Grade 5 - Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States

Sunday School Curriculum Grade 5
His face had a great charisma in the presence of the Savior: if he was in the middle of a crowd
of monks and someone whom he did not know wanted to see him, immediately that monk would
walk inside, ignoring all the other monks who were with St. Antony, and he would go inside to
see him as if St. Anthony‘s face were drawing him to him.
B. St. Anthony, the man of God
St. Anthony‘s soul and virtue were beloved by God, thus his fame spread everywhere, and
everyone who saw him marveled at him, and those who never saw him loved him. He was not
known through books he wrote, or through some kind of outside wisdom, but only through his
devotion to God. For how did his fame spread to reach Spain while he sat hidden on a mountain?
Moreover, how was his name heard in Rome and Africa unless God, who commands those who
belong to him be known everywhere, made a promise to St. Antony from the beginning? For
even if they act in secret and do not reveal themselves, the Lord reveals them to everyone, like a
lamp, so that those who hear might receive zealousness for virtue.
Once the saint saw in a vision the whole earth covered so thick with snares, that it seemed
scary to set down a foot without falling into them. At this sight he cried out, trembling: ―Who, O
Lord, can escape them all?‖ A voice answered him: ―Humility, O Anthony!‖ He always looked
upon himself as the least and the very outcast of mankind; he listened to the advice of everyone,
and professed that he received benefit from that of the meanest person.
He watched great part of the nights in heavenly contemplation; and sometimes when the
rising sun called him to his daily tasks, he complained that its visible light robbed him of the
greater interior light which he enjoyed, and interrupted his close application and solitude.
In an excellent sermon which he made to his disciples, recorded by St. Athanasius, he
pathetically exhorts them to renounce the whole world for heaven, to spend every day as if they
knew it to be the last of their lives, having death always before their eyes, continually to advance
in fervor, and to be always armed against the assaults of Satan.
C. His Saying
St. Anthony said: Just as fish die if they remain on dry land so monks, remaining away from
their cells, or dwelling with men of the world, lose their determination to persevere in solitary
prayer. Therefore, just as the fish should go back to the sea, so we must return to our cells, lest
remaining outside we forget to watch over ourselves interiorly.
St. Anthony taught St. Ammonios, saying: You must advance yet further in the fear of God.
And taking him out of the cell he showed him a stone, saying: Go and insult that stone, and beat
it without ceasing. When this had been done, St. Anthony asked him if the stone had answered
back. No, said St. Ammonios. Then St. Anthony said: You too must reach the point where you
no longer take offence at anything.
Conclusion:
Chronology of the life of St. Anthony:
A.D.
251 Birth of St. Anthony at a village in Upper Egypt.
JANUARY 69