Anthony was born around 251 to a prosperous Christian family in Egypt. After his parents died, he gave away his inheritance in response to hearing the Gospel read aloud in church — "sell all you have and give to the poor" — and withdrew progressively deeper into the Egyptian desert to live a life of solitude, fasting, and prayer.
His reputation for holiness and spiritual wisdom drew disciples who settled near him, and though he never intended to found an institution, the loose communities that formed around him and imitators like him became the model for Christian monastic life. His biography, written by Athanasius of Alexandria shortly after his death, was hugely influential in spreading monasticism across the Christian world.
Saint Anthony the Great
Father of Monks
An Egyptian hermit whose withdrawal into the desert to seek God is regarded as the founding act of Christian monasticism.
- Born
- 251
- Died
- 356
- Birthplace
- Coma, Egypt
- Died in
- Mount Colzim, Egypt
- Country
- Egypt
- Century
- 4th century
Categories
Why People Pray to Saint Anthony the Great
Saint Anthony is invoked by those seeking detachment from material things and by anyone drawn to a deeper life of prayer and solitude.
