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”
What we know of Antony is largely through his biography written by Athanasius of Alexandria. It's available on-line. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/vita-antony.asp His sister is mentioned in paragraphs 2, 3, 5, and 54.
What Athanasius says is that after his parents' death he was left with the care of his sister (who was then 18-20 years old), after selling the property he retained some for his sister's care, the sister was was placed in a convent to be brought up (and it's my understanding this is the first historical mention of Christian women living together in community), as a monk he was tempted by the devil by his rememberance of his former life including the care of his sister, and as an old man he left his solitude and beheld "his sister grown old in virginity, and that she herself also was the leader of other virgins."
Antony was a great leader in the formation of religious communities for both men and women in the subsequent 1700 years of Christianity. It's not a life for me (nor is Mary's for that matter) but his influence on the Christian Church is signficant.
Woops. It was Antony's age that was 18-20. Anthanasius doesn't say how old the sister was.
Thanks, Dr. Primrose, for the link!
"...she herself also was the leader of other virgins".
It's unlikely Antony's sister would rise to a leadership position in the House of
Virgins if she had entered it unwillingly.
not inspired by either today. Do SEC need to add an abstain button for next year?
I will say that in the 3 years I have participated in Lent Madness, I have not felt this repugnance to any other saints, let alone 2 at the same time !
Ok, I'll vote for Mary, if I can ever find a Vote button that works. Since I have always had a problem with "The Trinity," that would be a no-brainer, anyway. It probably stems from growing up in a church where the rector was always glad to have a seminarian available to preach on Trinity Sunday...
This is tough, tough, tough. On the one hand, I am glad that Christianity in Egypt is being spotlighted. How many Americans, especially, have no clue that there is an ancient vital Christian community in countries like Egypt and Syria!
On the other hand, while I desperately wanted to be a nun in my post-"Sound of Music" childhood, the older I get, the less I "get" it. Yes, Jesus went off to be alone in the wilderness. Repeatedly. But he always came back to the world and to the messy business of being among people.
On the other hand (my third hand, of course), while both lived lives of monasticism, much has been made of Antony's giving away his wealth and his founding of monasteries. Point for Antony? Not for me. He seems through my imperfect lens (yet the only one I have) to have been quite self-centered. "I have to go RIGHT NOW into the desert." (Couldn't he have waited until perhaps arranging a marriage for this sister of his?) "I'm going to go INTO JERUSALEM because I'M GOING TO BE A MARTYR!"
On the other hand (my fourth hand), I am still struck by this idea of Mary-as-reformed-addict. I am familiar with "the rooms" of addiction, and to be able to let God turn your supreme weakness around is a blessed, blessed thing.
My vote is for Mary and her humility. Oh, yeah, and the lion.
St. Theresa of Avila tried to get to the Moors to be martyred, too. But then she was only about seven years old at the time. Sorry, trying to get martyred as an adult turns me off. And just maybe Antony's sister wanted to go to the House of Virgins, but maybe she didn't. My vote goes to Mary.
I'm sorry the account of Antony omitted the story of his visits with elderly Paul the Hermit who asked Antony to bury him when the time came. By then Antony was over 100 years old himself, and so A PAIR OF LIONS came out of the desert and helped Antony dig the grave. Ravens brought Paul half a loaf of bread each day except when Antony was visiting and then they brought a whole loaf.I think it's St Jerome who records these stories of spiritual friendship.
Antony did not do any particular good when he gave his wealth away. It sounds like he was afraid of the responsibility of his wealth and for his sister. It doesn't matter if she stayed with virgins or non-virgins, she was abandoned first by her parents who died, and then by her brother. Mary could have been a girl like that--abandoned by her family and looking for love in all the wrong places. I don't think either of these people are saintly, but my sympathy lies with Mary.
Difficult choice today. While I was cautious about Antony following his sending his sister off to the House of Virgins (I have no way of knowing if this was his way of getting his sister out of the way so he could go off & be a hermit, or if she asked to go for her own spiritual calling), I was rather horrified about his active desire to try to become a martyr--that seems to me to be less an act of piety & more an act of self-righteousness. On the other hand, he did inspire a community & advise people (though it seems that it may have been unwilling at times).
Then we have Mary--on the one hand, I rather suspect that at least some of her backstory was sensationalised, & there is no reference to her actively trying to help people; on the other, she overcame a difficult situation (sexual addiction is a term tossed around & typically self-diagnosed today, but sexual compulsion can a legitimate symptom of a number of mental illnesses & conditions, such as Manic Depression), and it is possible that living as a hermit was a way for her to cope with whatever struggle she had in order to live her new found Faith as best as she could.
In the end, I voted for Mary--she doesn't appear to have tried to curry favour with others like Antony, and also (on a more personal, selfish note) she's an example of a woman saint who was not a virgin, & had in fact openly felt sexual desire, & I rather think the more of those I learn of, the better.
Celibacy & virginity are all well & good, but looking down on those who are not called to such a life & demonising sexuality--a powerful, integral part of life which has great potential for being a spiritual experience & doing a lot of good work--is not excusable.
Amen Kitty! Well said!
I have to confess (perfect time of the year) that, through my 21st century eyes, I can't find it in my heart to vote for either of them. As many said, we don't know what Antony's sister thought of where she was sent. To me, it fee;s as if Antony did not want to have the burden of raising a girl, so he sent her off. Mary, well, yes, she give up something, but she just hid herself from it. Besides, my brain keeps saying that she may have had a problem, but there's also the whole patriarchal aspect of a woman cannot have sex for enjoyment (yes, it was out of wedlock, but it was out of wedlock for both parties). I think I'm going to take a day off for this one.
I read all your comments earlier and now am at a computer and can respond. (can't type a response on my iPod - too many misspellings, etc!) So here it is (actually posted on the FB page first!):
Listen, folks, consider the options open to Antony about his sister. He could have 'sold' her off as a second or third wife of some old geezer! That's what happened to poor girls in those days. AND while we may think of being sent to live with virgins as a type of prison, in actuality, such a community may have offered much more freedom and self-determination to the ladies who lived therein than the alternatives.
Now, that being said, I still have to decide which of these two lives most 'speaks' to me today. . . .
I vote for Mary.
Seeing that Mary was buried by "a lion" anchored my suspicion that Mary might have made the lists just to keep us thinking, and perhaps "honest" in our choosing> Who knows?
Anyway, the Aryan controversy, and its resolution, the Council of Nicea, and all that "stuff"- pretty imortant in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.If Antony was a key player, or just an accessory after the fact - Way To Go, Antony!
I'm voting because I never give up the right to do so. BUT these two were the strangest ones you've come up with since Hector was a pup! Geez Louise!
I think it was fine for Antony to give away all his worldly possessions. However, some percentage of what he gave away belonged to his sister. His disregard of her rights and her voice seems to be the kind of treatment of the poor Jesus was trying to change. Mary recognized her sinfulness and sought to repent. That is a life worth emulating. She gets my vote.
The biography clearly states that he provided money for his sister's upbringing, so that's not really fair. And it does seem obvious from the biography that she was much, much younger. Entrusting her to the care of strong and independent women living in community was a beautiful act of love on his part.
I think both of these characters are victims of the bloggers' choices of words, even if some of those choices were tampered with by the SEC. This and a few comments from earlier days make me wonder how much we are voting for the saints and how much for the bloggers' writing styles . . . . My mother always advises us to write our own obituaries -- sounds like pretty good advice!
I admit, I have had my fair share of replies, but I have one last comment.
I love that this is a match-up is so challenging.
I can understand if neither saint excites you. I believe that when that happens it is an opportunity for me to widen my perspective of what it means to be a saint or witness, and to open to seeing more of God throughout human history. I'd like to speak to two groups in this beloved Lent Madness community.
To my hard-working friends who vote on the side of "practical" or "justice-oriented" saints: Is it possible that these hermits must have meant something to a number of faithful Christians throughout time in their real lives, and that is why they are remembered by the church. And if that's true, then why do they remember them, what is compelling or helpful? Also, Jesus calls us to love one another as he loves us. I believe that some people may need longer to receive that love than others, or may have been given gifts by God to articulate that love to others in a way other than the way God has called you to be a witness. The body can't be all hands and feet you know!
To those who cannot swallow the fantastic stories, you have my sympathy and my polite disagreement. I concede that superstition has run rampant in all cultures, historically. I will even concede that it is possible, and maybe even probable that not all "works" attributed to saints are the real deal. I love science and reason, but I have a couple of reasons why I am open to the miraculous and what doesn't make sense to us given what we know about science. The scientists I know (and I live in between Duke University and UNC, so these have credentials) understand that what they know and take as absolute truth today may be reversed or expanded in a surprising way tomorrow. I certainly never could have imagined dark matter and dark energy as a child! And, if God created the universe, all energy and matter, is it not possible that God can affect the elements in a way that is otherwise impossible? Also, I have recently met three people now who are all sane and intelligent, and yet they all have recounted a similar miraculous story to me in the past year. All three (who do not know each other, I am the only link) have reported to me a story in which they were in some sort of spiritual crossroads or low point. At a particular time and place (for two it was in a church) they felt hands on their back, hands that felt completely solid, real, and good. In all instances, there was no one standing behind them, and in one instance the person was completely alone in a sanctuary. So, I'm keeping my options open and on the "Is anything to wonderful for the LORD" side of the equation.
P.S. Antony's icon is holding some parchment that reads "I NO LONGER FEAR GOD, BUT LOVE HIM" Can I get that on a t-shirt?
I wonder if Antony's sister wanted to be stuffed into a community of virgins. That sounds quite high-handed of Antony.
Mary gets my vote!
Two amazing stories of amazing saints which causes me to wonder whether they would be willing to accept into heaven folk like myself of a very unremarkable character. As a Catholic myself I feel a bit like a trespasser on this superb website which I enjoy so much and am grateful for allowing me to join in this Lenten program.
Paul, you're not a tresspasser! You are most welcome, especially if you vote my way lol
Welcome, brother.
And thanks be to God, he is willing to accept into heaven the unremarkable and the
strange, and every sort of person!
I agree with those who are upset with Antony for forcing his sister into a House of Virgins. However, at that time, a young woman had no free will. She was the property of the senior man of the family, in this case her brother. So sad....
Antony gave up large amounts of money to become a hermit, and Mary gave up large amounts of sex to become a hermit. Which one gave up the most?
While we're discussing use of language; I didn't read all 227 comments, but I have a question about the use of "he did not, however, try to impugn himself" in Antony's biography. I had to look up impugn, a word I've heard before, but didn't remember the meaning. It's a transitive verb meaning to assail, resist, oppose, or attack as false. Given this definition, it seems to me that it would be hard for someone to "impugn *himself*."
And I must admit, the use of the lion/lying pun did slightly sway me towards Mary. A lion helped dig her grave? We need that on a tee-shirt!
Christine
Please now. She was almost certainly a very, very young girl. He gave her care over to a community of strong, independent women that could nurture her in a way probably no other group or institution of that era could.
I think we have to remember the context of the time. Antony would have been expected to provide for his sister. We also have to be aware that these are the author's words, not his own. In any case, they are both Saints, having been moved by the Word to do things many could not. I am moved especially though by Antony's gifts to the poor. My vote is for him.
Had to vote for Mary because she was not lion. It made me laugh out loud and that is a good thing.
So, I get it ...it's April fools day! No, I guess not. Just normal saint stuff here, giving up sister, convicted by Jesus, and living in a tomb on bread and water or going on a pilgrimage to chase men all over the Holy Land, a little walk on the water, and apparently choking to death on the Eucharist.
This life in the Egyptian desert presented an interesting formula for becoming a saint.
I think I have to go with Mary, after she succumbed to the invisible force at the Holy Sepulchre she took life and love into her own hands.
Skye voted today. She went with Antony because he gave away everything to live a life without much of anything to eat and drink in the desert. Admittedly, mom skipped some of the biographical information about Mary when she was reading it out loud to Skye and her sister....
They both seem fanatical and lacking. However, he did leave a lasting legacy so, got to throw him my vote. Loving my first year of lent madness!
eenie, meenie, miney, mo.....i will write in FRED ROGERS.
Once again I have been torn in my vote. There are good and discouraging points for both Antony and Mary. For a while I was leaning toward Mary as her journey seems to be the roughest and most self sacrificing to me. Plus the whole lion bit is really a big plus. If , as Mike Essig said, I was choosing based on the person I would rather have a beer with it would definitely be Mary. However, after reading reading reading, it seems that Antony was the one that contributed the most in the stepping stones of the church. One of my most very favorite persons is a monk and a wonderful mentor to me and many others. So in honor of Br. Cuthbert and for his founding of the monastic movement my vote must go to St. Antony.
Can't vote for either.
I'm curious - are there any male saints who are remembered as reformed sex addicts? I know some had been promiscuous, but addicted? Can anyone name one?
I'm afraid I sense something prurient in the story of a female saint which is told in a way that seems almost to gloat at being able to go on and on about her sexual excesses. I'm in sympathy with Mary, but not with the way her story is told.
...and God said "Nope!". I loved that part. Dude WANTS to be a martyr (who wants that?!), and is denied. Dude wants to be a hermit, and people keep following him into the desert. It is almost Pythonesque, I voted for Mary but I wouldn't be sorry to see Anthony advance either.
Sorry -- the above comment was in reply to Jo Meacham regarding Antony's arrogance in attempting martyrdom.
Marjorie, Augustine of Hippo springs to mind as a male saint who famously...um...got around. But I agree with your point that sexuality (too much or not enough) seem to be a particular focus when it comes to female figures. Whatever gets the manuscripts copied and preserved, I guess!