Ven. Anthony the Great

A young Coptic farmer of comfortable means, he heard the Gospel read in church — 'sell what you have, give to the poor, and come, follow me' — and took it literally. He gave away his inheritance, apprenticed himself to local ascetics, and then pushed deeper into the desert than anyone before him, living in an abandoned fort by the Nile and finally on a mountain near the Red Sea. The Life of Anthony written by his friend St Athanasius, with its vivid accounts of his battles with demons and his hard-won serenity, spread monasticism across the Christian world within a generation. He left the desert only twice: to encourage the martyrs of Alexandria during persecution, and in old age to speak against Arianism. He reposed about 356, reportedly at a hundred and five, asking that his grave be kept hidden.