9781644135945

The Light of the World
O God, our refuge and our strength, Thou art the Author of all righteousness. Give answer
to the earnest pleadings of Thy Church, that we may truly acquire what we ask for with earnest
faith. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Feasts of the Saints during the Time after Epiphany
January 17, St. Anthony
The feast of the holy hermit St. Anthony is, in a sense, an epiphany also, for the influence of
Christ is made manifest in the life of this saintly recluse.
One day St. Anthony heard these words of our Lord read in church: “If thou wilt be perfect,
go sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come
follow Me” (Mt 19:21). St. Anthony, taking the admonition to heart, understood these words
to apply to him personally, and he followed them literally. Without hesitation he disposed of
his property, applied the proceeds to the relief of the poor, and retired to the desert. “Blessed
is the rich man . . . that hath not gone after gold nor put his trust in money nor in treasures”
(Ecclus 31:8). A man whose heart is detached from the goods of this world has a higher ideal.
“Let your loins be girt and lamps burning in your hands; and you yourselves like to men who
wait for their lord when he shall return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh,
they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He
cometh, shall find watching” (Gospel). These words were verified in the life of St. Anthony.
He has set aside all worldly occupations and awaits the coming of his Lord and Master. Having
girded his loins with the girdle of chastity, poverty, mortification, and penance, he holds the
lamp of love in his hand and stands gazing steadfastly, expecting momentarily the coming of
the Lord. “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own
soul?” (Mt 16:26.)
Anthony has made a complete conquest of the world and of himself. “Thou hast given
him his heart’s desire, O Lord” (Offertory). In the silence of the desert the hermit learned true
wisdom. He learns to weigh all things in the light of his eternal destiny. All that is temporal and
earthly appears to him as dung and waste. “But one thing is necessary” (Lk 10:42). “The mouth
of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment; the law of his God is in
his heart” (Introit). He was “beloved of God and men, whose memory is benediction. He made
him like the saints in glory. . . . He sanctified him in his faith and meekness, and chose him out
of all flesh; for He heard him and his voice, and brought him into a cloud” (Epistle), into the
ecstasies of contemplation and loving intercourse with God, like Moses on Mt. Sinai. Nights
he spent in prayer; for Anthony the sun rose all too soon and called him away from his prayer.
St. Anthony asked God for divine life, and God was generous: “Thou hast given him length of
days forever and ever” (Gradual).
The contemporaries of St. Anthony were astonished at the miracle of grace that had
sprung up in their midst; thousands of them, inspired by his example, disposed of their
earthly goods and retired to the desert to learn the way of salvation from him. He became
the father and teacher of a great army of ascetics, hermits, and monks, who made their
study of God and of divine ways without the help of books and in the deep silence of
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