Section 4

Living in this way, Antony was loved by everyone. He sincerely submitted himself to the zealous men he visited and learned carefully in what particular virtue or ascetic practice each one surpassed him. He observed one man’s graciousness and another’s constancy in prayer; in one he noticed freedom from anger, in another loving-kindness. He paid attention to one man’s wakefulness and another’s devotion to study. He admired one for endurance, another for fasting and sleeping on the ground. He carefully observed one man’s gentleness and another’s patient endurance, while in them all he took note of their reverence toward Christ and their love for one another.

Having gathered all this, he returned to his own place of ascetic practice. From then on he struggled to combine in himself the virtues of each, eagerly seeking to display in his own life the good qualities of them all. He was not competitive with those of his own age except in one respect: he wanted to fall behind no one in what was better. Yet he pursued this without giving offense, so that they rejoiced over him instead.

Thus the people of the village and the good men with whom he associated, seeing what sort of person he had become, called him “God-beloved.” Some welcomed him as a son and others as a brother.