Exposition: Saint Antony

Exposition: Hail to our father the great among the saints Ava Antonious (Antony), the father of all monks † Hail to you our Father, Saint Ava Antony, who has become father to all monks. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who has become a star in the wilderness. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who left the world with everything in it. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who determined to leave this transitory world reflecting, "I would rather leave this world willingly than unwillingly and of my own accord rather than against my will." † Hail to you my Father Saint Ava Antony for you listened to the words of the Gospel: "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." (Matt 19:21) Henceforth, you went and sold all that you had and distributed it among the poor and followed the Master whom your soul loved, leaving just very little for your sister. And, when you heard the word of the Master once more saying, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things" (Matt 6:34), you put your sister in a convent and made your way to the wilderness, carrying the cross faithfully after your Master whom your soul loved. † Hail to you my Father Saint Ava Antony whose good reputation spread all over the world. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who crushed the devils by the power of your prayer and your true humility. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who endured so many hostilities and mischief of the devils, and who conquered them by the power of Christ our Master, glory be to Him. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, O you mighty fighter who conquered Satan and all his ranks. Blessed are you, O my Father, the saint, and blessings are acquired from you. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who are full of every grace. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who enlightened the world with your spiritual teachings. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, the star of the wilderness, the crown of Monasticism and the father of the dwellers of all monasteries and prairies. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who has become a harbor and salvation for all monks. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who blossomed as a palm tree and grew as the cedar of Lebanon, raised in the house of the Lord. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, for you deserved to attend the departure of St. Paul the Anchorite to eternal rest, and wrap his holy body in the garment of St. Athanasius, after taking his coarse garment, and then you prayed upon him and buried him. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, the lightened lamp attired in spirit, father of all monks. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who has become a harbor and salvation to obtain eternal life. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who left earthly property, and loved angelic purity and inhabited the wilderness as a mighty lion before the attacks of the wicked devils. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who loved the Lord and longed for Him since your childhood, rejecting the glory of the world with everything in it, saying with David the Psalter, "God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory… My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me." (Psa 63:1-2,8) † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who has become beloved to our Master Jesus Christ, glory be to Him... A friend to the angels, a prophet in your generation, a founder of the law of virtue, harbor and salvation for the many souls which you brought back to God, unconquerable fighter against the malicious spirits. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, who disciplined his body in virtue till the Spirit dwelt in you and you finished your struggle on the 22nd day of the blessed Coptic month of Touba. † Hail to you our Father, the great Saint Ava Antony, whose departure to eternal life was attended by our Master Jesus Christ-glory be to Him- the angels, the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, and the saints, to lead your blessed soul in a great procession to the place of rest and comfort in the Paradise of Delight. † Great is your name in all Egypt and the whole world, O, our Father, the great saint Ava Antony. † Hail to your holy body, out of which, recovery of our spiritual and bodily ailments has sprung. † Hail to the sepulcher full of grace. † Verily, your good remembrance has moved my heart, O our Father Ava Antony. † Intercede for us O our Father the great Saint Ava Antony before the Lord to help us, as He had helped you to complete your strife peacefully through your prayers, and forgive us our sins through your supplications and to gather us with you forever in the new Jerusalem ww.stantonymonastery.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70:exposition-saint-antony&catid=24:saint-antony&Itemid=5 .