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His Death
89. It is worth while that I should relate, and that you, as you wish
it, should hear what his death was like. For this end of his is worthy
of imitation. According to his custom he visited the monks in the outer
mountain, and having learned from Providence that his own end was at
hand, he said to the brethren, “This is my last visit to you which I
shall make. And I shall be surprised if we see each other again in this
life. At length the time of my departure is at hand, for I am near a
hundred and five years old.” And when they heard it they wept, and
embraced, and kissed the old man. But he, as though sailing from a
foreign city to his own, spoke joyously, and exhorted them not to grow
idle in their labours, nor to become faint in their training, but to
live as though dying daily. And as he had said before, zealously to
guard the soul from foul thoughts, eagerly to imitate the Saints, and
to have nought to do with the Meletian schismatics, “for you know their
wicked and profane character. Nor have any fellowship with the Arians,
for their impiety is clear to all. Nor be disturbed if you see the
judges protect them, for it shall cease, and their pomp is mortal and
of short duration. Wherefore keep yourselves all the more untainted by
them, and observe the traditions of the fathers, and chiefly the holy
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, which you have learned from the
Scripture, and of which you have often been put in mind by me.”
90. But when the brethren were urging him to abide with them and there
to die, he suffered it not for many other reasons, as he showed by
keeping silence, and especially for this: The Egyptians are wont to
honor with funeral rites, and to wrap in linen cloths at death the
bodies of good men, and especially of the holy martyrs; and not to bury
them underground, but to place them on couches, and to keep them in
their houses, thinking in this to honor the departed. And Antony often
urged the bishops to give commandment to the people on this matter. In
like manner he taught the laity and reproved the women, saying, that
this thing was neither lawful nor holy at all. For the bodies of the
patriarchs and prophets are until now preserved in tombs, and the very
body of the Lord was laid in a tomb, and a stone was laid upon it, and
hid it until He rose on the third day. And thus saying, he showed that
he who did not bury the bodies of the dead after death transgressed the
law, even though they were sacred. For what is greater or more sacred
than the body of the Lord? Many therefore having heard, henceforth
buried the dead underground, and gave thanks to the Lord that they had
been taught rightly.
91. But he, knowing the custom, and fearing that his body would be
treated this way, hastened, and having bidden farewell to the monks in
the outer mountain entered the inner mountain, where he was accustomed
to abide. And after a few months he fell sick. Having summoned those
who were there – they were two in number who had remained in the
mountain fifteen years, practicing the discipline and attending on
Antony on account of his age – he said to them, “I, as it is written,
go the way of the fathers, for I perceive that I am called by the Lord,
And do you be watchful and destroy not your long discipline, but as
though now making a beginning, zealously preserve your determination.
For ye know the treachery of the demons, how fierce they are, but how
little power they have. Wherefore fear them not, but rather ever
breathe Christ, and trust Him. Live as though dying daily. Give heed to
yourselves, and remember the admonition you have heard from me. Have no
fellowship with the schismatics, nor any dealings at all with the
heretical Arians. For you know how I shunned them on account of their
hostility to Christ, and the strange doctrines of their heresy.
Therefore be the more earnest always to be followers first of God and
then of the Saints; that after death they also may receive you as
well-known friends into the eternal habitations. Ponder over these
things and think of them, and if you have any care for me and are
mindful of me as of a father, suffer no one to take my body into Egypt,
lest haply they place me in the houses, for to avoid this I entered
into the mountain and came here. Moreover you know how I always put to
rebuke those who had this custom, and exhorted them to cease from it.
Bury my body, therefore, and hide it underground yourselves, and let my
words be observed by you that no one may know the place but you alone.
For at the resurrection of the dead I shall receive it incorruptible
from the Saviour. And divide my garments. To Athanasius the bishop give
one sheepskin and the garment whereon I am laid, which he himself gave
me new, but which with me has grown old. To Serapion the bishop give
the other sheepskin, and keep the hair garment yourselves. For the rest
fare ye well, my children, for Antony is departing, and is with you no
more.”
92. Having said this, when they had kissed him, he lifted up his feet,
and as though he saw friends coming to him and was glad because of them
– for as he lay his countenance appeared joyful – he died and was
gathered to the fathers. And they afterward, according to his
commandment, wrapped him up and buried him, hiding his body
underground. And no one knows to this day where it was buried, save
those two only. But each of those who received the sheepskin of the
blessed Antony and the garment worn by him guards it as a precious
treasure. For even to look on them is as it were to behold Antony; and
he who is clothed in them seems with joy to bear his admonitions.
93. This is the end of Antony's life in the body and the above was the
beginning of the discipline. Even if this account is small compared
with his merit, still from this reflect how great Antony, the man of
God, was. Who from his youth to so great an age preserved a uniform
zeal for the discipline, and neither through old age was subdued by the
desire of costly food, nor through the infirmity of his body changed
the fashion of his clothing, nor washed even his feet with water, and
yet remained entirely free from harm. For his eyes were undimmed and
quite sound and he saw clearly; of his teeth he had not lost one, but
they had become worn to the gums through the great age of the old man.
He remained strong both in hands and feet; and while all men were using
various foods, and washings and divers garments, he appeared more
cheerful and of greater strength. And the fact that his fame has been
blazoned everywhere; that all regard him with wonder, and that those
who have never seen him long for him, is clear proof of his virtue and
God's love of his soul. For not from writings, nor from worldly wisdom,
nor through any art, was Antony renowned, but solely from his piety
towards God. That this was the gift of God no one will deny. For from
whence into Spain and into Gaul, how into Rome and Africa, was the man
heard of who abode hidden in a mountain, unless it was God who makes
His own known everywhere, who also promised this to Antony at the
beginning? For even if they work secretly, even if they wish to remain
in obscurity, yet the Lord shows them as lamps to lighten all, that
those who hear may thus know that the precepts of God are able to make
men prosper and thus be zealous in the path of virtue.
94. Read these words, therefore, to the rest of the brethren that they
may learn what the life of monks ought to be; and may believe that our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ glorifies those who glorify Him: and leads
those who serve Him unto the end, not only to the kingdom of heaven,
but here also – even though they hide themselves and are desirous of
withdrawing from the world – makes them illustrious and well known
everywhere on account of their virtue and the help they render others.
And if need be, read this among the heathen, that even in this way they
may learn that our Lord Jesus Christ is not only God and the Son of
God, but also that the Christians who truly serve Him and religiously
believe on Him, prove, not only that the demons, whom the Greeks
themselves think to be gods, are no gods, but also tread them under
foot and put them to flight, as deceivers and corrupters of mankind,
through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
Preface
Part I: Antony's Youth
and First Struggles with Demons
Part II: He Dwells
Among the Tombs
Part III: He Goes to
the Desert
Part IV: His Sermon to
the Young Men
Part V: His Life in
the Desert
Part VI: He Goes to
the Inner Desert
Part VII: Advice and
Assistance for Visitors
Part VIII: His
Discourses Against Schismatics, Arians, and Pagans
Part IX: His Growing
Fame
Part X: His Death
This text is
from the Internet Medieval Source Book. The Sourcebook is a collection
of public domain and copy-permitted texts related to medieval and
Byzantine history.
Unless otherwise indicated the specific electronic form of the document
is copyright. Permission is granted for electronic copying,
distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use.
If you do reduplicate the document, indicate the source. No permission
is granted for commercial use.
© Paul Halsall Jan 1996, updated, November, 1998: halsall@fordham.edu
Reformatted with rubrics and U.S. spelling/punctuation by Richard
Stracke, Augusta State University
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