Gospel of Matthew 19:21
being read, "If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and
give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven;
then come, follow me." It just so happened that on the way to Church
that day, Antony had been mediating on this very verse and after
hearing it again, he felt this was directed at him personally. So
Antony did what so few of us do, he provided for the care of his
sister, he gave his land to the tenants who lived on it, gave his other
wealth to the poor, and became a hermit (Monk). Antony lived alone
for twenty years in the desert, praying and reading, and doing manual
labor. Somewhere around 305, he gave up his solitude to become the head
of a group of monks, living in a small cluster of huts or cells,
devoting themselves to communal singing and worship, to prayer and
study. All of this was done under Antony’s direction and guidance. They
did not totally abandon those they left behind, being very careful to
pray for their fellow Christians, and working with their hands to earn
money so that they could give it to the poor.
Antony also came to the aid of the Church outside of his desert
community. When the Roman Emperor Diocletian began persecuting Egyptian
Christians in 303, word reached Antony out in the desert, and he with
several other monks traveled to Alexandria to minister to those
persecuted. He was so respected that even the Roman authorities left
him alone to evangelize, and ease the suffering of the prisoners. In
fact, in 321, under Emperor Maximinus (the rule of Constantine wasn't
fully established over the whole Roman world) he offered himself as a
martyr but was refused.
Antony lived to the age of 105, never ceasing to deepen his
relationship with God. Near the end of Antony's long life, Arius (a
former deacon in Alexandria) began to spread his heresy that Christ was
created, thereby not co-equal with God, the Father. Many Egyptian
Christians were swayed by Arian teachings and fell away from the
Church. Athanasius, Bishop of the Church in Alexandria and a famous
defender of orthodoxy, called Antony to the Alexandria fight against
the Arian heresy. After this, he returned to the desert, never to
leave it again.
Antony expended great effort in teaching others about God and
encouraging their total commitment to the teachings and values taught
by Jesus in the Gospels. His biography was written by St. Athanasius,
who said of him: "Who ever met him grieving and failed to go away rejoicing?"
*Many of the words and ideas above are from various sources around the web, not all my own.
O God, Who by Your Holy Spirit enabled Your servant Antony to
withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil: Give
us grace, with pure hearts and minds, to follow You, the only God;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Recent Comments