His Life in the Tombs and His Fights with Demons

Tightening his hold on himself in this way, Antony went off to the tombs, which were some distance from the village. He asked one of his acquaintances to bring him bread at intervals of many days, and he went into one of the tombs. The other man shut the door on him, and he stayed inside alone. The enemy could not bear this. He was even afraid that before long Antony would fill the desert with the discipline. So he came one night with a crowd of demons and lashed him so severely that he lay on the ground unable to speak from the terrible pain. For Antony declared that the torture had been so severe that no blows struck by a man could ever have caused him such torment. But by the providence of God, for the Lord never overlooks those who hope in him, his acquaintance came the next day bringing him the loaves. He opened the door and saw him lying on the ground as though dead. He lifted him up, carried him to the church in the village, and laid him on the ground. Many of his relatives and the villagers sat around Antony as around a corpse. But about midnight he came to himself and got up. When he saw them all asleep and only his friend awake, he nodded to him to come over, and asked him to carry him back to the tombs without waking anyone.

So the man carried him there, and as before, when the door was shut, he was inside alone. He could not stand up because of the blows, but he prayed lying down. And after he had prayed, he shouted: “Here I am, Antony. I do not run from your lashes. Even if you strike me more, nothing will separate me from the love of Christ.” And then he sang, “Though an army camp is set against me, my heart will not be afraid.” These were the thoughts and words of this man of discipline. But the enemy, who hates what is good, was amazed that after the blows Antony dared to come back. He called his hounds together and burst out: “You see that neither by the spirit of lust nor by blows have we stopped the man; he defies us. Let us attack him another way.” Changing shape to do evil is easy for the devil. So in the night they made such a din that the whole place seemed to be shaken by an earthquake. The demons seemed to break through the four walls of the building and come in through them, in the likeness of beasts and creeping things. All at once the place was filled with the forms of lions, bears, leopards, bulls, snakes, asps, scorpions and wolves, and each of them moved according to its nature. The lion roared, wanting to attack; the bull seemed to toss its horns; the snake writhed but could not reach him; and the wolf, as it rushed at him, was held back. Altogether the noises of the apparitions, with their angry raging, were terrible. [a]

Antony, struck and goaded by them, felt bodily pains still more severe. Yet he lay watching with an unshaken soul. He groaned from the anguish of his body, but his mind was clear, and as if mocking them he said: “If there were any power in you, it would have been enough for one of you to come. But since the Lord has made you weak, you try to terrify me by numbers. And the proof of your weakness is that you take the shapes of brute beasts.” And again he said boldly: “If you are able, and have received power against me, do not put off the attack. But if you are not able, why trouble me for nothing? For faith in our Lord is a seal and a wall of safety to us.” So after many attempts they gnashed their teeth at him, because they were making fools of themselves rather than of him.

Nor did the Lord forget Antony’s wrestling then, but was at hand to help him. Looking up, he saw the roof as if it had opened, and a ray of light coming down to him. The demons suddenly vanished, the pain of his body stopped at once, and the building was whole again. Antony felt the help, got his breath back, and was free of pain. Then he pleaded with the vision that had appeared to him: “Where were you? Why did you not appear at the beginning to stop my pains?” And a voice came to him: “Antony, I was here, but I waited to watch your fight. And since you have held out and have not been beaten, I will always be a help to you, and I will make your name known everywhere.” When he heard this, Antony got up and prayed, and he received such strength that he could tell he had more power in his body than before. He was then about thirty-five years old.