Grade 5 - Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States

Sunday School Curriculum Grade 5
After the year 305 AD, disciples were attracted to him and he had to leave his seclusion to
become their teacher and leader. Some of his teachings to the monks are preserved to us by St.
Athanasius; others are present in the ―Sayings of the Fathers.‖ We have also seven spiritual
letters attributed to him. In his life he founded several monasteries, and the number of his monks
reached 100,000 during his life time.
St. Athanasius described him as ―a physician given by God to Egypt.‖ He was frequently
visited and resorted to for consolation and aid, by Christians and non-Christians, by ascetics, sick
and needy. He received a letter from the Emperor Constantine, on the occasion of which he told
his disciples, ―Wonder not that the emperor writes to me, for he is a man; wonder much more
that God has written the law for man, and has spoken to us by His own Son.‖
Twice he left the desert. In the year 311 AD, during the persecution under Maximanus he
went to Alexandria to assist the martyrs and confessors. Again in 338 AD, at the request of his
disciple and friend, St. Athanasius, he came to the same city to bear witness to the Orthodox faith
against Arian‘s heresy. During his visit many heathen went to church asking to see the ―man of
God‖ and were converted. He refused to stay longer in Alexandria, saying, ―As a fish out of
water, so a monk out of his solitude dies.‖
During the last fifteen years of his life he retired again to solitude at Mount Colzim, keeping
only two disciples with him. They were with him at the time of his death in the years 356 AD,
when he was 105 years old.
Then the monks, as he had ordered them, prepared his body for burial and hid it in the earth as
he ordered them adding: ―In the day of the resurrection, I shall receive it incorruptible from the
hand of Christ.‖ And to this day no one knows where he is buried.
His final words to the monks who were with him, ―I will be going the way of the fathers, as it
is written, for I see myself being called by the Lord, and I am going to Him. Now you watch
yourselves, and do not deviate from the ascetical practice you‘ve been doing for so many years,
but act like you are just starting out with your asceticism and keep your enthusiasm. You know
the tricks of the evil demons. You have seen what weaklings they are; do not be afraid of them,
but entrust yourselves to Christ at all times and get your strength from Him, spreading the sweet
smell of incense in Christ. As though you were going to die each day, remember the things you
have heard from me.‖
The monastery of St. Antony of Colzim has been, since its foundation in the fourth century, a
main center for monasticism in the Eastern Egyptian desert.
A. St. Anthony’s Character
St. Anthony was never troubled because his soul was at peace; he was never sad because his
heart rejoiced always. He was a person of good character, being pure in heart; he thoroughly
honored the canons of the church. He was never ashamed to bow his head to bishops or priests
and, moreover, if a deacon came to him at any time for help, he would speak profitable words to
him. If he was going to pray, he would defer to him in praying, asking to listen to those with him.
And he always acknowledged ―I‘ve learned from this,‖ if anyone said something profitable in his
presence.
68 JANUARY