ANTHONY THE GREAT (Egyptian Christian, 251-356 CE)
Anthony the Great, also called "of Egypt," "the Abbot," "of the Desert," "the Hermit," etc. and "the Father of All Monks" (though he was actually not the first), was the best known of the so-called Desert Fathers, partly because of the biography of him written by St. Athanasius of Alexandria, a work which functioned as a PR pamphlet for the new-fangled practice of Christian monasticism. Legends say that he endured supernatural temptation in the desert, a motif common in depictions of him.
- A story: A philosopher asked the illiterate Anthony: "Father, how can you be so happy without the comfort of books?" Anthony replied "My book is the nature of created things, and any time I want to read the words of God, the book is before me."
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