Section 9

So the man carried him back, and once the door had been shut as before, Antony was again alone inside. Because of the blows he was unable to stand, so he prayed lying down. After praying he cried out: “Here I am—Antony! I am not running away from your blows. Even if you inflict still more, nothing will separate me from the love of Christ.” Then he sang: “Though an army encamp against me, my heart will not fear.” Such were the thoughts and words of the ascetic.

The enemy, who hates what is good, was astonished that Antony had dared to return after the beating. Calling together his hounds, he said in fury: “You see that neither the spirit of lust nor blows have stopped this man; instead, he grows bold against us. Let us approach him in another way.” It is easy for the devil to change his appearance for the sake of evil.

That night the demons made such a noise that the whole place seemed to shake as in an earthquake. It was as though they broke through the four walls of the chamber and entered through them, taking the forms of wild animals and creeping things. Suddenly the place was filled with apparitions of lions, bears, leopards, bulls, serpents, asps, scorpions, and wolves. Each behaved according to the creature whose form it had taken. The lion roared as though about to attack; the bull seemed ready to gore; the serpent writhed but could not come near; the wolf rushed forward but was held back. The noises of all these apparitions together, and the fury they displayed, were terrifying.

Antony, struck and tormented by them, felt even more severe bodily pain. Yet he lay awake with his soul unshaken. He groaned because of the pain in his body, but his mind remained clear, and he mocked them: “If there were any power among you, it would have been enough for only one of you to come. But since the Lord has made you weak, you try to frighten me by your numbers. The fact that you take the shapes of irrational beasts is proof of your weakness.” Again he said boldly: “If you are able, and if you have received authority over me, do not delay—attack. But if you are unable, why trouble me for nothing? Faith in our Lord is a seal and a wall of protection for us.”

After many attempts, they gnashed their teeth at him, because they were making fools of themselves rather than of him.