E02348: The Life of *Antonius (monk of northern Italy and Lérins, S01208) is written in Latin by Ennodius of Pavia, probably between 506 and 521, ostensibly at the request of abbot Leontius. It narrates Antonius' life, emphasising his early extreme ascetic endeavours, before finally choosing cenobitism as the best form of monasticism, and entering the community of Lérins (southern France), where he becomes a leading figure and eventually dies.
Creators: name: Bryan
name: Mpignot
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2017
Subjects: History

description: Life of Antonius (BHL 584)<br><br>Summary:<br><br>§§ 1-5: Prologue. Ennodius emphasises the need to tell of illustrious men, in order to follow their example. He dedicates the work to abbot Leontius, who requested it.<br><br>§ 6: Invocation to the Holy Spirit<br><br>§§ 7-11: Childhood of Antonius. He is born in the city of Valeria (Noricum), the son of Secundinus, from a noble family. Orphaned at the age of eight, he stays with the renowned Severinus, then with his uncle Constantius, bishop of Lauriacum, who educates him.<br><br>§§ 12-14: Pagan barbarians (Franks, Heruls, Saxons) invade Pannonia, and kill many people. Bishop Constantius dies in this period.<br><br>§§ 15-17: The servants of Constantius bring Antonius to Italy; first he lives in Valtellina, with the priest Marius. Marius wants to ordain Antonius because of his merits, but Antonius refuses because he wants to avoid honours.<br><br>§§ 18-22: Antonius chooses to live in an isolated place (secessum) near the tomb of the martyr Fidelis (beati martyris Fidelis sepulcro), at the extremity of the lake of Como (Larius), on a high and inhospitable mountain range, where two old hermits already live. When one of the hermits dies, Antonius sees a column of fire ascending to heaven.<br><br>§§ 22-24: Description and praise of Antonius' radical eremitism.<br><br>§§ 25-29: A murderer joins Antonius, pretending to be humble and hiding his crime. A heavenly voice tells Antonius that the man killed his brother and that he should be dismissed. Antonius reveals his lies to the man, who is distressed and soon dies.<br><br>§§ 30-31: Antonius' fame brings many visitors. He hides deeper in the wild, and lives alone, truly as a monk.<br><br>§§ 32-33: Beasts are his only company. A bear destroys his cabbage field, Antonius beats him with his stick and tells him to go away and to tell all the beasts of his power. He again finds the bear on his path and commands it to go away. <br><br>§§ 34-35: Antonius' fame grows again, and brings many visitors to his retreat, that he thought was inaccessible. He fears pride.<br><br>§§ 36-37: Antonius speaks to himself, noting the superiority of cenobitism against the attacks of the Devil. He decides to become a monk on the island of Lérins.<br><br>§ 38: He abandons his cell and goes to Lérins. There, the brothers admire his pale face and thinness, which tells them a lot about his virtuous way of life. <br><br>§§ 39-41: Antonius becomes particularly influential in the community. After two years he dies in a glorious manner that Ennodius chooses not to tell.<br><br>§ 42: Ennodius tells the reader that he is the first to narrate the story of Antonius, as a first attempt that needs to be followed by others.<br><br>Text: Vogel 1885, 185-190. Summary (from which paragraph numbers are taken): Gioanni 2007, 169-170, translated, adapted and expanded by M. Pignot