Antony’s Birth and Beginnings

Antony, you must know, was an Egyptian by descent. His parents were of good family and had considerable wealth, and since they were Christians, he too was brought up in the same faith. As a small child he was raised with his parents, knowing nothing but them and his home. But when he had grown and reached boyhood, and was getting older, he could not bear to learn his letters, for he did not care to keep company with other boys. All his desire was, as it is written of Jacob, to live as a plain man at home. He used to go with his parents to the Lord’s house. As a child he was not idle, and when he was older he did not look down on them; he obeyed his father and mother, and paid attention to what was read, keeping in his heart whatever was useful in what he heard. And though he was brought up as a child in moderate comfort, he did not pester his parents for varied or luxurious food, nor did he take pleasure in it. He was content with whatever he found, and looked for nothing more. [a]

After the death of his father and mother he was left alone with one little sister. He was about eighteen or twenty years old, and the care of both the home and his sister rested on him. Not six months after his parents died, he was going to the Lord’s house as usual, and as he walked he was turning things over in his mind: how the apostles left everything and followed the Savior; how the believers in Acts sold their possessions and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet to be given out to the needy; and what a great hope was stored up for them in heaven. Thinking over these things, he went into the church. It happened that the Gospel was being read, and he heard the Lord saying to the rich man, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor; and come, follow me, and you will have treasure in heaven.” It was as though God had brought the saints to his mind, and as though the passage had been read for his sake. Antony went out of the church at once and gave the property he had inherited from his forefathers to the villagers. It was about two hundred acres of productive and very fine land, and he gave it away so that it would no longer be a burden to himself and his sister. All the rest, everything that could be moved, he sold, and when he had collected a good deal of money he gave it to the poor, though he kept back a little for his sister’s sake. [c]