Athanasius: The Life of Antony and the Letter To Marcellinus

Pages: 166

12 x 18 cm

Athanasius was a major figure in 4th-century Christendom. As Bishop of Alexandria, spiritual master and theologian, he led the Church in its battle against the Arian heresy. Athanasius' The Life of Antony is one of the foremost classics of Christian asceticism. It tells the spiritual story of St. Antony, the founder of Christian monasticism. Written at the request of the desert monks of Egypt to provide "an ideal pattern of the ascetical life," it immediately became astonishingly popular. This work contributed greatly to the establishment of the monastic life in Western Christianity. From a literary perspective, it created a new Christian genre for the lives of the saints.

The Letter to Marcellinus is an introduction to the spiritual sense of the Psalms. The Psalms are presented as a variety of attitudes which co-exist in a truly harmonious and whole sense of prayer.