Struggles with Demons

in the Tombs

Many of his kinsfolk and the villagers sat around Antony as around a corpse.  But about midnight he came to himself and awoke.  And when be saw that they were all asleep and that only his acquaintance was keeping watch, he motioned for him to approach, and asked him to carry him again to the tombs without awakening anyone.

        9.  He was thus carried back by the man, and as was [now] his custom, when the door was shut he was again alone inside.  And he was to weak to stand because of the beatings, so he prayed as he lay.  And after he had prayed, he said with a shout, Here I am - Antony: I am not intimidated by your beatings, for even if you inflict more nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ (cf Rom 8:35). And then he sang, even if a camp is set against me, my heart will not fear (Ps 26:3).’ These were the thoughts and words of this ascetic.  But the enemy, the hater of good, marvelling that after the beatings [Antony] dared to return, called his dogs together and bursting with anger said, “You see that neither by the spirit of sexual immorality nor by blows did we halt him; indeed, he challenges us, so let us go after him in a different way. 

        But [different] forms of evil are easy for the devil.  So during the night they made such an uproar that it was as if the whole place were shaken by an earthquake, and the demons seemed to be breaking the four walls of the dwelling, entering through through them, transformed into beasts and reptiles.  And the place was suddenly filled with the phantasms of lions, bears, leopards, bulls, serpents, cobras, scorpions, and wolves.  And and each of them moved according to its own form.  The lion was roared, wishing to attack, the bull appeared to threaten to charge with its horns, the serpent writhed but unable to approach; and the wolf rushed straight towards him. The simultaneous noises of all the the apparitions were terrifying and their raging was furious. 

        But Antony, injured and stabbed by them, felt even worse bodily pains. Yet he lay unshaken, ever more vigilant in soul, although groaning from bodily pain; but his mind was sober, and as in mockery he said, “If there had been any power in you, it would have been enough for one of you come, but since the Lord has made you weak you try to terrify me by [your] numbers.  And a proof of your weakness is that you imitate the forms of brute beasts.”  

 And boldly he again said, “If you are able, and have been given power against me, do not wait to attack; but if you are unable, why do you make such trouble in vain ? For faith in our Lord is a seal and a wall of safety to us.” So after many attempts they gnashed their teeth against him, because they were mocking themselves rather than him.

        10. And in all this the Lord was not forgetful of Antony’s wrestling, but was at hand to assist him.  For looking up he saw, as it were, the roof opening and a ray of light descending to him.  The demons suddenly vanished, his bodily pain immediately ceased, and the building was again made whole. But Antony, sensing the assistance, getting his breath again and freed from pain, inquired of the vision that appeared to him, saying, “Where were you? Why did you not appear at the beginning to make my pains cease?” 

^[[26.860] 10. Ὁ δὲ Κύριος οὐδὲ ἐν τούτῳ ἐπελάθετο τῆς ἀθλήσεωςἈντωνίου, ἀλλ' εἰς ἀντίληψιν αὐτοῦ παραγέγονεν.Ἀναβλέψας γοῦν, εἶδε τὴν στέγην ὥσπερ διανοιγομένην, καὶ ἀκτῖνά τινα φωτὸς κατερχομένην πρὸς αὐτόν. Καὶ οἱ μὲν δαίμονες ἐξαίφνης ἄφαντοι γεγόνασιν· ὁ δὲ πόνος τοῦ σώματος εὐθὺς ἐπέπαυτο, καὶ ὁ οἶκος πάλιν ἦν ὁλόκληρος.Ὁ δὲ Ἀντώνιος, αἰσθόμενος τῆς ἀντιλήψεως, καὶ πλέον ἀναπνεύσας, κουφισθείς τε τῶν πόνων, ἐδέετο τῆς φανείσης ὀπτασίας, λέγων· Ποῦ ἦς; διὰ τί μὴ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐφάνης, ἵνα μου τὰς ὀδύνας παύσῃς;

        And a voice came to him, “Antony, I was here, but I waited to see you fight your best.  And since you have patiently endured and not surrendered, I will always be your helper and will make your name known everywhere.” 

Καὶ φωνὴ γέγονε πρὸς αὐτόν·Ἀντώνιε, ὧδε ἤμην, ἀλλὰ περιέμενον ἰδεῖν τὸ σὸν ἀγώνισμα.Ἐπεὶ οὖν ὑπέμεινας, καὶ οὐχ ἡττήθης, ἔσομαί σοι ἀεὶ βοηθὸς, καὶ ποιήσω σε ὀνομαστὸν πανταχοῦ γενέσθαι.

        Having heard this, Antony arose and prayed, and received such strength that he sensed he had more power in his body than before. And he was then about thirty-five years old.

Ταῦτα ἀκούσας, ἀναστὰς ηὔχετο· καὶ τοσοῦτον ἴσχυσεν, ὡς αἰσθέσθαι αὐτὸν, ὅτι πλείονα δύναμιν ἔσχεν ἐν τῷ σώματι μᾶλλον, ἧς εἶχε τὸ πρότερον. Ἦν δὲ τότε λοιπὸν ἐγγὺς τριάκοντα καὶ πέντε ἐτῶν.

11_crosses_to_solitude_in_the_fort

He crosses the Nile to live for twenty years
in an abandoned fort -
 Antony's "outer mountain" at Pispir

 [he is tempted by images of silver and gold]

 [. . .]

he descended as into a shrine;

and in solidude [monon] he abode within,

never going forth

never looking at any one who came. 

ὥσπερ ἐν ἀδύτοις ἐγκαταδυόμενος

 μόνος ἔμενεν ἔνδον,

μήτε αὐτὸς προϊὼν,

μήτε τινὰ τῶν ἐρχομένων βλέπων.

Thus he undertook a long period of ascetic[al training], receiving loaves only twice a the year, let down from a house above.

        13.  But his acquaintances came to him: and since he did not permit them to enter,  they often used to spend days and nights outside, where they hear what sounded like rioting noisy crowds inside, crying in wailing, piteous voices, ‘Go away from what belongs to us!  What do you have to do with the desert? You cannot withstand our attack.’  So at first those outside thought there were men fighting with him and that they had entered by ladders; but when they bent down and saw through a hole that there was no one, they presumed them to be demons, they were afraid, and they called to Antony.  But upon hearing them he was more concerned for their [sakes] that he was to give any thought to the demons.  And so,  coming to the door he advised them to withdraw and not be afraid: “For the demons,” he said  “summon fantasies only against the fearful.  Sign yourselves therefore with the cross and depart boldly; and let these make themselves foolish.” 

        So they departed, fortified with the sign of the Cross. But he remained, not harmed in any way by the evil spirits, nor wearied by the contest: for there came to his aid contemplative visions from above; and the weakness of the enemies relieved him of many pains and armed him with greater enthusiasm.  For his acquaintances would often come, expecting to find him dead, and would hear him singing;

Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered, let those who hate him flee before his face.  As smoke vanishes, let them vanish; as wax melts before the face of fire, so let the sinners perish from the face of God ; (Ps 67:2 f.)

ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ διασκορπισθήτωσαν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ φυγέτωσαν ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ οἱ μισοῦντες αὐτόν. Ὡς ἐκλείπει καπνὸς, ἐκλειπέτωσαν· ὡς τήκεται κηρὸς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρὸς, οὕτως ἀπόλοιντο οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ·

CHAPTER 14

Antony Emerges from the Fort

^θ6. ἀσκούμενος: Latin; studio deifico vacans

never going out,  and rarely seen by others.  After this when there were many who were eager and zealously wished to imitate his asceticism, his acquaintances came and began to break down the door and to wrench it open by force.

 οὔτε προϊὼν, οὔτε παρά τινων συνεχῶς βλεπόμενος. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, πολλῶν ποθούντων καὶ θελόντων αὐτοῦ τὴν ἄσκησιν ζηλῶσαι, ἄλλων τε γνωρίμων ἐλθόντων, καὶ βίᾳ τὴν θύραν καταβαλόντων καὶ ἐξεωσάντων·

Antony,Athos, Dionys. 17th c. 

Antony came forth

προῆλθεν ὁ Ἀντώνιος

as if from a shrine,

like one initiated in sacred mysteries

 and filled with the Spirit of God. 

ὥσπερ ἔκ τινος ἀδύτου

μεμυσταγωγημένος

καὶ θεοφορούμενος·

his body had its habit[ual appearance],

neither fat from lack of exercise,

nor withered from fasting and fighting with demons:

τό τε σῶμα τὴν αὐτὴν ἕξιν ἔχον,

 καὶ μήτε πιανθὲν, ὡς ἀγύμναστον,

 μήτε ἰσχνωθὲν ὡς ἀπὸ νηστειῶν καὶ μάχης ^[26.865] δαιμόνων· τοιοῦτος γὰρ ἦν,

for he was as he had been before his withdrawal [into solitude].

οἶον καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀναχωρήσεως ᾔδεισαν αὐτόν·

For again the state of his soul was pure:

τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς πάλιν καθαρὸν τὸ ἦθος·

for it was neither contracted as if by grief,
     nor relaxed by pleasure;
possessed by neither laughter
     nor dejection.

οὔτε γὰρ ὡς ὑπὸ ἀνίας
 συνεσταλμένον ἦν,

οὔτε ὑφ' ἡδονῆς διακεχυμένον,

οὔτε ὑπὸ γέλωτος
ἢ κατηφείας συνεχόμενον·

For he was not troubled when he saw the crowd,

nor ecstatic at being acclaimed by so many. 

οὔτε γὰρ ἑωρακὼς τὸν ὄχλον ἐταράχθη,

 οὔτε ὡς ὑπὸ τοσούτων κατασπαζόμενος ἐγεγήθει·

Instead he was wholly balanced,

as if  governed by reason,

and established in accordance with nature. 

ἀλλ' ὅλος ἦν ἴσος,

ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου κυβερνώμενος,

καὶ ἐν τῷ κατὰ φύσιν ἑστώς.

Through him[:]

the Lord healed the bodily ailments of many present

and cleansed others from demons. 

Πολλοὺς γοῦν τῶν παρόντων τὰ σώματα πάσχοντας ἐθεράπευσεν ὁ Κύριος δι' αὐτοῦ·

καὶ ἄλλους ἀπὸ δαιμόνων ἐκαθάρισε.

And he gave Antony grace in speaking, so that

Χάριν τε ἐν τῷ λαλεῖν ἐδίδου τῷ Ἀντωνίῳ· καὶ οὕτω

he consoled many who were sorrowful,

and those who were fighting he made into friends;

and he exhorted all

πολλοὺς μὲν λυπουμένους παρεμυθεῖτο,

ἄλλους δὲ μαχομένους διήλλαττεν εἰς φιλίαν·

πᾶσιν ἐπιλέγων

to prefer nothing in the world to the love of Christ.

[*cf. RB 72.11 (4.21).;  Cypr.Dom.Orat.15]

VP 14.21-23: omnibus dicens nihil debere praeponere ipsos horum quae sunt in mundo dilectionis Christi. (Bor.198)

VE 13: omnibus suadens nihil amori Christi anteponendum (PL 73.134c)

And by thus exhorting and advising them to remember

the good things to come

and God’s love of humankind, Who did not spare his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all (Rom 8:32).

περὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν

 καὶ τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς γενομένης τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίας, ὃς οὐκ ἐφείσατο τοῦ ἰδίου Υἱοῦ, ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πάντων παρέδωκεν αὐτόν· ἔπεισε πολλοὺς αἱρήσασθαι τὸν μονήρη βίον·

καὶ ἡ ἔρημος ἐπολίσθη ὑπὸ μοναχῶν, ἐξελθόντων ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων, καὶ ἀπογραψαμένων τὴν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς πολιτείαν.

It is at this point that the pioneer begins to break new ground, his old ascetic master refusing to go with him into the desert ‘for as yet there was no such custom’. Antony is now about thirty-five­ which brings us to the beginning of the reign of Diocletian and Maximian. Alone he crosses the Nile, and shuts himself in for twenty years of solitude in a deserted fort on the confines of the desert, where bread is brought to him twice a year. He enters this dark fort as an ἀδύτον [aduton - ὥσπερ ἐν ἀδύτοις   : as into a shrine]. And when after twenty years his friends break down the gate and he comes forth, he does so ‘as from some inmost shrine, initiate into the mysteries and God-borne’ ὥσπερ ἔκ τινος ἀδύτου μεμυσταγωγημένος καὶ θεοφορούμενος· [hosper ek tinos adutou memystagogemenos kai theophoroumenos.

Of course Athanasius in writing this has his eye on the pagan world. Here is the true initiate of the mysteries, who in achieving his Gospel vocation to become – te/leoij  ‘perfect’  is achieving an ideal which the pagan can understand  he very word is common to Calvary and Eleusis. And while, primarily, Antony looked back to Elijah for his prototype, his way of life had also its praeparatio in Greek and Egyptian philosophy and religion  NeoPlatonist, Pythagorean, Stoic, Cynic, etc. But Athanasius at once draws a distinctively Christian picture in this respectAntony’s body con­dition is not deteriorated but improved by his strange training. His friends marvel to see his body neither grown fat from lack of exercise, nor dried up from fasting and fighting with the demons. Physically and in disposition of soul he is ‘all balanced, as one governed by reason and standing in his natural condition’  ' ὅλος ἦν ἴσος, ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ λόγου κυβερνώμενος, καὶ ἐν τῷ κατὰ φύσιν ἑστώς. [holos en isos hupo tou logou kubernomenos, kai en to kata phusin estos].

    We are reminded how Porphyry’s Life of Plotinus starts off in the first sentence by describing Plotinus as like a man ashamed of being in a body. [Porphyry, Vita Plotini, c. 1.] The contrast is quite clear. Against all types of dualism, pagan or para-Christian, Antony’s perfection is shown reflected in his bodily condition, retained right up to his death fifty years later, when he was still sound in all his senses and vigorous in his limbs, with even his teeth complete in number[...]

Derwas Chitty, The Desert A City ,Chapter 1 - The Call,
(Oxford: 1966; St. Vlad. Sem. 1977) ISBN: 0-913836-45-1, pp. 3-4.

At this point, before continuing the narrative, it is appropriate to note what Derwas Chitty writes about this episode in The Desert A City

^θ7.ἔρωτα τῆς ἀσκήσεως: Latin; ad amorem studii deifici ducebat.

49_to the Inner Mountain on the Red Sea

He leaves the fort and crosses the desert
to the INNER MOUNTAIN
 (the site of the modern-day Monastery of St. Antony on the Red Sea)

        49.  But when he saw himself beset by many, and not allowed to withdraw [into solitude] according to his intention as he wished, concerned [too,] that because of what the Lord was doing through him (cf 2Cor 12:4)  either he would become arrogant, or another might think more of him than he ought, he looked about and set off to go into the upper Thebaid, among those to whom he was unknown.  And having received loaves from the brethren, he sat down by the bank of the river to see whether a boat would go by; so that having embarked he might go up [the river] with them.  While he was considering these things, a voice came to him from above, “Antony, where are you going, and why?” 

49. Ὡς δὲ εἶδεν ἑαυτὸν ὀχλούμενον ὑπὸ πολλῶν καὶ μὴ ἀφιέμενον κατὰ γνώμην ἀναχωρεῖν, ὡς βούλεται· εὐλαβηθεὶς μὴ ἐξ ὧν ὁ Κύριος ποιεῖ δι' αὐτοῦ, ἢ αὐτὸς ἐπαρθῇ, ἢ ἄλλος τις ὑπὲρ ὅ ἐστι λογίσηται περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἐσκέψατο καὶ ὥρμησεν ἀνελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἄνω Θηβαΐδα πρὸς τοὺς ἀγνοοῦντας αὐτόν. Καὶ δὴ παρὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν δεξάμενος ἄρτους, ἐκάθητο παρὰ τὰς ὄχθας τοῦ ποταμοῦ, σκοπῶν εἰ ἄρα παρέλθοι πλοῖον, ἵνα ἐμβὰς ἀνέλθῃ μετ' αὐτῶν. Ταῦτα δὲ αὐτοῦ σκεπτομένου, φωνή τις ἄνωθεν γέγονε πρὸς αὐτόν·Ἀντώνιε, ποῦ πορεύῃ, καὶ διὰ τί;

        But he was not disturbed, for he had become accustomed to often being called this way; and having listened  he answered, saying: “Since the crowds do not allow me any tranquility, I wish to go into the upper Thebaid on account of the many annoyances that come upon me here; and especially because they demand of me things beyond my power.”  But the voice said unto him, “Even if you were to go into the Thebaid, or as you have it in mind to do, to go down to Bucolia [the pastures], you will have to endure more; even, twice the trouble [you now have].  But if you truly wish tranquility, depart now up into the inner desert.” 

¸Ο δὲ μὴ ταραχθεὶς, ἀλλ' ὡς εἰωθὼς καλεῖσθαι πολλάκις οὕτως, ἐπακούσας, ἀπεκρίνατο, λέγων·Ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐπιτρέπουσί μοι ἠρεμεῖν οἱ ὄχλοι, διὰ τοῦτο βούλομαι ἀνελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἄνω Θηβαΐδα, διὰ τὰς πολλὰς τῶν ὧδέ μοι γινομένας ἐνοχλήσεις, καὶ μάλιστα διὰ τὸ ἀπαιτεῖσθαί με παρ' αὐτῶν τὰ ὑπὲρ τὴν ἐμὴν δύναμιν.Ἡ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔφη· Κἂν εἰς τὴν Θηβαΐδα ἀνέλθῃς, κἂν, ὡς ἐνθυμῇ, κατέλθῃς εἰς τὰ βουκόλια, πλείω καὶ διπλασίονα τὸν κάματον ἔχεις ὑπομένειν.  Εἰ δὲ θέλεις ὄντως ἠρεμεῖν, ἄνελθε νῦν εἰς τὴν ἐνδο ^[26.916] τέραν ἔρημον. Τοῦ δὲἈντωνίου λέγοντος·

And having journeyed three days and three nights with them, he came to a very high mountain; and at the base of the mountain ran a clear spring, whose waters were sweet and very cold. Extending out there was a plain and a few uncared-for palm trees.

προθύμως αὐτὸν ἐδέξαντο· καὶ ὁδεύσας τρεῖς ἡμέρας καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας μετ' αὐτῶν, ἦλθεν εἰς ὄρος ὑψηλὸν λίαν· καὶ ὕδωρ μὲν ἦν ὑπὸ τὸ ὄρος διειδέστατον, γλυκὺ, καὶ μάλα ψυχρόν. Πεδιὰς δὲ ἔξωθεν, καὶ φοίνικες ἀμεληθέντες ὀλίγοι.

 The Monastery of St. Antony on the Red Sea,
the site of Antony's Inner Mountain

 The Cave of Antony at the Inner Mountain on the Red Sea

        50.  Antony then, as if moved by God, fell in love with the place, for this was what he who had spoken with him by the banks of the river had meant.  So having first received bread from his fellow travellers, he abode in the mountain in solitude [monos], no one else being with him. And he remained in that place for the future, regarding it as his own home. […]

50. Ὁ οὖνἈντώνιος, ὥσπερ θεόθεν κινούμενος, ἠγάπησε τὸν τόπον· οὗτος γὰρ ἦν ὃν ἐσήμανεν ὁ λαλήσας αὐτῷ παρὰ τὰς ὄχθας τοῦ ποταμοῦ. Τὴν μὲν οὖν ἀρχὴν δεξάμενος παρὰ τῶν συνοδευσάντων ἄρτους, ἔμενεν ἐν τῷ ὄρει μόνος, οὐδενὸς ἑτέρου συνόντος αὐτῷ· ὡς γὰρ ἴδιον οἶκον ἐπιγνοὺς, εἶχε λοιπὸν τὸν τόπον ἐκεῖνον.

He Undertakes Gardening

At first, however, wild beasts in the desert, coming because of the water, often injured his sprouts and his gardening.  But he, gently laying hold of one of them, said to them all, “Why do you hurt me, when I hurt none of you?  Depart, and in the name of the Lord do not approach here.”  And from that time forward, as though afraid of his command, they did not approach the place.

Τὴν μὲν οὖν ἀρχὴν τὰ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ θηρία, ^[26.917] προφάσει τοῦ ὕδατος ἐρχόμενα, πολλάκις ἔβλαπτον αὐτοῦ τὸν σπόρον καὶ τὴν γεωργίαν· αὐτὸς δὲ χαριέντως κρατήσας ἓν τῶν θηρίων, ἔλεγε τοῖς πᾶσι· Διὰ τί με βλάπτετε, μηδὲν ἐμοῦ βλάπτοντος ὑμᾶς; Ἀπέλθετε, καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου μηκέτι ἐγγίσητε τοῖς ὧδε. Καὶ ἐξ ἐκείνου λοιπὸν, ὥσπερ φοβηθέντα τὴν παραγγελίαν, οὐκ ἔτι τῷ τόπῳ ἤγγισαν.

He has Disciples Who Care for Him

^θ18. ἀσκήσει σχολάζων. Latin; studio deifico

He Travels Back-and-Forth Between The Outer and Inner Mountains

He Remained Joyful, Balanced, and Healthy

he was  never agitated,

for his soul was calm;

he was never gloomy,

for  there was joy in his mind.

οὐδέποτε γὰρ ἐταράττετο,

 γαληνιώσης αὐτοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς·

 οὐδέποτε σκυθρωπὸς ἐγίνετο,

 χαιρούσης αὐτοῦ τῆς διανοίας.

[...]

^θ19. ἀσκήσεως. Latin; studii deifici