MEMORIAL: JANUARY 17
St. Anthony of Egypt was born in the mid 3rd century into a wealthy family. At the age of 20, he decided to sell everything he had, leave society, and live a life of asceticism in the desert. He spent many years in solitude, fighting physical and spiritual temptations and Satan in the desert. He briefly returned to society at the age of 50 to preach and organize those who were following him into the desert. Yet, nearly all of the rest of his life was spent in the desert in prayer, fighting Satan and temptations. St. Anthony is known as one of the founders of Christian monasticism and is one of the first of the desert fathers.
