Luigi Russo: From the ′′ Life of St. Anthony ′′ written by Saint Athanasius, Bishop

 From the ′′ Life of St. Anthony ′′ written by Saint Athanasius, Bishop

(Capp. 2-4; PG 26,842-846)

The calling of Saint Anthony

After the death of his parents, left alone with his still very young sister, Antonio, aged or, took care of his house and sister. Six months hadn't passed since the parents died yet, when one day, while he went to the Eucharistic celebration, he was reflecting on the reason that led the apostles to follow the Savior, after abandoning everything. It called to mind those men, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, who, sold their goods, brought the proceeds to the apostle s' feet, for them to be distributed to the poor. He also thought what and how many goods they hoped to achieve in heaven.

Meditating on these things he entered the church, just as he read the gospel and heard that the Lord had said to the rich man: ′′ If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you possess, give it to the poor, then come and follow me and you will have a treasure in heaven ′′ (Mt 19,21).

So Antonio, as if the story of the life of the saints was presented to him by Providence and those words were read precisely for him, he left the church immediately, gave as a gift to the inhabitants of the village the properties he inherited from his family - he owned in fact Three hundred very fertile and amenable fields - because they weren't a cause for trouble for himself and his sister. He also sold all the movable assets and distributed the strong sum of money to the poor. Participating in the liturgical assembly once again, he heard the words that the Lord says in the Gospel: ′′ Don't worry about tomorrow ′′ (Mt 6,34). Not being able to hold on longer, he went out again and gave even what was still to him left. He entrusted his sister to the virgins consecrated to God and then he devoted himself to ascetic life near his house, and began to lead a strong life with a fortress, without anything giving to himself.

He worked with his own hands: in fact he had heard proclaim: ′′ Who doesn't want to work, not even eat (2 Ts 3,10). With part of the money he earned he bought bread for himself, while he gave the rest to the poor.

He spent a lot of time in prayer, as he had learned that we needed to retreat and pray continuously (cf. 1 Ts 5,17). He was so attentive to his reading, that he didn't miss anything that was written, but he kept everything in his mind so much that his memory ended up replacing books. All the inhabitants of the country and the right men, whose goodness was worth it, seeing such a man called him a friend of God and some loved him like a son, some as a brother.

Luigi Russo