STORY: On hearing Matthew 19:21 (If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me) Anthony left all he had to live in the desert and pray. Many would come to be healed by him and listen to his words. Others started to join him and they formed what was one of the first “monastic” communities. Not comfortable with his growing “popularity” and not wanting people to treat him like God, he moved deeper into the desert, living to the age of one hundred and five.

PATRON OF: fire and animals

FEAST DAY: January 17

DATES: 3rd cent.

READ MORE: St. Anthony at Catholic Encyclopedia

SOURCE: St. Anthony at Catholic.org

Image Attribution: Hakjosef, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons