His Healings Were Christ’s Work, Through Prayer

Such are the words of Antony, and we should not doubt whether such marvels were worked by the hand of a man. For it is the Savior’s promise, when he says, “If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” And again: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Ask and you will receive.” And it is he himself who says to his disciples and to all who believe in him, “Heal the sick, cast out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” [a]

Antony, at any rate, healed not by giving commands but by praying and speaking the name of Christ, so that it was clear to everyone that it was not he himself who worked, but the Lord who showed mercy through him and healed the sufferers. Antony’s part was only prayer and discipline. For their sake he stayed in the mountain, rejoicing in the contemplation of divine things, but grieved when he was troubled by many people and dragged to the outer mountain. For all the judges used to ask him to come down, since they could not go in to him themselves because of the litigants who followed them. Still, they asked him to come, if only so that they might see him. When he avoided it and refused to go to them, they held firm, and sent him all the more the prisoners under guard of soldiers, so that he might come down for their sake. Forced by necessity, and seeing them lamenting, he came to the outer mountain, and again his labor was not without profit. For his coming was of advantage and service to many. He was of use to the judges too, counseling them to put justice before all things, to fear God, and to know that “with the judgment they judged, they would be judged.” But more than anything he loved his stay in the mountain. [b]