Saint Anthony of Egypt - January 17

TheFatimaCenter
17 January (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox)
30 January (Coptic Orthodox, Coptic Catholic)
Profile Following the death of his parents when he was about 20, Anthony insured that his sister completed her education, then he sold his house, furniture, and the land he owned, gave the proceeds to the poor, joined the anchorites who lived nearby, and moved into an empty sepulchre. At age 35 he moved to the desert to live alone; he lived 20 years in an abandoned fort.
Anthony barricaded the place for solitude, but admirers and would-be students broke in. He miraculously healed people, and agreed to be the spiritual counselor of others. His recommendation was to base life on the Gospel. Word spread, and so many disciples arrived that Anthony founded two monasteries on the Nile, one at Pispir, one at Arsinoe. Many of those who lived near him supported themselves by making baskets and brushes, and from that came his patronage of those trades.
Anthony briefly left his seclusion in 311, going to Alexandria, Egypt to fight Arianism, and to comfort the victims of the persecutions of Maximinus. At some point in his life, he met with his sister again. She, too, had withdrawn from the world, and directed a community of nuns. Anthony retired to the desert, living in a cave on Mount Colzim.
Descriptions paint him as uniformly modest and courteous. His example led many to take up the monastic life, and to follow his way. Late in life Anthony became a close friend of Saint Paul the Hermit, and he buried the aged anchorite, leading to his patronage of gravediggers. His biography was written by his friend Saint Athanasius of Alexandria.
His relationship with pigs and patronage of swineherds is a little complicated. Skin diseases were sometimes treated with applications of pork fat, which reduced inflammation and itching. As Anthony’s intervention aided in the same conditions, he was shown in art accompanied by a pig. People who saw the art work, but did not have it explained, thought there was a direct connection between Anthony and pigs – and people who worked with swine took him as their patron.

Born

251 at Heracleus, Egypt

Died

356 at Mount Colzim of natural causes
relics near Vienne, France

Canonized

Pre-Congregation

Patronage

against eczema
against epilepsy
against ergotism
against erysipelas
against pestilence
against Saint Anthony’s Fire
against skin diseases
against skin rashes

amputees
anchorites
animals
basket makers
basket weavers
brushmakers
butchers
cemetery workers
domestic animals
epileptics
farmers
gravediggers
graveyards
hermits
hogs
monks
pigs
relief from pestilence
swine
swineherds

Hospitallers

Canas, Brazil

Burgio, Sicily, Italy
Castrofilippo, Agrigento, Italy
Chiaravalle, Ancona, Italy
Fivizzano, Italy
Fontainemore, Italy
Mamoiada, Italy
Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Italy

Mook, Netherlands

San Antonio, Ibiza, Spain
Tempio-Ampurias, Italy, diocese of

Representation

asperges (exorcises evil spirits)
baskets
bell (exorcises evil spirits)
blue T on his shoulder
book (devotion to scripture and study)
centaur
crutch with a bell hanging from it
crutch
fire under his feet
fire (represents Saint Anthony’s Fire)
flames (represents Saint Anthony’s Fire)
hog
old man
hermit
pig
rod
satyr
tau cross with a bell on the end
young man distributing his wealth
carried by demons (his defeat of worldly things and temptation)
making baskets (the traditional source of income for early monks)
man with a pig at his side
Saint Anthony’s cross (T or tau-shaped)
very old monk (indicates that he was a monk from the beginning)
with Saint Paul the Hermit
with a devil nearby (the temptations of the world)
with two lions, who dig Paul‘s grave
catholicsaints.info/saint-anthony-the-abbot/