Today's saintly drama revolves around Egypt. As in "Who will emerge victorious in the holy battle for Egyptian domination." Antony (don't call me Anthony or even Tony for that matter) of Egypt takes on Mary (you can just call me Mary) of Egypt. These two have a lot in common both being hermits and spending much spiritual energy on resisting temptation. Nonetheless, only one will seize the title "Pharaoh of Lent Madness" and make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen to square off against Basil the Great.
In yesterday's matchup Anna Cooper bested (upset?) Joseph of Arimathea 60% to 40% which is unfortunate since Joseph already gave away his burial plot.
And if you missed yesterday's exhilarating edition of Monday Madness click here to see Tim and Scott hold forth on all things Lent Madness. As usual it's epic and compelling with high production values.
Antony of Egypt
Antony was born in about 251 to wealthy Christian parents in Middle Egypt. When he was not yet twenty years old, his parents died and left their large estate and his young sister to his care. Shortly thereafter, Antony was convicted by Jesus’ words to the rich man to sell everything and give the money to the poor. Antony parceled out his land, giving it away to his neighbors, and sold all his family’s belongings. He gave the money to those who were poor around him, keeping a small portion to provide for him and his sister. A short while later, he heard the gospel command to not worry about tomorrow. He promptly gave away what remained of his money, put his sister in a house of virgins, and took up a life of solitude.
Antony moved to an old tomb and survived on only bread and water, never eating or drinking before sunset, and often fasting for days in between. During this time, he wrestled with demons that assaulted him for his wealth and tempted him with lustful thoughts. He was successful in his resistance, being assured in a vision from God that he had won the victory. Encouraged by this vision, Antony moved further out into the desert.
Antony lived alone for over twenty years. Although he was drawn to the life of a hermit and constantly tried to retreat further into the wilderness, he eventually acquired some renown, and pious men sought to imitate him. Eventually, a sort of monastery was formed, a community of disciples attracted to his lifestyle. The monastery of Saint Antony the Great now stands at that site.
In 311, when the emperor Maximinus began persecuting Christians, Antony went to Alexandria hoping to be martyred. He publicly wore his white habit—the sign of a Christian monastic—and visited Christians in prison and labor camps and testified on their behalf before tribunals. He did not, however, try to impugn himself. In 312, when the persecution ebbed, Antony again returned to the desert and, alone in his cell, committed to become what Saint Athanasius called “a daily martyr to his conscience, ever fighting the battles of faith.” In his old age, Antony participated in the Arian controversy alongside his friend and biographer, Bishop Athanasius. This doctrinal debate claimed that Jesus was subordinate and distinct from God. In 355, Antony was invited to Alexandria to debate the Arians, many of whom were convinced by his arguments and changed their thinking. After the debates, he returned to the desert where he died in 356 at the ripe old age of 105.
Collect for Saint Antony of Egypt
O God, by your Holy Spirit you enabled your servant Antony to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil: Give us grace, with pure hearts and minds, to follow you, the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-- David Creech
Mary of Egypt
Mary of Egypt is recognized as the patron saint of penitents. This is because of her conversion from life as a sex addict to that of a desert hermit. Her life story or Vita, reportedly first told by Mary to a monk, was later put in writing by Saint Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem (634-638).
Born in the fourth century in an unknown region of Egypt, Mary ran away to the city of Alexandria at the age of twelve. As a young woman in Alexandria, she lived a life her biographer labeled as public prostitution. Reportedly she often refused payment for sexual acts because of her insatiable desire and instead subsisted mostly by begging and handiwork. Around the age of thirty, she traveled to Jerusalem with a group of pilgrims, hoping to find new sexual partners in the crowds. There she pursued gratification of her desires for a short time. Then, her life changed when she tried to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the place where Jesus was crucified. But she was unable to pass through the door due to an invisible force.
At this strange occurrence, Mary had an epiphany of sorts and was filled with remorse for her sexual sins. At the sight of an icon of the Virgin Mary, she prayed for forgiveness and renounced her worldly ways. Finding new freedom from her previously insatiable desires, she was able to enter the church. Inside, a voice guided her into the desert. She obeyed, journeying to the monastery of Saint John the Baptist to receive absolution and Holy Communion. Then she crossed the Jordan to live in the desert as a hermit in penitence. She is often depicted in iconography with three loaves of bread, the only food she took into the desert. Once she ate them, she lived off what she could forage in the wilderness.
She lived alone in the desert for forty-seven years, until she met a monk named Zosimus, and told him the story of her life. He agreed to bring her communion on Maundy Thursday of the following year. She appeared to him on the opposite bank of the Jordan River, made the sign of the cross, and walked across the water to receive the body and blood of Christ. She asked him to meet her again one year later, at which time he found her corpse. An inscription told him that she had died shortly after his first visit, though her body was preserved. With the help of a lion, Zosimas dug a grave and buried her. When asked if this was true, Zosimas said, “I’m not lion about any of this!”
Collect for Mary of Egypt
Almighty God, in the early life of Mary, you give us an example of how our incarnate bodies can be sources of both pleasure and destruction. Make us aware of your never-failing love and forgiveness, that we, like her, might love and serve you in body, mind, and spirit. Through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
(Collect written by Nancy Hopkins-Greene.)
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288 comments on “Antony of Egypt vs. Mary of Egypt”
While I'm not certain of who I can vote for out of this pair, one thing strikes me in many of the comments above. Everyone seems to have forgotten the common practices and laws of the day--very different from our own. Antony may have behaved in a quite extraordinary manner [shall we say inspired?] in terms of liquidating the family wealth and his identity in society, but he behaved quite normally for the time in terms to depositing his sister to a House of Virgins.
Does his behavior cause me to be aghast? Yes, by today's standards, but not when it comes to looking at it from an historical perspective. It actually makes me glad that we are who we are today as a society that has changed dramatically throughout the ages with the expectation of continued change to come.
Interesting to see the distaste expressed here. IME God ALWAYS comes to us as Other, and the very person who turns your stomach is the one who carries God's precious gift for you. YMMV, K thx bye.
So very true! When I have such reactions, have trouble identifying with either, I am forced to look beneath the surface to remember our commonality as children of God AND as sinners in the hands of a loving God!
I don't like Antony. He dissed his sister, and then ran off to try to become a martyr. I don't think martyrdom counts if you stand up and say "take me, take me!!" I know some people really like desert hermits, but it always seemed to me like ducking our real responsibilities - to bring Christ to others. Just sayin'.
Not sure about this, but it could be that being openly Christian in Alexandria in 311 was a bit like being openly gay in Uganda in 2014. It reminds me vaguely of something Biko once wrote about fighting back. If the system is going to kill you, you might as well give them a reason. (Of course, Biko said it better than that!)
I don't like the way Anthony treated his sister, and I don't like the way Mary denies her sexuality, a sort of self slut shaming. But I guess that is the point, saints screw up too and God still loves 'em.
Mary Magdalene was NOT a prostitute regardless of the rap the church has given her. Re: Mary of Egypt - we have such an aversion to the body and sex in the West (puritan ethics) - what is repellent about her otherwise?
I agree, dear Ann. Even if you do spell your name wrong!! Just kidding. If a man had behaved in that fashion, they'd have shaken his hand and bought him a beer!
Debating the Arians is so yesterday. Going with 50 Shades of Mary.
Antony forced his decision on this sister. Not ok.
Mary of Egypt.
Mary's story is similar to my own in some ways--looking for love in all the wrong places-- so I HAD to vote for her...
I love this comment!
We're reading with 21st century minds two accounts that leave no good choices. Maybe tomorrow will be better (and Thursday will be easy).
Hmm. A repentant sex addict who decided to live out her life in the desert for self- punishment, or a guy who took Jesus' commandments literally to trust the Lord for this sister and himself? Mary sought a life of self-punishment until her death. Antony was an example of devoted believers like himself who lived lives of humble obedience. No contest.
While I have not read the biography of Mary, I have read Antony's and he lived quite a life of self-punishment by our standards. He often starved himself and if I remember correctly also flogged himself. And there was nothing in today's bio to say that Mary lived in self-punishment, she simply lived as a hermit off the land in the wilderness.
We're judging Antony with 21st century mores. It wasn't that he 'treated' his sister as property...in their world...she could marry...or much less desirable options.
I didn't like that portion of the bio...but I'd need more info to judge. And if there wasn't a good man to marry... there were worse things than remaing a protected virgin.
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me..." guess that applies to sisters too. Antony.
These two really challenge me and my busy life. What a calling, to spend your entire life in the company of your Creator, supporting in prayer those called be more visibly "productive". It is not always comfortable, sitting quietly and letting Him show you yourself, as he sees it. In fact, I think I avoid it and try to make up for it by being super-busy doing things for my family, church etc, when what He really wants is for me to just be quiet with Him.
And I think it is too easy to judge Antony from our modern perspective - he probably did the best he could for his sister; better than marrying her off to someone? Perhaps the young man who went away sad from Jesus's call to give up everything, was thinking he had to look after his sister. Antony established a way of living a life totally devoted to prayer that has underpinned the spiritual life of the Church ever since - so he gets my vote.
Thank you for this thoughtful reflection. We all live our faith in different ways, according to our gifts. I am grateful for the dedication to prayer of those monastics, who are "wind beneath the wings" of those of us who desire to "share the suffering of Christ in the world."
The lion did it for me -- I'm in with Mary. Plus a guy who puts his sister in a house of virgins? Wow, a lot of issues around women, sexuality, and choices.
I agree it is hard to identify with either of these two. It was the lion that swayed me. I vote for Mary.
Not really feeling it for either of these. Did Antony ask his sister how she felt about having all of her resources given away and then sent to a convent? It's all fine if he wants to be a martyr but not sure she signed up for it. I'm hesitant about Mary's "sex addiction" storyline. Perhaps she was without family or resources and turned to prostitution to support herself. Voting for Mary but finding it hard to like either of these bios.
I don't know enough about Antony or the cultural mores of the day, but I wouldn't be surprised if property laws had something to do with it, and putting his sister with a House of Virgins was a way to assure that she had community and care. It would be interesting to hear the story from her perspective, rather than from ours.
The helpful challenge I find in today's match-up with the question of whether we judge saints of the past by today's standards or by the standards of the age in which they lived. Did holiness shine through then, and does it continue to shine through in a way that inspires. Antony certainly has a legacy that has stood the test of time, as does Mary.
Personally, I would love to hear Mary's story from her voice, unfiltered by patriarchy, but that will never happen. Still, I'm struck by the comments of Mary forsaking the body for the Body and the perspective that gives on intimacy, our needs, and intimacy with Christ. I like these contests challenge us to think through what it means to be saints (small s) of God. God, willing, I mean to be one, too!
Thank you for that thoughtful and beautiful reply. I have been getting impatient with those that were less so. Ah, it's like finding an oasis in the desert...or maybe it's like finding a hermit in the desert. 😉
Mary's story seems to me to be yet another one of those made-up legends which justified treating women as wicked temptresses -- basically sex objects -- and still have way too much influence on how women are treated in many churches and their own homes. I have a lot more sympathy for her than for Antony. Nevertheless, Antony's legacy to monasticism earns my vote, imperfect though he (as we are) may have been.
One can date monasticism right back to Anthony. He was the original hermit, a model for all future monastics, whose prayers, I am convinced, help hold our planet in balance. It was exquisitely painful for Anthony, alone, to exorcise his demons. Rather like the Buddha, under the Bodhi tree, as he attained enlightenment. Anthony's 'holiness' attracted folks out to the desert to be with him. And, what witness, to 'give it all away', as did Francis, and, for that matter, as did the Buddha.
"New occasions teach new duties; time makes ancient good uncouth." Not withstanding the difficulties of applying modern sensibilities to ancient times, cultures and understandings of faithfulness, both Anthony and Mary encountered God in the realities of their lives and times, and responded faithfully in their context. Voting for Mary today in gratitude for both witnesses, thinking Mary's journey more heroic.
This is effete but my vote for Antony was partially based on his prominence as a subject of painters such as Velazquez.
Not effete at all! Nice post, thanks.
No one likes an 8 vs 9 seed game in the NCAA either. I think it is hard to choose between the two because in our modern lives we don't have much connection to pious hermatige. It is easy to see it as selfish to ignore our duties to family. I was more impressed with Antony's giving all of his wealth to the poor since it probably did more good. In the end though I went with Mary, since sometimes it comes down to who you would rather share a beer with.
I would like a lion to dig my grave when I go.
Lions not being known for their digging abilities, especially when compared to badgers, anteaters, and jackals, I am intrigued by this appearance in Mary's already bizarre tale. Can this lion be the model for Lewis' Aslan? Antony gets my vote today for being the less fictitious of the pair!
Nowhere does it say that Antony did not consult his sister. Perhaps she chose a House of Virgins rather than a dowry and arranged marriage in a time of submission to husbands and early deaths from child birth? I agree, you have to look at the time period rather than judge on our current view points. The bio also says Antony "did not impugn" himself", which I gather means he was putting himself in danger, but not actively trying to be killed. Not really taken with either, but do judge them by their times, not ours.
I was impressed by Antony, giving everything away, how hard that would be to do, then I got to the part where he included his sister, giving her away as well. So I think I've got to go with Mary today.
Context, context, context! If ininistry has particularities based on context, time and place, so does witness. That being said, this match-up is one of the less attractive I've encountered. But given Antony of Egypt's place in the history of Christian monasticism, I'm going with that.
Antony made me mad when he dumped his sister in order to follow his own passion. What happened to her? Did she feel a call to be a virgin in confinement forever? I doubt it.
I think Anthony was more literal than he needed to be. Putting sister in the House of Virgins --really???
I have to say, the hagiographers here are showing their own biases (not the current ones, the original ones, let me add). Mary's 'sex addiction' was likely a need to survive, and her willingness to beg and do handiwork more likely indicates she hated prostitution, so that, far from refusing payment, she refused clients. (Hagiographers in that era were all male, remember.)
Antony's life reflects a set of values that it's hard to relate to today, although the part about visiting prisons & labor camps openly as a monastic is pretty cool.
Since I'd have to flip a coin, and that's no way to vote, I abstain. But love the hagiographies.
My vote is for Mary!
My daughter and u are having good conversations as we do lent Madness. Be sure to zoom in on the picture of Mary. She looks like she is wearing a fur jumpsuit or has serious body hair. Can anyone out there tell us more about this work of art?
According to Wikipedia it is a 15th Century French icon.
Well, it might account for why the lion liked her so much.
Oh chuckling to myself over this one!
I'm voting for Mary of Egypt. "Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone." "Go, and sin no more." And Mary did just that. What a great example of turning one's life around! And the lion digging the grave. How cool is that?? Don't get me started on Antony. Such a selfish, lousy brother, "putting" his poor sister in a House of Virgins. Did she want to go or did he want to be rid of the responsibility of her? Today's Madness was easy choice!