January Saint: St. Anthony the Abbott
Feast Day: January 17
He is celebrated in many churches on his feast days.
Following the death of his parents when he was about 20, Anthony insured that his sister
completed her education, then he sold his house, furniture, and the land he owned, gave the
proceeds to the poor, joined the anchorites who lived nearby, and moved into an empty sepulchre.
At age 35 he moved to the desert to live alone; he lived 20 years in an abandoned fort.
Anthony barricaded the place for solitude, but admirers and would-be students broke in. He
miraculously healed people, and agreed to be the spiritual counselor of others. His recommendation
was to base life on the Gospel. Word spread, and so many disciples arrived that Anthony founded
two monasteries on the Nile. Many of those who lived near him supported themselves by making
baskets and brushes.
Anthony briefly left his seclusion in 311, going to Alexandria, Egypt to fight Arianism, and to
comfort the victims of the persecutions of Maximinus. At some point in his life, he met with his
sister again. She, too, had withdrawn from the world, and directed a community of nuns. Anthony
retired to the desert, living in a cave on Mount Colzim.
He is remembered as one who was modest and courteous. His example led many to take up the
monastic life, and to follow his way. Late in life Anthony became a close friend of Saint Paul the
Hermit. His biography was written by his friend Saint Athanasius of Alexandria.
January: Excellence
Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.----Matt. 5:48
Two things one must do to reach excellence and perfection in all things:
The first is not to not involve ourselves in the business of others, or look for reasons to judge
others; since we have enough to do just managing our own lives and correcting our own failures.
The second is to take our own perfection to heart and work on it consistently, without regarding
whether others attend to theirs or not. For perfection is so purely an individual matter that, though
you belong to the same organization, group, family, or country and see yourself as one with others
in this life, it is certain that each one of us will carry his/her own profits and losses to the next life.--- Abbot Pastor
The greatest fault among those who desire personal excellence is that they wish to be something
they cannot be, and do not wish to be what they are. They conceive desires to do great things for
which, perhaps, no opportunity may ever come to them, and meantime neglect the small requests
the Lord puts into their hands. There are a thousand little acts of virtue, such as bearing with the
imperfections of our neighbors, not resenting an unpleasant word or a trifling injury, restraining an
emotion of anger, ridding ourselves of habits that draw us away from God’s will, excusing an
indiscretion, or yielding to another in small matters. These are things to be done by all; why not
practice them? The occasions for great gains come but rarely, but of little gains many can be made
each day; and by managing these little gains with judgment, there are some who grow rich. Oh, how
holy and rich in merits we should make ourselves, if we but knew how to profit by the
opportunities which our walk supplies to us! Yes, yes, let us apply ourselves to follow well the path
which is before us, and to do well in the present, without occupying ourselves with thoughts of
future opportunities, and thus we shall make good progress in our pursuit of excellence and
perfection.---- St. Francis de Sales