Saint Anthony the Great is considered the founder of Christian monasticism. He was born near Memphis in central Egypt about the year 251 to a well-to-do Christian family. He was left an orphan at an early age. In church one Sunday, when he was about twenty years old, he heard the words of the Gospel, \"If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me\" (Matthew 19: 21). Without hesitation Saint Anthony literally obeyed the words he had heard and disposed of all his possessions. He went out into the desert to live a life of prayer, fasting, and manual labor. At first he was plagued by many temptations, but by the grace of Christ he overcame them. He returned to civilization only twice, to aid suffering fellow Christians during the persecutions instigated by the Emperor Diocletian and to support Orthodoxy against the Arian heresy, which denied that Christ was God.
As Saint Anthony\'s reputation for holiness spread, others went out to share his way of life and to learn from him. So many gathered around that he began to miss the solitude of the early years..Hymns of his feat say that he has transformed the desert to a town! He withdrew deeper into the desert, to a cave in a remote area near the shore of the Red Sea, where he spent the rest of his life. Saint Anthony\'s biography was written by Saint Athanasius, the great archbishop of Alexandria, who knew him personally and relied on him for support and advice. Saint Anthony died in the year 356.
Holy Apostles have also follow the narrow path of Christian therapeutics which is to lead man to purification, illumination and deification (theosis).
for example st Paul has started a missionary work only after seeing Jesus in Damascus and after been personally healed .the same happened with all the others.
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