Anthony the Hermit (ca. 468 – ca. 520), also known as Anthony of Lérins, is a Christian who is venerated as a saint. He was born in the ancient Roman province of Pannonia Valeria (now Hungary), then part of the Hunnic Empire. When he was eight years old, his father died and he was entrusted to the care of the holy Abbot Severinus of Noricum, in modern-day Austria. Upon the death of Severinus in 482, Anthony was sent to Germany and put in the care of his uncle, Constantius, an early Bishop of Lorsch. While there, Anthony is thought to have become a monk at the age of twenty.

In 488, at about 20 years of age, Anthony moved to Italy to take up an eremitical life with a small group of hermits living on an island in Lake Como. He was eventually joined by numerous disciples seeking to emulate his holiness and he chose to seek greater solitude in Gaul. He lived in various solitary places until two years before his death he became a monk at the Abbey of Lérins, where he became well known locally for the holiness of his life and the miracles he had performed.

Anthony the Hermit

Anthony is honoured on 28 December by the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church and commemorated also on that same day by the Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Anthony the Hermit

See also

Anthony the Great

Mary of Egypt

Poustinia

References

External links

Western Orthodoxy blog

5th-century Christian saints

6th-century Christian saints

French Christian monks

French Roman Catholic saints

German Roman Catholic saints

Hermits

Italian hermits

Italian Roman Catholic saints

Romans from Pannonia

Miracle workers

Anthony the Hermit