Course 3, Chapter 17: Christianity established. — Tenth persecution continued. — Fourth Century

1. Who was St. Anthony?

St. Anthony was the father of the Ce-nobites. Cenobites are those religious who live in community, and Anchorites are those who live separately in cells. St. Anthony was born in Egypt in 251. After the death of his parents, lie gave all his goods to the poor and retired within the desert of Thebais, where he lived during forty years; after which he consented to receive disciples; the number of them became so great that he built monasteries to receive them.

2. When did this happen?

This happened about the year 303, when the emperor Diocletian published his most furious edict of persecution against the Church. St. Anthony had much to suffer in the desert from the devil, who made violent assaults upon him; but the saint put him to flight, simply by the si";n of the cross. He often recommended to his disciples the use of this wholesome sign, and also watchfulness over themselves, prayer and the thought of eternity.

280 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.

3. To what age did St. Anthony attain?

St. Anthony attained the age of 105 without having any infirmity. When dying he gave to St. Allianasius his cloak and one of his sheep skins; the other sheep skin he gave to the Bishop Serapion, and his chalice to his disciples; this was all his property. He went sweetly to sleep in the Lord.

4. Who was St. Syncletica V

St. Syncletica was descended of a noble and virtuous family; she possessed a great fortune, but after the death of her parents she distributed it all to the poor, and retired into a solitude not far from Alexan dria, where she first established monasteries for women in the East. The saint, after suffering from a severe malady, died, aged eighty-seven years.

5. Why has God established religious orders?

God has established religious orders to preserve and propagate Christianity. The contemplative or ders whom we see shut up in monasteries, devoted to the exercises of prayer, fasting and mortification, have for their object: 1st, to pray for Christians who live in the world, and to expiate the sins of the world; 2d, to preserve the practice of the gospel in its primitive purity.

6. What remark do you make on the establishment of religious orders?

I remark that they were founded at the moment when Christians began to relax in piety, and depart from the practice of the primitive virtues. Providence wished to preserve in the world models of the exemplary life led by our fathers in the faith. For this reason, the life and even the dress of religious remind us of the life, manners and customs of the first Chris' tians.