ANTHONY THE GREAT (III-IV century)
Saint Anthony “the Great” - from Latin people wrongly called “Abbot”- is today considered as the founder of hermitism. He was born in Egypt around 250 CE and, at the age of twenty years old, he decided to abandon mundane life to live in solitude, in the desert, by following the evangelical Rule- “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, give it to poor people and you will obtain a reward up there, then come and follow me”. In his hermitage, he dedicated himself to Holy Scripture’s lecture, memorisation and interpretation and also to charity towards poor people that would come to him. Around 285 CE, he withdrew to the Pispir mount (Egypt) to experience the heremitical life, considered essential to unite with God (divinisation). In 311, he left his hermitage to go to Alexandria and to comfort Christians that were being persecuted by the Roman emperor Maximinus Daza. At the end of the persecution, the monk withdrew to the Tebaid desert, in northern Egypt, and stayed there until his death that occurred in 356. Anthony’s footsteps were followed by many other monks that moved in the desert, formed new cenobitic communities and founded monasteries. One of his most famous disciples was Saint Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, that helped him during Christians persecution and handed down his master’s life.