About the book: 2016 / St. Anthony the Great - an early Christian ascetic and hermit, the founder of hermit monasticism was born into a Coptic family of noble and wealthy parents, who raised him in the Christian faith. The saint, already from childhood, was distinguished by exceptional piety. According to legend, his parents died when Anthony was only twenty years old, leaving him to take care of his young sister. Once during a service, he heard the gospel words: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven, and follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). Accepting this as a command from above, Anthony renounced his parental inheritance, entrusted his sister to the care of his acquaintances, and took the path of monastic asceticism. From the works of St. Anthony we have reached: “His speeches treating Christian virtues”; “Seven messages to monasteries - about the desire for moral perfection and spiritual struggle”; “Rules of life and admonitions to monks».