February 14th, is Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting, and the beginning of Lent. Lent is a six-week period of conversion and penance to prepare ourselves by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, for the great celebration of Easter Sunday and the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on March 31st this year. Today’s Ash Wednesday Masses with Distribution of Ashes is at 9:00 AM and 5:30 PM at Our Lady of Lourdes in Calif. City, and at 6:30 PM at St. Joseph’s in Boron. Starting on Thursday, February 15th, we are beginning a six-week Lenten Parish Retreat with particular focus on the Holy Eucharist, under the theme of “Given for You.” Every Thursday evening, after the 5:30 PM Mass, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, with Confessions and Benediction, will be held in the OLL church. Fridays are days of abstinence, and at 5:30 PM Stations of the Cross in English are held at OLL and at SJM in Boron. Stations in Spanish at OLL are at 7:00 PM. On Tuesdays during Lent, after the 5:30 PM Mass, a ...

 This is the fifth in our serious on St. Antony the Great (AD 251-356) of Egypt. Last week we saw that he was physically beaten so badly by the demons that people thought he was dead. But he awoke, and upon returning to the tomb that was his cell at the time, he shouted out to the devil: "Here am I, Antony; I flee not from your stripes, for even if you inflict more, nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ!" (Romans 8:35.) Antony's biographer, St. Athanasius (writing about AD 360), records a conversation [make believe? later told to him by Antony?] of the devil with his demons: "'You see,' said [the devil], 'that neither by the spirit of lust nor by blows did we stay the man, but that he braves us, let us attack him in another fashion.' But changes of form for evil are easy for the devil," wrote Athanasius, "so in the night they made such a din that the whole of that place seemed to be shaken by an earthquake, and the demons as if b...

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...

This is the third in our series on St. Antony the Great (AD 251-356) of Egypt, leaning heavily on the biography written about AD 360 by St. Athanasius, one of the best-known works of literature in Christian world.   Antony is now 18 or 20 years old. After providing for his younger sister to be brought up in a convent of virgins, and selling his land and possessions and giving all to the poor, he now felt unburdened. The cog or impediment of worldly possessions standing in his way of his following Christ’s command, “If you would be perfect, go and sell that you have and give to the poor” (Mt 19:21), was gone, as he also followed another word, “Be not anxious for the morrow” (Mt 6:34). Antony already had an established practice of living a life of simplicity, attending Liturgy at the Church, and hearing and memorizing the Scriptures he heard (as he was illiterate). But where would he find guidance for his spiritual journey? At the time, there were not many monasteries nor religio...

    January 17th, is the feast day of St. Antony (or Anthony) the Great who lived from AD 251-356 in Egypt. Last week we began a series of articles on his life. Much of our information comes from the biography of Antony written about AD 360 by St. Athanasius of Alexandria.    Antony was born in Koma in Lower Egypt to wealthy landowner parents. His parents were faithful Christians, raising him to be the same. He had just one sibling, a younger sister.    Athanasius writes, “But when he was grown and arrived at boyhood, and was advancing in years, he could not endure to learn letters, not caring to associate with other boys; but all his desire was ... to live a plain man at home.” Though living at home, he was never idle. And although Antony never learned to read, he had a fantastic memory from what he heard orally, especially from the Bible. He regularly attended the Liturgy at “the Lord’s House” (church) with his parents, “attentive to what was read, keepin...

January 17th is the feast day of St. Antony (or Anthony) the Great, also called Antony of Egypt, Antony the Abbot, Antony of the Desert, Antony the Anchorite, Antony the Hermit, Antony of Thebes, and also known as the Father of All Monks. St. Antony was born on January 12, 251, in Koma, Egypt, then a province of the Roman Empire. He died, at age 105, on January 17, 356, at Mount Colzim, Egypt. About four years after St. Antony’s death, about AD 360, his contemporary Egyptian, St. Athanasius of Alexandria (AD 295/298-373), wrote a biography of Antony called “The Life of Antony.” It became one of best-known works of literature in Christian world, and remains in print even still today. The reading of “The Life of Antony” influenced the conversion of many, including St. Augustine of Hippo (ad 354-430), St. John Chrysostom (AD 354-407), and this writer. In future articles we will go into the details of St. Antony’s life, but first, let’s just get a bit of a flavor of who this Third...