This is the fourth in our serious on St. Antony the Great (AD 251-356) of Egypt, leaning heavily on the biography written about AD 360 by St. Athanasius. Last week we saw Antony’s beginning to train himself in self-discipline, asceticism. This period of his life lasted 15 years, roughly from age 20 to 35, about AD 271-285.
The devil made haste to try to extinguish Antony’s resoluteness. St. Athanasius writes of this time: “First of all, [the devil] tried to lead [Antony] away from the discipline, whispering to him the remembrance of his wealth, care for his sister, claims of kindred, love of money, love of glory, the various pleasures of the table and the other relaxations of life, and at last the difficulty of virtue and the labor of it. [The devil] suggested also the infirmity of the body and the length of the time.” (Has anyone who sought to be a serious Christian not heard such temptations also?)
“In a word [the devil] raised in [Antony’s] mind a great dust of debate, wishing to debar him from his settled purpose. But when the enemy saw himself to be too weak for Antony's determination, and that he rather was conquered by the other's firmness, overthrown by his great faith and falling through his constant prayers, then at length putting his [the devil’s] trust in the weapons which are 'in the navel of his belly' [i.e., sexual temptations] and boasting in them – for they are his first snare for the young – he attacked the young man, disturbing him by night and harassing him by day, so that even the onlookers saw the struggle which was going on between them.
The one would suggest foul thoughts and the other counter them with prayers: the one fire him with lust, the other, as one who seemed to blush, fortify his body with faith, prayers, and fasting. And the devil, unhappy wight, one night even took upon him the shape of a woman and imitated all her acts simply to beguile Antony. But he, his mind filled with Christ and the nobility inspired by Him, and considering the spirituality of the soul, quenched the coal of the other's deceit.”
Well, St. Athanasius has more details, but we certainly get the idea. But Antony never relaxed. He went further into solitude, seeking to increase his discipline and self-control. A bit of a distance from his village were some tombs, and Antony decided to live in one of them. He made an arrangement for an acquaintance to bring him bread periodically, and then had the acquaintance shut Antony into the tomb.
The devil was furious! St. Athanasius writes: “And when the enemy could not endure it, but was even fearful that in a short time Antony would fill the desert with the discipline [i.e., attract many disciples], coming one night with a multitude of demons, he so cut him with stripes that he lay on the ground speechless from the excessive pain. For he [Antony] affirmed that the torture had been so excessive that no blows inflicted by man could ever have caused him such torment. But by the Providence of God – for the Lord never overlooks them that hope in Him – the next day his acquaintance came bringing him the loaves. And having opened the door and seeing [Antony] lying on the ground as though dead, he lifted him up and carried him to the church in the village, and laid him upon the ground. And many of his kinsfolk and the villagers sat around Antony as round a corpse. But about midnight he came to himself and arose, and when he saw them all asleep and his comrade alone watching, he motioned with his head for him to approach, and asked him to carry him again to the tombs without waking anybody.”
His friend carried Antony back to the tomb and locked him in again. Antony prayed and then said with a shout, “Here am I, Antony; I flee not from your stripes, for even if you inflict more nothing shall separate me (Romans 8:35) from the love of Christ!”
Dibby Allan Green