For the feast of St. Anthony of the Desert
«1a. Let us piously proclaim
the praises of Antony,
and celebrate his name in sacred hymns.
1b. Let us honour God’s Saint;
and God, the author of all,
be honoured in His Saints!
2a. Antony despised, in obedience to the Gospel,
the beauty, and riches,
and honours of the world.
2b. He fled into the desert,
that he might not run at an uncertainty,
in the race of this life.
3a. Wonderful was his life.
He was the celebrated hermit.
But, soon does the crafty enemy
3b. Wage war against him.
The combat is fierce and oft renewed:
but he is not vanquished by the devil's attacks.
4a. The demons scourge him with many blows,
and his flesh is cruelly torn
by the angry enemy.
4b. But, a light shone down from heaven;
and the sweet voice of God
was heard speaking from above:
5a. “Because thou hast bravely fought
in the combat,
thy name shall be published in every country.
5b. The whole earth shall proclaim thy glory.
Thou shalt be invoked against
the disease of the Fire.”
6a. This, O Antony!
we see fulfilled,
and the world resounds with thy name.
6b. The devout servants of God call on thy name,
and fervently pray to thee
for help and protection.
7a. Sometimes, again,
it is in the appearance of a beautiful woman,
and sometimes under the form of a piece of gold,
7b. That the devil lays snares for the holy man:
but, after all thy daring, O crafty tempter!
thou art defeated in the fight.
8a. Yea, vain are his thousand frauds and tricks;
and all hell falls back bemoaning
that one single-handed man has repelled them.
8b. Roaring with rage, the enemy trembles
before this veteran soldier,
whose hand so roughly deals its blows.
9a. The brave combatant resists
these mighty enemies,
and yet he wears no breast-plate such as soldiers use.
9b. His drink is water, his bed the ground;
these were his arms,
and by these he conquered.
10a. Herbs were his food;
the palm-leaf gave him raiment;
and his companions were the wild beasts of the wilderness.
10b. He restrained lust by assiduous prayer,
frequent labour,
and short sleep.
11a. He confutes the Arians
and the profane Philosophers;
he visits Paul the Hermit,
nor was the journey fruitless or vain;
11b. For he found him alive,
and then saw his holy
soul mounting up to heaven,
and buried his body.
12a. O Antony, thou art now in glory,
with the Blessed, in the kingdom of light;
show thy affectionate pity on us,
who are here weighed down by the burden of the flesh.
12b. Stretch out thy hand,
lest the death of terrible hell seize upon us.
Defend us from the burning distemper,
and assist us to gain heaven when our life is spent. Amen.