Section 50

Antony, as though guided by God, loved the place, for this was the location indicated by the voice that had spoken to him beside the river.

At first he received bread from his traveling companions and remained alone on the mountain, with no one else living there. Recognizing the place as his own home, he stayed there from then on.

The Saracens had seen Antony’s earnestness and deliberately traveled by that route from time to time, gladly bringing him loaves. The palm trees also occasionally provided him with a small and simple addition to his food. Later, when the brothers learned where he was, they cared for him like children remembering their father and arranged to send bread to him.

Antony saw, however, that providing this bread caused trouble and hard work for some of them. Wanting to spare the monks, he asked visitors to bring him a hoe, an axe, and a little grain. When these arrived, he inspected the land around the mountain, found a small area of suitable soil, cultivated it, and sowed seed. Because he had abundant water for irrigation, he was able to grow his own grain year after year.

He rejoiced that in this way he would trouble no one and could keep himself from becoming a burden to anyone. Later, when he saw that people continued to visit, he also cultivated a few vegetables so that visitors might have some small refreshment after the labor of the difficult journey.

At first the wild animals of the desert often came because of the water and damaged his crops. Antony gently caught one of them and said to all of them: “Why do you harm me when I do not harm you? Go away, and in the name of the Lord do not come near this place.”

From that time onward, as though frightened by his command, they no longer approached the place.