January 17: Saint Anthony, Abbot

Life and Monastic Legacy of Saint Anthony the Abbot

Anthony was born to land-owning parents, but give his inheritance to seek God is solitude of mind, body, and heart. He was asked by ascetics who had gathered around him to guide them; thus he did. After several years he returned to a more hermetic life, but never refused visitors. Many of his sayings can be found in Benedicta Ward's Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Holy Abbot Anthony, pray for us. 

Collect Prayer for the Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbot

We beseech Thee, O Lord, may the intercession of the blessed Abbot Anthony, 

obtain for is Thy favor; grant us to receive through his patronage that which 

we are unable to acquire by our own merits. Through Our Lord...

Audio for Vespers, Memorial of Saint Anthony the Great

Audio for Lauds, Memorial to saint Anthony the Great

Video image: Monastery of Saint Anthony. 2008. Photograph. Monastery of Saint Anthony, Eastern Desert, Egypt. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MonasteroAntonio2.jpg.

Piero di Cosimo. Ca. 1489–1490. The Visitation with Saint Nicholas and Saint Anthony Abbot (detail of Saint Anthony). Oil on panel. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piero_di_Cosimo_025.jpg.