Saint Anthony receives his vocation

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

Today, January 17, as our Church celebrates the Memorial of Saint Anthony, abbot, we are first invited to read and reflect on a passage from the first letter of the apostle Paul to the Philippians (3:7---4:1, 4-9) entitled “Rejoice in the Lord always”. Our treasure, which follows, is from the Life of Saint Anthony by Saint Athanasius, bishop.

St. Anthony was born in Egypt around the year 250.After his parents died, he distributed his property to the poor. He sold almost everything he had, leaving enough for his younger sister to live a good life. He went into the desert and became a hermit. After almost 30 years of living in solitude, he came back to provide guidance to a growing community of hermits, thus marking the beginning of modern-day monasticism. He attracted disciples and labored on behalf of the Church, giving support to believers during the persecution of Diocletian and assisting Saint Athanasius against the Arians. Most of what we know of Saint Anthony is from a book entitled the Life of Anthony, written by St. Athanasius shortly after St. Anthony's death in 356.

Saint Athanasius was born in Alexandria in 295. He accompanied Alexander to the Council of Nicaea and succeeded him as Bishop of Alexandria. He fought courageously against the Arian heresy. The Arian heresy taught that Jesus was not divine. For this he suffered many hardships and was exiled several times. His writings are outstanding in their explanation and defense of the true teachings of the faith. Saint Athanasius is a Doctor of the Church. He died in 373.

Philippians is written to a group of believers with whom Paul founded a church, during his second missionary journey in approximately AD 49. Philippi was a Roman colony, with believers consisting primarily of Gentiles. This letter, written about 12 years after the founding of the Philippian church, is largely a thank you letter to the Philippians. The main message of the Book of Philippians is for the Christian community in Philippi to be steadfast in faith and to express joy. Philippians is recognized as Paul's joyous epistle and is also known as the "friendship letter" because of its tone. However, because Paul wrote this letter during the time of house arrest in Rome, it includes the major theme of rejoicing during suffering.