When we think of monasticism today, we might think of Benedict of Nursia (6th century), or Theresa of Avila (16th century), or Thomas Merton (20th century). But the man who perhaps started the monastic movement in the first place is much less well-know. Antony of Egypt (356) lived a few hundred years earlier than Benedict, and his feast day is today, Friday, January 17.
Antony grew up with Christian parents and inherited a large estate. But on his way to church one day, his mind turned to Jesus’ teaching on selling all our possessions, giving the money to the poor, and following him. The sermon that day addressed that very text, and Antony took it to heart. After planning for the care of his sister and giving his tenants the land they lived on, he sold everything else and gave it away. He lived alone as a hermit for the next twenty years.
Eventually he felt called to become the head of a group of others like himself who had left their lives behind in order to devote themselves to Christ. They lived simply and worshipped together in a cluster of huts, and they did manual labor in order to earn money that they could then distribute to those who were living in poverty. Through his preaching, teaching, prayer, and even the working of miracles, he encouraged many conversions. And when the church father Athanasius wrote a biography of Antony, he included this line, “Who ever met him grieving and failed to go away rejoicing?”
It seems that in the simplification of his life, his devotion to his faith, and his service to others, especially those who were poor, Antony discovered the secret to a joyful life! As we live in our modern, consumerist, and complicated times, may Antony inspire us to embrace simplicity, devotion, and service — and may we find ourselves rejoicing as a result!