From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
December 28th - St. Antony of L=C3=A9rins
Also known as
Antony of L=C3=A9rins
Anthony the Hermit
d. 520
=C2 In the monastery of L=C3=A9rins in France, St. Anthony, a monk famed=
for
his miracles.
HE was born at Valeria in Lower Pannonia during the time of the
barbarian invasions, and his father dying when he was eight years old
he was entrusted to the care of St. Severinus, the intrepid apostle of
Noricum. Antony probably lived with him in the monastery he had
founded at Faviana, and as a boy saw Odoacer (1) go by on his
triumphant march to Rome.
Severinus died about 482 and Antony was then taken charge of by his
uncle Constantius, Bishop of Lorch in Bavaria. He became a monk, and
withdrew from Noricum into Italy with the other Romans in 488. He was
then about twenty. He made his way to the neighbourhood of Lake Como,
and there attached himself to a priest named Marius, who directed a
number of disciples there. Marius conceived a great admiration for
Antony and wanted him to be ordained priest and share in his work but
Antony's vocation was for the solitary life and, leaving Marius, he
joined two hermits near the tomb of St. Felix at the other end of the
lake. Here he lived in a cave, spending his time in prayer, study and cultivating his garden, but frequent visitors distracted him.
A murderer, hiding from justice, simulated devotion and attached
himself to Antony as a disciple, but the saint =E2=80=9Cread his soul=E2=80= =9D,
exposed his imposture, and the man fled. Antony had to go also, for
this incident made him better known than ever. At last, despairing of
finding complete solitude and fearing the respect he received would
make him vain, he passed over the Alps into southern Gaul and became a
monk at L=C3=A9rins. St. Antony died there revered for his virtues and miracles. St. Ennodius of Pavia wrote his life.
Little is known to us of this Antony beyond what Ennodius has recorded
in the life referred to. It has been edited in the Vienna Corpus
Scriptorum ecciesiasticorum latinorum, vol. vi, pp. 383-393 in MGH.,
Auctores antiquissimi, vol. vii, pp. 185-190 and in Migne, FL., vol.
lxiii, cc. 239-246. See also DHG., vol. iii, c. 739.
(1) Odoacer was a Germanic warrior who worked his way up through the
ranks of the Roman army. When the western emperor Julius Nepos was
overthrown by the Roman general Orestes, Odoacer defeated Orestes,
deposed and exiled Orestes' son Romulus Augustus, and refused to
acknowledge any new western emperor, officially putting an end to the
Western Roman Empire in 476. He styled himself King of Italy and
conquered parts of present-day Croatia and Austria.
Saint Quote:
Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to
construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations
of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be
its foundation.
--St. Augustine
Bible Quote:
And because you are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into
your hearts, crying: Abba, Father.
Therefore now he is not a servant, but a son. And if a son, an heir
also through God.=C2 (Galatians 4:6-7)
<><><><>
Blessed is He
Blessed is the Child, who gladdened Bethlehem today.
Blessed is the Babe, who today renewed the youth of humankind.
Blessed is the Fruit, who bowed Himself down to our hunger.
Blessed is the gracious One, who suddenly enriched our poverty
and supplied our need.
Blessed is He, whose tender mercy led Him to heal our infirmities.
Blessed is He, whom freedom crucified, because He permitted it.
Blessed is He, whom also the wood bore, because He gave it leave.
Blessed is He, whom the grave bound, when He set limits to Himself.
Blessed is He, whose free choice brought Him
to the womb and to birth.
Blessed is He, who sealed our soul and adorned and betrothed her to Himself=
..
Blessed is the beautiful One, who remade us in His image.
Blessed is He, who made our flesh a tabernacle for His hiddenness.
Blessed is He, who with our tongue spoke out His secrets.
Blessed is the Word of the most high, who became flesh today for us.
Amen
St Ephrem (306-373) Father & Doctor of the Church
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)