The Spring in the Desert and Antony’s Sister

Once the monks asked him to come down after a time and visit them and their dwellings, and he made the journey with those who had come to him. A camel carried the loaves and the water for them. For all that desert is dry, and there is no water fit to drink anywhere except in the mountain from which they drew their water, the mountain where Antony’s cell was. So when the water ran out on the way, and the heat was very great, they were all in danger. They went around the area and found no water, and they could walk no farther, but lay on the ground and, despairing of themselves, let the camel go. [a]

But the old man, seeing that they were all in danger, groaned in deep grief, went a little way off from them, knelt down, stretched out his hands, and prayed. At once the Lord made water well up where he had stood praying, and so they all drank and were revived. They filled their water bottles and went looking for the camel, and they found her, for the rope happened to have caught on a stone and was held fast. They led it back, watered it, put the bottles on its back, and finished their journey safely.

When he came to the outer cells, all of them greeted him, looking on him as a father. And he, as though he had brought supplies from the mountain, treated them to his words and gave them a share of help. Again there was joy in the mountains, zeal for growth, and encouragement through their shared faith. Antony also rejoiced when he saw the earnestness of the monks, and when he saw his sister, who had grown old in virginity and was herself the leader of other virgins.