St. Anthony the Abbot, also called St. Anthony the Great or St. Anthony of the Desert (about 251–356), was an Egyptian Christian who gave away his inheritance, went into the desert to live for God alone, and became the father of all monks. His friend St. Athanasius wrote his life, which spread the ideal of monastic life throughout the Church. He is the patron of animals, farmers, butchers and gravediggers, and of people with skin diseases, and on his feast, January 17, many parishes bless animals in his honor. He should not be confused with St. Anthony of Padua, the Franciscan of the thirteenth century. Below are his story in the words of his biographer, his patronage, and prayers to St. Anthony the Abbot.
A short prayer to St. Anthony the Abbot, written for this page:
St. Anthony, you left everything to follow Christ and fought temptation in the desert.
Pray for me in my struggles, bless the animals in my care,
and teach me to put God first in all things. Amen.
Who was St. Anthony the Abbot?
Anthony was born around 251 in a village in Upper Egypt to Christian parents who owned good farmland. When they died, he was about eighteen. St. Athanasius tells what happened a few months later (Life of Antony 2):
After the death of his father and mother he was left alone with one little sister: his age was about eighteen or twenty, and on him the care both of home and sister rested. Now it was not six months after the death of his parents, and going according to custom into the Lord’s House, he communed with himself and reflected as he walked how the Apostles left all and followed the Saviour; and how they in the Acts sold their possessions and brought and laid them at the Apostles’ feet for distribution to the needy, and what and how great a hope was laid up for them in heaven. Pondering over these things he entered the church, and it happened the Gospel was being read, and he heard the Lord saying to the rich man, ‘If thou wouldest be perfect, go and sell that thou hast and give to the poor; and come follow Me and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.’ Antony, as though God had put him in mind of the Saints, and the passage had been read on his account, went out immediately from the church, and gave the possessions of his forefathers to the villagers—they were three hundred acres, productive and very fair—that they should be no more a clog upon himself and his sister. And all the rest that was movable he sold, and having got together much money he gave it to the poor, reserving a little however for his sister’s sake.
Anthony learned the ascetic life from an old hermit near his village, then withdrew to the tombs and later to an abandoned fort in the desert east of the Nile, where he lived alone for twenty years. He was assailed by fierce temptations, which artists from Bosch to Dalí have painted as monstrous demons, but he overcame them by prayer, fasting and trust in Christ. When he finally came out, disciples gathered around him, and colonies of hermits grew up in the desert, the beginning of Christian monasticism. Twice he went down to Alexandria: once to encourage Christians during the persecution of 311, and once, in old age, to support his friend Athanasius against the Arian heresy. He spent his last years on Mount Colzim, near the Red Sea, where the Monastery of St. Anthony still stands, and died about 356, at over a hundred years of age.
The patron of animals
In the Middle Ages the Hospitallers of St. Anthony, a religious order founded in France in his name, cared for victims of “St. Anthony’s fire,” a painful disease caused by a fungus on rye. The brothers were allowed to let their pigs roam freely in the towns, wearing small bells, and so St. Anthony came to be pictured with a pig and a bell and became the patron of pigs, farm animals and all domestic animals. On January 17 many churches, especially in Italy, Spain and Latin America, still bless animals, from cows and horses to dogs and cats. See the patron saint of animals.
What is St. Anthony the Abbot the patron saint of?
- Animals, pets, livestock and farmers
- Butchers, basket-makers and gravediggers
- People suffering from skin diseases, shingles and “St. Anthony’s fire”
- Monks and hermits
- Those suffering temptation
Prayers to St. Anthony the Abbot
Written for this page.
For the blessing of animals
St. Anthony, friend of all God’s creatures, bless the animals in our care.
Keep them healthy and safe, and help us to treat them with kindness,
as gifts from our Creator. Amen.
In temptation
St. Anthony, you fought the devil in the desert and won by prayer and fasting.
Pray for me when I am tempted. Give me courage, humility and trust in Christ,
who has already conquered. Amen.
For skin disease
St. Anthony, pray for me in this painful illness of the skin.
Ask the Lord to heal me and to give me patience and peace. Amen.
Feast day
The memorial of St. Anthony, abbot, is January 17. The Eastern Churches, which call him Anthony the Great, also honor him on January 17.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between St. Anthony the Abbot and St. Anthony of Padua?
St. Anthony the Abbot was a hermit in Egypt in the third and fourth centuries; St. Anthony of Padua was a Franciscan preacher of the thirteenth century, patron of lost things. See the St. Anthony prayer.
Why is St. Anthony the Abbot shown with a pig?
Because the Hospitallers of St. Anthony kept pigs that roamed the towns wearing bells, and he became the patron of farm animals.
When is St. Anthony the Abbot’s feast day?
January 17.
More saints
- Patron saint of horses
- Patron saint of veterinarians
- St. Athanasius
- Patron saint of animals
- St. Anthony prayer (of Padua)
- St. Benedict prayer
- Athanasian Creed
- Patron saints
- Saint of the day
Texts and sources
- St. Athanasius, Life of Antony 2, trans. H. Ellershaw, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series II, vol. 4 (1892), public domain (Wikisource).