On Humility - St Anthony the Great

Abba Anthony said: "I saw all the snares of the enemy spread over the earth, so I groaned and said: "And who will escape them?" And I heard a voice say to me: "Humility".

Modern man is not very concerned about Satan and his powers. We have relegated him to fairy tales and legends, made him a "cool guy" from the TV series "Lucifer" or a cartoon character. We do not take him seriously.

Anthony and his ilk had a very different approach to him. 

For them, Satan was a real opponent to be reckoned with. He was someone who fought for the soul of man and tried to prevent man from reaching salvation. His weapons were temptations and, in certain situations, other ways of harassing people.

The life of the desert monks, as we know it from the Apophthegms, is full of different kinds of battles against temptation. Some spectacular, others quite ordinary (if we can call it a battle for the salvation of the soul).

St Anthony's vision shows one of the most universal methods of dealing with Satan's actions: humility.

It is undervalued, especially today. Yet it remains effective.

But how does it work?

Firstly, the humble person is aware of Satan's objective power and therefore does not rely on his own strength alone in the fight against temptation, but relies on God. It is in God's grace that he seeks help, and it is by God's grace that he can prevail.

Secondly, the humble man, aware of his own weakness, does not put himself to the test. He does his best not to expose himself to circumstances in which temptation can overcome him.

Such humility was learned by the monks every day they spent in the desert. Such humility can be a life-saver for us too.

A salutary temptation? - Saint Anthony the Great

The same one said: "No one can enter the kingdom of heaven without being tried. Take away the temptations," he said, "and no one will be saved.

The above apophthegm is one of the most surprising. 

We are used to treating the temptations we experience as a problem, perhaps even as a challenge. And I suppose that if someone managed to free themselves from them, they would treat it as a cause for rejoicing.

But Anthony, miraculously, sees some value in temptation. Passing through it makes a person "tested".

What is at stake here?

As a desert monk, Anthony is aware that man will experience temptations, one of the most serious of which is the temptation to believe that one is self-sufficient. That, in fact, the Lord God is unnecessary for man. He also knows that giving in to such a temptation is an easy way of cutting oneself off from God's grace and, consequently, from salvation. 

Anthony's understanding of temptation differs from ours above all because, unlike many of his contemporaries, he understands that the struggle against temptation is not his alone. If it is to be effective, it must be based on God. The experience of temptation is therefore for him a circumstance through which he can draw closer to God and experience God's mercy.

Looking for the strength to fight temptation not in himself but in God, Anthony can say that to take temptation away from people is to deprive them of salvation. For salvation is given by God. And temptation, in St Anthony's experience, was the factor that bound him more closely to God.

And perhaps this is the most important lesson to be learnt from this apophthegm: not to remain alone in the experience of temptation, but to turn to God.