Anthony of Egypt, Saint

Anthony of Egypt, Saint

(born 251, Koma, near al-Minya, Heptanomis, Egypt—died Jan. 17?, 356, Dayr Mari Antonios hermitage, near the Red Sea; feast day January 17) Egyptian hermit considered the founder of organized Christian monasticism. He began his practice of asceticism at age 20 and lived in solitude on Mount Pispir from 286 to 305. He emerged from his retreat to organize the monastic life of the hermits who had settled nearby. When the Edict of Milan (313) ended the persecution of Christians, Anthony moved to the desert between the Nile and the Red Sea. His monastic rule was compiled from writings and discourses attributed to him in Athanasius's Life of St. Anthony and the Apophthegmata patrum and was still observed in the 20th century by Coptic and Armenian monks. The hellish temptations he endured as a hermit became a popular subject for artists.