This is the classic, fascinating and almost fabulous life of St. Antony of the Desert, the first hermit and the Father of Monasticism, all as recorded in the inimitable style of the great Doctor of the Church, St. Athanasius of Alexandria (c.297-373 A.D.).From St. Antony’s life, for example, we learn that there are swarms of devils everywhere, but that they are powerfulness to harm us if we use the Holy Name of Jesus and the sacramentals of the Church to ward them off. We also see how stalwart the Saints were in every crisis of life, how they defended the integrity of the Faith with every fiber of their being and fought heresy unmercifully. There are many, many points of interest in this book: e.g., how in speaking with some pagan Greek philosophers, St. Antony reminded them that their “gods” had been banished by the early Christian missionaries because they were devils, and how, because St. Antony overcame the devil, Our Lord promised to make him “renowned everywhere.” With the life of St. Antony, monasteries began to spring up in the mountains and in the desert because people were drawn to imitate him. St. Antony of the Desert is a beautifully simple, unsophisticated biography which is nonetheless replete with interesting stories that are so charmingly unique that they could only be true. Written with a charisma and dignity that are hard to explain, this warn and wonderful book will touch the heart of every reader.