Definition: St. Anthony, called the Father of Monasticism, was born about A.D. 251 in Fayum, Egypt, and spent much of his adult life as a desert hermit (eremite). Knowledge of St. Anthony comes from a life of St. Anthony attributed to Athanasius.
It was while he was alone in the a tomb near his native city that St. Anthony was said to have fought demons. After fifteen years, he decided to seclude himself further from men and went to an old fort on a mountain on the east bank of the Nile where he refused to see the visitors who made pilgrimages to see him. Disciples formed around him living ascetic lives in caves around the mountain. He briefly emerged from his cave in about 305 to instruct the ascetics around him. Afterwards he retired again for another 45 years although he saw those who visited and occasionally emerged from his desert home.
